taking a few steps to mommy and daddy.

reading elmo book with mommy.

looooves looking at books

happy in christmas jammies.

dear adam,

you are really growing in your independence lately. it's almost like a switch flipped and you decided one day that YOU are in charge of YOU... and everyone else as well! if you don't want to do something, you're not doing it. at least not without some screaming and letting us know that this was NOT part of your plan. you are definitely helping mommy and daddy to tap into their patience. :) i'd still say you're pretty go-with-the-flow, but i can definitely tell that we're edging in on toddler-hood. you love telling otis NO NO with a shaking finger and also telling him MINE if he is sniffing around a toy you're using. you like to tell us when you're ALL DONE eating and try to lean over right out of your booster seat to get down. it's a good thing you're strapped in and IT is strapped to the chair! you cannot be interrupted from playing for anything silly- like diaper changes or hand-washing, oh no! you're sure to let us know how mad that makes you. you LOVE for us to read you books and will INSIST that we read a book over and over and over and over. while we would love to try some new stories, we're so happy you're into books and that you like reading and listening. you especially love your sesame street books. you test us sometimes by looking at us, first saying UH OH and then dropping your toy or book from the table or car seat while looking us in the eye. or sometimes, if we tell you no no, you will look right at us and do the same exact thing once more, just to see what we'll say. i am so happy to see you growing into being a boy, using your brain and thinking about cause and effect.... even though it's a true test to us sometimes!

this weekend we had thanksgiving with mamama and pop pop and it was delicious- you enjoyed it with us. yesterday we put up a tiny christmas tree- it's only about three feet tall and on top of our corner table! daddy and i thought this would be best so you don't pull a giant tree over on yourself.

you are really into listening to music and playing drums, xylophones, and toys that play music. so i thought it would be a good idea to take you to a music class for babies. but, the class colliding with your budding independence was a little bit of a clash! when the teacher was playing the xylophone and you were supposed to be singing in my lap all you wanted to do was crawl over and bang the xylophone. when i tried to stop you and bring you back to my lap, you screamed, which was so pleasant (not). you absolutely did not want to sit in my lap and when it was time to put instruments away to move on to the next instrument, you were NOT happy. apparently you were not finished with the drum/scarf/maracas/etc! you loved dancing/walking in a circle and interacting with the other children. and, you loved clapping and playing all the instruments. but, i think this class had too much singing and not enough instrument-playing for us! santa will bring you some music instruments and we'll skip music class again until you make some better decisions about following directions. :)

last night we went to see the christmas tree lighting in our town. santa was there but it was SO cold and windy that we decided to sit with him another time!

forgot these two, which he said last night and this morning:

night-night (nigh-nigh)
mine! (for example, this morning he was playing with his giant fire truck and otis kept sniffing it. adam yelled MINE! and pulled it away from otis. he also says MINE! often when we're grocery shopping and he's reaching for the list in my hand. adam looooves paper.)

words adam says:
light
weeeee!
bye
bye bye (sometimes accompanied with a wave)
bye bye 'tis (which i think is bye bye otis- usually said when we're leaving the house in the morning.)
uh oh
all done
'nack (snack)
dink (drink)
dus (bus)
dookie (cookie)
this (dis)
mommy
daddy
moo- when asked what does the cow say
dobble dobble- when asked what the turkey says.
no no- usually accompanied with a shaking index finger. wonder where he learned that...? haha.
ball

also, when i ask, he can point to his nose, his belly and his "pee pee" -- whatever, he was already interested in it... i figure knowing the name for it will only make potty training easier when that time comes. :)

other new things:
eric taught him to whisper, so if we whisper bye bye, so will he.
he gives kisses on cheeks and can make the kissing sound.
he eats well with a spoon. last week at daycare, i witnessed him eating a bowl of cereal with milk and couldn't believe it.
he is walking more and more alone. i see him standing alone often.
he is really into making music and loves drums, pianos, xylophone and maracas. i am looking into some mommy/baby music classes in dc.
he will bring us books and shove them into our laps over and over and over. he will crawl across the house hunting a grown up, dragging a book the whole way, until he finds someone to read to him.
he loves looking at books on his own too. today, i watched him looking at an elmo book. on a page with a ball, he pointed to the ball and said "ball!" several times.
tony and andrea gave him a little radio flyer tricycle (no pedals, just push along with your feet) and he rides it well, shoving along both backwards and forwards. tho he goes backwards much better than forward.
he got his fifth tooth, on the top to the right of his two front teeth.
adam received the H1N1 vaccine last week.

last night, i put adam in his crib for bed. he laid down in his crib on his belly and i covered him up. and then he said -mama? and i was so happy he didn't call me daddy, i said- yes? and he looked up at me and said- bye bye.

it was so precious.

adam, cameran and savannah on halloween

adam and cameran before trick or treating. he was so hot i think he was miserable!

uncle lucas and adam the monkey!

adam the monkey and mommy

happy monkey with his monkey head OFF.

adam hanging with luke.

on the rocking horse with grandpa.

playing new xylophone.

for halloween weekend, eric, adam and i went to south carolina to see my family. luckily, my brother was also able to come up (his girlfriend, stephanie and stephanie's daughter, cameran too!), so it was great getting to see everyone. though i was sick during most of the visit, it was totally worth it to go down.

we weren't anticipating the temperature change though! shows how quickly you can forget! on halloween night it was extremely humid and hot and adam barely moved until we took half- and then his entire- costume off. he was probably melting in there. :)

we strolled the neighborhood while cameran trick or treated. adam couldn't eat candy since he still only has just 4 teeth.

while there, my mom gave adam a new toy- a xylophone and little piano in one. he LOVED it and banged on it all weekend. perfect toy for him. we also did a small hike while there and it was beautiful to see the leaves changing and get some fresh air.

as always, more photos and videos on flickr.

lately, adam is a barrel of funny. he recently learned to pick his nose! and while eric freaked out, i couldn't stop laughing! in my opinion, the time to teach him not to do it will be next week. for this weekend, i want to laugh about it. he gives kisses on the cheek, which is heart-melting. he calls us both daddy so pure and clear; i keep reminding him that my name is mommy, but he hasn't seemed to remember that yet...

he is taking more and more steps alone, sometimes now without our prompting, letting go of the couch and venturing to the middle of the floor to grab a toy or something. but for walking, he still mostly uses his push toy. he loves ramming it into us, and as he gets stronger and faster, that push toy may "go missing" this weekend, ha.

adam's new thing to try doing is opening our front door, which is scary. he can reach the handle and i have heard our alarm system go "beep beep beep!" once letting me know he got it open. so... time for the deadbolt when the door is shut.

when i pick adam up at daycare, he still tells everyone there bye bye and blows kisses. he likes to hold one of our hands to walk to the car. and, last week, in the parking lot, he turned back toward the school and yelled at the top of his lungs- BYE BYE! it was hilarious!

lately, adam is not too interested in eating meat, which is baffling to his daddy. he mostly seems in to fruits, veggies and grains. he LOVES beans and milk and "cookies" (graham crackers). in fact, "cookie" is his most recent new word. adam also says "weeeeeeeeeeeeee" when something fun is happening, which is also adorable. like, when he goes down the slide, is sitting in the rocking chair, or last weekend on his rocking horse. and while eating something yummy, he says "mmmmmmmmm" wonder where he learned that (woops)?

we're having fun and just trying to keep up!