More and more terrible by the minute...

Only his second day as a two year old and he's already acting like a big kid! Today for the first time he slept on his big boy bed, we both heard him say 'red ball', and he found his belly button! Can you imagine? One day you're just looking at your stomach and the next thing you know you find this knot of skin that, apparently if you untie it, your guts will fall out of!!
I was a little freaked out by my belly button as a kid. Didn't want NOBODY touching that thing!
He's played with a bunch of his new toys today. He really likes his Mr. Potato Head, thanks again Sis! He really likes sticking pegs in holes and things like that. He's really good with his Mega Bloks, and also his eight little square blocks that fit inside of each other. He's got really good hand coordination. And he's so determined when he plays with his hands like it's a challenge for him and he'll keep trying until he gets it. I love that about him. His favorite thing to do with his books and toys in the living room is to throw them all, ALL, in a big pile. and then walk away. !
Christina just put him down to bed in his big bed for the first time at night. We have our fingers crossed that he'll stay in there through out the night. He hasn't slept with us in our bed since he first went into his crib, but I have a feeling that we can expect a little visitor from time to time from now on. Or we'll be woken by the sounds of him playing with his toys in the living room or by him turning on the light in the living room. which he can easily reach. He gets a real kick out of turning lights on and off. A new phase, a new era, is dawning in Baron's life. Hang on.........

Has it really been that long?.....

Yep. Little man turns two years old tomorrow. I can't believe it's already been two years. But if I stop to think about all of the events that have transpired since his dramatic entrance into our lives it makes my head spin! A couple of days ago he started saying "uh-oh" and it just cracks me and his mother up! It's so cute. I hate saying that, but it really is cute.
We're hoping for a good turn out for his celebration. I know his grandparents will all be there, which is always cool. I know grandparents can be just a tad, tiny bit competitive when it comes to the love of a grandchild, not that I've ever seen that in any of his grandparents, but I think there's a really good chance he's gonna be spoiled silly. We should probably borrow a truck to lug all the loot home in. His mom and I are really excited.

Our first hike.

We rode with Mommy to work and then took the car over to Andy's house where he loaded the car seat into his awesome mini van and we drove out to Tryon Creek for a beautiful morning stroll. That was the idea anyway. The little boys had other ideas about what the definition of 'fun' is when in the out-of-doors. But really, we've come to expect the unexpected from our spawn. See, I was talking to a new guy at daddy's group this last Tuesday about where there are good places to introduce toddlers to the wonders of just walking for the sake of walking. I'd read that Tryon has a 'toddler' trail and he said that he loves to take his little boy, Aidden(?), there. So, I told Andy and we decided to head out the next morning.
It was great having Baron in a vehicle with another kid. Ollie's car seat is rear facing and BAron's is forward facing so they were really able to see each other and interact better. They actually high-fived each other!!! It was so cool! They're awesome.
But hiking didn't really worked out the way we had hoped. Baron and Ollie were much more interested in sticks and leaves on the trail and things that were off the trail than actually getting anywhere. If they had their way we'd probably still be there, playing with sticks and leaves. Oh well, it's a start.
But THEN.... Andy took us to the Elephant playground up by the zoo at the Rose Garden. It was the most awesome non-wood structure playground I've ever seen! It was HUGE!! Baron loved it. He started on the swings and then went right up the steps to the top and ran and ran and went down the slides and then climbed up the slides and ran and ran and laughed and wore my butt down to nuthin'. I definitely need Mommy to come with us next time. Andy was busy with Ollie and Baron wanted down the slides and I couldn't really go down the slides with him (believe me, I tried and it wasn't pretty.) so I'd set Baron on the slide and try to jump down to the bottom before he could slide off of the slide. I'm not as graceful as I used to be. And I wasn't that graceful then, either. So, yeah, Mommy's going next time.
The Daddy Play Group is going on a field trip to OMSI next Saturday, but that's also the weekend when my dad is coming down to visit. We'll see if we can work something out. Maybe Papo and Nana Mentzer would like to watch Lil' Bear tear OMSI down! I've wanted to take him there for a while now. And it's the place where I'd really like to get a membership so we can go play inside anytime. But, we've never been to the Children's Museum and I hear that it rocks. We'll just have to save our pennys and go to the Children's Museum before we make a decision. Soon......

The Pumpkin Patch

He Loved the Pumpkin Patch! Auntie Shelley treated us to a trip through the corn maze at Kruger Farm on Sauvie Island. It was so great! We were a good little group; Auntie Shelley and her friend Jade, the Mentzer Family Unit and Nana and Papa. Oh, and Jade's cute little dog, Jack. Eight of us. In a corn maze. It was crazy. At one point, Baron was leading us through! Everybody took turns carrying him or holding his hand but when he got the chance to hit the ground without anybody holding him back he put his head down and charged forward like a pint sized rhino, knocking anything in his way into the corn stalks on either side of the trail.After we made it through the corn maze we hit the pumpkin patch where Lil' Bear picked out his very first pumpkin. He really seemed like a little bear as he jumped into a pile of smaller pumpkins off to the side of the patch. He tossed pumpkins in all directions, not so much looking for a pumpkin but more just enjoying the satisfaction of decimating a pile of pumpkins. Watching him destroy things sparks a small feeling of what that was like. Little kids can't really build many things, but they can create something new by destroying something that has already been made. It's not malicious (well, not all the time.), it's just fun. Until you get in trouble. And one of the great Unfair Truths' of the universe is that, if you're a little boy and you're having fun there's a good chance that you're going to get in trouble for doing whatever it is that you're having fun doing. Dat's jus' duh troof!

That boy's got him some soul...

One of his most favorite things right now is watching Sesame Street music videos on Youtube. As you can imagine, there are tons of Sesame Street music videos out there. The show's been around for forty years. But of all the videos, he likes the soul singers the most. His top three favorites are; Destiny's Child singing 'I got a new way to walk' (With Elmo, or course), India Irie and Elmo singing the ABC's and the one that really gets him movin and groovin is Patty LaBelle singing a gospel version of the ABC's. She really wails it out and a bunch of the characters come out to help her sing. Seriuosly, it's friggin awesome. He, like most little kids, love to watch the same thing over and over again (if you let them!) and we've watched quite a few vidoes over and over and over, but I think I could listen to Patti LaBelle singing the ABC's at least seventy six more times without getting tired of it.

But he still rocks out to Pantera. He knows his stuff.

He loves Sage, our spastic new kitten. They play great together. They'll both be mindin their own business and out of nowhere Baron'll call out his berserker battle cry and Sage'll jump to her feet with her back reaching for the ceiling and he'll make a bee line for her as she tears down the hall into his room. Then, once there, the tide is turned and Baron will come running back down the hall with Sage bouncing sideways with her back arched, right at his heals. It's great. But I still have to keep such a close eye on him because he's grabbed her tail and pulled a few times and he likes to lay next to her, where ever she may be, and try to roll over on top of her. She's way more careful with him. Despite their rough housing she's only given him a couple of scratches. Far fewer than he deserves is you ask me.
He loves sloppy joes.
And oatmeal raisin cookies. (what?)
And macaroni and cheese.
He likes a lot of things, just not at meal time.
Kids.

Help!! I can't keep up!!

Seriously, he's a grinnin lil' typhoon of rambunctious curiousity and joyous havoc. And everyday brings some new discovery or milestone and I'm really lagging begind on my chronicling of these events.
He figured out how to high-fives after only being shown twice.
He LOVES to give high-fives now.
He figured out how to knock on Nana and Papa's front door all by himself.
He .. oh geez, he's causing trouble........

Is is too late to cuddle?

Yeah, it's the strangest thing. He's never enjoyed being held, ever. In anybodies arms he's good for a few seconds before he wants to go do something else. But, at eighteen months he's starting to get into it. Sitting in my lap while I read to him has only happened a few times, but those are the best, and after a couple of his naps he's just wanted to be picked up and held as soon as he wakes up. The very best though was a couple of weeks ago when the three of us went to have dinner at the Sweet Tomatoes up in the 'Couv. He had played pretty good that day and fell asleep in the car just as we pulled into the parking lot. (Don't kids have AMAZING timing for things like that?) I pulled him out and he was completely limp, put him up on my shoulder and we went in. We went through the line and got our salads and he never moved. We payed, chit-chatted with the cashier for a sec, and found a table and sat down and he was still like a rag doll. Even while I ate brocoli and other crunchy veggies with his head right against my neck, he didn't move. It wasn't until we'd finished our salads and got some soup and bread that he finally woke up. (Also just like a kid to wake up after the salad and vegetable course!) He was so dazed and it was obvious that he was looking around wondering just where in the heck he'd woken up this time. Too, too tooo toot too cute a tot. He enjoyed some good yummy food and his insides didn't have any problem with any of it. So far it seems that the only thing that really messes up his system is large amounts of milk or too much apple juice in one day. Both for different reasons, but you don't really want to hear about all of that, do you?
He loves to dance to the music!! He's got Saturday Night Fever!! You can tell by the way he walks he's a woman's man, no time to talk! I hooked our stereo up he loves listening to all kinds of stuff. He really likes high energy, percussive stuff (Big surprise.); Santana, Sublime, Big Business. And he makes Daddy very proud by liking my band, Ghostmob. I've had him try on some Tony Bennet, Dean Martin, Fohnny Cash, but he's not into it yet. Sadly, he had no time for Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger, which is one of my all time favs. Oh well, could be worse. I wonder what popular kids music is going to sound like in ten years or so. I'll find out, wheather I'm ready or not.