happy father's day

This is quite belated, but meaningful nonetheless.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Or as Malcolm likes to call you, Paul, and sometimes, Dada.

They're two of kind...

Our yearly family camping

Ingredients for this year's Schlomer Camping Adventure:

1 group camp site

19 campers

6 tents

2 seasoned snorers

a gazillion mosquitoes

12 squirt guns

unlimited food

1 blazing fire

camp songs galore

and

DIRT:

Before we left, Malcolm learned a new word that summed up his time, "happy"

Summertime means...

I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream!









...and ice cream mustaches

Summertime means...

no time for the computer and blogging about all our activities (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). But new posts to follow soon.

Summertime also means...










...Laundry on the line

A conversation

Here is a peek at a recent conversation between Mommy, Daddy, and Malcolm.

[Mommy and Daddy enter Malcolm's room after a nap. Malcolm is sitting in his crib. Malcolm hears Mommy call Daddy "Paul."]

Malcolm: Pa-ul?

Daddy: No, DaDa.

Malcolm: Paul?

[Daddy looks at Mommy with a puzzled glare.]

Daddy: Malcolm say, "Erin."

[Malcolm is silent and pauses.]

Daddy: Malcolm, can you say, "Air-in?"

[Malcolm is still silent and sees Mommy over Daddy's shoulder waving her hands and shaking her head. Malcolm smiles.]

Daddy: [Using a sweet voice] Malcolm can you say, "Erin?"

Malcolm: Paul.

[Malcolm grins. Everyone laughs.]

Summertime means...

...hanging out on the front stoop.

A little trip to see lots of people

We headed West to Minnesota and South Dakota for a little get-away and loved that we were able to see lots of people.

We stayed with Auntie Sarah, Uncle Melander, and Cousin Oscar while in The Cities, and went to a great, big jungle gym and park.



Here Daddy and Malcolm went down the big slide.





We also spent time with our friends, Diane and Bruce, and their bunch, Logan, Lex, and James. We went to the Lake Como Zoo. During a pit stop, Lex tells Paul about each of the superheros on his shirt as James looks on. While we were with Diane and Bruce, Malcolm got to try out a little indoor waterpark.










Malcolm was a little hesitant at first, but it didn't take him long to have fun in the water.











From The Cities, we hit the road out to South Dakota to visit Great-Grandma Ruby and pick up Grandma Barb.




Malcolm and Daddy give Grandma Ruby's plant head a hair cut.






Malcolm liked to run through the hallways at the nursing home, so that kept Grandma Barb busy chasing him around.





Then, Grandma Ruby thought that Malcolm would like a snack and shared some crackers with him. She was right - he settled down for some food.










Then we started to make our way home back to WI...Like usual, Malcolm did pretty good in the car, but both he and Mommy were tired of the drive about an hour away from home. It was a whirlwind trip, but worth seeing all these great people!

13, 14, 15 months

During Malcolm's 13th, 14th, and 15th months he sometimes seemed like he was in his 13th, 14th and 15th years. He ate a lot. Slept a lot. And entered a new phase of moody and threw fits when he didn't get his way. He was just like a teenager, except he doesn't know how to roll his eyes yet.


All these changes meant new growth. His little body is still little, but he's a bit taller. He has two molars and his hair grows like crazy. We gave him his first hair trim in April. He didn't like it so much. And Mommy liked it less because she loves the curls.




Besides all the physical growth, he's been also showing his mental growth. He loves to mimic Daddy and they make it a game, like pointing to your nose and "beeping." Or saying "tickle tickle" and tickling your tummy or toes. He can give you a high-five and fist-bump (which makes him laugh). He holds his hands to his head when we say, "¡Ay, mi cabeza!" He can point to multiple body parts such as his nose, belly, head, elbow, arm, fingers, toes, ears, chin and cheek. He doesn't point to his own eyes, but he will gladly show you where your eyes are.

He still signs ("eat" "all done" "more" "please" "milk" "water" "i don't know" and about 8 other signs), but he also has a great vocabulary of about 40 words that we can understand. Some of his favorite words are ,"lo-la" for flower, "done," "Elmo," "fish," "lion," "ant," "oh-oh," "apple," "ike" for bike, "peet-sa" for pizza, and various animal noises. He's finally getting the concepts of "cold" and "hot" and "on" and "off" but he confuses "up" and "down."

He loves being outside and in the garden or at the park. He loves to chase after big kids and watches what they do. He likes the swing and slide. But loves to crawl through the tube and yell or laugh to hear his voice echo in it. He's still Mr. Social, but learning that some people need their space. At the park he made another kid about his age (but taller) cry simply because he was too close. :)


When Malcolm hears music he'll dance by bouncing his little legs or waving his arms like his Uncle Matt, the Conductor. He gets how to throw a ball, but he's better at kicking the ball. He can build a tower out of blocks, but he likes knocking them down better. He loves it when you play with his piggies (toes) and he'll give you a standing ovation if you sing "ABC" or "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider." He still loves the drums and can also blow into a harmonica. On a rare occasion, we'll catch him "reading"
aloud to himself.









He still eats really well and loves his proteins and fruits more than anything. And any type of protein - meat, beans, tofu, eggs - he loves them all. He also enjoys trying new things and will never say no to fruit.

He's changed a lot over three months. We look forward to the next three and the next three and...

Summertime means...

...WATERMELON!

At least summertime means watermelon to Paul and Malcolm (me, not so much).




Here's Malcolm enjoying his first tastes. I'd say he likes it. As he gives it a fist pump of approval.