The Special Sweater

Earlier this week, I was surprised to find a package on the deck when Peyton and I were going out to get the mail. James' Mom sent a sweater that her mother crocheted for James when he was little. She saved it and now it's Peyton's!

When James got home he saw the sweater and remembered it! We tried it on Peyton and it fits. :-)

It's a beautiful sweater and although it was in the high 70s early in the week, we took pictures to share.







Mom: Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was an amazing surprise. It means so much to me and James! We'll take really good care of it so that we can pass it on to Peyton's children too. :-)

Fun with Grandma Nelida

As I've mentioned before, Peyton just loves being outside. I remembered to take the camera over to my mom's last week to show you the fun!

He loves to go outside and play with the brooms.



He'll pick one up and give it to my Mom and watches her sweep.



Then, he'll change his mind and leads her where he wants to go.



The sandbox!



He waits for her to open it.



Fun time!



He likes to push it around with his hands.



It's coarse sand, so he likes to feel the individual grains.



More pushing!



And then he moves on. He likes to play with the oak leaves that fall off the trees.



He always finds something to keep himself entertained.



Even the tree!



It got cool, so we put a flannel shirt on him before moving on to the "main event": playing with the sprinkler heads!

Peyton will lead my Mom (or me, or James, or anyone nearby) to a sprinkler head and make them lift it so that he can...







...push it all the way down!



He'll do this over and over again all over the yard. It's the simple things that make him happy. :-)

I mentioned above that he'll make my mom sweep. He has his own broom too!



He's playing on bigger slides now too. My Mom will help him slide down (this one is a little high).











Then, it's back to the garden to do some weeding.





After a while, we brought him back inside. We had to take off his shoes, as they got a little muddy.

Inside, Peyton plays with his trains.







Ooh, a stick!



"Let's go back outside!"



My Mom puts his shoes and socks back on. He helps by handing her a sock.



And he'll give her his foot!



But, it was lunch time, so he couldn't go back outside just quite yet.



As you can see, Peyton has a lot of fun at my parents' house. It's so nice that they have a yard where he can play without any chance of possibly getting run over. :-)

Peyton is 18 Months Old!

We went and saw Dr. Glinder yesterday for Peyton's 18 month check up. The doctor continues to be impressed with Peyton's development. Peyton spent most of the appointment playing with the standing scale, balancing on the stand and sliding the counterweight up and down the side. Dr. Glinder is impressed with his balance and his confidence. :-)

Here are his 18-month stats:

Height: 33 inches, 72nd percentile
Weight: 27 pounds, 11.4 ounces, 74th percentile
Head Circumference: 48.3 centimeters, 66th percentile

Yes, you read that correctly; Peyton had a major growth spurt in the past six months! At all of his previous check ups, his height was always in the 20-25th percentiles, but he has shot up to the 72nd percentile!

I can't believe how quickly these 18 months have flown by. Peyton is doing so much now. He absolutely loves being outside. I think if it were his choice, he would live outside. It's the first thing he wants to do in the morning and the last thing he wants to do before going to bed - go outside! It really helps that my parents have a house with a yard where he can just play and play and play (he really only goes inside for meals, diaper changes, and naps).

He's a real stacking pro now, he stacks blocks, rings, anything that can sit on top of other things! And he's getting really adventurous on stairs - trying to walk up and down them while standing. It doesn't always work so well, but we're always there to help him (and the gates are still up).

His latest idea of fun is to pull all the toys out of his "catch-all" and then put them, or most of them, back. He'll stop when he finds something that he really wants to play with and then James or I put the rest back.

He always continues to love Curious George and the new PBS show The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot about That. He loves all the music in that show and George just makes him laugh. He's very musically inclined, always getting me and James to dance with him (with or without music). We have quite a bit of fun.

Stacking Blocks

Last week, Peyton started playing with his blocks and showing interest in stacking them. He has been lining them up and then pushing the line across the floor, and he still takes pleasure in throwing them behind his back regardless of where he's sitting (much like the billiard balls in the Outer Banks video).

So, now he's stacking blocks and he tests himself on how high he can go. I was able to take a video of yesterday's stacking fun. With some help from James, Peyton was able to stack SEVEN blocks!