Chesterfield Fire House 1

Yesterday on our way to Great Grandma Ramsey's we passed the firehouse and Boyd asked to go there. Seeing that it was already 6:30 and we still needed to visit grandma, eat, and go home to bed, I promised Boyd we'd go today. So, this morning we slept in (I love these mornings because you never know what Boyd is going to say right after he wakes up), had breakfast, got dressed (Boyd in his firetruck shirt), and headed to the station. Tommy greeted us and Boyd quickly charmed his way into the drivers seat. Boyd took his job very seriously and asked Tommy, "Who needs help?" Boyd convinced Tommy to shut the doors and I had flashes of Boyd turning the keys and driving away. We left the windows open so Boyd would understand he was still under our watch. Midway through our visit they were ready to hire Boyd. Then Boyd discovered he didn't have his seat belt on and when he did put it on, he was to far away from the wheel to drive and thus, to little. Boyd did get to take a turn holding the hose! After the firehouse we went to the store and as we pulled into the checkout lane Boyd decided, "I need flowers". He ran away and returned with a pot of flowers. When I asked who they were for he replied, "Me, I take them home and smell them." What a fine example of treating ones self to the beauty in life. Love this guy.

My mom has pointed out to me that Boyd usually has a messy face in his pictures. The next thing people will start pointing out is the fact that Boyd rarely has shorts on in his pictures-but let's face it, in this heat, who can blame him. So Boyd, get away with underwear as an outer garment being acceptable for as long as you can. Our outdoor adventures have been few and far between as of late, but Boyd is starting to explore more and more. With one more month let as a Missourian we are going to have to try and soak up as many of our favorite spots and people as we can.

Adam and I love this swing picture- pure JOY!

Boyd loves his cars and trucks. Lots of pretend play with these. I forgot what the blocks were.

Boyd trying to climb the beams in front of our house and sliding down.

Realizing that "this cement is warm, come feel it mom."

Sticks!


Playing a game with his stick. Kind of like hockey but the objective is to flip the cars into the house.

Another funny Boyd story as told by Mike (PaPa). He and Boyd were at Target where Boyd noticed someone had littered an apple with a missing bite. My knows no stranger Boyd proceeded to tell a woman "that's a poisoned apple". She apparently asked him how he knew. He replied, "because I know about apples."

My sweet Boyd, for the record, I am your mom, maybe I'm just Cinnamon.

The other day we had the following conversation:

Boyd: You're not my mom.

Mom: Then who is?

Boyd (with only a slight pause): Aunt Jenny.

Mom: Interesting

Boyd returns to playing and I call Aunt Jenny.

Cinnamon is the word Boyd uses for the plain or usual form of something. Not sure where he came up with this one but it cracks me up.

Secondly, Boyd's days as a Missourian are numbered. Sometime in the near future we will be moving to Virginia outside of D.C. Boyd told his PaPa Burla that he was to move to D.C. too. Then today he told me he was moving into his friend Samantha's house and that Samantha's dad Jonathan was going to stay there with him. The move will require some adjusting for us all.

Boxing

Well, somehow on this Independence Day weekend we managed to squeeze in some time for some packing, a wedding, a barbecue, a meeting with our Realtor, fireworks, and boxing. Adam thinks boxing may be Boyd's sport. We hope that Boyd learned through numerous chats during the match that the only time he can hit/box is when he has on his boxing gloves. Boyd is quite intense as displayed by his facial expressions.

Our dear friend Rob, who Boyd adores, determined that Boyd was indeed the winner.

Enjoy the video as Boyd wishes you a Happy 4th of July!

Every kid deserves to lick the beaters every once and a while. Tonight Boyd made cookies for the neighbors since he frequents their cookie jar often. He was so excited to be the cookie delivery person. Once they opened their door Boyd ran straight to their cupboard, opened it, and took out their cookie jar. The catch is once they opened it, Boyd took one of their cookies and then placed his homemade ones inside. Yes he is spoiled even by our neighbors. Later he joined some kids for a walk/run around the neighborhood. He was the leader. He led them for so long it became dark and the lightening bugs came out. The big kids caught a few for him to hold. He held one for at least 2 blocks. Our bug jar is already packed so he decided to put them in his Mack truck instead. The silly bugs actually stayed inside for a while (look closely).

I forgot to mention Boyd's ability to sort objects. Today he reminded me while playing with his cars. He was grouping cars when I added one. He quickly removed it and told me "no, not that group." When I asked him what group that was he said "the cool group." Curious, I asked why they were the cool group. He replied, "Because they have sparkles." Later he realized cars can fit into two different groups. He told me "these are in the poky group" (they had fork lifts or horns, etc. sticking off the front.)

Boyd has returned to the summer concert series here in Ellisville and once again this year drew the attention of the band, receiving a special shout out of sorts. I believe their quote went something like this: "Our music has been scientifically proven to make young children run around in circles." We were happy to lend our son as a participant in the study.

Two and a half

Happy Half Birthday! 2 1/2, I can't believe it. You are one special kid. I love playing all our made up games together, even the plier game, and I love watching your brain work . I never know what you will say and sometimes you are wise beyond your years. You are a good friend to so many. I laugh that you still wake me every night calling, "Mom!" and when I walk in half asleep, you are ready to move in with your pillow and squishy McQueen. You use the word love often, which melts my heart, and you are a kissy kid. I love that you stall going to bed by asking to pray again for your friends and family. Your character and presence can light up a room. Yesterday you told me you wanted to ride the train on a show you were watching, then your turned to me, held both my cheeks and looked me in the eyes and said sadly, "but then I wouldn't see you." (I think that meant you would pass and stay with me). You cherish family time, and partake in family hugs as often as possible. You make sense of the world and now explain the whys of comments you make. I love you more than words can explain and I am so grateful for you. So, happy half birthday, I celebrate your birth daily.

Physically- you tell us you are getting bigger every day and I think it is true. You run fast, gallop, catch, hit, kick, and throw (you call yourself the pitcher and say you are like your cousins Tyler and Andrew when playing baseball). You do somersaults and donkey kicks, and now enjoy jumping off of curbs. You climb everything at the park and like to make me nervous. You like to hang on things too. You open doors, feed yourself, wash your own hands, and take your shoes off. Tongs are a new small motor favorite and you easily open lids of all kinds. You like to use your tools. You like to use writing tools, but your work is still kind of unintentional.

Cognitively- you know your colors, letters, and some numbers. You remember things from months back. You have a great sense of direction. You understand opposites, count to 15, and can count with one to one correspondence with small numbers. You complete puzzles, role play, and know your first and last name, age, and your parents name. You also know the street you live on. You love books and remember stories, talk about pictures, characters, etc.

Socially/emotionally- you identify emotions and show most of them naturally and when asked. You are friendly and engage in conversation with adults and children alike. You tell them stories and sometimes how to share, play, etc. You also imitate others. When someone cries you try to comfort them and when you hear a baby crying you want to look for them and check on them. You really like playing chase and just being with others. You do not like to be left out. You are becoming scared of certain things like robots, or things with funny shapes; but, you also face them like the alligator and daddy's primitive art pot. You like to have others talk about more traumatic events like boo boos. You try to hide boo boo's because you dislike band aids and having scrapes/wounds washed out. You understand things that are dangerous.

Language- you use complete sentences and thoughts, your vocabulary expands daily and you like big words. You use your words to express yourself. You tell stories and most people can understand you. You have been experimenting with prepositions, question words, and pronouns surprising me with your accuracy.

The list goes on and on. Boyd, you're amazing!