Seth is 1 year old

Seth is (will be tomorrow) 1 year old. We went and got his pictures taken at Sears today. They look pretty good and were quick to take. Seth was a little wiggly and kept walking out of the room, so getting him to sit was a little hard.

(A hilarious note on the outfit. Andrew was wearing it in these pictures, way back in September 2007 when Andrew was almost 4 months old! Ha ha ha. They probably weigh the same, too, as Seth is still around 19 pounds, I think.)

Biggest accomplishment: Seth walks. Everywhere. All the time. He falls sometimes, but he walks really well, though it's still the little toddle-walk that is so cute. He can even stop and change directions or squat down and pick something up mid-walk.

Seth is still in everything and everywhere. Most notably, doing whatever Andrew is doing. He loves to play with Andrew.

His favorite things
- playing in the toilet
- pulling all the books off the shelves
- sitting in a pile of books and "reading" them - he will do this forever
- looking at ceilings - he loves vaulted ceilings, lighting structures, anywhere with really high ceilings, ceiling fans, etc.
- playing with the cat's little balls with bells inside
- splashing in water
- playing in water at spray parks, even when it gets all over his face
- playing peek-a-boo
- pulling all the toys out of the cupboard and out of their boxes
- chewing on the fake food
- driving cars around the floor (so cute!)
- looking at books about animals
- petting the cat
- climbing up the couch and then rolling down to the floor
- climbing up the couch and then looking out the window
- climbing up piles of futons and blankets and rolling down to the floor
- sliding down slides, especially face first
- watching Elmo's world on Sesame Street
- taking CDs out of the CD player (he even does it correctly!)
- dancing to music
- playing music instruments
- hugging & kissing stuffed animals
- watching me cook while he is in my arms while simultaneously grabbing everything off the counters
- getting cookies at the grocery store
- saying "That", "mom" and "Dad"
- looking at pictures, especially of himself - he pulls his scrapbook out and looks at it every day
- going to the zoo - he recognizes as soon as we are in the parking lot
- dump Joe's water on the floor and then try to drink it
- dump Joe's food on the floor and then try to eat it

Seth is still teething and is having a very hard time with it. It is especially hard because he will wake up and scream at night but Seth refuses to be comforted. He will arch his back, scream, cry, try to climb up you arms, flail and just be unhappy. But you can't just put a screaming baby on the floor. Pretty much only nursing makes him happy ... so maybe he won't be weaned for a while.

We had a little bday celebration with our neighbor Martha yesterday. She brought over cupcakes and ice cream. Seth LOVED it and chowed the whole thing down, in contrast to Andrew who ate the frosting and then wanted to "trade" - yeah, right.

Seth is so much fun. We love the little addition he is to our family. Andrew and Seth are so happy and fun together and love each other so much. Andrew told me this week that he "loves Seth and Seth is his best buddy". He is our little best buddy.

Seth is walking

Well, I figure once he can walk across a room, he's walking. But he still loves to crawl, too. More updates on his birthday.

Andrew is 37 months old

I don't have much to update ... Andrew doesn't change as much every month anymore. And after the busy year, we have mostly taken it easy this month ... plus, the boys have been sick. And I don't think we have any pictures. When it's just me, I don't feel like taking them.

Fun things we've done this month:
- Zoo (almost every week). Our favorite part is what we call "zoo school" where you get a (free) ticket for 45 minutes and you play with zoo-themed toys. Andrew plays with the animal action figures the whole time, pretty much, or the puzzles. We also tried out the carousel and went to pet the sting rays - Andrew was too scared to pet them himself (and Seth was too short!).
- Hiking at Powder Valley Conservation Center (on Memorial Day). Andrew walked the whole thing himself (1.5ish), though with some grumbling at the end. He expected to see animals like at the zoo, though we did see some birds.
- Farmer's Market in Kirkwood and Clayton. Andrew is mostly interested in the railroad near the one in Kirkwood. He was a huge fan of the goat cheese we bought in Clayton. He loves goat cheese.
- Science Center. Always a hit, even though I don't like it and am not impressed at all.
- History Museum storytime. Andrew was the only kid sitting still the whole time.
- Turtle Park
- A park in Ladue with a splash park
- Botanical Gradens (a couple times) with the awesome children's garden and spray area. We went and got stuck in a horrible rain storm one day and it really upset Andrew. He is fascinated/scared of thunder and lightning.
- Picnic in Tower Grove Park
- Lots and lots of library story times (we go to each branch at least once a week ... yikes!)
- Eating lots of free cookies (and thus lots of trips) to the local grocery store, i.e. "the cookie store".

Andrew went to the dentist for the first time and had to have 2 cavities filled, the poor thing. Neglegent parents we are for not flossing his teeth every day, I guess (though we have started!). Really, I am like 99% certain it has to do with all the medicines he was on for his asthma. Now, that I know about that - I would have been a lot more careful with tooth brushing and rinsing after oral medication, but we always brushed his teeth and pretty well at least once a day. Oh, well. He was very brave and did very well. He is pretty good about the flossing, too.

Andrew is still having a really tough time living here. He misses his friends and is hesitant to befriend other kids and tends to growl at them. I hope this gets better soon.

He is starting to get a bit of an attitude and still is a master negotiator. He says funny things a lot now. He loves to tell me "I'm busy" whenever I want him to do something. If he gets in trouble or we won't do what he wants, he will say "I am going to be SO mad at you" or describe different ways he is going to hurt/kill us. His new favorite is wrapping himself around you and squeezing you (like a snake). He negotiates EVERYTHING. Everything.

Seth and Andrew love each other and play so well together. They spend most of the day making forts out of couch cushions or futons and then climbing up them and rolling off. Or wrestling. Silly boys.