What's wrong with this picture?

My little boy has been extremely squirrelly as of late. I never know what I'm going to find when I open a cabinet, a closet, a drawer...I've been guarding important items such as keys and cellphones, but luckily these things have not yet been of interest to a very precocious 15-month old.

I opened the refrigerator before lunch today to get out the ketchup. Lo and behold, my Salon Selectives hairspray, circa 1998, was on the door! I had it in a bathroom cabinet in my box of things I never use but can't throw away - I mean, who uses hairspray anymore? I think the last time I used it was for Ashley Collins' wedding in 2003, but you just never know when you might have a few fly-aways that need to be tamed. Well, apparently Ford got ahold of it and found it a new home! Maybe it intensifies the hold if chilled? I'll let you know one of these years...instead of throwing it away, I put it right back in that box!!

In his Sunday best...

These pictures are mainly for Jennie...I feel like it was just yesterday Parker was wearing this outfit! How does the time fly by? I'd better go...Ford's about to push his play table down the stairs! Little boys, little boys!

Raising a Genius

So you know how our pediatrician said tantrums were a sign of high intelligence? I thought I'd offer up some proof of our little Einstein! He wanted me to pick him up after lunch, but I was in the middle of unloading the dishwasher, and we can't always get what we want, right? Tough lesson for a 15-month-old to learn!

I took this the other morning - he was sliding off the couch, but the theme song to "Little Einsteins" came on and he loves it! I don't know if you can tell, but his feet are dangling in the air! He stayed like this for a good 3 minutes!

Our poor dogs don't get a lot of play on the blog, so I thought I'd share a picture of Jack. The boys are learning to become outside dogs a) because we have a great fenced-in backyard and b) because I'm so tired of swiffering 6 lbs of dog hair from our floors twice a day. Mac has adapted just fine; Jack, not so much. He actually fell asleep with as much of his body pressed against the door as was physically possible. He's learned how to open the doors, so we have to keep everything deadbolted, which is probably a good habit to get into anyway! If this baby is a boy, my home will be officially taken over by testosterone!

Food for Thought

I am beyond thrilled to report that this little boy is eating again! I will forever in indebted to the makers of Zantac...as a tribute, we might actually name Punkin' Zantac and call him/her 'Z' for short. I'll get another poll going and you can let us know what you think.

As you can tell from the picture, Ford is all about feeding himself these days. If I have a spoon, he has to have a spoon, and the opportunity to use it. As you can imagine, this makes for some pretty messy meals. Ford wears a lot of Parker's hand-me-downs, and since we don't know if Pizza Ray is a boy or a girl, I need to keep these clothes in decent condition to return to Jennie. Because no nephew of mine is going to look like a ragamuffin in clothes with stains all over the front. And while Oxyclean has become my new best friend, I figured prevention might be the better route. So I got some little boy's undershirts, cut them up the back, and voila, the clothes stay clean! Ford starting taking his bibs off at 10 months, but he hasn't quite figured out the safety pin yet!

Ford wearing his 'smock' as his Daddy calls it!

This child LOVES to play outside, no matter how cold it is! When I pick him up to go inside, he pitches the biggest fit, throwing his head back, crying, kicking his legs - I'm sure we're quite a sight to all of the construction workers around us!

Ford had his 15-month check-up yesterday, and the kid has figured out what the doctor's office is all about...SHOTS! As soon as we walked in the exam room, he started wailing and had a death grip on my arm fat. I actually have bruises on the backs of both arms today! I love our pediatrician, and when she asked if Ford had had any temper tantrums and I just kind of laughed at her (he's definitely got his mother's stubborn, my-way-or-the-highway strong will), she said tantrums were a sign of high intelligence! So I guess that means we're raising a genius!

He weighs 20 lbs 6 ozs, still in the 10% percentile, but at least he's gaining. He's a little over 30 inches long - the 50% percentile! I was shocked, because I thought he was a shorty! But I have to remember Maryn is so tall, so you can't compare them.

These last two pictures are how we spend a good portion of our day - going up and down the stairs! I've got to get him going down on video, because it is HYSTERICAL! He just slides down them, and he can make it down around 15 stairs in seconds! It makes Joseph a little nervous, but I guess since I see him do it a million times a day, it just makes me laugh!