Birthday

We couldn't think of a better way to break in the new house than a birthday party. It was a nice day with friends and family.

Lots of photos on the photo site.

Wisconsin

Atticus joined mom, Grandpa Jim and Grandma Joan on a road trip to Wisconsin in July. We were all amazed how well Atticus did in the car, with little crying and whining involved. He loved exploring Aunt Jill and Uncle John's house, got to re-meet lots of other family, experienced a small-town 4th of July, and ate lots of good food (thanks, Uncle John!). For over a month after returning home he kept asking to go back. I hope it's not too long before we can make it back.

Way behind!

Crazy how pregnancy and a two year old can make you so busy. I am finally getting around to going through photos from the last 6 months or so. Lots to come.

Train

After a six month+ obsession with trains, we decided it was about time that Atticus got to ride a real one. Yesterday the three of us went up and rode the Georgetown Loop. The steam train was being fixed so we got stuck with a diesel, but Atticus didn't even care. Nothing could have ruined this day for him. He was all smiles the whole way.


Lots more photos on the website.

Rain

We're just getting out of monsoon season in Colorado. Atticus very much liked puddles everywhere for weeks on end.

I blame the heat.

It has been brought to my attention (hi, Dad!) that I keep forgetting to post photos lately. Sorry about that.

Summer is creeping in here in Colorado. Since Atticus unfortunately can't shed his shaggy winter hair as easily as Esther can, I chopped it all off last week while he was sleeping. It still could be shorter for this heat-sensitive boy.

More photos to come soon, I promise.

Other distractions

Along with the drums, the other toy this week that has been a good distraction while quarantined is this Curious George tea set. Atticus has been making tea and snacks for anyone who will sit long enough to play.

And a bit of hindsight wisdom for anyone who may be in these shoes in the future: when running out and picking up a video for a sick kid, make sure it's either longer than 30 minutes or tolerable to be viewed 5 times a day. I learned that the hard way.

Drums

Uncle Justin got a kid's drum set for Atticus at a garage sale last weekend. It's a huge hit! We've been stuck home with the chicken pox for the last week, so this was about the best distraction we could have hoped for.

Atticus still has yet to believe us the these should not be played before 9 in the morning, though. He's start at 6 if he had his way.

Snow day

Winter finally hit here this week, three months late. Better late than never, I suppose. Atticus very much enjoyed his snow pants and eating snow wherever he could find it.


Sliding into large piles also proved to be exciting.
Too bad that this glimpse of winter was so short.

More drumming

Daniel and Atticus found a bunch of old drumsticks in a box while cleaning this weekend. We assume these were left over from when Uncle Mike had the drum set*, as they are pretty much Uncle Mike-hand sized. Atticus was excited to get a few new sets of sticks, especially when he realized that an overturned kid sized swimming pool makes a great drum.

*which started out as an Uncle Chuck drum set, what, 23 or 24 years ago??









We also managed to get this shot for a things-in-front-of-Atticus'-face size comparison to show you just how much he's grown in the last seven months.

Two

The best part of living with a two year old is the emerging imagination. We love finding interesting things around the house, such as the set up below.

Train set

Atticus had a pretty fun Christmas this year. His favorite present by far was the super-huge train set. He loved playing with these types whenever he would see them at other people's houses, so it was fun to get him one of his own.


We can't even tell you how obsessed with this he is. Ok, here is an example. Many nights, while falling asleep, he'll start to whine about wanting the train and then will say "stop siiiiiiignnnns!" He insists on sleeping with a piece of his set in his hand.
Funny kid.

Why no new photos?

I feel bad that we haven't posted photos much in the last two months. It's not really that we're not posting them as much as there aren't many. Here's why:

Playing, being quite cute....

... Oh! Is that a camera?

"My turn! My turn!*"

* - translates to "Give me!" or "This is unfair!!", depending on the situation

So, when the appeal of looking at the camera wears off, we'll get some more pictures.

Way back when

For Daniel's birthday in October, his brother Justin reprinted a bunch of old photos of the two of them when they were kids. Daniel put a bunch of them up on the website to share. It's fun to see all the little-boy genes that they share with Atticus.

It also makes us excited to think about Atticus having a sibling someday. Not anytime too soon, though. Just saying.

Personality

My favorite part about this age is the sense of individuality that is evident. Atticus now likes to choose his clothes and is very opinionated as to what we do during the day. He loves to direct other people also. Often when he plays music, you have to play also, and he tells you exactly how to do it (to play the guitar correctly, says Atticus, you have to tap your foot). I love seeing what kind of person he's becoming.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Last weekend we all went down to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to check out their current dinosaur exhibit. It was Atticus' first trip to the museum. The dinosaur exhibit turned out to not be all that exciting to Atticus, with the one exception of a scaled down tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that was in motion, showing how they walked (he kept running back to it; he could have stood there and watched it all afternoon). Atticus was just as excited to go up and down the escalators and run arcoss the glass-walled catwalks that connect the parts of the museum. We should know that kind of thing by now, I suppose.

Toddler games

Atticus loves making up games. Yesterday Atticus played "Two Mittens and a letter". Rules involve wearing a pair of mittens, balancing a letter magnet on one of the mittens, and walking around the house in circles repeating the name of the game. Here he is in the middle of saying "Two mittens and an H, two mittens and an H,..."

Neat freak

Atticus likes to tear up the house, just like any other toddler. To his parents' delight, though, he also likes to clean up. We recently got a new shelving system where Atticus can organize and put away all his toys. He also takes the broom away from you if you are sweeping and has to do it himself.

But he went a little overboard the other day when he tried to mop the front walk while it was raining.


Silly boy.

Website

Daniel added some pretty cool features to the website, so go check them out.

Also, there are videos up on the site too, in case you didn't notice. I hope to get some new ones up there soon too.

Music

Atticus adores music lately. He has a couple of drums, a toy piano/xylophone, and a lot of things that make noise. One of his favorites, though, has always been the guitar. Between Dad's and Uncle Mike's, Atticus has been fascinated by seeing others play this instrument.

Our friend Kerry found his ukulele the other day and very generously gifted it to Atticus. The boy just thinks this new toy is the bee's knees.


He likes to tell everyone about his "guitar". We can't get over how cute he is holding it too. Perfect size! Teehee!

Thanks again to Kerry!