Otto's first Easter was special with gifts sent from Grandma Carolyn (Tummy Mommy Marissa's Mommy), and Grandma Becky. Then, of course, the gift from the Easter Bunny was his rad official VW walker. Being that he is still too young for an Easter candy basket, we loaded up with Mommy and Daddy's favorite sweats. Perhaps a bit overboard on the candy stuffed into plastic eggs for Daddy.
Matt has been killing it at work. I mean that he has been shattering records and meeting new goals all over the place. He is working very hard and then comes home on weekends to catch up on yardwork. He has been working on the plants in the yard, some of these in need of trimming.
My Grandpa Reynolds passed away this January and to honor his birthday this month the Reynolds family bonded over a special Facebook group. We each posted pictures of us eating chocolate. There were only a few things my Grandfather loved more than chocolate. I love the camaraderie of our family traditions and they way Facebook can make a family spread out over the country feel like we are in the same room together.
We celebrated Earth Day weekend participating in the Zoolikins sponsored Great Diaper Change event. I attended last year, (see post from April 2014), as an observer when we were expecting Baby Boy Earl and getting to come back and participate this year was like coming full circle for me. I was so excited to have Otto and Matt join me. We donated food, entered a double raffle, won BOTH prizes from that raffle, and got to change Otto's cloth diaper with hundreds of other parents and babies all at the same time. It was exhilarating for me.
The rest of our days are spent in simple routine. We take frequent morning walks, household chores (for Mommy), naps, playtime in the living room or bedroom, Movie Mondays, Tutor Tuesdays, Work Wednesday, Art Time Thursday, and lots of little trips out of the house. Otto enjoys time in his room with Monkey toy and musical walker, or furniture trapped in the living room getting all his toys out of the basket, or bumping into walls and practicing three-point turns in his VW walker.
He does well spending 15-20 minutes at a time playing by himself if I need to get something done. I think it is adorable to sneak a peek at him while he's playing and see him flipping through a book, or sticking small shoes into small spaces, or giggling to himself as he puts a burp rag over his head and pulls it quickly off. On weekends, we try to spend quality time as a family.
We got to "work" at the school to visit with our friends and help where we can. Rhonda takes a break from working to push Otto around the halls for a while.We took a special trip this month to visit Tummy Mommy at work and meet her friends and co-workers.
Another day we were invited to have lunch with Tummy Mommy's sister, Aunt Lisa, her brother, Uncle James and Aunt LaRee, and cousin Stephanie, and their littlest ones in Mesa. We had a great time. I got a picture with Otto's cousin, Sadie. The family resemblance is outstanding.
We have been taking advantage of our new phone's nice cameras and video chat with family and friends far away. We had a great little chat with my friend-since-kindergarten, Joshua and his wife, Lori and daughter Claire in Indiana. Claire is one, and Otto is not quite one so the chat ended up being more Josh and I visiting while Lori and Matt chased around the little ones. *Sigh. It was still a great time to visit and see everyone together. We also had a video date with Nana Ann, Papa Ross, and Aunt Megan. Otto shows off his waving skills and loves to get right up close to the camera.
Here are some things we learned about Otto this month:
1. Happy or upset, Otto is not shy about expressing himself noisily. Screams and squeals are welcome, but the days are met with a fair share of devastated wails when he isn't getting enough attention or we won't let him play with wires, remotes, or cell phones.2. He has begun to wave daintily with his four fingers outward toward friends, loved ones, and even perfect strangers. It started out that he enjoyed waving to me from across the house while enjoying his bottle. Now, he'll do it anywhere, anytime, unless specifically asked to show off in front of Mommy's friends.
3. He has become very vocal with sounds, Dada, Baba, Wawa, Ooooh, and Lala. More recently he likes to stick his tongue out and wag it from side to side while spitting out saliva.
4. We can officially say that Otto learned to dance before he could walk. Although he pulls himself up on furniture, he hasn't attempted to stand on his own just yet, This doesn't stop him from shaking his puffy diaper bum to a sick beat. He is very decisive about which songs deserve his groove so it has been hard to catch it on video thus far.
5. Most impressively, Otto has been working on some fine motor skills with his monkey and ball toy. He loves to drop the balls into the monkey's hat and dance to the music that follows. He learned this skill so well, when faced with a foosball table and little white ball, he knew exactly where the ball was supposed to be deposited to start the game.
6. Otto is in a "Dada" phase. He gets inconsolably upset when Dad comes home from work and doesn't pick him up right away. When Matt is home, Dad is all he wants. When he's at work, Dad is all he talks about.
7. He has also entered a "Monkey see, monkey do" stage where he attempts to do everything you just did and he thought was funny.
8. He is the most adorable little boy and I am completely infatuated with him. He has me laughing every day. I feel lucky to spend his every waking moment with him to see what funny or interesting new thing he'll do next.
