Truck Day

This past year I've been a member of the Wellesley Mother's Forum (yes I know I don't live in Wellesley) and been able to participate in their wonderful events. The best on was Truck Day. Literally big trucks parked in a school parking lot. 

Should have been awesome for little Cedric, right? 

You'd think so, wouldn't you? We put him in or near most of the trucks and he just waved his hands and said "all done" the whole time. I thought we'd be there hours . . . he only lasted about 30 minutes. 

 I understand how it was overwhelming. The trucks were very large and a lot of kids were honking the horns and running around. 

We forced him to spend some time on the tractor, he loves tractors - in theory.

Cedric was better with the fire truck this time, though he still didn't want to sit in it. 

The definite highlight of the day was the small petting zoo they had on the side. He didn't actually pet anything. I like to think he understands you should respect their space. 

Cedric also enjoyed playing on the tire swing with his friend Vivie. They've known each other since they were about 5 months old and we see her about once a week. She was less worried about the trucks :). 

Two Visits from Rachel

Back in May I had the chance to spend time with Rachel twice! First she came with her son Keaton for some reason I can't remember. No matter, she was here and we had fun!

 Cedric doesn't spend much time with kids younger than him and I was a little worried how he would act. Luckily, Cedric and Keaton got along great. Cedric wasn't jealous of Keaton getting the majority of the attention and was very gentle with him. He even shared some toys. 

Rachel was in the height of her macaron baking and I was lucky enough to sample 6 flavors with yummy fillings. I don't eat a lot of macarons so they all tasted great to me!

Rachel's second visit was a few weeks later with her whole family as they headed on a farewell tour of New England and went to her sister-in-laws wedding. We met up at the Children's Museum of Boston, which was pretty dead so the boys got to run around a lot. 

Then went to the Barking Crab for dinner, where we had gone to dinner two years before when the Scotts had come up for a visit. It is very kid friendly. Cedric and Keaton continued working on their bromance. 

Cedric quickly forgot about Keats when the iPhone came out. Kids love those things. 

 It's always nice when friends come to town, we try to get the elusive family photo taken! And we like spending time with them too. 

Rachel is one of the original Bostonians that helped steer our path here to New England, though we never lived here at the same time.
Thanks for living in Boston Rachel, too bad you can't live here again!

nerds.

Visiting the Fire Station

In April we visited the Wellesley Fire Station #1 (or #2, whichever is on Rt 9). At this point in his life, Cedric loved fire trucks. "Wee-woo, wee-woo" is what he called them. Still does, though he can say "fire truck" now. 

Here he is apprehensively walking up to the big truck, not sure if he really wants to be there or not.

Now Cedric is realizing that the truck is big and scary and starts doing his classic "all done" wave while trying to jump to daddy's arms. 

And here is Cedric trying to climb out of Bob's arms because they are still too close to the truck. 

Silly boy, don't you know that your favorite toys are firetrucks? And your favorite shirt has one on it? Things got a bit better when he sat in the driver's seat. But he still wasn't happy. 

I almost got a good picture of us but right when Bob was taking it a firefighter told us to move because they had to respond to a call. Silly firemen responding to an emergency. I'm trying to make memories over here!

Cedric's favorite part of the open house was the Hummer and the old-timey emergency bell. Oh well, at least he liked something. 

Boston Children's Museum

In April we finally took Cedric to the Boston Children's Museum. We went again in May and so far his favorite part has been the train table in the toddler room. 

It's a nice children's museum, filled with some great rooms, toys and simulators for kids. Cedric is still a bit young for most of it as he hasn't really started playing make believe yet. He did like the water table room. 

But mostly Cedric just liked running around. Whether it was inside on a light up floor or outside chasing pigeons. 

He loves to be walking himself and trying things on his own. It is getting near impossible to keep him in a stroller. We just need to go places when they aren't too busy so he can run!

21 months or so

Disclaimer: This post has been sitting in my queue for 2 months. It may be a little disjointed.

 I'll never forget the day that cedric turned 21 months . . . thanks to this post. He did something silly and said "it's funny".  He gets humor now, which is very exciting. He has started pointing at pictures of smiling faces and say "happy". He understands smiling people are happy. Funny to watch your child understand emotions. He does well with two words now and can pair words in different contexts. Very exciting for our communication. I'm hoping it makes things a little easier if he can tell me what he needs and feels.

There are a few things that Cedric can not live without. Like trucks. Cedric loves trucks and his Cayman flag. Silly Boy. 

He loves a monster truck that looks like a school bus he found at Michaels that he won't let go of. He loves his Jayhawk puppet, he wants to hug him and give him kisses. He likes to put on a silly turkey hat and sneeze it off as a game. He likes to pull up the edges of our foam mat and chase daddy with them like they are swords, while playing hide and seek. He likes TV, Curious George, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Chuggingtion. He likes to do the Hot Dog Dance and does a few of the motions. He has started trying to sing along with me to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at bedtime and gets really giggly when he gets the words right.

Cedric LOVES to "splish-splash". He loves to put on his splish-splash boots, even if it is not raining and look for puddles. He has an excellent memory and will remember where all the good puddles should be. 

Cedric loves to play outside. We spend most afternoons at one park or another now that the weather is nice. Bob has had fun going to the parks with Cedric, teaching him very responsible things like throwing rocks in the river/lake or throwing acorns in the street. 

We love watching Cedric grow up!