After a fantastic weekend with our favorite Emersons, we headed out to the Ranch for a Fish Fry with the in-laws.The food and company was great.The lighting for photography purposes was even better!I was able to snap quite a few pictures.
Preston just adores his Aunt Candace, and he basically wanted nothing to do with Brad or myself while we were there.He is beyond in love with her.Did he also make her bathe him Friday and Saturday night, change him, play him, you name it, Candace had to it?Yes, yes he did.AND I enjoyed every minute of it.One- because it gave Brad and I break.Two- because seeing that relationship can only remind me of the one I have with her precious little girl.
It is simply amazing to me to watch this from the other side….
Horse on a stick side note: Preston insisted that we bring the horsie that Sissy got him a couple of months back. He was dealthy afraid of this thing until we went to the Stock Show and saw all sorts of them in a barrell. Since then, it accompanies him pretty much everywhere in the house (and now outside of the house). I was using it to put in front of his playroom closet with his extra toys that I rotate out- that way he wouldn't get in there. Now, I guess, I have to come up with a new plan.
How is it possible that Brad and I have lived in the DFW area for our whole lives, but neither one of us had ever been to the stock show?I have NO clue!Based on the fact that Preston LOVES farm animals and the weather was gorgeous, I thought it would be fun to go out there for just a little bit, walk around, and admire the animals.I did not know how much we all would LOVE it.What was meant to be about a 45 minute outing turned into FOUR hours!There was SO much to do there and Preston soaked it all in.We actually went around 11 because I thought that would give us about 45 minutes there and then head home for nap time.We ended up having fun right through naptime.That just goes to show how much Preston enjoyed it.I don’t think we’ve skipped a nap in months.Though this wasn’t on purpose, it ended up working out.After we had seen all we could see (including the Fort Worth Science Museum which is free with the admission into the stock show), Preston then asked to go night night.We took that as our hint to go.We got to the car around 3ish.He then asked for his bed.Unfortunately for him we are not able to carry his bed along with us- but it wasn’t one minute into the drive home and he was out.He slept the entire way home and went straight to his bed when he got there.I woke him up at 5 because I didn’t want to have a night owl on our hands.
Overall, it was a perfect day, and again, a new tradition in the Emerson family!
Can you believe it? Boo will be TWO in THREE short months! I have noticed that I have not done a monthly update post in quite some time, so here it is.
At 21 months old, Preston...
·Identifies all colors.In fact, he frequently walks around the house asking, “What color is this?”… You think we ask him this a bit too much?
·Identifies almost every animal and their sounds.
·Identifies almost every body part (except elbow he thinks it's his bo-bo).
·Counts to 12 (with some assistance).
·Sings his ABC’s (again, with some assistance).
·Sings parts of several new songs on the radio… some favorites are: Taylor Swift “Sparks Fly,” “Moves Like Jagger,” LMAFO “I’m Sexy and I Know It,” Sara Evans “Stronger,” Adele “You,” oh and SO many more
·Brushes his own teeth (well, he thinks he does anyway)
·Refuses to sit in a highchair or a booster seat.A regular chair for about 2 minutes suits him just fine.
·Tells us, “Come on (Mommy or Daddy), now.”With hand motions and all.
·Has a blue paci, green paci, and white paci in his bed for night time.You better believe he knows which ones should be in there and lets you know where they should be at all times.
·Naps at school on a napmat with no paci (hum- what does this say about me considering he won’t do this at home?)
·Only has a paci a sleepy time (except at school- see bullet above).
·Uses a spoon and fork well
·Watches a little bit of Elmo and Barney- but never for long (he only stays still for 5 minutes MAX)
·Follows multistep directions
·Knows how to take off his pants and diaper (oh yes, we found out this one night through the video monitor when he was refusing to go to sleep)!
·Goes to bed at 8 and has to wake up at 7 for school (this weekend he woke up at (9:45 and 8:30- that was awesome). FYI- He recently decided to give up his 7 o'clock bed time- this was a sad, sad day, but he is almost two.
·Takes one nap a day (usually 2 to 3 hours).
·Eats pretty much anything, but not a lot of it (maybe a bit or two unless it’s fruit or corn).
·Tells me “Pettin do it.”Mr. Independent - though usually he actually can’t do it. Then he will say, "Help you."
·Usually speaks in 3-5 word sentences (“Pettin go night-night,”“Bubbas go owside,” “What color is it?”“Ava tee-tee potty,”“Mommy sit down, now,”“Elmo on teebee,”“Where daddy go?” "Mommy hold you."
·Identifies some landmarks from the car- “Pettin school,” “Donalds,” trains, animals, airplanes, cars, “scho bus,” “big tuck,” “tee, “(Tree)
·Identifies different sports/ sports balls- “Bootball” “Basket-ball”
·Calls me by my first name if I don’t listen to mommy.
Bath time is Preston's BEST time!
Please excuse my singing, but this is too good not to share.
The week after Christmas, we headed up to Plano for Preston’s pulmonologist check up!Dr. Gelfand could not believe how wonderfully Preston looked and sounded.Though the week before was a rough one to say the least, it had nothing to do with his breathing and lungs- and for that, we were grateful.He said January is the peak month for RSV, so watch him closely and keep him on the Flovent for the next couple of weeks.
Because it took 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to his Plano office, we decided to make a night of it.We went to pick up our favorite little girl from school.She was surprised and so was Preston!After that we met up with Aunt Candace and Sissy at Chuck. E. Cheese.Who would have thought that I would have the kid that is pretty much scared of everything at CEC?Except for a game with a helicopter that is.He wasn’t terrible there… he just didn’t want to play with anything.
We called it a night around 7:30.Trying to get Preston to go to sleep there was interesting, but he finally conked out.We woke up the next morning and headed to Northpark Mall.I knew he would LOVE to see the ducks and turtles.We have been taking Ava there since she was Preston’s age- and she still loves it!She had no problem showing him the ropes.
We finally headed back to Richardson to try to get Preston to nap.Of course, that didn’t happen.We packed up around 2:00 and headed home.Preston napped in the car for all of 45 minutes.Oh that boy, I wish he could sleep anywhere.Oh, well.
We had a great time; however, due to the sleep situation, I don’t see us trying to stay the night away from home anytime soon.
Who knew a stool would make a one year old so excited to brush his teeth?Sissy gave Preston a little airplane stool for Christmas, and the boy is now obsessed with brushing his teeth (aka: starring at himself, talking to himself, playing in the water, turning the water on and off, admiring his beauty, oh- and moving the tooth brush around in his mouth).Every night, he runs into the bathroom and says “Bush teet.”Because I’m the crazy person that has to follow the same routine every night (and I may or may not be turning Preston into that person as well), he must take a bath first.You would think I was torturing the kid by simply making him smell good before his teeth are all clean.That is, unless, we are using “Montey Tow-El.”This is also a favorite.When he finally makes it through the horrible bath, he climbs VERY proudly onto his stool with monkey towel placed quite perfectly on his round little head.(And we don’t dare try to take it off because that is evidently VERY important in the teeth brushing experience).I (or Brad), of course, really brush his teeth first, and then it’s all fun and games for little man.This is just another classic moment in our evening routine.
**Side note: Two nights ago, I tried to multitask and lotion Preston up while brushing his teeth.He screamed bloody murder and wanted down immediately.Last night, he refused to even stand on the stool.Do you think he is trying to tell me he was not a fan of me distracting from his teeth brushing time?It will be interesting to see what takes place this evening.Oh that boy!
Oh man, the day after Christmas looked like Santa threw up all over our house! We had lots of fun toys and lots of fun clothes to play with! It just doesn't get any better than this!
His new "Whataburger" shirt and football beanie... priceless
