Teddy is 17 months old!

and he is shrinking....

I couldn't resist the giant teddy bear at a garage sale one of our neighbors had. Here is Teddy with the little bear though:

Teddy is another month older and he seems to be changing and growing more quickly than ever. He is so much fun as his personality continues to emerge. He is talking more and more and surprises me daily with new words. He loves to poke at your face saying, "eye, eye, eye, nose, nose, nose," etc. and he keeps impressing me by recognizing and naming things around him. Some of his new words just this week were "camera, cookie, Judy (one of his grandma's) and Susie (the other grandma). And he will try to copy most words we say to him. He is starting to try to sing the ABC's although it sounds sort of like "A, B, B, B" (video to come soon). His sense of humor is coming out as well... it is so fun to make him giggle by doing something unexpected or out of the ordinary. He is running all over the place and he loves to play outside. He also loves all of his little teddy bears and he carries them around with him calling them his "babies." He is a big fan of Sesame Street.... while he likes Cookie Monster and will point to him and say "cookie" his definite favorite is Elmo. In fact he is a bit Elmo obsessed. (Most days the first thing he says after he wakes up in the morning or from a nap is "Elmo! Elmo!") The past few weeks we have dropped his morning nap and it seems to be going well (most days). After lunch he goes down for a nap that typically lasts 2-3 hours although today it was 3 1/2! I love the fact that we can now make plans and do things in the mornings (although there have been a few times he has fallen asleep in the car before lunch). I know it is cliche but it really is crazy how quickly he changes and grows. Just look at my big boy:

Anyway, here are lots of random pictures from the past few weeks.

Teddy meeting his new "baby" for the first time:

Our neighborhood had a huge garage sale so I had a great time finding "treasures" for Teddy. He seems to love the doctor kit I got him. Here he is checking his "baby's" temperature:

Dr. Teddy:

Your patient needs meds.. stat!

Dr. Teddy is such a great provider, he has patients lining up waiting to be seen by him. Here he treats another patient:

I had a lovely Mother's Day and it started out with some delicious pancakes:

We went to my sister's house later that afternoon. Not only were we celebrating Mother's Day, but also my niece Maggie was discharged from the hospital earlier that day. After two weeks and an appendectomy she was finally ready to go home. Thank goodness she is doing well.

Grandma Judy opens her presents:

The Hoscheks:

Teddy snuggles with Maggie:

Teddy admires the flowers he and his daddy sent me for Mother's Day:

The best part of Mother's Day weekend, though, was how the boys let me take it easy while they took care of the chores:

Teddy is very lucky to get lots of hand-me-downs from his cousins. He is also lucky that his father knows how to re-assemble them. Here they are enjoying our "new" slide (after Shae figured out how to fit all of the pieces together):

A little excited about the new slide:

Did I mention it is a LITTLE slide?

Summer is definitely here in Hotlanta, and so one needs a pair of stylish sunglasses:

I think the same person who picked out those glasses must have also styled his hair:

Teddy is very content cuddling with his new friend (now if that bear could just change his diaper and put him to sleep, Shae and I won't even be needed around here):

So this past weekend, my high school had an alumni football game. I am not sure which was more unusual.... seeing men ranging in age from 31 all the way to 41 suited up and playing full tackle ball at my old high school (men who were 18 the last time I saw them)... or this:
running into a girl I used to clog with, who now dresses up as a Star Wars character for fun. Teddy was not too sure about the characters, but he sure did a great job cheering on the Roswell Hornets:

Of course Teddy enjoyed seeing his cousins even more than the actual game.

Teddy also sported a new tattoo. (These are the same ones we used to sell and put on our faces 19 years ago. So strange to be putting one on my son!) By the way, not only did the game raise over $15,000 for ALS (a classmate passed away from this a few years ago) but the Hornets also won!

One last picture to wrap up this blog entry. The other day we were all sitting on our bed and Teddy crawled to the top and climbed under the covers and posed for this picture. I know I am biased, but isn't he adorable?