"Updownstairs"

That's Amos' new word. Sometimes he gets stuck like that and can't seperate the words. Kinda like how he used to say, "Bye bye Dada, Mama" if only I was leaving. Anyway, he'll get it. It's just very cute! He also starting to say the "ha" sound at the start of many words, including truck. We'll keep working on that too!

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts. As you can imagine, things are really busy around here as we are gearing up for Christmas and Advent at church, and this year and Nathan and I are both involved. I'm helping with the kids and Nathan is coordinating the services. We're also busy at home and with Amos, as usual. So here's a recap of the last few weeks:

Amos finally learned how to build with legos instead of tearing them apart!

One afternoon, this was the scene after nap. Apparently, after he grew tired of having fake phone conversations (that were hilarious to listen to over the monitor!) he decided to empty out the crib and take off his pants. Needless to say, he was quite pleased with himself.

Amos has really gotten into cuddling with multiple stuffed animals, including every stuffed dog, in sight!

One night, Nathan made an extended straw for his worn out wife!

Amos is becoming a better climber and Nathan is becoming a cuddler of stuffed dogs, too, apparently! :)

I practiced my bass parts for our show, opening for our friends in the band, Wolfy. Our band was called Red Birds. Nothin' like bass parts and breakfast!

A small picture of us playing. Yes, video will be posted soon!

Our band: Wolfy, me, Nathan and Carl, the drummer.

Our friend, Wolfy and his band rocked, too! They even had a string section!

I made some blue rice for Amos to play in. Essential play toys include a miniature bulldozer (Amos' new favorite large motored machine/truck) and a pickup truck (GrrDada!). Other fun blue rice toys include a scoop and cup, a dump truck and Guy, or "Die" as Amos calls him!

Amos started eating salad. Random, I know, but it is an important development!

Amos loves to sit with our student, Miharu, and look at her laptop. We've recently had to cut him off from such fun as he simply can't stop touching!

Amos is really into stacking things on his trucks. He loves to stack various Sesame Street objects and always gets you to come look at them. This is one of his creations: a sort of (un)flatbed truck! He is turning many of his trucks into tow trucks, too, which is always fun. And you know it's about time for him to start imitating his picture-taking mother! :)

(before...)

(...after!!) WE GOT NEW STAIRS!! And now, I can put to rest my fear that Amos will tumble and crack his head open on the cement back stairs. We love them so much! We now have a nifty landing to stand on while we open the door. We can even set stuff down. We're so easy to please!

This morning, we went to our gymnastics class. I finally remembered to bring the camera in and managed to get some good shots. It's a class that involves the parents, too, so picture-taking is not easy! Today we waved ribbons, did an obstacle course, swung from the rings to kick the cone, played on the trampolines (Amos can almost jump!! and loves running on the long trampoline!) and ran back to take our seat and play the bean bag game. He loves this class. I think the running around is his favorite part--I think he may grow up to be a track star!

And this afternoon, Amos wanted to cook in his kitchen upstairs. He loves to cook, mainly apple juice, water and pizza. And sometimes waffles. We managed to get this little tupperware full of cooking stuff up the stairs and to the kitchen. He's such a little imaginative guy!

Well, there you have it! As you can see, Amos is continuing to grow, learn and play. We love our little guy and are so thankful to be his parents!