1 year, 8 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days old!

Mars is 1 year, 8 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days old!

Happy Friday! Here are some pictures from when we went to Day Out with Thomas a couple of weeks ago. It was so much fun! Mars was in shock from seeing such big celebs like Thomas and Percy. Honestly, I was too. It was pretty amazing :)

1 year, 8 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days old!

Mars is 1 year, 8 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days old!

It's been a bit quiet around here but irl, we've been busy! Right after our visit in New York, we went to Southern California to hang out with my family and pretty much live everyday like a vacation. We went swimming, shopping, and just lounged around and enjoyed the 100 degree heat. It was so much fun and I miss it already. I sometimes dream about what it would be like to move our little family to So Cal :) 

To catch up, here are some pictures from our trip. Since Mars loves trains, I took him to the Irvine Regional Park to ride the little train and to run around the pumpkin patch. It was super hot so he doesn't look particularly happy, but I think he had a good time.

The cutest thing happened when we were here. Once we were allowed to board the train, Mars ran straight to the engine and waved hello at the "face" of the train. He thought Thomas or one of his friends would be there, but it was just a regular train with no face. He still waved anyway. It was so sweet :)

Mars can say a lot of words now and his first two-word combo is "no more" and it sounds like "no-mohr". He can repeat after what we say but usually only pronounces the first phoneme correctly :) It's super cute, "kiwi" becomes "kewpie", "Halloween" becomes "ha-wee", etc.

1 year, 6 months, and 4 weeks old!

Mars is 1 year, 6 months, and 4 weeks old!

Last week, I took Mars in for his second professional haircut. He did not like it :( But it turned out pretty well!

The before:

During:

After:

 Annnddd he looks just like his dad in this picture:

Happy Labor Day!

Mars is 1 year, 6 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days old!

Bubbles are most definitely one of his favorite things. It's also one of my favorite things because it's fun to watch him chasing the bubbles around and bonding with his dada. This week, he started hugging us while squeezing his hands. It's the best because it feels extra huggy :) 

Some new words this week:

help

beee

peee? (peek a boo)

dabdabdab (dip or diaper)

APO (apple)

ya

beebeeee (car)

+more I can't remember right now

1 year, 6 months, and 2 weeks old!

Mars is 1 year, 6 months, and 2 weeks old!

(Pictures from my iPhone)

This past Wednesday was a rough day for Mars and I. We had his 18 month check-up which meant two vaccinations. He was already feeling not-so-comfortable since his resident doctor isn't there anymore and he really liked her. After his two shots, he was so sad and kept pointing at his band-aids and crying. Afterwards, we had to go to the lab to get his blood drawn, and that was even worse. The lab tech was unclear with what he wanted me to do and long story short, he pretty much yelled at me because I accidentally tugged on the tubing when trying to restrain my wiggly baby. He also ordered me to "not look" so it's not like I could see where I was putting my hand... It was all so sad and alarming and I ended up sobbing with my crying baby.

I had planned on taking Mars in for a haircut afterwards but decided that he had enough restraint in one morning. Instead, we went to the the Bay Area Discovery Museum, where I spoiled him rotten and let him run around free wherever, and for as long as he wanted. We started with some pizza and chocolate milk for lunch, then I bought him a gardening tool set, a blue train that he always plays with when he goes into the gift shop, and a new book. He ran around and had so much fun, bumped his head into another toddler and cried, but then got over it quickly, and I felt much better seeing him happy and in a good mood again. 

Later that afternoon, we came home and did some gardening in the backyard. I repotted some plants and let Mars "help" by pouring water out of his new watering can, and digging in the wet soil with his new trowel. He seemed to really enjoy that too. It seemed that he had gotten over everything sad that happened earlier that day, but in the evening, during his bath, he saw his band-aids and got upset again. I think the entire experience was really scary for him because he was so scared for me to touch the band-aids, even as I was taking them off. Then he played with his bath toys while whimpering and sort-of crying, and it broke my heart.

Yesterday and today, we stayed home and relaxed. We'll probably play in the backyard/sandbox later since it's such a nice day out. Wednesday was too much, and I just want some quiet time at home :)

1 year, 6 months, and 1 week old!

Mars is 1 year, 6 months, and 1 week old!

Happy Friday!

New words this week include

baby

bo (boat)

bye bye

and I forgot to mention last time that he says "wee" for playing and fun times :)

(edit: And also "woah!" when something awesome happens...when we sprinkle furikake on his rice or when his Boogie Bus goes out of control, etc) (wait! second edit!: He also says "yum!" and "beep beep" for car... sorry, I just feel like I have to get all of it down.)

This week, I caught him playing with a small Piglet doll. He was pretending to feed him from his sippy cup and making the sign for "milk". Then he pointed to the chair and tried to make him sit on the chair. Later, he let Piglet hop around on these large squares laid out on the rug. It was so cute and funny. We don't have plans this weekend so maybe that means we can just hang out and relax. Last weekend, I was extremely hung over and I never want to do that again! Relaxing at home sounds good :) Happy weekend, everyone!

1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days old!

Mars is 1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days old!

Please excuse the cracker crumbs on his face...

Lately, Mars has been adding more words to his vocabulary. Here is a running list of what he can say so far:

mama

dada

daddy

wowo (dog)

uh-uhn (no)

no-no
book
ee-oh (the end)
ub (up)

ball

buh-bo (bubble)

bah (bath)

pah-ta (pasta)

I haven't been teaching him any new signs, but since I'm making lists, here's what he can sign so far:

milk

drink

all done

more

eat

baby

cereal

cracker

bird

airplane (sort of...he just flies his hand around in the air)

ouchie/boo boo

wash hands/wash hair

and he can point to his nose, eyes, mouth, and ears

His current favorite food is rice. He can eat a whole plate of plain rice non-stop. To take advantage of this, we made little salmon and veggie rice balls (with cute seaweed cut-out faces and everything), and it was the first time in a long time that he finished his entire meal. He was so proud when we congratulated him on being "all done, all done". :)