Video Dump

Hunter and Carl being silly.

Hunter being gross and blowing spit bubbles.  Eww.

In class this past Saturday.  He played "drummed" before the activity began...

Then not wanting to drum because it wasn't on his terms...

He wasn't too happy that I helped him...

iPics

Last weekend, we had a birthday party at The Little Gym of Virginia Beach.  Hunter loves TLG, especially the sticks!  Lucky for him, they did a stick activity at the party, then we did 2 in class Monday and 2 in class on Saturday.

Hunter woke up Monday morning, got his diaper changed, ran into the living room, grabbed the remote, turned on the T.V., and started channel surfing looking for "ooh-oh-ahh-ahh" (Curious George).  This kid is OBSESSED with George!  He no longer wants to watch Peep or any other kid cartoon, just monkey.  We taped the 2 movies, and now if he hears the Jack Johnson song, he asks for monkey.

This is just him being silly.  He had lovey behind his head with his hands behind his head, relaxed.  He, of course, moved when I went to take the picture.

This is pretty much where Hunter hung out during class on Saturday.  His "independent 2's" attitude is starting to show itself.  He sat down on the big red mat during the warm up because he didn't want to participate.  Oh boy!

Crafting

One of my New Year's resolutions was to be a little craftier.  I found a cute little wreath idea on Pinterest and decided to tweak it into a Valentine's Day wreath.  Ashley and I spent a good hour or so wrapping the yarn around the wreath (next time we said we would try ribbon instead).

I'm really excited how the wreath turned out.  I have to get a door hanger so I can hang it on the outside of the door.

Mine:

Ashley's:

Bath Time Activity

I found this idea on Pinterest (you know you're addicted, too!).  I've been looking for fun activities to try with Hunter and have found quite a few good ideas.

All you need for this is some shaving cream and food coloring (optional, but so fun).  The food coloring didn't stain and easily washed off.  I used cheap shaving cream, the foamy kind, and the liquid food coloring (I read the gel kind doesn't work).

Hunter loved it!  After a while, I didn't even put the food coloring in.  I even got some speech "therapy" in.

Hunter had to ask for "more" and say/sign "please" (he typically does both).  I gave him two choices between colors.  He typically choose the second, which isn't uncommon.  We talked about what he was doing and what was going on (You're painting... it is fluffy... splash splash splash).  He soon discovered he could wash all the shaving cream off of his hands and I would ask, "Where did it go?!"  And pretty soon he was washing it off and asking, "Go?"

We did this for at least 30 minutes.  And we did it the next night, and the next, and the night after that.  Then Mommy ran out of shaving cream.  I'm going to have to go to the dollar store to see if they sell shaving cream.

Hunter Update

As I mentioned in Hunter's 18 month post, I had asked for a referral to an orthopedist since Hunter was intoeing and moving his pelvis when he ran (among other things, like tripping a lot).  Before I asked for the referral I took pictures and videos of Hunter's legs and showed them to the physical therapist at work (who I trust).  She said I should definitely get it checked out.

Monday was Hunter's orthopedist appointment.  I should actually say it was more of an appointment with the physician's assistant (who was very nice and knew her stuff... I know they go through a TON of schooling) and a 1-2 minute visit with the ortho.  The PA did some stuff with Hunter's legs and showed me how much more his right hip rotated in than his left (it was crazy).  She had me set him down and me go to the other side of the room so he would run to me (and cry the whole way).  She told me that he had femoral anteversion on the right side and he would grow out of it, but the ortho would come in and check it out and answer any of my questions.  The ortho comes in, says hi (his pager went off, he checked it) and did some stuff to Hunter's legs.  He then said that Hunter has the femoral anteversion on the right side and tibial torsion on both sides and he will outgrow both at 6 and 4, respectfully.  As he was asking if I had any questions, he was headed for the door.

He seemed like he was in such a rush and Hunter's case wasn't really worth a lot of time.  I wasn't put at ease like I thought I should have been with a "he will grow out of it" answer.  The physical therapist I work with asked how the appointment went.  She asked what the doctor's plan was.  When I told her nothing, she just had this look on her face.  She told me to get him a trike and she would put a figure 8 strap for his feet to help give him some input through his hips.  In 6 months she will look at him.  Her words were, "There is always UVA."

So, we ordered him a trike.  One with an adjustable seat so he should be able to reach.  I hope that the doctor we saw on Monday is correct.  I hope that he outgrows it.  I hope we don't have to go to UVA.  I plan to see if I can email the orthos at UVA to get their opinion.  I am also embarrassed to say I have not yet done any a lot of research on either of these conditions.  I have been swamped at work and actually bringing work home to do once Hunter goes to sleep.  I've never done that!

I can't wait for Hunter's trike to come in.  I will definitely post pictures of him on it.

New Stuffed Animals

The girl who makes Hunter's adorable hats, Kayla, has also made crocheted stuffed animals.  I sent her pictures of the Peep characters and asked if she could make them.  She said yes, but she was super swamped and it wouldn't be until after Christmas.  Hunter doesn't exactly understand the concept, so that wasn't a big deal.

They came in the mail the other day and I love them!  They turned out better than I could have imagined!  And the best part... Hunter loves them and labels each one!  He doesn't put them down and loves to snuggle them.  Kayla really put a lot of time and effort into these stuffed animals.  Here is a picture of the characters on the show followed by the animals Kayla made.

 

Another Place We Love

The zoo!!  This weekend was beautiful!  We went Saturday and Sunday (well, Carl took Hunter Sunday while I deep cleaned the house).  Hunter is really into the animals and is very independent when it comes to walking.  We don't bring the stroller anymore because he rarely wants to be carried.  We usually follow him around, letting him go where he wants.  Sometimes we do have to redirect him when he starts picking up everything off the ground.

Oh, yeah, the lions.  When Carl took Hunter to the zoo on Sunday, he had a big blow out. This happened right in front of the lions.  Carl said Hunter refused to walk or be carried any where.  The zoo was apparently very empty so he just changed Hunter at the rock seat there.  When he turned around, all 3 of the lions were standing at this opening (with thin little bars separating them and the lions).  One even growled at them.  By the time Carl got over the initial fear, the other two had gone to lay down.

A Place We Love

One of the places we love to go when the weather isn't so nice is the Orb.  This is by far the cleanest bounce house I have ever been to!  It isn't usually too crowded either because it is kind of hidden.  And you only have to pay for the children (even though we jump, too).  It has a nice toddler bounce area, but Hunter doesn't like to stay there.  He loves the big, open bounce "houses" and the slides.  He is able to go up and down one of the slides on his own (the green one in the videos below), but does enjoy when Carl and I go with him.  It also has a little ride-on toy section.  Hunter finally got the hang of pushing the button to go!

Feeding Ducks

I mean geese (and the occasional seagull).  Hunter LOVED it!  He thought it was so funny to throw food for the geese and the noises they made.

After feeding the geese (and playing on the playground) we took a walk by the water.  It was a beautiful day.

iPics

It has been a while since I've done an iPics post and I have a few photos I want to share.  Hopefully every one's new year is off to a nice start!

 

I ended 2011 with my wonderful husband and some awesome friends... and most importantly this little man.

Hunter has been enjoying his chair.  We had to take away the ottoman because he has been using it to stand on while he is playing.  We had quite the fall yesterday.  I'm not normally one who freaks out when he falls, but it looked bad.  After a snuggle, a kiss, and a little tickle, he was off playing again (trying to stand on the ottoman).

Aunt Ashley and Uncle Chris got Hunter a piggy bank for Christmas.  He loves it.  He wants to carry it around with him all over the house (which he can't, because it is breakable).  So he has to sit in his rocker or his chair to play with it.  He has figured out how to take the bottom stopper off and dump money out so he can put it back it.

He played in this thing for a good 30 minutes.

Best $20 ever spent.  Carl folds it up because I don't know how We fold it up every night and he finds it the next day, drags it out, and asks for help.  He finds it especially funny when Koal tries (and sometimes succeeds) at coming in.

We were finally able to meet up with my high school friend, Nichole, and her daughter S. S is about a month younger than Hunter but is very petite.  We went to a bounce house and then out to lunch.  It was nice to catch up with Nichole (I hadn't seen her in almost 2 years).

Just another date... with another little girl.

Spikey hair!