Summer's here!!

Yay!!! Summer is finally here and it's officially Pool Time!! We spent the last 2 weekends enjoying the awesome weather and the pool. Last weekend Grandma and aunt Sabrina were here to help us break it in and this weekend the Rabel's were over. Oh how we love summer!!

Thomas in his floaty for the first time this year

Dad and Thomas doing some chillin in the pool together

Enjoying a popsicle from the ice cream man (Daddy ran him down and got the whole house wet in the process trying to find his wallet!)

taking a break from the heat with a beverage in the sun porch

putting his feet up with Frog:-)

playing by the pool with Dad and aunt Sabrina

"Shhhhh"

The other night when it was night night time Thomas waved goodnight to Thomas the train and all his toys and then said "shhhhhh" while putting his little finger up to his mouth to gesture. When I looked closer though I realized he was putting his finger on his nose!! Too cute! I love watching him learn all the little things that I often forget about like saying "shhhhh". He is growing up so fast and learning so much. It seems like everyday there is a new word or skill and it's absolutely amazing!!

Back to the track for pole setting!

Opening Day at the track!!

On Saturday we decided to head down to the track for opening day! We thought Thomas would like to see all the cars since he loves cars and trucks right now and he did! Since it was later in the day and raining on and off it wasn't very busy and we got to sit right down by pit row. Thomas LOVED watching the cars go buy and pit. His favorite movie right now is "Cars" so I think he actually understood what was happening. It was adorable because he would point to the cars coming down the track and then follow them with his head and finger has they past like saying "Look did you see that???" He also liked the "Bigfoot" monster truck they had displayed and seeing all the semi's and trailers. He got ice cream a souvenir racecar at the gift shop too:)

heading into the speedway in his wagon (which he LOVES)

watching the pit crew

watching and pointing at the cars as they raced past!

checking out "Bigfoot" with mom

Splash Universe in Shipshewana

The first weekend in May Papaw (Grandpa Bowers) invited the whole family up to Splash Universe in Shipshewana. Everyone was there including uncle Kort, Rily, Ellison, Uncle Gavin, Aunt Carrie and baby Xavier as well as Dave and his family. We drove up Saturday and spent the afternoon in the water. Thomas was a little unsure at first but soon was splashing away with the other kids and sliding down the kiddie water slide. The water in the kid section was pretty shallow so he enjoyed having the freedom to "swim" and slide as he pleased!!

We got a hot tub!

Introducing the new Berghoff family hot tub! It isn't hooked up yet or even filled with water but we are still pretty excited about it. I for one can't wait to get this baby up and running and give her a try!

Even Thomas seems pretty excited... Here he is checking it out from the inside! He thought it was great. Basically something new and fun to climb in/on/out of in the backyard!!!

Here's a video of Thomas playing in the hot tub. Apparently unfilled hot tubs make great slides for 2 year olds...who knew!! ;-)

Sleep update!

I am happy to report though that I think we've finally crossed the line into sleeping through the night!!! YAY!!! He's been doing great and I couldn't be more proud of him! I tell him every morning now "good sleepin!!" and he smiles. I'm still having to sit in the hall or at least in sight at bedtime but knowing that we're going to get a full nights sleep makes this okay with me. I figure his seperation anxiety will subside at some point and when he no longer needs me there I will leave. Until then we've found a nighttime routine that works for us and the whole family is finally well rested!

Communication...it's a work in progress

Tonight when putting Thomas' jammies on he kept stopping me from putting his jammy shirt on and patting his belly. I couldn't figure out what he was doing and was getting a little frustrated that jammy time was taking so long. Well once I finally got his "Thomas the Tank Engine" jammy shirt on him (by convincing him that he wanted Thomas ON his belly) he said "GaGa" and pointed to the TV. "GaGa" is his way to say George for Curious George and so I said "Do you want to watch Curious George?" But he didn't answer and just fell back exasperated on the couch. Finally it occurred to me he wanted to WATCH Thomas the train and was trying to tell me that by pointing to himself (his belly to be exact)!!! So then I asked him if he wanted to watch Thomas and he said YAY!! and clapped. Wooow...it's hard work communicating with a toddler and I'm sure Thomas thinks the same thing about us!! ;-)

Vocab on the up and up!

Just since Thomas' birthday his vocabulary has expanded quite a bit. I am thankful for all the new words as communication in our house is getting much easier! Now though Thomas will start talking to Dad or I and then look at us like "why can't you understand me?" Apparently, to him what he is saying makes perfect sense, but sometimes we are still at a loss...even though we are trying REALLY hard to understand!!

Here's some of Thomas' current words:

done

uh-oh

fish

cow

moo (boo)

duck

piggies

oink (which is a "pk" sound)

daddy, dada

mama, mom

night night

juice

milk

ball

moon

tree

truck

car

jeep

sock

shoes

up

down

bug

bird

outside (heard only once)

hi

hey

bye

yes

yeah

yay! (usually combined with clapping)

go, go , go! (for running)

please

"uh-oh fish"

This is what "uh-oh fish" (overheard from the laundry room) means!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Bubs!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Thomas!!! We love you a lot!!!

Love,

Mom and Dad;-)

sleep training update

Well night #2 with the door closed didn't go as well as night #1. It took about an hour of me sitting outside his door and comforting him. I did end up going in a couple times just to pat him and cover him back up. Once he fell asleep though he slept through the night again!! That's 4 nights in a row now!!

Sleep update

Night #1 of closing door was a success! It only took about 15-20 minutes for him to be OUT and then he slept through the night without a peep for the third night in a row!! Okay, now everybody go and find some wood to knock on!

Here a couple more pictures from Easter Sunday. Erin's Mom and Dad invited us to their house to have dinner with them and the kids. Thomas had a great time playing with the other kids and finding CHOCOLATE Easter eggs!! The kid sure does like his candy!

I just think this is the cutest pic ever. That's a chocolate candy egg he found!

Finding another egg with Dad's assistance.

Here he is looking all cute on our way to the O'Brien's.

And this picture isn't from Easter but this is/WAS one of Thomas' birthday presents that he found. Needless to say we HAD to get it out and play with it immediately! Oh well, don't worry he's got more presents to open!!

Pre-birthday haircut

I took Thomas to get his haircut tonight in preparation for his big 2nd birthday coming up this weekend! He did really well. You could tell he'd been there before because he went straight for the suckers and the DVD movies! He chose to watch Dora while he got his hair cut and enjoyed a pina colada flavored sucker. We ended the experience with a shiny new balloon in addition to his fancy new big boy do!!

Mama misses her bed!!

Well as many of you know Thomas has never been a great sleeper. So with the recent requirment of needing me to sleep on the floor next to him (or he would cry and vomit) I decided it was time to do something! So, about 2 weeks ago I called the pediatrician to ask for some advice and she recommended reading the book "Good Night, Sleep Tight" by Kim West. I must admit when she first said that I was like What the heck! How is a book going to help??? :)

Well now being 2 weeks into the program I can say it IS helping. Basically the program calls for gentle and gradual seperation at bedtime and setting expectations for nighttime wakings and sticking to them. This was a big one for us since previously when Thomas woke up in the middle of the night we would usually take him downstairs and give him some milk and he would go back to sleep. This worked for a long time until he started having sleep terrors and was inconsolable no matter what we did. Needless to say laying on the floor for an hour or more at bedtime and again whenever he woke up meant I was spending way more time on Thomas' floor than in my own bed!!

Currently I have gradually moved myself out of Thomas' room and into the hall. When he wakes up I go to him and tell him he's okay and to lay down it's still night night time. We started this day 1 and I haven't taken him out the crib at night since. And he knows now so as soon as he sees me enter the room he will lay back down on his own. It was only rough the first couple nights when he didn't know why I wouldn't take him downstairs for milk but now he knows we're not going downstairs and he's fine with it. I'm hoping to start closing the door with me in the hall tonight so that he will still be able to hear me but not see me. Then eventually I should be able to close the door and leave and he will know that I will come right back if he needs me.

It's been a lot of work and a lot of time sitting on the floor (next to the crib, then in the middle of the room, then by the door, then at the door and now in the hall) but I really feel like its working!! He only got sick the first night and hasn't really cried that much since. AND he has slept through the night more in the past 2 weeks then I can remember in a long time!! Thank goodness...mama was tired!!:)

So I"m gonna keep trucking and hopefuly tonight when I close the door he doesn't freak out too much. I'll have to keep you posted!

Trucks and Cars!

Thomas has recently become increasingly aware of all the cars and trucks in the world! Now when we're in the car or van he'll actually look away from the DVD player to point out all the "ruck" and "ar"'s (trucks and cars). His favorite are the big semi's which he can't seem to get enough of. Although, even pickup trucks will result in a point and excited "ruck!" response!

And if you ask him now "what does a car say?" He says "broom, broom". And if asked "what does a cow say?" he says "boo"!!

Happy Easter!

loving the colored eggs!

What a cutie!

Putting stickers on his eggs

Going through his Easter Basket! He got books, toys, new Thomas the Train jammies and of course candy!

Finding his first egg of the morning

Sporting his bunny ears with a messy candy covered face:)

Thoroughly enjoying all the fun of Easter

Unannounced visitor..

Daddy had an unannounced visitor in the restroom yesterday...Thomas has learned to open doors:) We knew he was getting close to being tall enough and now we know! He also opened the pantry to get a snack and gave me the biggest grin ever. He was so proud of himself! Then he opened the shower door today to join me...oh boy...!!!

Weekend long playdate!

Last weekend we had the pleasure of watching Charley while her parents took a LONG drive to Iowa to drop off her siblings with Gma and Gpa. So instead of having Charley spend the entire weekend in the car she stayed with us!! Basically, it was a weekend long play date for Thomas!

I was little concerned at first that he might get jealous but he did great! He took on the big boy role and even shared his toys! Here's a couple pictures from our weekend.

Playing with my phone...

A rare moment of calm!

Enjoying some grub. We did a lot of eating this weekend:)

Getting to know each other by sharing a Blues Clues episode!

Bugs!

Yesterday while playing out back enjoying the warm weather (finally!) Thomas discovered bugs! He and Dad found a swarm of nats in the backyard and just had a blast swatting at them. Watching Thomas swat and laugh and run around trying to get the bugs was adorable. Who knew bugs could be so much fun?!

Public Service Announcement!!!

PSA: Watch out for a recent outbreak of train crashes!!!

Play "date" with Ella

On Sunday we went over to visit the Stuckers so the kids could have a playdate and the dad's could watch some of the tournament together. Thomas and Ella have had playdates before but this was the first time they really interacted together. It was amazing to see them together and see how big they both have gotten.

Here they are enjoying a book together...look at how cute Thomas looks with his hand under his chin like that!

Thomas really liked dumping the toys out the tub and putting it on his head! Ella wasn't too keen on having the tub on her head but really enjoyed saying "knock, knock" and knocking on it. They both thought it was hilarious!

Having a little moment sharing a goldfish snack and "cheer"sing their juices. Again SUPER cute!

And this is Thomas sitting back enjoying some basketball...what can I say the kid still loves him some ball! The cutest thing is when they shoot and miss he makes an "OHHH" sound. Him and Dad watching BBAll together always cracks me up because they sound the same:)

We've got comprehension!

So over the past couple of months it's been obvious that Thomas has started understanding what we are saying a lot more. (He's still not a big talker, more of the strong but silent type:-P) Anyway, tonight we had to run to the grocery store because we were out of juice (a big no, no in this house)! I went to the closet to get my shoes and Thomas came over to me and said "shoos" looking for his shoes in the closet. I said "your shoes are on the table". He immediately turned around walked over to the table, picked up his shoes, pushed the chair back and started to climb up to put his shoes on! Dad helped at this point but it was amazing to me that my little baby knew he needed his shoes to go to the store and was able to comprehend what I was saying to find them and then was attempting to put them on himself! He really is becoming such a big boy...and smart too!! "YAY Thomas!!!

Great's

Last weekend Thomas got to spend a little time with his great-grandma and great-grandpa Watters. Grandma Berghoff came down and stayed with us Friday night and then she and dad picked up the Great's at the airport on Saturday. (They were returning from Florida) We all enjoyed getting to see them and spend a little time just hanging out at the house. Thomas liked showing great-grandma his "future big boy ball room" and playing a little bit of ball with great-grandpa. It was really cool to have 4 generations here all together. Hopefully we'll be able to make a trip up to the Lake soon to visit with them again!

Cousin fun

Last night we had a surprise visit from Uncle Kort and cousins Riley and Eli!! Uncle Kort called around 4pm and said he was taking the kids back to Anderson and wanted to see if we wanted to have dinner. So Kort and the kids showed up about 6:45pm and we headed to Pizza Hut! We ate some tasty pasta and then the kids ran around the restaraunt chasing eachother for awhile:) (Luckily, there were only 2 other tables there!) Then we gave goodbye hugs and kisses and headed home for bed. It turned out to be a surprise Monday night filled with family, love and laughter.

Here's a video of the kids chasing each other around and laughing REALLY LOUD!! Luckily this was on our way out...:)