this past month has been insane. insane in so many ways, but lots of fun, for sure.

eric and i left adam for a over a week (!) so we could go to costa rica, where we had an amazing vacation and were in a wedding for our friends, justin and rachel. getting there was a little hairy thanks to the TWO BLIZZARDS in a single week. but once there, thoughts of snow melted away and we had a fantastic time.

while we were away, adam split his time between eric's parents and my parents-- having a little vacation of his own. while we were spoiled with gorgeous sunsets, delicious south american beverages and sleeping in, he had his own fair share of spoiling too, i'm sure!

though it was nice to get away, we (of course) missed adam immensely and were SO excited to see him. my parents flew up with him from SC (way to go mom and dad!) and spent the weekend with us before heading home.

adam is growing up faster than ever and everyday he does or says something that i think- i must put that on his blog so i don't forget!- but no sooner do i think that, and then i can't remember anymore. since having adam, my short term memory has turned to mush. but i'll do my best...

-adam says a ton of words. some new ones are bananas (NANAS), pajamas, adam (yes, he points to himself and says something that sounds like ADD-AH. when i say, where is adam?? he points to himself.), belly, ears, eyes, home, snow (never thought i'd have a one-year-old who could say snow as one of his first words...!), please (sounds like MEES), up, down, feet, yes, help.... the list goes on.

- adam likes to go around our house pointing to people in photos and telling us who they are. mommy, daddy, baby, papa, otis, etc.

- when adam finds our shoes around the house, he brings them and tries to put them on our feet for us. he also frequently walks up to me in the kitchen or where ever i am and hands me the tv remote, my phone, a random hair tie or anything he finds lying around. i think he thinks he is being helpful. i always thank him and he has a very accomplished look on his face.

-adam has learned to kick his big ball and it is SO precious. he kicks it and chases it all over our house. i cheer him a lot and he seems very eager to please.

- i signed adam up for swimming lessons that start in two weeks at the rec center near our house and continue once a week until mid-may. i am excited but also nervous. last summer, adam FREAKED out in the pool and ocean. hopefully he's able to move past his fear this year. he loves his bath, so i hope the pool is warm...

- now that our trip is over and we'll be on a pretty steady schedule, back to normal, for awhile, we've decided to officially ditch the binky for good-- or the NEE NEE as adam calls it. this hasn't been easy, especially since he had full NEE NEE access during his time with grandparents. now that he has his word for binky and knows where they "live", he starts his naptime pointing to the top dresser drawer and pleading for NEE NEE?!!?? we're holding firm for lots of reasons and i know we'll be back to a NEE NEE free home again soon. i hope.

- adam did NOT like the snow. i knew i liked this kid! he freaked out when we set him in it. and finally he stopped crying but would NOT budge an inch in the stuff. he did eat some snow, which i am sure felt lovely on the big back teeth that have now broken through.

- sometimes, if eric or i am on the computer and adam is around, he will close the laptop and say ALL DONE! i think this is hilarious. like- get off the computer and play with me, you guys! (on that note, i have made a serious effort to cut out technology use in our house while adam is around/awake. i/we so rarely get to see him, with eric's schedule and even though i see him every day, a few hours in the evenings is just such a small amount of time. i started to feel like our tv was always just ON-- even though i didn't want to hear it and no one was watching. and, anything on the computer could wait until nap time or bed time. and i don't want to look at my blackberry either! ugh. so this week, we listened to music in the evenings instead of a blaring tv and it was SO much more pleasant. in fact, since monday, i haven't watched any television at all. nada.)

- about a month ago, i started telling adam to say HELP if he needed help. i had hoped to eliminate some whining and screaming that occurs when he can't get what he needs/wants and needs my assistance. it worked! now i hear a little ELP and i am happy to assist.

- i ask adam if he wants something or wants to do something and he can answer. rarely, he says yes. and mostly he says no by shaking his head. sometimes, we ask him if he wants to go night night and he walks to his crib and points inside. NIGH NIGH he says as he points.

-we have been singing row row row your boat to adam. now he sings the row row row part. of course, it's the easiest part :) but we are soooo over the moon when he sings too! he loves the itsy bitsy spider too and laughs every time i sing about the spider getting washed out.

-adam is just now getting into cars and trucks. he drives them around and makes car sounds for them. he has two little ones- a little bigger than matchbox cars- that he literally carried around today for hours. i can't imagine his little hands didn't hurt from holding them so long! he carried them around our house, in the car, through the grocery store, one in each hand for hours and hours.