On a Roll

Birch, you have been on a roll ever since Thanksgiving. You’re growing and learning so fast, I can hardly keep up especially as your personal translator! You pointed out a bunch of mailboxes to me today, so I think I’ve got that word down. I have also been impressed with your pronunciation of catalog—three syllables is a mouthful! You do enjoy catalogs and magazines. You also perused the Motel 6 listings book on the way back from the mall with Papa. Thank goodness you’re not too picky. We have a lot to catch up with in this update. You’ve gone through several shoe sizes since Thanksgiving!

Here you are sitting on the coffee table looking at one of our wedding albums. You love looking at picture albums! You also like to look at books, but hats are not your favorite item. I managed to get hat on you after you realized it was truly cold outside and Mama wasn’t trying to torture you. By the way, you persuaded me to wear a red hard hat all the way to the chiropractor’s. You grunted uh, uh every time I tried to put it away!

Thanksgiving pictures with your cousins, Luke and Lily. The hat hanging on the right is your cousin Mason getting ready to sneak-drop a hat on you for pictures. You didn’t see any reason to wear one of those silly Santa hats!

Storytelling with cousin Shauna. Tell us more!

You and Buddy enjoying some lounging time during a warm spell before Christmas!

You wreaking havoc in the kitchen after independently achieving the heights of a chair!

 

 

 

 

 

    Playing toreador with Buddy! You do so love to drape a cloth over Buddy as well as putting him in a choke hold (not that you know what that is, but you’re good at it anyway). You also like to throw the ball for Buddy and you’re pretty good at catching it too!

We had a white Christmas! Snow and lights make a beautiful Christmas Eve at Meme’s house.

Pulling a banana out of your Christmas stocking!

 

 

 

 

 

    Opening your first Christmas present, a toolbox, with cousins Miles and Mason. So much fun to bang on things with a hammer! Happy, happy Christmas with your Meme!

So excited about your bike helmet. The neighbor kids wear helmets when they ride their little motorbike so we didn’t have to convince you that helmets are cool!

Here you are all geared up for your first ride. Yes, it was a little chilly that day!

Showing the bike seat off for Meme to see. It was your Papa’s favorite Christmas present!

You do love a visit with your Meme!

You’ve started drawing…watch out world! Birchie is on the prowl with a pen. We have to guard the furniture. Sometimes you try unorthodox media for your art projects! Chair With Pen Marks, abstract composition by Birch Virginia Burns.

Sitting on your horsie-on-wheels Christmas present while “snapping” along with Elmo on our favorite Sesame Street dvd “What’s the Name of That Song?” We haven’t found another dvd that lives up to this one yet. It’s pretty much tops. We’re going to renew it indefinitely. We love the library. It helps us keep up with your appetite for books.

 

After Halloween we decided you needed some mud boots, since every puddle you see is calling your name! You LOVE your froggy boots. This last weekend you managed to put them on all by yourself. Here you are stomping around in your pajamas and frog boots!

One of Mama’s favorite pictures of you! We love you bunches and bunches. I can’t believe you are already almost 18 months old. Meme weighed and measured you today. You were 24 pounds and 31 1/4 inches tall.