Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The beach and a toddler

Grayer turned 21 months while we were on our trip to Destin, FL this year. Technically, this was our family’s third year to spend a week at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, since I was 27 weeks pregnant with Grayer on our first trip in 2010 (our babymoon!). We have absolutely fallen in love with this place, and hope to go back for many, many more years. The resort is the perfect balance of kid friendly and adult, and it fits us to a “t”. They have a fun, beach type entrance pool that Grayer loved. He did really well swimming with his puddle jumper on, and got pretty good at paddling around towards the end of our trip. Now that we are home, he lays on his tummy, kicks his legs, and “swims” in the bath tub, ha! He wasn’t a huge fan of the sand in-between his toes on the first day at the beach, but he warmed up to it, and loved going into the ocean with his daddy. We had such a great time, and even after a full week away, weren’t ready to come home. Already looking forward to another trip!

Here are a few pictures!












Gray, here is what you are up to at 21 months!

You are obsessed with cars, trucks, airplanes, fire trucks, school buses, motorcycles, and really, anything that makes a lot of noise! You get so excited to see any of those things, and the delight in your eyes is priceless. You saw LOTS of airplanes while we were at the beach, and you would stop what you were doing every time and shout at them, hopeful they would notice you. So cute!

Your love for stairs is still unwavering. You want to go up and down over and over, and now that you are a little taller, if there is a rail, you can go up and down all on your own. This makes you feel very proud, and it’s not uncommon to see you give a clap or two when you make it to the top or bottom :)



You are becoming much more independent and are very comfortable around almost anyone. When I take you to the play ground (mostly the indoor ones now that it’s 200 degrees outside) you socialize well with the other kids, and try to mimic what the big kids are doing. You haven’t been crying at all when we drop you off at Sunday School or other activities, and always seem to be having a great time when we come to pick you up. When we ask the teachers how you did, they always seem to have sometime funny to tell us, like you were trying to eat all the bubbles, or you wanted to give everyone in your class hugs.



Puzzles, books and cars are your favorite toys at the moment. You got a new “vehicles” puzzle in Florida, and love to put all the pieces in the right spots and make all the noises of the cars and buses. You love to “read” and usually when you’re in your room being quiet and I wonder why the house is silent, I find you sitting in your little red chair looking at books. You are also getting really good at matching the colors and shapes in your shape sorter.



You are still a fantastic sleeper! You are down to one nap in the afternoon now (our plan before our Florida trip) and usually go down between 12-1, but are very flexible with the timing. You sleep anywhere from 2-3.5 hours, and always go down easily and almost always wake up happy. You are staying up a little bit later and on some nights don’t go down until close to 8:30.



We got you a potty seat a few weeks ago, and you love to sit on it and have books read to you. You went pee-pee on your potty seat for the first time at 20 months (see pic below!), but I think it was kind of a fluke. You had just gotten out of the bath and were running around naked before getting your lotion on. You were jumping on your chair, and I looked over and you were peeing!! I took you immediately to the potty, and we read a book and you let out the rest of your pee-pee. You haven’t gone on your chair potty again, but we will keep trying. As a boy, I think you’ve got nothing but time, but it doesn’t hurt to introduce you to the potty early :)



You love to dance, and any time you hear music, you’ve got to get up and bust a move. You jump around and wave your arms all around. Precious! You also love to give high-fives, and “knuckles” to anyone who asks.



You are getting better at sitting through a meal at a restaurant, and did GREAT at all the places we went in Destin. We were thrilled with how well you sat and how well you ate new foods that you’d never tried before. We very much enjoy dining out, so here’s to hoping this just gets better and better!



You have such a sweet personality, and are very gentle and kind to others. You share very well for an almost 2 year old, and almost never take something away from another kiddo. You love animals, and are very sweet with them most of the time. You are a happy toddler, and love to give hugs and kisses to anyone and everyone. It has been so exciting and such a blessing to see your personality expand and become so unique to you alone. You make your daddy and I so very happy, and we are thankful each moment we get to be your parents. We love you sweet-tart!