First giggles are so sweet

The only time we've heard August really giggle was in his sleep--not sure what you dream of when you're 3-4 months old, but apparently it's funny stuff.  So, it came as a nice surprise when August, Boden and I were hanging out one afternoon, and Boden, a natural born silly guy, was the first one to get August to giggle while awake.  The camera work is not great, but the giggles sure are.  I dare you not to smile.

Man-Lifts and Water Skis

Now it might seem, based on blog postings, that we didn't do anything in July, but I assure you we were quite busy...and quite hot.  The biggest news was that we got Boden up on the ski trainer and he did awesome--didn't want to stop and might have gone around the lake in circles indefinitely if Todd hadn't called a halt.  ( Note:  Please excuse my finger in the video!! I was a camera person doubling as the shore-start ski helper--I was more concerned about my second job duties :))

Secondly, Todd cut down some branches in our yard and Boden was more than happy to get out his construction gear and be part of the action.  See pics below:

Setting up the cones "so no one gets hurt"

"Helping" Dad in the man-lift

I have a little turtle...

I didn't know this song until Boden sang it to me.  I think it's well-known, though, because even my Panamanian friend said she learned it when she was a little girl.  She now thinks I was raised by a pack of wolves--the only plausible explanation for not knowing this tune, I guess.  Anyway, prepare yourself for cuteness.

Farmer Brown

Boden and I made our first car trip together to my mom's house.  It's a long drive and he did well--he definitely watched more videos than I would have preferred, but there's only so much construction and farm equipment you can point out on the way. 

As soon as we got out of the car, Boden headed for the barn and the four-wheeler and wondered where Papa Leo was.  Leo held off on feeding the calf until we got there so Boden could help feed her.  He was all into helping to prepare the bottle, but when it came time to feed her, he was happy to just watch. 

He also helped transfer pheasant chicks to their new home in the chicken coop, fed chickens, rode on the four-wheeler, and pestered Sassy the cat.  That was all in the first few hours of arriving :)

Evil Knevil's got nothin' on me!

Well, actually, being daring is overrated. Day 1 on the bike and I let Boden go down a little hill on our road thinking that training wheels made him a bit invincible--I should have thought that through. He ended up taking a bit of a spill; he slid off the back of the seat and continued to hold on to the handle bars. It looked cool at first and it would have been a neat trick if he had stuck his landing a little better :-) I told Todd I was giving him some latitude to experiment and he said I could have hovered a bit more. He reminded me that Boden is three and it was his first day on the bike...okay, good point. But, since his fall (in which he was not harmed one bit), Boden quickly learned how to use his breaks and is exercising caution appropriately...so touche, dear.

Laughing all the way...ha ha ha!

It was a proud night tonight:  Todd and I attended Boden's first ever "Christmas Program" (of course, we both think in the age of PC, it should be called Holiday Program and have less emphasis on songs about Santa but, being this far out in the MN 'burbs, we don't have a lot of diversity, so "Christmas Program" it is) and he was a star (in our eyes, at least).  Boden has been practicing his songs for at least a week and when show time came we were wondering if he was going to be one of the kids singing, crying for his parents, or smiling and hamming it up for the camera.  Thankfully, no crying, and I caught a sneaky smile or two, when I was able to actually see him.  Lesson learned for these first time parents from this excursion: unless you are seated in the front row, you might as well be one of the parents/family members standing in the back so you can get a good panoramic view of everything.  One of my videos was a lot of heads and backs of other parents and not so much kids, despite mutliple attempts to navigate around my screen blocks. I was getting frustrated and told Todd I was going to sprawl out on the aisle so I could put my camera right in Boden's face -- he was going to take a picture of me being THAT parent...I controlled myself, though, and was happy with the video I got.  Turn the volume up so you can really hear those pre-school voices belt out Jingle Bells.

Dad + Boden sharing a cookie post-performance

Thumbs up!

Well, I'm a little behind on the blogging, but here's a highlight--Boden had surgery on his thumb to repair a defect that kept him from straightening his thumb out.  He was very brave and everyone who helped us out at the University of MN Amplatz Children's Hospital was fantastic.  It was just a minor surgery on his thumb but given that it was MY kid going under anesthesia, the risk of it all was more personal and therefore greater.  In the end, all went well and there were no complications of any sort.  Boden had little down time and when we inquired about whether or not we needed to do any physical therapy, the Dr. replied with "Go ahead and try to stop him from moving it."  I guess being three has all the physical therapy he needs built in.  In retrospect, Todd and I had a hard enough time handling this experience, so we're hoping that this is the biggest surgery and the closest we ever get to going to the hospital with him again *fingers crossed*. 

Mom and Boden pre-surgery

Now I know my abcs

Now I know my ABCs, but I won't sing the whole song for you :)  Especially when you have a video camera on me.  Stinker.

The Armadillo Inquisition

You might get it from the line of questioning in the video, but just to be clear for anyone who has a hard time following the train of thought of a two year old, Boden and I had a great visit to our first Toddler Time class at the Zoo.  The subject was textures by way of Armadillos and Chinchillas.  The experience was a bit like herding cats (the situation:  multiple 2 and 3 year olds doing mostly what they wanted--imagine that-- while the teacher taught and the adults tried to get their child to pay attention...after all, we paid $ for this!).  It was really fun to see Boden in this kind of environment--when it came time to touch the animals (Chinny and Tank), Boden was first in line to say "My touch" while other kids were not interested in touching.  He's all about experiencing things--a do-er...definitely not much of a listener, but I like that he's not afraid to jump in and try things out.

Funny little video

Here's a funny little video of Boden and Todd playing a new "musical instrument".

Lawn care and other obsessions

During this recent miserably hot weather, I discovered that Boden is as obsessed with sprinklers as he is with mowing and trimming the lawn.  I see a bright future as a landscaper for him if this continues, or at least a lucrative lawn mowing business as a teenager.

I love the "Home Alone"-esque face he's been giving lately and I finally caught it on video after multiple attempts!  It cracks me up every time.

The day I lost my chin

In this video, Boden shows off his mad running skills--he's becoming really quick, but his feet sometimes get ahead of him and it reminds me of a goofy little puppy.

The video also show off the incredibly large scab that now covers the spot where his adorable little chin used to be.  Me and Todd's parents were watching Boden (watching being the operative word, here) skillfully maneuver his way across a rock bed in our yard, and we were actually marvelling over his accomplishments--like "wow, his balance is really good", "look at him, he's like a little mountain go--oh, no!".  Yep, that's when we watched him spill forward and had there not been a sawed off piece of timber there to catch his fall, he might have come through it, unscathed.  Luckily, though, he was able to drag his face down the rough edge of the log and come up bleeding and crying.  Ugh.  Not sure if I should be checking into plastic surgeons, yet, or if his fresh baby skin will regenerate and heal without a scar. 

In the dog house

Boden checking out Bueller's house

Not sure why all little kids that visit us think that Bueller's kennel is king, but they do, and Boden is no exception.  The video isn't that great, but it shows Boden in action--he's a walking, talking, mostly capable little dude.  It's crazy to me that last time at this year, he was just learning how to walk and now,  he runs, he says words I can understand, kind of listens to me (once in a while), and has his own ideas about what he wants to do...child development is truly amazing.

Content. Sensitive - off and on.

That was the way Boden's daycare teacher described his disposition yesterday morning and today. "Sensitive" appears to be a softer way of telling the parents that your child is "crying". Poor guy. He had his first full day of new daycare today, and they definitely do things a little differently than we do at home. They don't let him have a sippy cup, he drinks out of an open cup; they don't wear bibs, and they actually trust him with utensils, plates and bowls. Learning self-feeding skills is great and I'm glad they are letting him explore and refine his capabilities, but until he has this mastered, more spills and dribbles equals more laundry. Maybe they can teach him how to do that, too.

One thing I am amazed by is the herd mentality of Boden's little daycare class (and all daycare classes, I'm sure). When we walked into the class this morning, there were 6 little people sitting properly in chairs pulled up to little tables, chewing on waffles and watching my every move. I put Boden in a chair next to a cute little gal and went to sign him in. He proceeded to climb on top of the chair and then onto the table--all while the little conformists stared on in awe. Needless to say, we didn't make a stellar impression. I'm standing by the excuse that he is a) the youngest and b) free-spirited. We'll see what happens.

All. Nothing.

These are the only two options acceptable to little B, these days. Anything in between results in tears, a crumpled face, and maybe some angry fist pounding. For example, a whole piece of toast is okay. A kid-size strip of toast cut from a whole piece of toast is not okay. I found out that I somehow ruin the toast eating experience for Boden by cutting it into the appropriate size for him, thereby resulting in aforementioned fist-pounding unhappiness. This guy's hard to please.