Bardo at 15 months

Lately Bardo has been so cute and so funny. I just thought I'd try to give everyone a verbal snapshot.

Bardo is a very very busy boy. I keep wondering if we'll ever graduate to reading a book together. He will sit for minutes at a time looking at books by himself, but he really really doesn't like sitting on my lap to read. He likes to have full control of the book and gets frustrated if the pages are not turned his way (which, of course, is never in order). He still really likes touch and feel books and books with baby faces. He likes books with animals, as well.

This past week, Bardo acquired a fascination for eyes, and now will stick his finger in my eye or Pippi's eye whenever he gets a chance. Noses of course are still very fun to grab. He's figured out that I don't really like to have my nose grabbed, so now he grabs his own nose and then babbles in a nasally voice with a smile on his face.

Bardo likes to climb. And he's a very fast climber. Each morning about and hour and a half after breakfast, he doesn't make a sound, but stealthily climbs onto the table and into his high chair. He makes a fuss if I try to remove him without giving him lunch or a snack. Most of his vocabulary orients around food. "Cheese" is one of his favorite words. It apply to cheese cubes, sticks, and macaroni and cheese. He can also say more and done. But rather than using those words he usually points to what he wants and whines "uh uh uh.?" Rather then saying done, he starts throwing food.

Besides climbing up to the table time after time after time and eating, Bardo entertains himself by getting into things, taking books off of the bookshelves, throwing tennis balls around the house, pressing buttons, toilet paper or paper towel unrolling, and giving himself a bath. I'm not kidding about that last one. He knows how to give himself a bath. He just doesn't know how to take his clothes off. He also loves chasing ducks. And he loves swimming, both in the pool and the bath tub. I often contemplate changing into my swimsuit while bathing him. He belly flops back and forth in delight, and water sloshes everywhere. I have to stay near to keep him from drowning and to protect his head from hitting the side of the tub.

Bardo has tender feelings. He cries when the Warlock tells him no. (He doesn't care if I say no.) If someone takes a toy away from him he cries. He has big alligator tears, his eyes turn red, and his lower lip hangs down very very low when his feelings are hurt.

He's very quick to laughter, cracking up when people sneeze or say "zzzzzz" really fast. These tricks haven't failed yet, making his tears disappear and helping Bardo forget his woes when he's sad. He also still thinks peekaboo is the best game ever. We also play "I'm going to get you" in the middle of every diaper change. When he gets to a wall he runs quickly back into my arms for a tough guy hug.

Bardo loves toys that make noise. And he loves music. One of my new friends has a dance studio in her garage. She turned on some River Dance music while we were at her house, and Bardo went crazy. He looked like he was clogging. Another of my new friends watched Bardo today, entertaining him by filling up his pockets with shakers. Quinn also loves playing on the piano. He discovered today how to open and close the piano cover making a loud noise. So today he was disciplined for the first time. Don't mess with my piano!

Bardo cuddles. He doesn't cuddle for long, maybe ten seconds. But I love hugging him. It's great to be loved.

Learning. About. Periods.

Pippi's teacher really likes the way she draws periods. At. the. end. of. every. word. She's so proud of herself; I think I'll let her figure it out later.

Cake on Fire

My Birthday: Athens, Paris, and a Football Game

Yesterday, the Warlock and I woke up bright and early to begin "my" birthday "celebration." We hopped in the car for a road trip. First we drove through Paris, and then we drove through Athens until we reached our destination: Tulsa, home of the Golden Hurricane.

We met several of the Warlock's online buddies at a tailgate for the game. We also unexpectedly ran into Lance and Phoebe, a couple of our friends from Manhattan that had recently moved to Texas, AND we ran into The Warlock's cousins who now live in Oklahoma City.

I loved sharing BYU football with the Warlock, but my favorite part of the trip was experiencing September. You know what September is supposed to feel like, right? September is supposed to have at least a slight chill in the air. Tulsa even had a refreshing breeze. Everybody else calls it football weather, but I call it birthday weather.

I was also pleased to discover that the particular BYU fans I was sitting next to were very fun people. The lady sitting next to me laughed at all the jokes I was trying to make as BYU was being devastated by the Golden Hurricane. And, to their credit, unlike some of the fans sitting behind us, they did not criticize the officiating or boo any injured players off the field. And I was very pleased that the Warlock and I opted not to bring the kids on this journey. I saw some people in front of us struggling with a toddler Bardo's age, and I was grateful that he was tucked in his own sweet bed, asleep, with a responsible babysitter.

Burning Questions

Why is the the Christian Rock radio station the only one I don't find offensive?

Why are Bardo's favorite things the exact things that he shouldn't play with (ei-telephone, remote controls, computer mouse, computer keyboard, climbing to the top of the table, rubber door stoppers, toilet paper, spaghetti sauce, the refrigerator (as a ladder), etc.)?

Where did Pippi get the idea that a slinky needed to be dressed?

Fundraiser

You've all probably gotten my email, but maybe somebody rich that needs lots of wrapping paper will hap onto my blog. Anyway, Pippi's school is fundraising for Building Security Equipment and Grade Level Instructional materials. I'm not sure where my tax dollars are going, but the fact remains that the school needs/wants more money.

SO if you want, check out www.kathrynbeich.com.

They have some handy stuff, some beautiful stuff, some tasty stuff, AND it supports Pippi's school.

I have a special number for Pippi, but I don't want to post it on a public blog, so if you could email me, I'll get the number for you.

I don't expect anyone to purchase anything, but it never hurts to ask, right?

At least he wasn't clothed ...

Pippi and I found a sugar pumpkin at the store yesterday, so we decided that today we'd bake a fresh pumpkin pie. After Bardo's bath we decided to put together our pie. I put Bardo down for thirty seconds so I could do something with two hands. When I looked up he was up to his elbow in the spaghetti sauce.

But I'm glad we persisted in making the pie because Pippi, in the happiness of it all, remarked, "I like school, but it sure is good to be home."

Note: Please do not ask me what an open jar of spaghetti sauce was doing on the table. Please. I'm embarrassed about it enough already.

Sand Therapy

Here are some of the pictures you asked for Jess! This of course, was the Warlock's idea. Pippi loved spending this time with her Dad, and the other kids thought it was great, too.

Stewart Beach

Some of our new neighborhood/church friends invited us to head to Stewart Beach for the Labor Day holiday. We've been hearing awful things about the beaches near Houston, so Stewart Beach exceeded our expectations. It was everything people had been saying, namely, silty, but it was clean, and we had a great time. The sand didn't bother me because I've never been to the beach (or to the lake) without getting good and sandy.

We arrived there at about 9:30 this morning. Few people were there, so we found our friends quite easily. The water was shallow for a great distance away from the shore, so it was perfect for the kids. I couldn't believe how brave Pippi was against the ocean (scary). Bardo loved the small waves knocking him down, and he didn't eat any sand (except for maybe the stuff that was stuck to his 2 sucking fingers). While at the beach, the clouds spit on us a couple of times, but it just made the visit all the more refreshing. The air felt much cooler at the beach, and we had a good mix of cloud cover and sunshine.

I've been trying to talk the Warlock into a beach trip for quite some time, so luckily he had a good time. There' s even been talk of exploring some of the other beaches in the Galveston area. Hopefully his sunburn won't scare him away.

Swimming video

You've got to check out Pippi's underwater plug-nose swimming technique!

Swimming