It has been too long since we posted to the blog. But, here is a general update about how things are going.
He has changed so much in the 6 months. First and foremost, he is walking…more like running. He officially started walking on March 9, but he was walking holding onto a finger long before that. So, he didn’t really take the few days or weeks to figure out how to run, he was running that night. It was quite exciting and we were all so thrilled when he decided to “let go”. Another exciting part of his first steps was that my sister, Rebecca, was visiting that week. So, she got to see David’s first steps too.
David is full of energy and loves to laugh. He has also started really enjoying his toys. He spends time playing by himself a lot more than he used to, which is a much needed break for me during the day. He enjoys playing on the playground and swimming in the pool. He has also started saying a lot more words. He can say a few phrases as well. He loves making animal sounds and pointing to different body parts.
David really enjoyed our child development class. He started going down the slide by himself during that class and we found out that he loves playing with rice in the sand table. Chip also took David to a water baby’s class where David started to get use to being in a pool.
In terms of trips in the last few months…
We spent a weekend in the suburbs of Ohio visiting my grandparents. It was my grandfather’s 80th birthday, so we went to celebrate with him. My parents, sister, brother & fiancée, and aunts and uncles were also there, so we had a full house. But, we also got to visit with a lot of family we hadn’t seen in a while. Everyone loved seeing David and it was exciting that he was walking before we went on that trip.
In addition to our trip to Cincinnati, we have taken a few day trips to Indy. I took David with a friend and her daughter to the Indy Zoo one day in April and also I took David to see my parents in Indy.
We took a few trips this summer and enjoyed a “staycation” for a few days between trips. First, we went to Dallas, TX for Chip’s nephew’s First Communion. We spent the weekend with Chip’s whole family and David really liked playing with his cousins. We also got to go to a water park with David where we spent a lot of time going down the small water slide.
We spent the next few days at home, just the 3 of us. We went to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum one day and David loved it. He played with the dinosaur tables, rode on the Carousel, but especially enjoyed the Dora exhibit. We also spent a day playing at the park and another day at one of the local pools.
Then, on Friday, we drove to Ann Arbor, MI for our friend Sunny’s. On our way to Michigan, we stopped at the Indiana Dunes State Park and spent the afternoon at the beach there. The water was freezing and it was a bit windy, but we still had a good time. Saturday I took David to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum while Chip practiced with the choir for the wedding. He enjoyed the bubble exhibits and the toddler play area. Finally, on Sunday before we headed back home, we stopped at the Detroit Zoo for a few hours. It was fun to see all the animals.
The Monday following our trip, we invited one of David’s friends (and his Mom) to go to Chuck-E-Cheese with us. David loved running around and pushing all the buttons, as well as playing with the skee balls.
For Father’s Day weekend, we went to Chicago to visit David’s Godfather, James and his wife, Whitney who were in town. We spent Saturday at the Shedd Aquarium. David loved seeing all the different kinds of fish and especially liked the beluga whales. Then, on Sunday, we headed to the Brookfield Zoo. It was so much fun letting David visit with James & Whitney and Chip & I enjoyed ourselves too.
We’ve done some other fun things with David this summer as well. We’ve gone to the local pools a number of times to let David cool off from this crazy heat. Also, my Mom’s group has had two “open gyms” that we’ve been able to make it to. Basically, they are local gymnastic centers that open up their gyms to our group for an hour or two. David loved the bouncy floor, foam block pit, and the trampoline. We are considering enrolling him in a gymnastics class next year if he continues to show interest. We also had a whirlwind of cook-outs over the 4th of July weekend. Two of our neighbors hosted barbecues (one for Canada Day & one for 4th of July) and we had one ourselves on the 3rd of July. David loved being around all the people and playing with the kids that were there. In addition to that, we’ve gone to a few of Chip’s softball games. He’s playing on a neighborhood team once a week. If the game is early enough, David and I go to cheer on Daddy. David is one of the best cheerleaders at the game (for either team).
We are really looking forward to the next few months. David and I will start attending the Parent/Toddler development class again in the fall and I’m hoping to do another Music & Me class. We will also start attending more of the meetup groups that my Mom’s group will host in the fall. In addition, David and I just got back from a trip to NC to see my family in August and then all of us will head back to NC for my brother’s wedding in October. He will have a lot of playtime with his cousins, which is nice since he doesn’t get to see them very often.
Here are some pictures from the last few months…
