Green baby thumb

Hi dee ho all

Mitch and Mommy have started a small garden on our deck. We purchased eight plants, most that were on the discounted rack at the store. Some are reminiscent of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. We have a green pepper plant, lavender, rosemary, oregano, spearmint, some kind of red flowering plant, some kind of yellow flowering plant and some kind of white flowering plant. We don't have a lot of photos or video yet but here is a quick glimpse. We'll take more and keep you apprised of our progress.

We get out to water them everyday. At first we had to work on our watering technique but it is improving.

Mitch loves helicopters

Rich's old paramedic partner, Steve Weyand, is the newest California Highway Patrol helicopter pilot, (remember CHiPs?). He invited us to bring Mitchell to visit him and his "sweet ride" at work. Mitchell loved it. Steve said he could touch all the buttons...so he did. It was a great time. After seeing the helicopter we took Mitch over to see the CHP plane across the way. Mitchell shook his head "no" and pointed back to the helicopter. It was such a fun time!

From clouded skies to cloudless skies

Since our last post Rich has gone from being a busy fellow to being a busy staff physician (now he's really a doctor that helps people, hahaha). We have moved from the cloud covered Seattle metro area to the sun covered north central California area. Mitch has swapped his long sleeve shirts, pants and jackets for swim trunks, sandals and sunscreen. It's been a busy month but we'll get you caught up on our adventures.

Before we packed up and left the Pacific Northwest we took some chances to fit in some of our favorite activities. You might notice that we get to see Rich in a lot more photos. It's amazing how much more time you have when fellowship isn't eating it all up.

Here Mitch and Daddy take in an afternoon at Newcastle Beach Park. Playing in the sand, swinging and just loving their time together.










































We made a trip down to visit Papa Skip and Nana which always makes for a good time. Mitch helped Nana with her gardening, played with a wagon and entertained us by trying on Mommy's sunglasses.








































We had a chance to visit with some of the Creagan family too, but we were having too much fun to take pictures. It was all so much fun that we had to get in a rest where ever we could.















Shortly after our trip to see the Grandparents Rich left for sunny California and his new job as the person who puts the straight pins in new dress shirts. Just kidding. Rich is working at Mercy Medical Center in their ICU. Ooooo, his "first job". So exciting! This is where Rich would spend most of the next two weeks waiting for Mitchell and Niki to join him.















In the meantime Mitchell and Mommy spent time doing what we do.

Pointing at airplanes.














Looking cute.














Cleaning house.














And making trips to the zoo. Here Mitch demonstrates that he can share and also that he can teach others where their noses are.




























We did our best not to cry when we said good-bye to Ama and Apa at the SeaTac airport and thought about how excited we would be to see Daddy. Our new home had many surprises including a tricycle. Here Rich shows Mitchell how it's done.














Mitch settled into his new digs pretty quick and resumed his job of being ridiculously cute.














Rich had been very busy setting up the new house so that all Mitch and Mommy had to do was find places to play and things to do. We found several great parks, a few neat water features. Mitch liked them, for the most part.
















And Mitch went on his first speed boat ride. Our Redding family, the Weyands, treated us for a late afternoon cruise in their boat on Whiskeytown lake. If you look and listen carefully, you can see a smile and hear a laugh.


I have several more photos to share but will have to wait until another time. For now, I will leave you with this. Much love.

Videos

The video of Mitchell getting his hair cut is way too big to upload. We'll send it out on disk. On the other hand, the video of Rich receiving his certificate is short and sweet.


Hugs and kisses.

360 days down, 5 days to go

Rich is only days away from crossing the finish line of his fellowship and we are jazzed. We've had some great distractions in the last 30 days giving us a reprieve from all the anticipation that makes the days seem longer.

Rich and I left Mitchell with Grandma, Grandpa and a bag full of marshmallows and made a trip to visit his BFF Steve in Orange County for a surprise birthday party. I won't tell you his age, you'll have to guess.














Here is what some of us party goers looked like when his age was revealed. "Man that's old!"














All weekend we had a chance to spend time with Steve's family and friends (the family you get to pick) and laughed and ate and laughed and ate and laughed and ate. It was a very special time, one that spawned inside jokes that will be repeated for years to come. For those of you that were there I will never think of public bathrooms the same again.

We returned home to a visit from Aunt Rosie with cookies in hand for the boy. We did not take a single picture as we were too busy playing.

The temperatures in Seattle have not been above 75 degrees in about nine months, which makes for some chilly days when the wind is blowing. Here Mitchell sports one of mommy's sweaters at the park on a June-uary day when mommy learns "just because it's sunny doesn't mean its warm".



















For Father's Day we met Grandma and Apaw (Grandpa Steve's handle) at the mall for Mitchell's first hair cut. I have several minutes of video but have tried three times to upload it with no success. I will keep trying.

The haircut was followed by a "Seattle picnic" indoors. Did we get a picture of Daddy and Grandpa? No. Why would we? Mitchell's the one that Father's Day is really about right? Here he is working on a new art medium during our picnic.














Mitchell can be messy, but he does not let his hygiene suffer. One of his favorite activities is brushing his teeth. He likes to do so upon waking, before breakfast, after breakfast, after playing, before snack, after snack, before story time, after story time...in fact if we let him I think he would brush his teeth all day.




















Rich was presented his certificate of completion for Fellowship during a ceremony at Salty's on Alki Beach. One of Rich's attendings had some nice things to say during the presentation of his certificate. I'm hoping to post the video soon.

And here we are with the Seattle skyline at our back, the Space Needle just over Rich's head, looking so relieved to only have five days of fellowship left!

Our little boy, our little monkey...

Here's a couple of recent photos where Mitch is truly smiling for the camera.



Now while he's cute all of the time, he's into and out of everything...

So much so that we needed to get creative to keep him in bed. Here's some added padding to the top of his crib to keep him from climbing out.


Next it's a padded room for mommy.

Much love.

And about everything else...

After the last post I realized that all I updated you on was Mitchell's size. Here's the scoop on all the other stuff.

Words: Mitchell can say ball and apple, though ball sounds more like "baw" and apple like "aw baw". Now everything is "baw" or "aw baw" when asked. A dog-" aw baw", a plane-"baw", and orange "baw". However, if you ask him if he sees a dog or plane or where the orange or a cloud is he will point right to the requested object. He might have said water the other day and it sounded like "aw wa" (spanish maybe?). I'm also pretty sure he said grandpa a week or so ago and it sounded like "aa pa".

Teeth: Of the sixteen teeth Mitch is suppose to sprout by the age of 19 months, he has about 13.5 of those.(He is 16 months old)

Body awareness: When asked where the following body parts are Mitch can point to them; eyes, ears, nose, teeth, tummy/belly, feet, toes, head, hair, mouth. He is able to climb up his highchair and into his crib when the front gate is down. He is almost able to climb out of the crib as well.(!) He is climbing ladders and sliding down slides.

Expressions: Mitch can blow kisses, wave hello/goodbye, waves goodbye to the park when we leave, and he has learned to shake his head "no" (oh goody!), and give kisses. He is an effective pointer relaying the desire to swing or walk over to see the ducks or wanting to go outside. Most often when he wants to go outside he will bring his shoes and/or his jacket to you, as well as your shoes and/or jacket.

Favorite book: Picture book that shows numbers, letters, shapes, opposites, alphabet,times of day and places.

Favorite toys: All of them. He has recently gotten very good at his shape puzzles. And he enjoys producing a new piece of art work now and then; his favorite media is crayon.

Favorite songs: The Alphabet, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Wellington's Victory, Barry White's My First, My Last, My Everything.

Favorite places: Bellevue Park, Grandma and Grandpa's house

Favorite foods: Cheese, apples, grapes, cream cheese and raisin bread sandwich, peas, beans, banana cookies, bananas

There's a glimpse into the mind of Mitchell. Some up coming plans include a trip to the Children's Museum with Grandma and Grandpa Steve, a visit from Grandpa Skip and Nans, a visit from Aunt Rosie, a trip to the dentist and a trip to the doctor for an 18 month follow up.

See you soon!