A Boy or A Monkey?

Over the past few weeks, JP has been working on his climbing skills. If things get quiet and he's out of our sight, we find situations like this:

and this:
But, the worst/scariest was when he climbed the ladder to our loft. It's a real ladder and he was two rungs from the TOP when I found him! He was so very proud of himself, he just grinned ear-to-ear while I froze in fear...then, started laughing and considered running to find my camera. But, since he was a good 6 feet off the ground, I figured it wasn't a very safe photo op!

Here's the ladder, and here's my redneck solution to prevent him from climbing it anymore. Does anyone have any other suggestions???

Put That Kid On A LEASH!

In a couple weeks, I will be flying to WV with JP. This will be our first flight since JP became mobile. So, in anticipation of the busy Boston/Pittsburgh airports, I bought our son a leash! That's right! I'm going to be one of THOSE people. And I don't care who looks, points or judges. This kid is fast, and it's worth the eye rolls and appalling glares to know he's safe beside me.

Besides, look how cute they make the leashes now:

JP couldn't be more proud of his "puppy backpack!" When I took it off of him, he was devastated. So, he sported his new friend for the rest of the evening:

Buddies

JP and I invited our new friends, Shannon and Sam, to join us for a playdate one day last week. To make it easier, I picked them up, and Shannon installed Sam's carseat in my car. While driving and chatting, Shannon turned around and saw this:

Is that the SWEETEST thing you've EVER SEEN??????

Checking Email

This is what it looks like when I try checking my email when JP is awake:

Parade

We took JP to his first parade on July 4. He enjoyed the antique cars, the bands and the people in general, but the sirens on the fire trucks were another story:

Puppy Love

JP has really started interacting with the dogs. And for the most part, the dogs enjoy JP. Sydney (brown sheltie) has surprised us the most as she is our most hyper and high-maintenance, but she's incredibly calm and patient with the baby. He likes to point at her "parts" (eyes, ears, mouth, nose) and she just stands there and takes it. He will also wrap his arms around her neck to give her hugs and again, she just stands there. Today, she was getting a drink and he walked up beside her and pushed her face away from the bowl. (of course, I corrected JP, but Sydney just stepped back...I'm sure she was fantasizing about biting his hand off, but she didn't! lol)

Today, he learned how to play fetch with the dogs. In the past, he would cry when the dogs would chase the ball. I guess he thought they were hurt or fighting. But, with the help of Daddy, he figured out how fun fetch can be!

Another dog-related tid-bit...JP LOVES playing in the dog food. He won't eat it, he just carries it around. Yesterday, I found two small morsels on the kitchen table (he can reach it now) and a single morsel on Jason's nightstand. I asked him if he had put the morsel of dog food on his nightstand and he said no. Which leaves one suspect....I'm sure we'll find some in the bathtub soon!

Here is JP playing with two pieces and sharing one with Jackson:

WYWC

Back when we moved to Boston (over three years ago), I joined the Westwood Young Women's Club which is a service and social organization in our little town. I joined the group in order to meet some people, because if you know me, you know I can't survive without some friends :) It has been a great experience, as I've been a part of raising a lot of money for charitable causes in our area and participated in some fun social events too. I feel a little bad because I've been less involved since having JP, but nonetheless...

When JP was born, the group donated the funds to the Westwood Library to purchase a book in honor of his birth. The library was nice enough to put the book on reserve so that JP could be the first person to check it out. So, for years and years to come, anyone who checks out this book will see it was dedicated to our little man :)

Thank you, WYWC!

Have You Seen My.....

Lately, we've had a number of random things come up missing around our house: keys, shoes, books, pieces of toys, trash cans, whole rolls of toilet paper...

It wasn't hard to figure out the culprit, but where he was stashing his loot was the mystery. After some searching, we found his hiding spot...

That's right! That's our bath tub. And anything JP can get his hands on ends up here. In these photos, you can see the trash can from his bedroom (the dirty diapers were emptied onto the floor first) and a small white block from his toy train.
He finds this amusing:


Sneaky Boy!!