a free day

yesterday was the first day in a month or so that we didn't have anything on the schedule and nothing planned that had to get done that day. arlo loves the MAX and so we decided to take a ride to the children's museum. we loved the train ride and even played with his trains while riding. every time the train would stop at one of the other stops he'd say "ride train!!!" because he didn't want to get off. it was super cute.

once we got to the children's museum, he was a little overwhelmed at first. there was a fair amount of kids there running around and lots to see. after looking around for awhile i convinced him to go play in the water works and boy did he love it.

he ended up soaking his shoes and bottom of his pants. but, he could care less. he would hardly even look up or respond to me if i asked him a question he was so into it. eventually i started getting hungry, but he could care less about food because the water was so fun. finally we went and had some lunch. then i convinced him to leave to go ride the train. on the way back to the max, we passed by this very cool, old train that arlo played on for awhile.

he was so cute about it and kept saying "all aboard" and "wooo woooo!". i wish i had my real camera instead of just my cell phone, but these still work! it was a very fun day for arlo. we look forward to more frequent trips to the children's museum (my mom got us a membership there for Christmas & just now activated it) and even signed Arlo up for a class called "Science Tots", which looks like a lot of fun!

Arlo has turned 2

On Arlo's actual birthday this year... I was out of town for the military. It was probably harder on me than it was on Arlo. Let's face it, he doesn't really know what a birthday is yet (although now I think that he does a little bit).  So, we had a small little shin dig on my one day off with my family (in two weeks). It was a little stressful for me to pull together so quickly, but it was very worth it to see Arlo so happy. He was so happy when we sang him "Happy Birthday", even though my lighter wasn't working to actually light the candles, and it was super windy anyway. He was very excited about his melon cake, he couldn't keep his hands off of it, and kept asking to eat it the entire time. And if you notice, there are 3 candles on the cake... Arlo did that. The fruit "cake" went over pretty well, although I think some of the older kids were confused by it. They expected actual cake. Oh well, they were happy! (I got the idea for the cake HERE)

Later that night, when we put Arlo to bed (after much crying about having to stop playing with his new trains), he requested that we sing "Happy Birthday" to him instead of the usual bed time songs. It was pretty cute. He is so grown up!

num num num

apparently you need a fork and spoon to eat applesauce.

easter... a little late

arlo had his first easter egg hunt this year. he had so much fun! 

the next day we pulled up to church to attend our meeting and he kept shouting, "eggs! eggs!!!"

he continued to say "eggs!" the next several times we went to the church building. i guess it had a huge impact on him!

he was a pro!

the window

these two are becoming good buddies (mostly it's that arlo is always talking about grae), but arlo sure loves having a  buddy around to play with and share his interests with.

what could these two be sooooo intent on watching out the window?

it could be birds flying...

could be cars driving by... 

people walking, biking, or skating... 

or it could be this

boys. 

we went to Utah

Arlo played with lots and lots of trains. He even talked in his sleep about "Fercy" (Percy) and slept with a train in his hand. 

we had the worlds largest "mini" shakes at Iceberg.

We went to the children's museum

and we even got to play in the snow after conference!

 we got shot with lots of nerf darts. 

 Arlo ate lots of treats

and we had dance parties.

oh, and Arlo did very well on the drive there and back. 

we did some other things while we were there, but i didn't take pictures. it was so good to spend time with family (andrea & family, justin, and abby). we had lots of good food (eating out and in). it definitely wasn't a long enough trip!

short hair!

we decided to see how arlo would look with short hair.

i almost cried after we cut it off, but it is growing on me.

and i think he looks pretty handsome. 

we gave him a bath afterwards to get all the hair off (hence the outfit).

a sneak peek of spring

the weather is starting to get a little warmer

it is starting to stay light a little later

we are not there yet

but we are getting closer

closer to warm days full of fun

lots of fruit

swimming

farmers markets

camping

walks

we enjoyed a sunny (and slightly chilly) afternoon at the park.

arlo can't wait for the nice weather either

he told me so himself

that "snow day" we had

arlo was very, very excited about the snow and kept looking out the window, signing "snow".

 i was sick this day and really not feeling well. i finally got up the energy to go outside, at least for a little bit. he was not happy when it was time to go back in. and i might have let him bring in his snowball.

as you can see. the snow was pretty sparse by the time we got out. when we first got up in the morning there was more. it did melt very quickly though. arlo had a blast though, and he thought it was soooo cool that we could make A BALL out of snow!

serious artist

i know i have already posted about arlo's drawing, but he is really into it. really, really, really into it. drawing is one of the only things that can hold his attention around the house for very long. after dinner tonight, he saw the crayons and asked to draw. he just sat at the table completely focused on his "fish", "apples", and "o's". i just had to take some photos and videos (side note: i have been doing really, really bad the last two weeks at my photo a day challenge, oooops). 

bye, bye!

we got a new printer (mostly for my photography business, therefore it does not count towards our nothing new goal) and it came with a special toy for arlo to play with.

we would put him in and close the top and say "bye bye"

when dan and i were done playing, but arlo still wanted to play, he would get in the box and cry saying "bye bye! a bye bye!"

cutest sad thing ever. 

bed head

the night before... after arlo went to bed. i picked up a box of 14 puzzles (from a craigslist ad). arlo woke up to all sorts of fun.

mini da vinci

my 19 month old son just drew a fish. i am pretty impressed.

arlo's is the one on the top, the bottom one is drawn by a parent :)

lucy took arlo on a walk

crazy weather.

today we had snow (huge snow), rain, hail, and even some sun. we went out and chased lucy around in the slush this morning.

daddy's glasses

arlo loves to steal dad's glasses. 

welcome winter + i have the cutest kid ever

here in oregon. we got a very small amount of snow last night. every day, arlo and i take lucy on a walk around the block. i snapped some shots of him today all bundled up. even though there isn't much snow, it's pretty cold. the high today was around 29. 

arlo has been doing some really cute stuff lately and i have been doing a horrible job at documenting it. whether it be through pictures, journaling, or videos. i feel so bad. 

he is getting great at sign language. i think he knows more signs than i do because he watches signing time every so often without me sitting there. a few nights ago while in the bath, he started signing "strawberry" and pointing over at the counter. at first i was really confused as to why he was signing "strawberry". then i realized that there was his tube of toothpaste sitting on the counter with pictures of strawberries on it. i was so impressed. also, one morning i was getting him dressed in a red shirt, and he totally signed "red". he can also sign "blue" and "green", although i am not sure he could recognize those colors yet. some of the other signs he knows now are:

water

milk

more

eat/food

sleep

all done

dog

bird

fish

please

thank you

hurt

grandma

baby

ice cream

cheese

apple

peach

carrot

frog

orange

banana

train

book

airplane

ball

cold

hot

(and probably more that i can't think of)

he is also really into "Cat in the Hat". i read the book so much, that he can fill in some of the words while i read. (i also have it memorized up to page 14) and because of the book, if you ask him what a fish says, he says "no, no!" it is adorable. 

he loves to be wrapped in his blanket and either walk around or sit on the couch. he is getting really cuddly and snuggly. and he is getting much better at going to sleep. he doesn't act like you are torturing him when you put him to bed. 

he wants to talk so bad. he is actually getting quite good at trying to repeat words. cutest thing ever.

when he falls down (which is a lot, this kid is crazy active). he tells us that he is falling down. "a dow"

see video below

chugga chugga chugga chugga

choooo choooo

morning blocks

lately arlo has been, shall we say, OBSESSED with "Shamu", or as he says, "muuuuu". he wakes up and asks for it (it's a youtube video of Sea World's "Believe" show from this year). so, i have been trying to distract him. 

mmmm.... cereal

arlo always insists on feeding himself now. even when it's not even his food to begin with. 

i love these boys.