Seventeen Months

Wasn't I just writing the 16 month post? Mercy! Judah has added several tricks to his gross motor repertoire like running and walking backwards. He also now says "Tsali", "push", "feet", "door", "avocado" (aah-ca-do), "squeezie" (see-zee), and "I want more" (probably his first real sentence ... he uses this universally just as he uses "help me", he wants more food, water, toys, play time, etc). He also calls sunglasses "saucies".

Some of his favorite activities continue to be throwing and catching (well trying to catch) balls. He's pretty good at throwing actually! And of course anything Gabriel is doing he likes to do too, like playing with cars and even legos. Surprisingly, he is catching on to riding Gabriel's scooter. I guess he's watched him enough times that he can step up on it, grab the handle bars and start pushing with his foot. He doesn't go very fast or very far, but he certainly gets the concept and will be scootering himself around in no time! He also has started attempting to jump ... sure his feet never actually leave the ground (or trampoline) but he thinks he is jumping and grins just the same. He kind of leans over and looks at his feet as if willing them to come off the ground will work, then squats up and down and considers that jumping :)

Judah also had his very first haircut (hmmm, maybe I should post separate about that?) ... his little curls get so matted in the back, I just had to trim them! He was not too happy nor cooperative in the matter, but I got the job done. Curly hair is forgiving, thank goodness. Also, he's still sporting his four back molars and his front 8 teeth, but missing those eye teeth. I am not looking forward to when those come in because he is a sssllllooooowwww teether. 

Judah laughs and smiles a lot, he seems like he may be someone who doesn't take himself too seriously as an adult, very laid back. I love, love the way he wrinkles his little nose when he's smiling and laughing, it is THE cutest thing and my most favorite thing about him right now. Interestingly, the first time I laid eyes on him in the hospital the first thing I noticed was his nose, and apparently it still is the most distinguishing feature to me :). His laugh is infectious, I can hardly keep a straight face when he's in full laughing mode, even when I'm having a bad day. He makes Gabriel laugh too! 

Happy 17th Months Judah!

Clowning at me while I attempt the first haircut

Trying to put on his shoe, a frequent past time of his!

Having "a moment" (read: tantrum)

You can kind of see the nose wrinkle here :)

  

HOME.

Since moving to Colorado it has been no secret that we miss NYC terribly, for me more than anyone. So as we were discussing back a few months ago what we may do for our 10 year wedding anniversary, it crossed my mind to go back to New York. Now, had we still been living there I wouldn't think a stay-cation would be a very good ten year wedding anniversary trip, I probably would have tried to find some cheap tickets to the Caribbean or something. But I thought it would do everyone good to go back visit our old home. Gabriel has been asking to see his NY friends for quite some time, so instead of taking a romantic getaway somewhere, we opted for a family trip. It did NOT disappoint.

Our arrival was a little rocky, we flew in late Friday night. We were scheduled to land at LaGuardia around 10pm, but our flight was delayed and we were re-routed to Newark (blek!) and didn't get in until after midnight, and by the time we waited at the taxi stand, and our driver got lost, we finally got to the apartment we were staying in around 2:30am. The boys went right out, but Andy and I had trouble falling asleep after all of the traveling. 

Our Saturday was packed, starting with meeting friends fro breakfast around 8:30am. Yes, after falling asleep after 3am we rallied to make the most of our time and start early. Throughout the course of the day we saw many friends, visited many old haunts from when we lived there and tried to take as much of the City in as we could. The best way I could describe the feeling was HOME. If you've ever been on an extended travel adventure and then come home after a long time away, that is what it felt like. I felt like we still lived there and had to keep convinving myself that we did not. Even Gabriel at one point exited Central Park on a scooter and headed for our old apartment instead of the apartment we were staying in for the weekend. It was bittersweet because we were so grateful to be back and see friends, but sad that it was only a weekend.

We were on the move literally all day, even napped on the move (Judah), and finally got back to the apartment around 9pm. Whew! Andy and I still had to go out for our anniversary dinner. It took me at least half an hour of laying still on the bed before I could muster enough energy to start getting ready for our date. My sister came over to watch the boys and we left for dinner The Smith. Admittedly we were both wiped and the anniversary dinner probably had less spark in the conversation than it would have if we had been rested, but the food was delicious and we love The Smith, so all in all a great date!

On Sunday we went to church and did some more visiting with friend afterward with brunch on the go and play ground time. Sunday night I got together with all my old book club friends to catch up. Now that was good for the soul! 

Our flight was early Monday morning so Andy could get a day's work in, so we said good bye to New York City. For now.