Fun With Words

Remember how I said last month that I was a little worried about Brett's verbal abilities?

Needless to say, I am not worried in the least anymore. His vocabulary has seemingly exploded within the past month (well, exploded for a 16 month old anyway).

He'd had "mama" "dada" and "hot" down, but I hadn't really felt he had a firm grasp of any other words per se. Now I can't keep track of them. Here's the latest...

"Ahh - pen"- this means "open", as in containers holding the item which Brett wants removed. It also applies to doors. And on that note...

"Sigh" - Short for "side" or "outside". When Brett wants to go outside, he walks to a door and holds the handle and says "sigh".

"Ba ba" - This means "ball". Pretty self explanitory, and Steve thinks he said "fa ball" for football (I say wishful thinking on his part :))

"Woo woo" - What Brett says when you ask him what sound a doggie makes.

"Bock" - Not quite sure what this means, but he seems to say it quite often. I thought for a minute it meant "milk", but it seems to apply to much more than that.

"Shash" - or some variation of... this is when he is talking to our dog Sasha.

"Dee dee" when he's talking about our dog, Sydney

"Gock" - this is the word for "dog"

"Yuck" - or kind of an "ick" sound.. means yucky. Usually when talking about trash.

"Dock" - sock

And, the most disturbing/funny thing he has started to say as of late is "uck", with empahsis on the "k". He will put a number of vowels in front of it, and lately his favorite one is "f". He's been dropping f-bombs all over the place within the past couple of days. I think he's just experimenting with different sounds, but I've had to bite my tounge to keep from laughing and encouraging him. It's all too funny. My greatest fear is for him to scream it out when we are in a public place.

But beyond what he can say, Brett has also been responding to questions. If I ask him to get me my phone, a book, a ball or even a doggie (he rooted around for a stuffed animal) he will get that for me. My dad even told him that "they were going outside and were going to ride the golf cart" (a side note: Brett LOVES riding on the golf cart at my parents house)... so Brett walked all the way out to the barn and found the golf cart. And, he's getting easier to understand when he wants something (well, not perfect, but better anyway). We didn't make it too far with the baby sign language thing, but he'll let us know when he wants his milk by standing in front of the refrigerator and holding the handle, and he even let my mom know when he had a wet diaper by rooting around in the diaper bag, pulling a clean one out and handing it to her.

Pretty smart kid if I do say so myself!!! :)

State Fair Day

One other event that happened this month was our trip to the state fair. As we did not go last year (Brett was like 4 months old and we didn't think he'd get too much out of it), this was Brett's first trip. We decided to go on a weekday to avoid most of the crowds, but it was still incredibly hot. Well, Steve may disagree, but I've been feeling not so well lately, and I'm easily overheated.

We enjoyed all of the fair food. I had a ribeye sandwich, a milkshake, and Steve and I split some of the amazing Wisconsin Fried Cheese. Steve also had a turkey leg. I had intended to get my divine deep fried Snickers, but it was so incredibly hot, I couldn't image anything else fried, so that's where the milkshake came in.

The midway wasn't a stop for us this year as Brett was a little small to ride the rides, but we did make a lap around the fair without riding the tractor. Along the way we stopped in the DNR building, the old timey barn, the butterfly garden, and all of the other touristy things.

We also stopped in many of the buildings (including the agriculture building where Brett saw the huge pumpkins) and the animal barns where Brett got to hang with the animals. He really got on pretty well with one of the horses in the horse barn, and it would have presented a good photo op, but leave it to me to forget to take a pic of the moment.

Anyway, here are a few photos of cuteness of the day..

My Buddy and Me

I'm trying to catch up here (like I usually am doing when I write a blog these days!).

So, anyway, Tina and Evan came down a couple of weeks ago. She was still on summer break (lucky teacher!), so they planned to come during my 2 days off one week to check out the Indy Zoo. For the time Tina and I have spent together this summer, our boys really hadn't seen each other since Brett was still toddling/crawling, and that was over the spring. We were excited to see how they'd interact.

Well, they did great. They seemed to have fun at all of the animal exhibits and decided to run all over the place (as boys will do). They checked out all of the big animals (giraffes, lions - which we heard roaring, a pretty cool experience, elephants, etc.) and we even took time to see the dolphin show. Overall, it was a pretty fun day and they were both so exhausted at the end of the trip, they conked right out when they got in the car.

Hanging with the giraffes

Hey, Evan, wait for me!

So, whaddaya think of these rhinos? Pretty cool, huh?

Mom, mom... let's go! There's so much more to see and do!

Passed out on the way home... note the chicken finger between the two boys on the seat. Brett was eating it on the way home and was so tired it fell out of his hand!

What's Up with What's Going Down

The month of August snuck by. I am just now realizing that I haven't posted anything since the beginning of the month. Oh well, I am a slacker I suppose.

Anyway, we've kept pretty busy since we've been back from vacation. Tina and Evan came down and we all went to the zoo (I HOPE to post the pics on here one day). Steve took a day off and we all went to the State Fair (again, more pics on the camera which have NOT been downloaded). But, the biggest thing is that Steve accepted a NEW JOB! We are pretty excited for him. I know I am not going to get this right at all, but I know that he will be an assistant director in the office of academic assessment and institutional research (or the equivalent 0f) at IUPUI. Pretty stoked. He starts mid- September, and we are hoping that this will help make up for the fact that I went from full time to part time. It won't be the same as our two full time incomes together, but we are bridging the gap.

The house is still on the market. We've had less traffic lately, and for that I am grateful. I've kind of resigned myself to not selling. Our listing expires in October and we will then pull it and probably close off the loft to make a third bedroom. While in an ideal world, we'd be able to sell and move this year, I don't think it's going to happen.

But, I guess the real reason I haven't blogged in awhile is that I've been feeling downright CRUMMY. Yep, I've seriously felt like I've been in the throes of first trimester pregnancy (and before you get excited, no I'm NOT pregnant). But I've had that horrible knock you off your feet fatigue and feeling of overheating and exhaustion at a moment's notice. I've even felt concerned driving my car because I've been so incredibly tired, I'm afraid I'll fall asleep at the wheel. Steve and my mom have been trying and trying to convince me to go to the doctor. I resisted because I know they'll not find anything and it will be a waste of time and money.

Well, yesterday I finally went. I had blood drawn, and the doctor (who isn't my usual doc.. I guess they needed to fit me into whoever they had free) gave me the "get outside and exercise" speech. You know what, lady? If I could muster up the energy to get on the treadmill and it would make me feel better, I would have done it in a heartbeat before I came to see you! So, I guess the bloodwork will take a couple of days to process, and I'm pessimistic about the outcome, but yeah. So, that's what's been going on.

Anyway, I'll try to finally download some Brett cuteness here soon.

Summer Vacation: Part 5 - Going To and From

I was worried about this part of the trip.. the traveling to and fro with a 15 month old. He's really on the move and constantly wants to be outside. Yeah. So, we ended up breaking the trip in half, but stopping in Chicago on the way up and down at Steve's parents for the night. That helped. That, and a whole bunch of toys that I brought to keep Brett busy in the backseat.

Luckily, Cheetah helped. I mentioned Cheetah in an earlier post last month. Cheetah is Brett's new BFF. He LOVES Cheetah. Cheetah sleeps with Brett at night and was a good companion in the car.

Summer Vacation: Part 4 - Going Fishing

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I did not participate in the "fishing" part of the trip... I left that to the guys. I don't have a lot of input about the fishing experience in Crivitz this year... but I do know that near the end of the trip, they managed to catch a couple of pretty nice sized fish. Below is a northern pike that Steve and his brother Chris caught. It was almost as tall as Brett!






We didn't take Brett on the fishing boats, just the pontoon this year. But, I have a feeling that in a couple of years we'll see him with his own little fishing pole!

Summer Vacation: Part 3 - Going to Church (kinda)

So, we were sorta religious on vacation.

Not far from where Steve's family vacations, there is a building that has been "in process" of being built for several years. It was built as a church and sat vacant for a long time. We think that the congregation may have run out of money. Well, a couple of years ago, someone bought it and turned it into a restaurant with a full bar. We happened upon taco, pizza, wing bar night (NOT kidding)... featuring chips and cake. Pretty funny, but the best part was that the altar area is now the bar... we think that if church were more like this, everyone would go!



In the entrance... this is where you'd normally see greeters. Instead, we decided to enjoy adult beverages..


Entrance to a worship hall (now the banquet part) to your right is where the guestbook and greeters would stand at church

The altar (eh, bar)

Summer Vacation: Part 2 - Going Swimming

Another fun part of our trip (well, maybe "fun" is pushing it a little bit) was introducing Brett to the swimming pool. I went out and bought this $15.00 little floaty thing that you can put your baby/toddler in. It's kinda like a raft to introduce them to the water. Brett did NOT like this at all... so as with a lot of baby items I've purchased, it will go on to wait for future siblings.

The day before I took these pictures, Steve's mom and I introduced Brett to the pool while Steve was fishing. I didn't have my camera. so these were from day 2 of testing the water. Day 1 didn't go so well... Brett, after seeing what it was all about decided that he'd rather walk around the pool and tell us all about it.

Day 2 was similar, but Steve had a bit more success...





I'm hopeful that next summer he'll be less afraid of the water and will want to splash and play like a normal kid :).

Summer Vacation: Part I - Going Boating

Well, we arrived back home yesterday evening from a week long vacation in Crivitz, Wisconsin.

My inability to sleep should prove to give you some good blog reading (I hope... can't promise it will be "good", but at least it will be something!)


Anyway, Steve's family has vacationed in the above-mentioned small town in WI for most of his life. We joined his parents, brothers and grandparents for a week of fishing, rest and relaxation (note that I didn't really participate in #1, but fully got into #2 & #3). I made the mistake of picking up Twilight to read and have now gotten into New Moon. I bet I'll have all 4 books of the series read before the end of the summer!


We spent the first couple of days unwinding, and then Wednesday we rented a pontoon boat. This was Brett's first experience on a boat.


But before we could get on the boat we had to wait for a brief period. This is how my boys spent their time...On the boat... notice my "Pi Phi" hat... I meant to grab my other floppy sun hat, but ended up with this one instead.




I love this pic... he has his Easter chick with him. This may be his 2nd favorite toy behind Cheetah, and I have to laugh because I think that Easter chick kinda looks like Brett. Notice the tuft of blond hair on top of his head!

I can drive the boat myself, daddy!


These last 2 pictures show Brett's sunglasses. It's a miracle I could get a shot of him wearing these... he actually likes his glasses, but he like the taking them on and off part (well, he's more successful with the "taking off" part), so they don't seem to stay on too long...

More to follow.