21 MONTHS

Phin turns 22 months in less than a week...so I thought I should probably get busy writing about his 21 month milestone.  We got to spend a night hanging out with the Richards Boys...they are four bundles of energy and Phin fits right in.  He decided Andrew's toddler bed was just the perfect place for him to sit and read a book.

We pulled out our bike trailer in January and found that Phin's head has grown quite a bit...he still loves wearing his helmet even if he looks a lot like Toad from Super Mario brothers.  We ended up finding him a slightly bigger helmet at the DI for a couple dollars.  Phin loves going for bike rides.  We have the trailer set up and locked by our car and he looks at it very longingly whenever we get home from being out and about.

Phin is become quite a bit more independent when we go to the playground.  He loves to run around and will even go down the slides all by himself.

This playground happened to have an old fashion merry-go-round...which we have learned isn't super common these days.  Phin loved spinning around with his Daddy.

Phin has had an obsession with doors this month.  He is always walking around and closing the doors behind us...in this case he decided to open the closet door and climb right in.

I don't know where he learned to eat like this..

Phin has also developed a little obsession with trains.  We introduced him to Thomas the Tank Engine and he says "choo choo" whenever he wants to watch a show.  He also overgeneralizes "choo choo" to any large vehicle.

One day I was getting ready and when I came back to the bathroom I found that Phin had climbed right up into the sink to get a better look at himself.

I forgot this little gem from Seth's birthday.  Phin decided to pee in the toilet twice on Seth's birthday.  Like my brother JB says..."even a blind squirrel finds an occasional nut."

February

Somehow time has gotten away from me and it is already the middle of March...so I will take a moment to rewind and record all of the events from February.

I attended the Utah Assistive Technology Team Conference at the beginning of the month.  This is one of my favorite conferences to attend and it just happens every other year.  I love coming away from the conference with fresh ideas on how I can become a better speech therapist...but more than anything I love being able to spend time with other speechies.  My sister-in-law Collette attended the conference along with several of my graduate school co-horts.  It is always so much fun to catch up with the ladies I went to graduate school with...hard to believe we started graduate school over a decade ago!

My father and I celebrated our birthday in February.  I have always loved sharing a birthday...it is nice to not be the only one being sung to.  This year we went out to Pat's BBQ and ordered a massive plate of meat.  They have recently changed their menu so that you order by the pound...we got a little carried away.  We topped off all the meat with delicious bread pudding...and then marzipan back at the folks' house.

We went on a few Connect pass outings with Amy and Zoey. We ventured to the Natural History Museum of Utah.  The kids loved all of the hands on exhibits.

We also spent some time with Beth, Philip and Eliza.  Phin and Eliza enjoyed jumping on the couch and watching Daniel Tiger together.

They also started a little synchronized slide club...they could work on their synchronization a little more.

The night before Valentine's Day we went to our ward building for a Big Band dance.  Phin loved the music...but mostly wanted to run around in the hall outside.

I tried to be festive and made the Pioneer Woman's Red Velvet Pancakes for breakfast on Valentine's...they were delicious.  We also celebrated Zoey's birthday at a fun Elmo themed party.

Later in the month we went to This is the Place with Amy and Zoey on the most beautiful Spring-like day.   Phin's favorite part was the train ride...really I promise he loved it.

He also loved seeing the animals...as long as they didn't get to close.

He also wishes we could bring one of these playhouses home.

We also managed to go to the zoo with cousin Aaron...no proof of that trip because my camera battery died.  It was also one of the windiest days of the year...and the wind chill was pretty bad.  We did enjoy watching the seals inside of the building and also got a great view of the polar and brown bears.

We also celebrated Seth's birthday in February.  We had one of the most perfect days ever.  We enjoyed a bike ride in the morning, followed by a nap, a walk to the grocery store and then homemade pizza for dinner.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of any of the perfectness...oh well Happy Birthday!

20 MONTHS

Phin is now 20 months old.  He decided to celebrate that milestone by eating a chicken bouillon cube.  I was busy making dinner and had unwrapped several cubes and placed them in a small cup.  Phin climbed up next to me and I thought he was just pretending to stir the bowl.  Then he went over to Seth and signed "more."  Seth asked what he was eating and I said I didn't know...then Phin started to cough.  Let's just say the bouillon cube did not settle well.  

We also had a bit of a scare this month.  Seth was in charge of a family feud activity for the Young Men and Young Women in our ward.  Phin and I went with him since the activity was open to the ward.  After the activity we were busy getting a hot chocolate bar ready when Phin pulled a cup of hot water over on himself.  He burned his right arm pretty good and cried steadily for the next hour.  Seth and our home teacher gave Phin a blessing and he was able to sleep through the night.  His arm was tender but never blistered and he recovered fairly quickly.  How blessed we are to have the Priesthood in our home.

Phin watches our every move and we often find him imitating us. 

Phin has started to play dress up on his own.  Here he is sporting the Mario hat from his Halloween costume and his church shoes.

Phin loves popcorn.  Here he is eating some popcorn with Seth.

We are a little crazy and have started introducing the potty.  Phin is at least not scared to sit on it anymore.  We think we are going to really buckle down over Spring Break and see if we can make any progress.  We are hoping he is a quick learner like his cousin Aaron.

Phin loves to cook with me...especially if he can lick the beaters.

The weather here has been so delightful.  There have been several days where I have opened the sliding door to our balcony and Phin has loved running in and outside.  Just before I took the picture below he was reclined in the chair enjoying some sunshine.

Phin also discovered the back of our couch this month.  He loves to climb up and along the back.  The other day I actually discovered him standing on the back.

Phin is pretty good at finding ways to keep himself entertained.  Here he is playing in Uncle Jeff's drapes...they were quite a novelty since we just have blinds.

I think he started to think he was a puppy dog while we were visiting Jeff...most days I think he is a puppy dog as he follows me around and can almost always be found at my feet.

Phin loves to play games and sing songs.  His favorite song right now is roll your hands...he will start to roll his hands when we are out shopping to get me to sing the song.

He loves to figure out how things work.  I am pretty sure that before long he is going to be taking things apart around here to figure them out.

He can be a little shy and timid when he is first meeting someone or experiencing something new.

He loves hats.

He also loves to pretend that things are hats.

I have said it before...I don't know how we got so luck for this little guy to come to our family.  We love you Phinner!

Phin's first trip to Phoenix

Last weekend Phin and I headed down to Phoenix with my Mom on a last minute road trip.  My brother Jeff was getting ready the addition of his house on airbnb.com for Super Bowl weekend and needed some help pulling together all the details.  My mom had talked about going by herself...but I didn't want her to drive alone...and Phin had never been to Phoenix.  We sure missed Seth and wish he could have made the trip with us.  We left around 5:00 am on Thursday morning and Phin slept all the way to Beaver.  We stopped at McDonald's in Beaver for breakfast.  Phin enjoyed the pancakes...I seemed to remember breakfast at McDonald's tasting much better when I was young.  

Phin was awake from Beaver until Flagstaff.  He was in various emotional states through the drive.  We kept handing toys back to him, singing to him and giving him treats.

We arrived in Phoenix just in time for dinner on Thursday.  Phin was anxious to get out of the car and move around.  We ended up having dinner at Chipolte and while we were out we shopped for linens, lamps,etc.  We also got confirmation that Jeff's airbnb was booked for Friday and Saturday night...so we knew we had a busy day of preparations ahead of us.

We spent most of Friday deep cleaning.  Phin was my little shadow as I cleaned blinds, washed baseboards and scrubbed the floors.  Phin developed a love for Jeff's dogs and thought all of Diesel's favorite spots were pretty great.  In the picture below he is hanging out in the curtains in Jeff's front room...Diesel can often be found here watching neighbors or waiting for Jeff to come home.  

 Phin thought Diesel's doggie bed was just his size.

He also made himself pretty comfortable next to Diesel while he snacked on an apple.

Phin warmed up pretty quickly to Jeff. Here he is playing peek-a-boo.

The person who had booked the airbnb called Friday afternoon to let Jeff know that their flight out of NYC had been delayed and may possibly be cancelled.  He did end up cancelling...which was a bit of a let down after a busy day of preparations...but at lest we got the place ready for the next booking.  Jeff's addition looks pretty spectacular. I love all of his artistic elements.  He has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in the addition that are separated from the rest of the house by a locked door.  This is a picture of the bathroom on the main level.  I meant to let Phin shower in there...but after we cleaned it I didn't want to get it dirty.

The picture below is of the bedroom on the main level. I love the tree stump that Jeff has fashioned into a cool side table.  He has the table on caster wheels so that it is easy to move.  The chair was left behind at one of my parent's rental properties.

Jeff has a queen bed on a wood platform with two prison beds underneath.  I love the ladder to the platform that he picked up from one of my parent's rentals.  The headboards above the prison beds are made from reclaimed wood.

This is a picture of the foyer on the main level and the stairs leading up to the loft. Jeff made this table while we were there.  On Friday morning he was out for a walk and just happened to find this heavy iron base on the side of the road.  He brought it home and screwed on a huge clock that he had to make a cool table.  Seriously Jeff is the ultimate picker...the stuff that he has around his house is so cool.

The master bedroom is pretty spectacular.  I LOVE the headboard in this room.  Jeff also made this out of reclaimed wood...he has another one in his bedroom as well.  He also welded the side tables.  My mom is currently making a new comforter to really spruce up the room.

The bathroom in the master is HUGE.

He also has a loft area with a couch, mini-fridge and microwave.

Saturday Jeff insisted that we go out and play.  He took us to the train park as he calls it.  It was a little wet but Phin loved playing at the playground.

We went to a model train car exhibit and Phin was enthralled.  From the moment we walked into the building he was entertained.  He loved watching the trains and would run around following them.

Phin found a little Spiderman that reminded him of Daddy.

He spent quite a bit of time playing in this little caboose.

 

He loved when some other kids came in and showed him how to stop his feet.

 We also went on a train ride around the park.  Phin was curious when we were loading and climbed into the caboose where Jeff was waiting.

I just love his hand in his pocket in this picture.

Phin always gets a serious look on his face when he is first experiencing something.  He may not look like he is having fun but he was.

We also toured a museum that had a presidential train car.

This is the exact spot that President Roosevelt sat in when he traveled.

After the train park Jeff took us out for some BBQ.  We went to Little Miss BBQ near the airport.  It was packed.  There were tons of people wearing super bowl gear and we ended up in line behind some of the video crew for the super bowl half time show.  We waited in line for over an hour for some of the best BBQ I have tasted.  We were told that Little Miss BBQ was rated in the top 10 BBQ joints in the country.  The line wrapped around the smokers...they have two that are about this big.

This is their logo.  Little Miss BBQ is open from 11:00 am until they run out of meat.  There were people in line at 9:30 am on this day.

While we were in line the owner came out and started counting people.  Then he told people behind us in line that they may not get some food.  They also hung up a sold out sign so people would stop coming.

We  finally made it inside.  We got some delicious brisket.  We also cleaned them out of sausage and pulled pork...the people behind us in line groaned in despair because of that.  The food was definitely worth the weight...my mouth waters just thinking about the brisket.

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out at Jeff's place.  Phin loved Jeff's vintage leather motorcycle helmet.

Phin also made himself pretty comfortable on Zoe's bed.

We were up and in the car by 4:30 am on Sunday.  Phin was a pretty good trooper for the ride home...as long as he had treats...

and some toys.