Category Archives: Family

I just realized I hadn't added to the record of the words Sean knows recently, so here are all the new ones I can think of that he has picked up since the last update:

Door, Clock, Eye, Diaper, Bird, Dog, Bear, Cup, Fan, Mango, Stop, Go, No, and Bob (in reference to Bob the Builder).

"Apple" is still king, but "Stop" and "Go" are getting a lot of use lately too. We play lots of games where we run around together, or dance, or I push him fast in the shopping cart, and he tells us to "Stop" and "Go". It's so cute. I think he likes that he has control over the game. It really plays into his recent attempts to be more independent and assert more control over his day-to-day stuff. He has been using a big-boy fork lately. (One of our smaller forks. those are the salad forks, right?) He's also going up and down the stairs by himself, getting on and off the furniture alone, and just generally doing his own thing. I love to see what he will do when left to his own devices. Just the other day he climbed up onto the kitchen table to drive his toy trucks around up there. Why that was better than the floor, I'll never know, but it was very sweet.

Sean's picked up a few new words in the past week, including 'tractor', 'hello' (which he says every time the phone rings), 'star', and a bunch of others that Lori has heard but I haven't heard him say yet. But 'apple' continues to be his favorite. Here's a cute little audio clip of him saying 'apple' over and over again, while he played with a decorative plastic apple.

Well, it's started. Sean is starting to talk, and is picking up new words pretty quickly. It's like he crossed a threshold, and now suddenly understands that everything he sees around him actually has a name! So in order to keep a record of his vocabulary, so we can look back and smile, here is the list of words he currently knows:

Mama, Dada, Up, Down, Moo, Dig, Duck, Apple, Banana, Yellow, Blue, Flower, Bye-Bye, and Ball.

"Apple" is by far his favorite. Lori's theme in the kitchen is apples, so there are apples on lots of the things in there. He walks around the kitchen pointing at everything saying "Apple! Apple!". It's really amazing. I suspect that this will stay a lot of fun until he learns how to say "what's that?". I've heard that gets old real quick. :)

These are just some leftover pics from our recent trip that didn't have any common theme that I could post them under. Enjoy!

We spent the weekend up north, in Bartlet. Sunday morning looked ominous in the rain department, but we threw caution to the wind (what rebels!) and took the boys to Storyland in Glen, NH. It's like a miniature Disneyland, designed specifically for 1-5 year old demographic. What a blast! The boys loved it.

They had an antique German carousel, miniature roller coasters, a tiny castle, an house-sized pumpkin, ball pits - pretty much anything you can think of that a little person would love and that adults would love to do to, if no other adults were looking. Believe it or not (those who know Sean well will believe it), one of Sean's favortite parts of the whole thing was a pair of red doors (shown in the photo) that led nowhere. He opened and closed them for 10 minutes before we had to drag him away, kicking and screaming.

The center picture of the next set is unfortunately the only one I took in an area of the park called "Loopy Lab". The reason I have no others is because I was too busy having fun. "Loopy Lab" is a big room full of Nerf balls. It's also got a second floor balcony accessible by stairways in the corners. THe whole building must have one mother of a air compressor under it, as the whole floor vibrated and the noise was nearly deafening. But the whole room is full of all kinds of devices for sucking up or launching the Nerf balls. There are suction hoses that can suck up balls and launch the into the air, a ball cannon that can be filled up and then fired at the balcony, like grapshot from a civil war cannon. Bolted to the second floor balcony railing are air guns that can be used to launch balls at everyone on the first floor. It was awesome - all of the adults may have been having more fun than the kids!

Sean and Ryan both immediately took to the ball pit. What is it about ball pits that make kids instantly happy? You would think it would scare them - as soon as you put them in, they sink in waist deep. If they try to move at all, they sink deeper and deeper, like quicksand. You'd think they would panic. But for some reason, they find the sinking even funnier. Love it!

So all in all, a great trip. If anyone in New England with small kids is reading this, you should definately plan a trip out to Glen, NH for a visit to Storyland. I can't wait to take Sean back in a year or two.

Sean went to meet Great Grammy and Grampy today. We've looked forward to this day for a long time. If anyone was wishing for a boy more than me, it was Gramps. And - Booyah! - I always deliver! It was amazing to have three generations of Lords all together, and I can't wait to to get home and get some prints made of these pictures to add to our 'family wall'. And look how big Sean looks in Gram's lap! She's lucky he didn't eat her for lunch!

Not much here, just a couple of additional pics of the Two Musketeers. More to come later this week - we'll be spending the weekend up north with Ryan, and we are planning to go to Storyland. It should be chock full 'o Kodak moments.

Sean took his first trip to Friendly's today. Friendly's was a staple of my childhood, but I'm not sure we have them down here in the south. At least, I haven't seen one in San Antonio. We piled the boys in the wagon, and walked over there for sundaes. I got a peanut butter cup sundae. Sweet sassy molassy! I'd forgotten home much I love those!

While Sean and Ryan officially met yesterday, today was the first time that got any real quality time together, without lots of relatives trying to get some of their time. It went pretty well. Sean's never been great around other kids (although he is getting better), but I think he may have taken a shine to Ryan. I'm hoping to get some more pictures tomorrow, when we head over to Tracy's for a play date. I love these pictures we took tonight, with the boys sitting on the step together. I love how in one of the photos, Ryan is giving Sean a funny look, and in the other, Sean is giving Ryan the hairy eyeball. Like they don't quite trust each other yet. Too cute.

And below are the obligitory photos of Sean making goofy faces. And to top it off is a photo of all of us. Everyone is looking in different directions, and it was nearly impossible to get both kids to smile at the same time, but it turned out okay nonetheless.

When Mommy's away, the boys will play! Lori and her brother James went to a movie and lunch today. That was Lori's Mother's Day present - a "Mom's Day Out". While she was gone, Sean and I went to the store to pick a few things and couldn't resist this kiddie pool for the backyard. Sean was lovin' it! At first, he just gave me a confused look, like "Dad, we're supposed to take baths IN the house". But once he got used to the idea, he started having a ball.

When I eventually took him out (after at least an hour), I wrapped him up in a towel and we sat on a chair near the pool. He cuddled into me and said "da da da" over and over again in a very content, very happy little voice. And every now and then he would lift up his upper body and clap softly while looking right in my eyes. I really think he was trying to find a way to say "thank you". It was great. Sean and I have really been connecting lately, especially in these last few months. I feel like a have a new little best friend.