Day at the Carnival

Very sleepy, but still proud of the toy he won in the duck pond game.

Mommy crammed into the helicopter ride with Paxton.

Daddy and Paxton on a ride!

Paxton's first ride.

Arriving at the carnival. No, Paxton, you're not dreaming.

Barsana Dham Mela 2009

I wear the exact same outfit to the Mela every year. It's become a tradition in my own mind.

The beautiful temple and fountain. I always want to dive in for a swim.

Watching the dancers.

Tizzy tries to keep him from running away when he got bored.

Fishing for a duck.

My Toddler

Not too very long ago, I was able to regale you once weekly with the handful of new things Paxton was learning. Now, there is neither enough space on the page, nor memory in my mind to tell you all of the new capabilities he's daily demonstrating. I assure you that I do not talk up his mounting skill set to brag. Since I have very little previous experience with toddlers, I don't know what is exceptional and what is simply par for the course. I, of course, assume that everything he does is incredible. But I'm mom, so that's to be expected.

Slightly less biased is my mom, Paxton's beloved Tizzy, who pulls from her past speech therapy experience to assure me that the fact that he's using two words in a small sentence is very advanced for his age. "More crackers". "Bye, Tizzy". "Go, car!". The kid is a decided chatterbox. Sometimes he's succinct and makes his point with few words. When he's ready for a person to move away from him, he simply says "bye" to the offender. But other times, as when we're shopping, he says hello to strangers and then makes up a series of random words to tell them about his day and how much he enjoys his life, etc. "She-shaw, gib, jib, oooooh!". Sometimes he inserts an actual word--"puppy!"--to the delight of his new friends. Like every kid in the world before him, he looks confused and slightly offended when people don't understand what he is trying to convey. On the flip side, when he repeatedly asks for crackers and I pull out the bag of Goldfish, he screams like I just drove through the front gate of Disney World. Toddler glee is the greatest thing in the world.

It is awesome to me when Paxton does something I had no idea he knew how to do. Yesterday, when I went to undress him, I said, "Arms up!" and he threw his arms above his head. When I ask him if he's ready to eat, he runs to his highchair to be seated. When I tell him it's time for bed, he runs to the stairs, saying "night-night". These are all things that he experiences daily, but the moment it clicks in his mind, it just stuns me. I have the unique pleasure to watch this little person learn. I'm honored by my role in his life.

Besides all of Paxton's verbal advancements, he is showing more and more of an interest in pursuing an eventual career in stunt work. He careens around the house pushing his riding train. His steering is quite impressive. He could easily slam into any number of obstacles crammed into our small living area. But he rides that train like it's on rails, zigging and zagging around the dining room table and the oversized couch and the spiral staircase. When he gets stuck for a moment, he's sure to let us know with a loud whine. But mostly, he's the master driver.

Today, when Carmen was here, we were visiting in the living room and Paxton was wandering around, entertaining himself. He was quiet for a moment too long and I called out for him, asking him what he was up to. I stood up to see him balancing on the dining room windowsill, Spiderman-style, clinging to the window. How he got himself there, I have no idea. The kid is a menace to his own personal safety. At the playground today, he climbed a giant, steep, wet wooden ramp up to the tall top of the playset. When he got to the top, happily accepting accolades from Carmen and me, he then proceeded to climb even higher. My heart was racing. The days of sitting and happily chatting with the other moms are long, long gone. I'm on active duty now. I'm the mother of a toddler, for better or worse.

Getting in Shape

Deer Creek Easter Egg Hunt

Mommy told me I have to clean up the eggs.

Where are the eggs? I can't find a single one!

Harper is my friend. I'll trade him all my eggs for a few of his Goldfish.

These don't shake like the ones in music class.

I love Easter! This is fun!

Tales from Toddlerhood

It's been a little longer than usual since my last post. I've gotten wrapped up in the minutae of day-to-day activities. While I don't think I have many readers waiting with baited breath for my latest updates on Paxton, I do enjoy keeping up the site so I can have a record of my adventures with him for my own enjoyment. I neglect the baby book, but at least I can present this to my son one day in the future to show my adoration.

Rather than recounting the last weeks, I'd like to share some stories of my cheeky little monkey and his giant personality at a mere 16-months of age.

• I think that my milk supply is waning. Paxton tries to nurse and immediately is ready to switch to the other side, as though he is not getting any milk. It's a bit frustrating, but I do find it funny that to make his point, he pulls down my shirt and says "bye!" to the breast.

• Speaking of greetings, he is sometimes adamant that he greet every person whose path he crosses. He seems personally offended when someone does not say "hi" back to him. No matter how crusty his nose is, how bedraggled his hair is, or how mismatched his clothes are, when he says "hi" to certain strangers, they are convinced that he is the sweetest, cutest little boy they've ever laid eyes on. The funny thing is that some people are so surprised to hear him greet them, and they excitedly try to begin a conversation with them. But once he makes his initial acquaintance, he is done and ready to move on. It always seems to disappoint his new friends.

• I don't know exactly when he learned this skill, but one day he began climbing the stairs as if he'd done it all his life. Not just any staircase, but the spiral staircase. He knows to duck his head to get under the gate, He stops to flick the lightswitches. He says hello to the fish. He's the very definition of "it's not about the destination, it's about the journey". I have spent more time on that staircase in the last few weeks than I ever hoped to.

• We had to take our cat, Tippy, to the vet earlier this week. Tippy was vocalizing his fury during the ride. MOWWWWWWWLLLLL. MOWWWWWWWWWWWLLLL. Paxton copied the sound perfectly. When Chris took Paxton to the vet later to pick up Tippy, Paxton demonstrated his apeing skills to the vet staff. They were apparently disturbed and impressed, in equal parts.

• When Paxton is finished playing with a particular toy, he sings the "Clean Up" song. It goes like this: "Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share". Paxton, being a bit new to the singing biz says this "dee-oh, dee-oh" and we know immediately that it's time to start putting the cars in the drawer and the train in the box. If we ignore the song, immersed in our own fun playing, he will drag the box to us and start putting a few pieces away on his own.

• I have no idea how he knew this one, but one day, he was standing in his bedroom naked, waiting for Chris to put his jammies on him. He started to pee on the carpet and said, with all calmness, "pee-pee". While we were diving for a towel to sop up the aforementioned "pee-pee", we marveled at his genius. One tiny step toward someday being potty-trained.

• We took Paxton to no fewer than three Easter Egg Hunts this year, not counting the one we set up in my mom's backyard. The first one, at Deer Creek Nursing Home, was by far the most fun. The toddler area was jam-packed with eggs and there were few children with whom to contend. Paxton, however, had no idea what to do with the little plastic treasures. I used the "Clean Up" song to our advantage, telling him it was time to "Clean Up" the eggs. That entertained him for a few minutes until he saw that Carmen had Goldfish Snack Crackers. Then he could focus on nothing more than that little bag of delicious treats. We still made out with a basket full of eggs. I laughed, because I thought that the eggs were supposed to be hidden. You'll see by the pictures that that's the furthest thing from the truth.

With that, I'll wrap up this latest edition. Enjoy the newest pics of our beautiful boy!