Visiting Papa at Church

Today's adventure: visiting Papa at church and playing some instruments!

Blanden wasn't quite sure what to make of the organ at first -- after all, it's a LOT bigger and a LOT louder than his own miniature piano.

But Papa showed him the ropes and Blanden quickly got the hang of it.

But it turns out, the highlight was the drums! Blanden played these and the bongos, and kept wanting to go back to both.

Blanden played the bells too. We tried to pose for a quick photo in front of these, as they were donated to the church by Blanden's late Great-Grandma Beach.

And now we are signing off. We have a busy evening ahead of us with packing for the return trip to Denver and getting to bed early. The next time we post, we'll be back home -- with Dad! (And Belle and Ella too, of course.)

Winding Down

We are grateful for such a long, relaxing, and very pampered stay in Michigan, but it's just about time to head home. Blanden has been struggling with sleep the past few nights. I think the traveling is finally catching up with him, and I know he missed his dad very much. (I miss Ed, too!) We have one more day here, then we'll be up and at the airport super early on Monday -- as in at the airport for a 6:15 a.m. flight early, yikes! (I can't even think about what time it will be in Denver when we get up to go.) But, in any case, we are making the most of every moment. Today Grammy, Blanden, and I went out to lunch and did a little Christmas shopping (though we forgot to take a photo). Tonight Aunt Jill and Uncle Andrew came over for one last delicious family dinner.

One more picture from yesterday.

Sporting two hats.

It's so much more fun to sit in the big chairs. (And, yes, that's a Yoplait yogurt he's eating. Blanden loves YoBaby yogurt, and while we usually try to encourage him to eat that instead, sometimes he finds the Yoplait hidden in the fridge and thinks it's a fun treat.)

Dancing in the kitchen with Grammy. We haven't listened to one of Blanden's music class CDs in a while and when we put it on tonight, his face lit up.

Making a mess of the kitchen cabinets.

Laughing after getting Papa all wet during bath time. (It was a soap-and-shampoo bath tonight, Dad. Getting fully clean for his big homecoming. :-) )

Eighteen Months Old

Today Blanden is officially eighteen months old! Fortunately, he seems to be feeling a lot better. When I tried to give him a hug this morning, he immediately squirmed out of my arms and was off and running -- normal. :-)

His fever returned off and on this afternoon, but overall he is in better spirits. Uncle Andrew is back in town after the workweek so I met him and Aunt Jill for lunch, but Blanden stayed home with his grandparents to rest some more, just in case.

Enjoying more reading time with his buddies.

Helping Grammy in the kitchen.

That's it for tonight! Just a short post today.

A Fever

Blanden awoke from his morning nap today with a fever. :-( Just when I am finally starting to feel better! But unfortunately, given how long I have been sick, Ed and I aren't surprised that Blanden has come down with something too. And now Grammy has lost her voice! Goodness, we would all love to be fully healthy soon! Hopefully the two of them will make a speedy recovery.

Sitting with Giraffe in the rocking chair.

Blanden spent much of his day with his favorite things (Giraffe, a nook, Mizzou the Tiger, and his sleep sack) snuggling on Mommy's lap (which he never does anymore -- too busy) and sitting in Phoenix's bed.

He also spent the whole day in his jammies.

It just seemed like that kind of day.

Reading on the couch with Grammy.

Blanden takes very good care of one of Mommy's old dolls. We were considering getting him his own "baby" for Christmas, to see if he would like to play with one, but this little guy might be coming home with us for a while instead.

Giving the doll a big hug. :-)

Lunch Out

Here we are again, recapping our day. Blanden is having a very good time with Grammy and Papa, but I know he misses Ed very much too. When we came home from an errand tonight, he walked down the hall toward the bedrooms, calling, "Dad?..." So we made sure to call Daddy tonight in that window of time between when Dad is out of work and before Blanden goes to bed. He had big smiles when he heard Ed's voice on the phone. :-)

Morning playtime.

Oops -- it looks like Blanden finally got into Phoenix's water bowl!

At home, we can't leave Belle and Ella's dish on the floor all day, the temptation is simply too great (and the dish is huge! Blanden could almost sit inside of it.). He's been so good about leaving Phoenix's bowl alone, but it looks curiosity finally got the best of him.

Today Blanden went out to lunch at the Monroe Street Grill with Grammy, Papa, and Aunt Jill. I'm told he was on his best behavior and ate a little of his own grilled cheese sandwhich, but especially enjoyed sampling everyone else's fare.

Playing on Mommy's bed this afternoon. (He needed help to climb this high.)

Reading two new Christmas books he and Grammy found while shopping at the mall this afternoon. We're hoping to familiarize Blanden with Santa a bit before attempting to visit him later this month.

Riding Uncle Andrew's old John Deere tractor in the basement. What fun!

Making a mess of his grandparents' CD collection. Ah, well. Papa says it's okay. He's retired now, so he can resort and realphabetize them next week.

And discovering ways to have fun with a new toy of sorts: paper and plastic cups. Blanden loves to sort and stack. That's all for today, Dad. Good night! We love and miss you!

Girls Night Out, Boys Night In

Blanden had a good day: a trip to the playground, raking leaves in the backyard, and a special night in with Papa. But first: breakfast.

It looks like Blanden helped himself to a smorgasbord today -- though I'm not 100% sure, as I wasn't up yet.

But he does like to help clean up. (And he likes to wear his baseball cap sometimes around the house. It's the only hat of any kind that he likes. A boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do.)

Next up: a walk with Grammy and her pup, Phoenix, and a stop off at the playground.

Grammy says Blanden was particularly fascinated by his shadow.

That's my cutie!

Then this afternoon, Blanden "helped" Papa rake up the leaves in the backyard.

He had a blast playing in the piles...

Blanden has gotten to be such a big little guy (if that makes sense), but he looks so tiny to me all bundled up and playing in Grammy and Papa's big backyard.

Tonight, Grammy and I went out for dinner and to see The Blind Side with Aunt Jill and her mom. (A great ladies night out!) Thus, Papa and Blanden enjoyed a very special evening alone together. Unlike boys club with Daddy, Papa did spill the beans -- or at least some of them. I'm told they had a very good dinner together, spent lots of time playing downstairs (throwing Phoenix's balls and riding Uncle Andrew's old miniature John Deere tractor), read lots of books, Blanden loved bath time, and then it was at last time for bed, just before Mommy and Grammy got home. I'd say the evening was a success!

Personally, the movie made me want to come home and give my little guy (and my big guy, too, in Denver) a big hug -- but of course I didn't dare wake him up for that. Blanden will get some snuggles in the morning for sure.

Day with Grammy and Papa

Each evening when Daddy comes home from work we fill him in on our day, so here we are doing the same thing for him through the blog...First, breakfast with Papa before Mommy got up...

Fiber One. Mmm. Once Blanden saw Papa pour himself a bowl, he refused to eat anything else but what Papa was having. I guess it's better than a donut.

This afternoon Blanden ran lots of errands with Grammy and Papa around town, and he came home with flowers for Mommy. Even though the flowers were just about as long as he is, he managed to carry them to me. I wish we'd have gotten a picture of that!

Just enjoying a bit of playtime together with his best friends.

Uncle Andrew is out of town for the workweek, but we were so happy that Aunt Jill could join us for dinner again: Greek salad tonight.

Although I carefully sorted all the parts that Blanden likes into individual bowls: tomatoes and cucumbers in one, chicken and pita bread in another, hard-boiled egg in the third...

He was quite successful at quickly making a very tossed salad of his own!

For dessert: some M&Ms that Papa has strategically left at Blanden's height. (And now Blanden is undressed because he was such a mess after the tossed-salad episode, it was the easiest -- and really, the only -- way to clean him up!)

This evening, we found him sitting alone in the living room. Blanden has just recently learned to climb on and off of the furniture -- no reason to discourage but neither to encourage him to do it before -- so this is a new source of entertainment. :)

And at this moment, Grammy and Papa are giving Blanden his bath and putting him to bed. Papa in particular is honing his skills in preparation for tomorrow night: Papa and Blanden will be home alone!

Visiting Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Raymond

Papa and Grammy took Blanden to visit his great-grandparents today.

They watched squirrels play in the backyard,...

...read stories, and ate animal crackers.

And here we are just catching up on some photos taken earlier this week.

When Daddy was here, he slept on a mattress on the floor in Mommy's room (as Blanden was taking up the other guest bedroom). Blanden loved the giant bed at his level and kept pretending to sleep in it.

A visit from ten-month-old Leah and her parents, some of Mommy's longtime friends.

And, yes, that is Blanden in a laundry basket on top of the table. Papa was giving him a ride throughout the house...Or maybe it's best not to ask for or explain too many details of this one. :-)