Easter Fun

Happy belated Easter! We enjoyed ours, but we'll get to that in a minute.

First a few tidbits... He has learned how to climb up on the sofas and the coffee table. I even caught him standing in a low kitchen drawer today! We're in trouble.

He's in nearly full-mimic mode. (I say nearly since he's still not saying words yet. Thank goodness!) He repeats sounds though. And he's picked up on some interesting mannerisms like shrugging, hand clasping behind the back (like an inspector), and finally clapping! I was beginning to wonder about that last one, since he's also been ignoring my signing. Maybe it really will breakthrough one of these days. :)

I just liked this shirt...

Now on to the weekend - making waves with Daddy at the aquatic center.

We had gorgeous sunshine and temperatures nearing 60 degrees! So after swim lessons, we went to a city park for the Earth Day festivities. They had a skateboarding competition and lots of booths/food/music. Not too shabby, and we could park within walking distance! Needless to say that Owen crashed in the car on the way home.

We had more beautiful weather on Easter - perfect for O's first egg hunt. His basket looked like a soccer ball and was full of plastic utensils so he can help me in the garden or play in his sandbox. Thanks Oma!

He really caught on to the egg hunting concept pretty quickly once his daddy showed him that there were snacks inside the eggs!

The hunt is underway!

Snack time! No chocolate this year, just Lil Crunchies! Since the plastic eggs were kind of hard for him to open, he took to throwing them on the concrete to "crack" them open. He was pretty meticulous in making sure that all of the eggs had been emptied!

Here he is making the rounds to ensure no eggs were left behind. You can also see the clapping and the shrugging in action.

Zoo and Water Babies

Now that it's seeming more like spring is a possibility, we've been exploring more of what our new city has to offer. We signed Owen up for swim "lessons" on the advice of a new friend. It was fine, but the water was too cold for the little ones. He did great floating and holding onto the ball, but he was shivering the whole time! Maybe a baby wet suit is in order...?

I also took Owen on his first trip to the zoo! Unbelievably, we were snowed upon while there. It's a cute little zoo, and they had lots of baby animals on display. Here's a baby serval.

And a baby lemur (the little face on the left).

Owen scoping out the tiger

And having a face-off with an emu. He started imitating the pecking and squawking that the emu was doing. Pretty amusing!

In other news, Owen's working on his canines, so it's been an interesting week. We go to sleep with our fingers crossed each night that we'll wake up in the morning without having been interrupted at 2 AM. For a while, I think he thought that was a new play time, but I think it's waning now. (Knock on wood!)

He's also been down to one afternoon nap each day for the last couple of months, and is a pretty picky eater. He can reject food just by looking at it (if it's green) or by giving it a poke (if it's meat). We've been sneaking in some of these forbidden foods by hiding them in other foods, but he eventually catches on and then rejects all foods party to the shenanigan, so we have to be careful!

Adios, 'til next time

Another month, and another grandparents' visit came to a close. We'll miss you, Granna and Grandad!

We had lots of fun playing with you.

And thanks for my inaugural "Chicken in a Barnyard". Now I know what all the fuss is about.

Jackson, Take 3

Well, the weather is improving, and we had more company in town (Granna and Grandad), so why not go to Jackson? That's what we do, after all. This time with baby in tow!

Some beautiful scenery on the way - Snake River not far out of town

Overlooking Jackson Hole

Backseat drivers :)

The obligatory antler arch picture in Jackson Square

Playing in the snow - it's still very much winter in the Tetons

The Tetons (I finally saw them, although the clouds were trying to obscure them again!) They truly are majestic; can't wait to catch them in the clear one of these times.

Fun at the Visitor Center - he found some fringe!

One of the 4 moose we saw. We also saw lots of elk, deer, a herd of mountain goat/bighorn sheep (they were far away), a bald eagle in flight just overhead, and some eaglets in their nest.

P.S. Owen celebrated his 16-month marker in Wyoming. :) Happy birthday to Grandad!