Dear Dadda,

i miss you. do you miss me? momma said you had important music played today. hope it went good. i have a special music number i am getting ready to play for you on my alligator piano when you get home. hope you are having fun. hurry home so we can play.

love,
Berke

2010 Marathon Monday

Marathon Monday is one of my favorite days in Boston. Berke and I headed to mile marker 19 with some friends to cheer on the runners. It is always an amazing and inspiring experience.

And So It Begins

This morning I put my plant in the front window to get some sunlight while we were out shopping for the day.

(Let me back up. Christian bought this plan 2 years ago and neglected it so badly that it nearly died, but I swooped in and gave in mouth to mouth and saved its life. It has been doing wonderfully for the last year. So good in fact that is just got a new pot to accommodate all of its growth. I am no green thumb, so this has been a big accomplishment for me; I heart this plant.)

Christian has been out of town, so I was busy, taking the dog out, getting dinner ready for Berkeley, McDuff and myself. I was feeling good about everything; things were running smoothly. I put Berke in the front room to play with toys while I cleaned up and did the dishes. As I am doing the dishes I get a call from a woman from the White Symphony Orchestra wanting information on Christian and an upcoming piece he wrote that they will be playing next month. As she is asking me a question, I look in on Berkeley to see that he is on the couch, he has the plant, he is covered in potting soil, so is the couch; the plant is upside down. Oh, the horror!

I couldn't deal with this and talk to the lady; she probably thought I was crazy but I told her she needed to call Christian and quickly hung up the phone. The plant did not make it out unharmed, many branches were bent and it may be touch and go for a little while. I gave him some water, tried to help stabilize him with some soil and put him in a safe comfortable position. We will see what happens.

I place Berkeley in his room to play so I can clean up and take a few deep breaths. I go start picking up what soil I can with my hands only to hear my baby's hands splashing in the dog water bowl. I quickly grab him again,put the dog water on the table and place him in his room. Try to use the dust buster (waste of money) and it doesn't work. I run downstairs to grab the vacuum; when I reach the top of the stairs, I see Berke in the bottom drawer on the oven. I take the vacuum to the couch and start vacuuming the potting soil only to have the vacuum come to an abrupt stop; yep, my little angel pulled it out of the socket.
At this point, I want to scream and cry. Can I not win one simple battle? I grab my guy and take him to the crib and as I am walking there he just starts laughing at me. Oh this kid is good; he is REAL good, because I cant help but laugh back. But he is still going in the crib (jail for babies). It takes me a good 15-20 minutes to get this dirt of my light tan couch and try to do what nursing I can to the plant.

I guess that will teach me not to forget about the plant in the window. Isn't this supposed to happen around 2 years old? I just don't see this as a good sign. I have 3 more days as a single mom and I really hope I can make it.

15 months

Berkeley is 15 months and finally started walking; he just needed to get out of the house and it all came together for him. He took his first steps at a local bike shop when I was purchasing my bike and now he's a pro. That is, when he chooses to walk. This kid has a mind of his own and most of the time enjoys doing his "knee walk" where he literally walks around the entire house on his knees. It is pretty cute! Everyday his walking gets a little better.

We have almost weaned this little guy off of baby food, but it has not been easy. This guy is a picky eater!!! It has been quite a task to find solid food that he will actually consume on his own. So far he likes, faux dogs (veggie hot dogs), yogurt, applesauce, bananas (LOVES these), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, any type of cracker, caramel flavored rice cakes, risotto with asparagus, gnocchi, and smoothies. He refuses to eat any vegetables in solid form, so we have resorted to making green smoothies which has worked like a charm.

Berke still has a small vocabulary in the English language saying mainly Dadda, doggie, duck (see a theme), and hi. He is very proficient in jibberish however and talks nonstop to us all.

This month he has become much more obsessed with McDuff and likes to jump on him when he is laying down; I imagine he thinks the dog will react the same way his teddy bear will, but this is NEVER the case. McDuff has gone on extra high security when it comes to this kid as he is not fond of this new behavior. We have been working on soft touch a lot when petting the dog, but it only takes seconds for Berke to have a handful of hair and be pulling it. McDuff has been very patient with Berke during this time of learning.

This month, Berke is all about climbing. He learned to climb onto the couch, which has been quite dangerous as he likes to fall backwards on the couch once he is up and laugh. This is all fun and games except this behavior has caused a few falls off the couch onto the hardwood floor. Not so fun. I call Berke my "little monkey" lately as he loves to climb in and out of things, over things, under things, through things. We got a box the other day and he climbed in and out of 30 times in a 15 minute period. He has found new joy in the kitchen chairs and climbs in and over them and onto the next like it is some sort of playground. He also tried to climb from the couch to the bookshelves this week. I am learning my house needs a serious round of baby proofing, but I have no idea how to make it safe for him.

At Berkeley's 15 month appointment we found that he was 21.9 lbs (15%) and in the 7% for height; looks like he got his mommies genes, sorry dude. Perhaps he will have a growth spurt one of these days, you never know. He may be wearing his 12 months pants for a year as most of them are still way to long for him.

That is about it for this little monkey. He is so much fun and keeps us on our toes constantly. Wherever we go, everyone loves to say hi to Berke and he always greets them with a big smile which melts there hearts. He is so social and loves to be around people. We decided we are keeping him around for sure.

Easter

Happy Easter!! We hope you all enjoyed your Easter holiday. We had a wonderful weekend; listening to conference and remembering our sweet Savior on this beautiful holiday. We are so grateful for Christ and his eternal sacrifice for us; we hope we can continue to try to be more like him and teach Berke about his love for him and those around him.

Berkeley was excited to see a basket full of fun left by the Easter Bunny this morning. He was mainly excited to get a new basket (forget the goodies inside). McDuff decided he needed the chocolate bunny much more than his brother, and thus, he helped himself. The Easter Bunny has grate taste and brought Berkeley this adorable Easter outfit; thanks EB!

We sure do love our little guy. Happy Easter!

Family Bike Ride

(Just when you think this kid can't get any cuter, you stick a bike helmet on
him and he just looks even more adorable.)

Last week I bought a bike to begin my triathlon training; I wasn't able to ride it due to the crazy amount of rain we have had. This week we bought a bike seat for Berkeley. This morning we left our house at 8 a.m. & went on our very first family bike ride for 2 hours with Liser and Danly. They showed us how to get to the Minute Man Bike Trail.
I am pretty sure I haven't been on a bike (outside of the gym) since I was about 12 years old. I have to say, it was really fun. Berkeley loved the ride; we all did. We are excited to have a new way to explore the city and a fun activity to do as a family this summer. I am still a bit nervous riding in the city, but I absolutely love being on the trails.

Eggs and Cookies

Gotta love traditions. The Hadley's joined us for the 3rd year in a row to color Easter Eggs & decorate and consume sugar cookies. Berkeley joined us for the egg dying; he mainly enjoyed banging the egg on his high chair and breaking the shell. He also had fun eating the sugar cookies (sans the frosting).

Gotta love my hot hubby who baked all the delicious sugar cookies!