SaBlobBlog: A Year and a Bit

I wrote this on January 3, 2013, but I didn't get quite as much done as I hoped. It's still a pretty long post so thought I should just throw it up to help remember how much he's changed. It was fun to look back and remember what Ollie was doing about 5 months ago. I'll try to write another one soon so I don't forget it all!

Another year! (It had just turned 2013!) This last year and a bit has been so much fun.

Here's the rundown of some Ollie stats:
Weight: 25+ pounds
Clothes: 12-18 months
Teeth: 9 +/-2 It's harder to put my finger in his mouth to see how many he has these days.

Loves: Lights, birds, food (especially blackberries), balloons, balls, cars, cats, water, baths, streams, lakes, any body of water, being outside, collecting or eating pinecones and sticks,

Hates: Diaper changes (though daddy is great entertainment for these), broccoli

What can he do: He can identify his own or our eyes, nose, mouth, ears. He helps get himself dressed and take his clothes off at the beginning/end of each day. He's a great communicator, he clicks his tongue when he's thirsty, can sign the word for food when he's hungry (he can also sign: more, please, hat, bird, and all done).

Words: Many! Cat, dog (woof, woof), Moo (for a cow), bird, duck (and quack), owl, shoes, socks, nose, eyes, please, thank you, lights (he's obsessed!), car, truck, ball, boo-oon (balloon), book, hat, mama, daddy, fish, tree and banana (or, actually Na-nana).

We've done lots of fun things with our babything this past year. One of our favorites has been visiting the babything's cousin, the ladybaby. She's just 2 months younger than he is and is quite adorable, as you can see. The two together are unbearably cute.

Cousining

Uncle Tim makes the best music, especially the lyrics. Meow.

Our several camping and hiking adventures were among the most fun. We've done a few hiking expeditions, but some favorite were to some NC parks.

Climbing at Hanging Rock

Panning for gold and finding some snakes, also at Hanging Rock

Falls at Raven Rock, August 2012 (10 months)

Falls at Raven Rock, December 2012 (13+ months)

We decided to start our camping adventure on Friday, the 13th, in July, when the babything was 8.5 months old. The Blob and I took him to Grayson Highlands for an overnight and as usual, he surprised us by being happy and cooperative the whole time. He loved every bit and slept well too. This kid is amazing! We had some hints from friends who had tried before, so we set him up in his car seat to sleep the first time.

Camping! In the tent at Grayson Highlands.

On this trip, he had his first Appalachian Trail (AT) hike.

The camping was such a success that we returned with a few more people mid-September, when the babything was 10.5 months. This time, we had a 4 person tent and he slept in a pack n' play.

The crew.

There are several things that I love about Grayson Highlands. The views are amazing and the topography changes pretty often.

The weather changes pretty quickly, and dramatically. We were mid-hike, having a leisurely lunch when, out of nowhere, we were caught by a mini-derecho! We scrambled to get dry bits on and protect the babything. Thankfully, he had a happy, little baby pod to protect him from the elements.

Another thing that Grayson Highlands offers is wild ponies! We saw many, many ponies this trip (none on the first trip though).

And probably the best part of Grayson Highlands is the waterfalls. There are many and they are amazing!

The babything missed a few of the waterfalls. He was too busy sleeping on top of them.

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Knee-skating!

While I love his curiosity in this picture (below), I love what it represents even more. He started crawling about 5 minutes after I took this picture, so this captured the last few moments of being a baby.