Spring

Spring has finally arrived in Minnesota! (Well, if I ignore the forecast which says a rain/snow mix is headed our way later this week.) The weather has been mostly sunny and in the 70's and so we've spent as much time as possible outside. In the last 4 days we visited 7 different parks, went to the Como Zoo & Conservatory, ate many of our meals outside, and enjoyed the sun and fresh air. We are all so glad to be able to spend time outside again after such a long winter. Hooray for spring!

19 months

In some ways Oliver is not much different than last month and yet when I was re-reading last month's post, I realized how much he has learned this month. Last month he counted to 2 and now he can count to 10. He said 1 and counted to 2 last month and this month he counted to 3, 5, and then 10! He recognizes 1-10 and can say them all (although 6 and 7 trip him up a little). We are now starting to teach him letters. Right now he can repeat most of the letters, but he calls every letter "B". When he's repeating the alphabet and I get to "W", instead of repeating it he just says "X" (can't blame him as "W" is senselessly long compared to the other letters).

Unfortunately he was still sick much of this month with an ear infection but (finally!) seems to be feeling better. We've had an unusually long winter season (snow in late April!?) and we're all hoping that spring is around the corner!

After using his cousin's chalkboard, we decided to get Oli his own easel with chalkboard. He has been loving it and often brings us chalk so that we'll come draw with him.

He has a ton of new words, too many to keep track of. He likes to name everything on his plate during meals and is starting to name a lot of things in books too. My current favorite is his word for quesadilla. He just shortens it to "dilla". He also says "Toby" and "Oscar" now and can tell them apart. He has been saying "nice" and "alright" for awhile but this month added "cool" and "I did it".

frozen blueberries are a new favorite

enjoying one of the sunny days before we got more snow

first candy, a dum dum at a Korean restaurant in town 

blocks are fun to play with...

... and eat.

music making with dad

already a pro with technology 

goofy face

reading 

exploring the neighborhood 

baby legs 

joy 

serious at the chalkboard

a coffee to celebrate turning 19 months

And last, a few videos from this month.

One year ago, at 7 months. I know I'm biased but I think he was such a cute baby!