Our Drama King

When I worked in birth-to-three and gave a speech-language evaluation, I would always ask the parents if their children engaged in dramatic play (playing house, rocking a doll to sleep, etc.) this would tell what level their language should be at and what exactly they are gleaning from their environment. I am now realizing that dramatic play is one of Mehandis's favorite things to do!

He loves to pretend that he sweeping with brooms and dust pans (please excuse the marks on the walls now from the broom handles), putting lotion on his baby doll and giving him good morning kisses, and putting on the oven mitt while carrying a hot pad in the other hand as he prepares his "meal". Check out his re-enactment of how Chewy eats. At least Mehandis is no longer eating the cat food!

"Fall"-ing behind

So while my scrapbooks (and Facebook) are now getting more attention I see that I have written very few blogs this fall. I re-commit to using the blog to connect with family and friends once again... in addition to helping me remember what we have been doing as the time flies by!!!

I don't have a way to upload any photos on this blog entry, but I will try to give some cute updates.

Mehandis has some new favorite words/sayings lately, including-

"picture" He says this along with a sign of snapping a picture on a camera (totally self taught). Mehandis does this when ever he is by the stereo since we took so many picture of him dancing I guess!

"apple sauce" A newly found fave food

"bib" He knows good stuff will come soon once his bib is on. Once he gets the bib, he is content for a long while just to wander around wearing it. Not the most fashion forward look though.

"a book too" It is never just "book", not sure why.

"ABC..." Mehandis and dad say the alphabet together everyday. I have to say he is pretty good at pronouncing all of the letters... except for W.

"cheers" Yep, exactly what you think.

"ah-choo" following his sneezes or when we sneeze.

"hug" :)

We are looking forward to this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Tonight Michael and I will be very busy prepping the house for our total of 28 coming for "college friend" Thanksgiving. We have 2 turkeys defrosting in the fridge... fortunately we have 2 ovens! Then we head to Chicago for Thanksgiving dinner with my parents. We will also join my parents for the circus. I am having a hard time envisioning where this will be held downtown, but am very excited for the adventure. Hopefully Mehandis won't develop a clown phobia... I know so many adults that are scared of them to this day!!!

Trick or Treat!

We need a bigger candy dish... our family has been celebrating Halloween for a week! It started a week ago today with Maira, Peter & Stefan neighborhood association trick-or-treat. In their neck of the woods the streets are closed off and the crowds come! They were right in saying that it feels like Disney World.

The following photo shows our Mr. Potato Head and friendly monkey Stefan sharing a ride.
Michael and Peter dressed in their old & tattered cow costumes and got lots of comments as well. Including... are you drinking a Spotted Cow, are you a Gurnsee or Holstein, where is the rest of the herd. I think we have enough material for stand up at next year's State Fair.

Mehandis also had a Halloween Parade at daycare. One of his best buds, Adam, is pictured below in the Mickey Mouse costume. Adam's expression is priceless.

And finally... our neighborhood celebrated Halloween last night, actually on the 31st for a change. Mehandis now has the "trick or treat" down, or at least the approximation "ti or tee", and knows to run up to the houses with the people outside. Whenever he needed a little boost of energy Michael or I would say "go, go, go" and he would chime in and run!!! He and his costume were a hit.

Some of the ladies got into the dress up fun last night as well. I nominated myself (and won) as Prom Queen... Dara then declared herself 1st Runner Up. Dominique also joined Prom Court... while Chris was the Gym Teacher chaperon.

Although the weather was great... Michael's letterman jacket helped keep me toasty warm. Our fire and friends lasted most of the night. We had a great time!!!

Fall Fun!!!!

It is once again the time of year for sweaters and socks! Fall has always been my personal favorite season (perhaps related to an upcoming birthday?). About a week ago my girl friends and I gathered back up to Jenn M.'s family cottage in Egg Harbor. We all so look forward to this annual Door County get away. This year we had "peak color" and fantastic weather. We took the opportunity to take a hike, along with a wine/chocolate/cheese picnic, at Peninsula State Park. We couldn't pass on the trail pictured below... the name says it all.

Good photo work Dominique! This was taken from the top of the infamous tower climb.
Maira and I enjoying the corn maze.

Michael and I were happy to have my parents come to visit this past weekend. Here Mehandis and Michael prepare for their arrival!

All of us then went to a petting farm that had tons of animals, hay rides, cider and other fall fun!

Mehandis REALLY liked the animals. Here he is by a miniature horse.
We gave him corn to feed the goats, which made him giggle when the goats licked it off his hands. Eventually he started offering the corn to different goats but then "psyching them out" by pulling his hand back. At least he never ate the dried corn himself!!!
This was the best of the pumpkins we could find... since we opted out of the hayride to the "official" patch.
Happy Fall to Everyone!!!!

Clipping along

Last weekend, amongst a lot of other fun events, the three of us took a trip to the zoo. Michael and I were looking for something somewhat relaxing to do together as a family. This was the first time that Mehandis was out of his stroller for 95% of our zoo visit. He is now staying more "on path" versus running to puddles and trying to enter Employees Only doors. Below you can see Mehandis at his usual pace - a walk/run.

I praised Mehandis for offering this statue a little gift, until Michael noticed it was a cigarette butt.

Oh another fun story, every time Mehandis walked by a bench he pretended to sit down. Sometimes he just plopped himself down to squat on the ground. Here we are enjoying actually sitting on one of the benches.

Notice anything different in the pictures that follow?

Yep, Mehandis got his first barbershop haircut. Michael took him in yesterday and Mehandis did great sitting on his lap and taking it in. Yesterday, whenever he saw a reflection of himself he would smile and touch his head. He is so handsome!

Run & Roll

One of Mehandis's recent favorite "toys" is a Diego rolling backpack, which my friend Jen gave him. I decided to fill it with some accessories, such as a hat, sunglasses and scarf. Mehandis rolls around his bag while I throw a hat or random item on him. He typically pushes the bag in front of him like a shopping cart... as seen below. This was taken yesterday morning, before we left for Al's Run (an 8K we try to do every year). Mehandis got his own t-shirt this year and his own number! Since he was classified as a "walker" he did not get an official time, but he did the 5 miles in less than 50 minutes as Michael ran pushing him in the Burley. One of the best in Mehandis's age group I am sure!
Here is the "ch" of "cheese". Guess the "ee" is a better posing sound.
Michael & Mehandis cheered me on as a I ran across the finish line!

Yodeling?

Take a guess at what Mehandis is doing in the photo below...Singing the "O" to EEIEEIO of course. Good lip rounding I have to add, as a speech-language pathologist.

I gave Mehandis the Little People Farm today (well technically re-gifted since this was given to him by Jenn M. for his 1st birthday, but it didn't have it's introduction until now). He named all of the animals that came out of the package (i.e. bah, neigh, oink). Then enjoyed putting them in the silo. I haven't gotten gutsy enough to put in the batteries yet. What he doesn't know for a while won't hurt him, right?


You are a great play date Mehandis!!! Thanks for hanging at the farm with me this evening.