Spokane

Bryce and I had a wonderful time in Spokane. For the most part we just stayed at J and Rachel's and the kids played. Samantha did really well sharing her toys with Bryce. I'm sure it was hard for her since she isn't used to having other kids in her house and a week is a long time to have to share. They each had their cranky moments and would occasionally throw fits due to conflicts over toys, but all in all they were angels. It is too bad we don't get to see them more often, especially because we want the kids to be close. But, spending a whole week together probably provides them the same amount of interaction that they'd get with one and other in 6 months if we lived in the same city.

Bryce as usual had a really tough time sleeping in a strange place. I had to sit 30 min to a hour and a half each night until he would fall asleep. At home I just put him to bed and leave the room. He would wake up each nigh between 1 and 3 and come into my bed for the rest of the night. Naps were also a bit difficult. I napped when he napped, but since we were sharing a room he wanted to cuddle with me. The first day I let him nap with me, but after that decided it wasn't a good idea to start that routine. In addition to not napping well, taking forever to go to sleep, and waking up in the middle of the night, he also got up between 6:15 and 6:30 every morning instead of his usual 7:00. This meant he was always a bit tired, as was I.

It snowed a couple of time while we were there. Thankfully Rachel had warned me about the weather forecast so we came prepared with Bryce's snow suit. He had a great time playing in the snow. Along with playing in the snow we walked to the park, went to a Gymboree class, played with play-doh, baked cookies, played in their ball-house, and played with all of Samantha's toys.

One of the funniest things the kids did was while they were taking a bath. Samantha decided that she should help wash Bryce. She soap up his hair and tried to was his bum. Bryce just sat there and let her. It was hilarious. I got that on video. It will be great to show them the video years from now.

Thanks to J, Rachel and Samantha for a great week.

21 Months

Bryce spent his 21st month birthday flying to Spokane to see his godparents. We lucked out and had our own row on the plane, even though I only paid for one seat. Bryce sat by the window and really loved looking outside. The window was a bit high for him to see out clearly, so I had to prop him up every once in a while to look. He now says airplane, although the pronunciation is a bit off. Once we got to J and Rachel's house Bryce noticed every plane that flew by and got very excited.

This past month was another month of amazing development. Once again his vocabulary has really expanded. One of my favorite new words he says is "no-meal" meaning oatmeal. Some other new words are more, please, ba berry (strawberry), and so many more.

His is also still signing, but often will say the word while he is signing if he knows both. I've taught him a few new signs recently: airplane, ball, dog, fish, shoe and sock. He picked these up really fast, but isn't using them regularly.

Naps and sleep time have remained pretty study: nap from 1:00 - 2:30 or 3:00 and bed from 7 pm to 7 am.

His music together class ended, but we've signed up for the next session. Unfortunately we'll miss the first class because of being in Spokane. He really enjoyed the first session. It is funny, in class he often appears like he isn't paying any attention and participates very little. However, when we are home he asked for his music and repeats a lot of the noises and motions from class.