So much to say, but this is first!

Yippy! I took my physics exam! We had a little celebration at with yummy homemade pizza and red wine. After dinner, we turned around an Richie did this! We asked him to do it again so we could catch in on camera. Yeah, we know, we're in trouble. (In case you lost track, he just turned 18 months.)

Quick update

I'm studying for my first radiology board exam and thought I would do a quick post to make the family happy.

Here is our last 4th at our old house enjoying the fireworks from the roof.







Michelle, Eli and Sammy came to visit their cousin! (And to watch him while we unpacked.)


I took this their last morning here. They look so cute!


We just discovered that Richie is allergic to mosquito bites! This knot developed in front of ML's and Ning-ning's eyes! (Yes, Ning-Ning is Nana's new name.) You can image how concerned their were. It was my first 911 page, too. Too bad I was in a physics lecture and did not hear the beeper going off. I just happen to call about 15 minutes later. We gave Richie some Children's Claritin and it got better overnight.



We also have a pretty significant ant problem in the house. Here is Richie trying to do his part!

Horrible

A horrible thing happened to Daddy's world this afternoon. His department chair was forced to step down. Daddy is very sad.

Pre-Move

As many of you know, we have moved. It's taken us a long time and we're still early in the unpacking phase. But, It's been over a month since my last post and I thought I better get too it.

Every since we started packing, Richie has become very affectionate. He knew something big was going on, but I don't think he really understood what.


Taking a break to feed a squirrel.


He was really enjoying the stairs just before we left. He discovered you could see people below him and the thought that was hilarious!




This was a neighbor's sunflower. Richie and Omee liked looking at it.


During all of this craziness, we made time for some friends from up North to visit. This is Julia!


And this is Julia's Dada. We call him John.


Omee stayed and took care/played with Richie while we did a LOT of packing. Here are some cute pictures of the two of them!


It was really cute when Richie realized that he had a picture of Omee in his room! (Also thought that was hilarious!)


Richie is in the summer reading program again. Here is one of the library books! (I think we're close to 150 unique books read with him since June 1st. I would be more if he did not like to read the same book 5+ times in a row!)

Trying again....

Finally, I think I got the video of Richie laughing to upload! Hooray!

Here is some more silliness!

More Laughing, Thank You!

Richie got his first scraped knee.


Last week Richie started laughing a new way. We keep trying to catch it on video, but no real luck. We have a great movie of him laughing his "old" way (with a hint of his new laugh) and with some new animal noises!...It will be uploaded as soon as I can get it to work.

(Our network has been crappy the last several days and I cannot get this video uploaded. I'll try again later.)

Here's the current list of animals and items he imitates:

1. Snake: Hiss with the tip of his tongue.
2. Butterfly: Fluttering his hand.
3. Dragonfly: Flicking his ear (this is from one of his books).
4. Crocodile: Open-mouth hiss.
5. Deer: Bouncing his hand on the round.
6. Squirrel: Clicking noise with his tongue.
7. Clock: Same as squirrel. He picked this one up on his own from the kitchen clock. When he wants to play with ML's bed-side clock (which has the same kind of face, only digital), he makes that noise. Took us a while to put that together.
8. Zebra: Similar to squirrel in response to a toy that makes a "gluck-gluck-gluck" noise.
9. Bird: Screech, like a hawk. No idea where he came up with it, but he does it consistently.
   
10. Elephant: Trumpeting.
11. Giraffe: Sticking out his tongue.
12. Horse: Pursing his lips.
13. Dog: Panting.
14. Cat: Meow (of sorts).
15. Cow: Moo.
16. Fish: Kissing noises.

We have not been able to get one video with all of these noises. He usually craps out after a couple if we have the camera on him. Then he just doesn't want to play anymore.

Richie has also learned the sign for "more," which he uses with great frequency especially when there are pancakes around. He is learning "please" and "thank you," but they are not as frequently spontaneous as "more." There is a good movie of this, too.

An interesting thing

Richie and I were in the park late Saturday afternoon. Overhead, we suddenly heard a Chinook Helicopter. Which was followed by another and then three more! Then there were two single propeller Helicopters that looked like what I have seen for the Marine One Helicopters. Looking at google maps, I realized it was Obama flying back to D.C. after his commencement address at West Point.