Monthly Archives: August 2012

Exploring the House

by johannawoodman

A few weeks ago Neil showed us that he could walk a few feet by himself, generally between Marcel and me, but sometimes between us and the couch. He never attempted to go further, and only walked at all occasionally, when he felt like it. We were told that he didn’t walk much at daycare either.

Over the weekend, we went to visit my grandfather in the hospital. He must have just been waiting for a new environment to explore, or enough room to really maneuver, because he took off walking. Not only was he able to walk extended distances, he could also start, stop, and turn without much trouble.

He is now spending his time exploring the house on his own terms, playing with as many things as he can reach. It was hard enough to keep the floor clean before; now there’s no hope for it.

EDIT: A video of him visiting my grandfather, when he first showed us he could walk:

Compendium from Chautauqua VI

by johannawoodman

Hair Styles

Neil has the Barlow cowlick on his forehead, so the only time his hair lies flat is when it’s wet.

But sometimes it’s more fun to have it stick up.

The Woodman Men

This is the future of our household.

The Next Renovation Project?

The floor in our bathroom wasn’t installed properly. A few areas are squishy, and one part has more or less collapsed around the support beams. The fake tiles in this area have been bent/broken, and come unglued from the subflooring. This is what I found after Neil spent a couple quiet minutes in the bathroom by himself. It’s not the first time this has happened…

Pig N Pepper Festival

by johannawoodman

On Sunday we checked out the Pig N Pepper Festival held at Nashoba Valley Ski Area. It was smaller than we expected, but it did get us out of the house for the afternoon and we were able to meet up with Will and Jess.

The festival had a “Food on a Stick” tasting pavilion, where Neil enjoyed a chocolate covered banana, chocolate covered brownies, and a meatball. We also tried melon, bread pudding, and granola bars. The raw vegetables went uneaten…

I wanted Neil to get a mustache like another little boy I saw, but he did not sit still for the face painting, and immediately wiped his face to destroy what the lady did manage to paint.

We thought he would enjoy “driving” one of the military vehicles, but he wasn’t that interested.

He played with Jess…

…And found that Will’s pants had a convenient handle to help him stand.

The petting zoo turned out to be a small cage with one sheep and three chickens (which did not particularly want to be pet).

Neil had more fun at the “musical instrument petting zoo” which consisted of a bunch of instruments on a rug.  He didn’t understand most of what I showed him, but he loved the maracas and watching the other kids play.

Riding in the Car

by johannawoodman

Now that Neil faces forward, he enjoys riding in the car a lot more.  He likes the traffic lights, and gets excited when they change color, he likes the wind in his face when we have the windows down, and when he isn’t interested in listening to NPR, he likes to sing to himself.