February 2015- Love

We love love. So firstly let me apologize (to myself?) for posting this later than usual. The end of the month came and went and I could not get the chance to settle down for a moment, collect my thoughts and photos, and write about what happened last month. In the spirit of love, I forgive myself and we we can move on.
We had one of the funnest and cutest photo shoots for Otto's monthly pictures ever! (Please see 8 month photo page). He was so flirty and adorable and we had so much fun going through the pictures and found it impossible to choose a best one.
The beginning of the month was fairly uneventful and much to our consistent schedule. I have been working on promoting myself for more tutoring or art lesson students. Otto and I attend school every Wednesday to bother the teachers and disrupt everything. We also try to get work done so that it seems worth everyone's trouble. He gets spoiled by the teachers and Ms. Rhonda. We got invited to be a guest reader for their Sports themed Right to Read Week so I dressed in athletic clothes and a tiara to read "Princesses have a Ball".
Matt has been working hard, as always, and impressing everyone he works for with his top sales numbers and motivating his coworkers. He regularly stays late to help his manager and is an invaluable member of his team. We are so proud of him. We constantly express our gratitude for allowing us the lifestyle for me to stay home with Otto and continue our silly antics.
Matt surprised me during one of my tutoring sessions with balloons for Valentine's Day! Otto has had a wonderful introduction to the joys of helium by just sitting and watching them float about the room from his chair. On Valentine's Day we had a perfect family day. We got up lazily and late. We got dressed up fancy and went to a delicious breakfast cafe in Scottsdale called Butters Pancake Cafe and ate the best waffles and pancakes while Otto played with crayons and napkins in his high seat. Then, we visited our favorite cloth diaper store to get some swim diapers and just our luck, they were having a Wine and Art Festival on the same street! We took a short detour to look at some of the neat craftsmanship on homemade items in booths set up around the block. Then, after several months of begging and pleading and bargaining, Matt took us to the AT&T store to get new cell phones!!!! Our old ones were rounding 3 years and could not hold a single app update or a battery charge anymore. I was ecstatic. Everything was wonderful except for the 2 weeks of figuring out our new phones which is always a little challenging.
Otto and I continue our regular routines of going walking with friends in the mornings. I walk, he strolls (Ha! rides in the stroller). The weather has been unusually warm, but very nice.

Otto has been working on some very important physical challenges this month. His "crawling" is coming along though he chooses to move about in the most exhausting way possible. He learned to push himself with his toes, but couldn't quite figure out what to do with his arms. Finally, he pushes himself up on his toes and hands with his arm straight and lets himself fall on his tummy. He does this over and over without taking any steps until he gets where he wants to go.
 Also, he has learned to sign the word "eat". Originally, I was helping him sign the word "more" between bites of solid food, but this caused a lot of frustration and tug of war with our hands. I noticed that sometimes he signs "eat" by accident between bites so I went with it. Now, he is adept at communicating his wants as he wants to "eat" all the time.

Otto's Tummy Mommy and family invited us to their special events this month. Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Joe are expecting their second baby and were down in Arizona for a visit and gathering of people. I was invited to come to her "Sprinkle" and I enjoyed meeting her family and more friends of Grandma Carolyn (Tummy Mommy's Mommy).
 I left Otto at home but it was so neat to see his 15 month old cousin that he resembles with the same red hair. It was an odd and exciting feeling to have Gauge look at me with the same look in his eye that my son gives me. It is amazing.

 These are pictures we got at the family dinner.








I came back the next day to have family dinner and brought my own family with me this time. I have to give major props to Aunt LaRee and Uncle James for hosting everyone at their house! We are so glad they do because we saw Aunt Lisa again visiting from Colorado and Tummy Mommy. Some of the cousins were there for Otto to "crawl" on the floor after. We so love our adopted family.

 Otto's cousin Sadie, Tummy Mommy, and Aunt Lisa. Center of attention much? 

We took a quick opportunity to try out our new phones by using Google Hangouts to facetime with my sister on her birthday. Otto got to see Aunt Megan on the phone and was undoubtedly confused. He stared at her for a long time and then began asserting his masculinity by raising his arms and making grunting noises I've never heard him do before. We had a good laugh about it.

Towards the end of the month it was my turn for a birthday celebration. I knew Matt had been planning something all along but was very quiet about it. On the last weekend of the month we had arranged to swap date nights with some good friends. I watched her two darlings on Friday night and she was going to babysit for us on Saturday. Matt took me to my former boss, Ms. Rhonda's, house. She lives in a beautiful house with immaculate landscaping in the backyard looking out over the lake and mountains. It is like a resort and she throws great work partie. Matt and Rhonda had worked together to invite the All Aboard family over and provide food. We had a fantastic little party!