Beginning of December

Building a Frosty of our own.

Boyd informed me he was stretching (must have just finished a run).

MU Running Reunion 2010. Boyd cooking with Grace.

Happy Birthday dear Boyd...

Playing with a few gifts.

His new seat of choice (tables?)

Santa and Elf

Boyd "helping" wrap presents.

Theme sweater.


"I so happy"

Bags of hand me downs= one great outfit chosen by Boyd. Potato head glasses worn to pretend to read with Great Grandpa Udovich.


Boyd created some game/routine with our dear friend Eliza.

Dinosaurs

with Daddy (plus the look on the kids face next to them is priceless)

Stamp face

Advent Calender

Reading The Night Before Christmas. Pointing out a possible Frosty in the back of the sleigh.

Pointing to his artwork on the floor

Playing Potato head from Toy Story 3 complete with tortilla and cucumber.

Busting a move.

The cheese face.

Making some calls.

What a December it has been. My lack of blogging should be proof that 1) we have been incredibly busy, and 2) we have taken so many pictures our computer no longer has memory. My apologies for those who have been checking for new blog posts. I will try to fill you in on our December happenings within the next few days. I am pretty sure Boyd will think of December as the party month for the rest of his life. The beginning of December brought Daddy and Me Digging for Dinosaur Day though our Parents as Teachers organization. Boyd's favorite activities were stamp painting on the wall and the obstacle course. Adam's favorite activity was stamping Boyd's head with a stamp that they proceeded to smear. Then there was the daily visit to the advent calendar from Grandma (a.k.a. MiMi) Ramsey. He loved to check the pockets. Fortunately we had a spot high enough that we could keep Boyd out of it. Boyd tried to be crafty with his chair and stools and stacking them and climbing, but the stool has since been hidden. He is a true do it himselfer now a days. There was also lots of prep work for Christmas. Boyd tried to decorate the floor with a festive pink one day, and with Adam traveling a lot for work, the two of us successfully set up our tree with lights and ornaments (a few ornaments we lucky enough to be chosen as toys for the season and have never made it to the tree). Then there was the Nutcracker (Boyd loves Nutcrackers and points them out whenever he sees them). Another great treat for the season has been the Salvation Army bell ringers. Boyd could hear them ringing from a mile away. We would add our money and listen to the bells while Boyd would eye the bells in hopes of playing. Most of the time the bell ringers would let Boyd have a turn. Boyd would play the bells and belt out "Jingle Bells". He is quite the singer these days with his Holiday favorites being Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, and Oh Christmas tree. He has an ear for music and would have received an 'A' in my music survey class in college, he can pick out tunes like you wouldn't believe. Boyd also had many Birthdays to prepare for: MiMi's, then Dad's, then his own, and then Jesus' Birthday. He now recites his nighttime prayers and has most of the book "The Night Before Christmas" memorized. All season he would share glad tidings, "Merry Christmas, bye, bye." At night we have been recalling things we are thankful for and what he liked about his day, his answers are so sweet. He's also charmed us several times by announcing, "I so happy." On December 22 Boyd turned 2. I am in denial. He loved singing Happy Birthday (another favorite song) and wanted Adam to light the candles so he could sing and blow them out several times. He was possessive of his Lightning McQueen cake and wanted all the pieces to himself. He figured out what presents were and excitedly cheered, "Oh my!" as he opened them. He loved his "party day." The following day we hosted our annual MU Running Reunion and Boyd told his friend Grace, "Come in Grace, party day." Santa stopped in for a visit as well, complete with an elf helper and early Christmas present. Boyd was in awe and was pretty friendly with our guest from the North Pole. More to come but with all the partying I need to catch up on sleep too.

November

What was new with Boyd in November? Well, I must have blinked twice because he is such a big boy now. He has grown a ton. Clothes that look like they should be to big, fit, he received his first hair cut November 10 (I almost cried when they took the clippers to it. Her comment was it will grow. My thought was did you know it took him almost two years for it to grow to this length?), and the physical and language explosion- wow!

Physically he can jump, climb, carry, kind of gallop, and hang. I had to hide the step stools today since he has been carrying them around to attempt to climb things like the entertainment center, on the top of the toilet, the walls, and my favorite today- stool on top of the rocking chair -yikes I think I have gray hair now. Good thing I am a helicopter parent so he hasn't had any major accidents. At little gym he is everywhere and he jumps from the platform, catches the bar, hangs and pikes. He is about to go solo on the balance beam too. At Grandma and Grandpa Ramsey's he realized he could reach light switches by standing on the stairs so he would turn the light on and scamper upstairs, this was followed by mischievous laughter and Boyd fun. He also likes to write and draw. Today he drew two great grandmas, two grandmas and mommy. Baking and mixing are of interest and he loves to put money into his piggy bank. He still loves cars, trucks, tractors, etc. Boyd can spot UPS trucks from half a mile away, even in the dark. He loves his bikes from the 1970's and knows he needs to wear his helmet. He likes to bike on the curb which he calls the bump, and into leaf piles. The mower is still a favorite toy as well.

Language wise Boyd speaks in sentences. He also says "Ok" every time he means yes. For Thanksgiving he told me he was thankful for Halloween and broken trees. Cousins were later added to his list, as well as "eating Andrew shared cold lunch" since his cousin shared his lunch while we waited to eat hot lunch with Tyler. He jumps into conversations to make sure his voice is heard. He also attempts to let you know when he is done with something by saying, "Ready to go." On our flight to Wisconsin Boyd walked to the forward doors and told me "Ready to go!" I showed him the clouds and told him we lacked parachutes so we couldn't quite go yet. Boyd loves to sing too. His favorite songs are Jingle Bells, Twinkle Twinkle, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Doggie Doggie, ABC's, and Little Gym songs. He is quite the performer. Much like Adam Boyd doesn't forget much and continues to amaze me by remembering things from months ago (Boyd asked for a book we read once about two months ago by asking for the characters name), directions, new words, etc. He doesn't shy away from difficult words either and loved saying Papa Udovich for his great grandpa. Unfortunately he copies things dad tells him to say too, like what do you want for Christmas? Boyd will say dog because Adam told him to say that, he even told Santa. Fortunately Santa knows better.

Emotionally Boyd shows a wide array of feelings. He likes to make all kinds of faces and experiment with how certain feelings should look. He copies things from his feeling books and pretends to be the characters (for example, "I'm scared" as he pulls the covers up to his chin). Then there is the idea of monsters thanks to Adam. Boyd is intrigued. The other day we had a gift wrapped up on our dresser, it was dark in the room and Boyd could see the outline. He tapped me and said, "Boogie Monster."

Boyd has been showing an interest in babies too. Then, over Thanksgiving he was able to spend some time with three; lets see if the interest continues. He had a difficult time keeping baby Brendan, Eddie, and Harper apart. He also had a tough time not being the center of attention.

Lightening McQueen is still his favorite character and thanks to hand me downs he is up to 5 McQueen shirts to rotate. He likes to wear random mommy shirts on occasion too, hence the Mizuno uniform in the haircut pictures.

Favorite food reported by Boyd are: Cookies and Great Grandma juice (orange juice). Boyd does love oranges, cucumbers, pickles, lasagna, bagels, cereal, chocolate milk, cheese, strawberries, and currently, ketchup.

Favorite Books: Papa please get the moon for me, Diaper David books, We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Favorite color: Brown

Favorite stores: Target and Best Buy

My nephews continue to remind me that Boyd was the perfect name since we so often say,
"Oh Boyd." Boyd is always coming up with some new way for us to love him more. He sure keeps our life lively and we gave thanks for him daily.

Halloween 2010

Boyd, or Elmo, loved Halloween. He repeated the word over and over, even in the weeks prior enjoying the sound of the word. On Halloween he joyfully told others "Happy Halloween" and "thank you" while mom and dad heard, "Halloween Candy!" We didn't snap any pictures while trick or treating but Boyd had a blast. He wouldn't let anyone else carry his bucket and when he saw other trick or treaters he shared his treats from his bucket with them. He also received a Candy apple from the police officer and was thrilled. A bucket of candy was filled and we only visited 7 houses (8 including ours. Daddy didn't have any trick or treaters during the first bit so we had to stop by). Boyd also enjoyed one houses spooky display. Enjoy the few pictures we managed to take before dinner Halloween night. Boyd is playing On your mark, get set, go! in the first one. Excuse my behind in the third one. Wasn't he the cutest Elmo?

Fall

The joys of the pumpkin patch. Although he had more fun with all the other things it had to offer.

Old firetruck.

Dad and Boyd's scared faces (was there a leaf blower around?) The other day when laying down for nap Boyd heard a leaf blower outside and announced, "I'm scared of Bob's blower". We were outside earlier when our neighbor Bob was using his, Boyd was a little apprehensive of it- so cool that he could later name his feeling.

Cute ghost.



Love this set of pictures. "Heavy!"

RIP broken Pumpkins.

Running for the big pumpkins.

Tunnel time! What a great sky too.

So big swinging on his own.

New tricks with daddy. Pure joy on his face.

Pointing out the moon.

Tractors (Boyd was a little upset they weren't giving hayrides and that he wasn't allowed to drive)

A Boyd, some pumpkins and the moon = one great night.

If you build it, Boyd will come. Heading out of the corn field (hence the upset look since he wanted to keep going further and further)

On our way out we ran into our friends Bert and Ernie. This was also where Boyd picked out his Gourd.

Ready? Here we go!

Safety first. Riding his bike with his new helmet.

Painting on paper after painting McQueen and a truck on his arms.

Trip to the Firehouse

Today we took a trip to the firehouse (we were invited to stop by since Boyd made friends with the EMT's at the Marquette football game a few weeks ago). When we arrived they received a call and headed out. The firefighters got ready so fast while Boyd watched wide eyed. When they turned on their lights and headed out Boyd was overjoyed. The Battalion Chief stayed behind to give us the grand tour. He even let Boyd try on the equipment and drive the firetruck. Boyd was a natural at the wheel and wanted in the competition to become the driver. We almost stayed for dinner as they had chili cooking and boy did it smell good.