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!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!

This year, Peyton was a little monkey. It just seemed right considering his obsession with Curious George. :-)

Peyton has been transitioning away from napping. He dropped from two naps to one back in April and now seems to think he doesn't need to nap at all. When he does this, he usually goes to bed between 5 and 6pm for the night, so no trick-or-treating for us. But, we dressed him up in his costume and went and played outside for a little while in the afternoon.



A full body shot of the costume.



And the back! That's Russell, our neighbors' cat that he's walking towards.



James loves his little monkey!



Time to go back in.



So, no candy for Peyton this year (not that I would have allowed him to eat any). Maybe next year!

Santiago Valentin Valdez

My cousin Heidi, Peyton's Godmother, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy last Wednesday, October 20th (10/20/2010)!

Heidi's water broke early the morning of Monday, October 18th. After over 50 HOURS of waiting, Santiago Valentin Valdez was born at 3:41pm on Wednesday, October 20th. But, boy oh boy, was he worth the wait!



He weighed 8 pounds, 1 oz and was 19 inches long.

Look at those big, beautiful, brown eyes!



Congratulations Heidi and Rene!!! I'm in love and he's 400 miles away.

Drinking Water from a Glass

Peyton has become really interested in what James and I eat and drink and often requires a taste. He loves to drink water from a glass (with James' help).







Mmm, tasty!!

Sunrise 10/7/10 (Outer Banks, NC)

The first clear day in the Outer Banks started with an AMAZING sunrise. James jumped out of bed and ran outside with the camera and got some great pictures!

James was able to capture a video of it too.

I love sunrises!

Oh, What a View (Outer Banks)

We had an amazing view from the house!

Indoor Fun in the Outer Banks

The first few days in the Outer Banks were cold and rainy, so we spent most of the time inside.

Peyton found several things to keep himself busy, including this basket.



He enjoyed picking it up...

...and carrying it to the baby gate at the top of the stairs....

...and throwing it over!

Ta dah!



We did get a few shots outside one morning. (Uncle Dave looking on.)



I love my little man!



Peyton enjoyed lounging on this chair!



Now, one thing Peyton really enjoyed doing, albeit hazardous to everyone else, was to sit on the pool table and throw the balls around. It's too hard to describe properly, so here's a video showing you how this worked.

Oh, what you can get away with by being a baby!