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Practicing for his modeling career at J. Crew.

It doesn't get much better than eating ice cream while watching a train go by

Always climbing something

He is obsessed with trying on Mama and Daddy's shoes

Nixon - Eighteen Months

Our little buddy is eighteen months old!  He is in such a fun stage right now and while he certainly keeps us on our toes, we're loving every second of it.

His latest acquired skill is climbing onto chairs (and subsequently tables and counters), and fairly often I'll turn around to find this...

His favorite place to be is standing at the kitchen counter and I love that he wants to help and be in the middle of all the action.  I usually give him a bunch of spoons, spatulas, and other random kitchen utensils and judging by his mixing skills, it shouldn't be too much longer before I can actually put him to work.

He's not saying very many conversational words yet (aside from "wow," which he says many, many times a day) but he can tell you what a kitty, dinosaur, sheep, and snake say.  Pretty much any four-legged animal is considered a kitty and will elicit an enthusiastic "meow!" Squirrel, dog, he's not picky.

Favorite foods: berries, carrots, grapes, tomatoes, cottage cheese, peanut butter toast, and pickles

Least favorite foods: zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, and eggs.

Favorite things to do: play outside, go to the park, help me vacuum, read books (he finally sits still long enough to actually read!), wrestle with Daddy, pull ALL his toys out without actually playing with them, and turn lights on and off.

A Hike

Hi everyone! We're back from a busy, fun-filled holiday weekend spent in South Carolina. We finally got the chance to reconnect with some friends from Italy and it was a wonderful couple days of catching up and relaxing. Nixon loved hanging out with Aunt Jessica and Uncle Ralphie and even warmed up to Darby the dog despite her enthusiastic face licks. The weekend was so fun, in fact, that I didn't manage to take a single picture, so you'll all have to imagine the cuteness that was Nixon running around in American flag swim trunks.

So, in lieu of sharing Fourth of July photos, I'll share some photos of a quick hike we did a couple weeks ago.

Aquarium

A couple weeks ago, we took a quick getaway down to Wilmington.  Nixon has loved looking at all the fish tanks we've randomly come across, so we figured the aquarium would be a big hit.  And sure enough, he loved it.  Part of his excitement may have been due to being able to run free after a couple hours in the car, but whatever the case may be, he had a blast running from exhibit to exhibit and pointing at everything he saw.

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Sitting on his scooter, looking out the window, and contemplating life.  Or maybe plotting his escape.

"If I can just get this buckled, maybe Mama will finally let me ride my scooter down the driveway!"  Sorry kid, not yet.

A bottle of bubbles for each hand, because you never know when the urge to blow some bubbles will strike.

Building towers with a little help from Daddy

Cutest dump truck driver ever

"Mom, let me out of the stroller so I can pull all these books off!"

Helmet selfie

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His cup has the exact same smoothie in it, but it always tastes better from Mama's glass

He was having tons of fun unwrapping the rolls of wrapping paper, until he realized he had trapped himself in the closet

Snacks, check.  Water bottle, check.  Hat and sunnies, check.  Ready for a run walk!

Helping out with the chores.  Just kidding, he's really making a big mess but he has a blast so I let him splash around.

Stopping to smell the flowers. 

Nixon: Fifteen Months

Fifteen months!  Nixon continues to be a busy, inquisitive, bright little toddler.  He is happiest when he's outside, picking up leaves and poking the dirt.  His little mind is soaking everything up and it seems like each day he's showing off some new skill he's learned (the latest one is opening flip-top bottles...no more letting him pull the condiments out of the fridge).

Things Nixon has been loving/learning/doing this month:

• We're entering the climbing phase.  Anything he can get his little leg up on (which isn't much...yet) he's on top of.
• When asked, he can show you where his ears, tummy, and tongue are, although most of the time he'll stick his tongue out in response to all three.  It must be more fun than patting his tummy.
• Every time we walk by the front door, we have to wave to Mrs. Birdie, who built a nest just outside the door.  Maybe there will be some baby birdies to wave to soon.
• He's finally starting to enjoy books apart from bedtime, although I'm not sure if he enjoys being read to or just likes turning the pages.

Asheville + Nixon Goes Camping

Over Easter weekend, we took advantage of Donovan having a couple days off and spent the weekend in Asheville.  We split our time between relaxing in a hotel downtown and one night camping.  Nixon absolutely loved our time out in the woods.  He explored, found sticks, ate dirt, and sat in leaves to his little heart's content.  Sleeping in the tent was not as much of a hit, so much so that we actually called it quits after one night instead of staying for two like we planned.  But, now we know how to be better prepared for next time, and for his first time camping I'd call it a success.