18 months old

This guy is 18 months old now.

At his doctor's appointment last week he was 23 lbs, 10.5 oz and 31.25 inches tall. He gives us hugs and kisses now, which is just. so. sweet.

And just the other day, I said, "Bryson, say cheese!" And he said "eeeese!" So cute. He seems to be mimicking what we say more now. Today, finally, he made the sign for more when I asked him if he wanted more milk. I've been trying to teach him that for months. He also will sometimes blow us kisses.

After his bath every night he loves to run through the house pushing his trucks. Then he wants us to chase him. He'll run into his room and playfully slam the door waiting for us to come get him. Then he runs out through the living room and office, into the dining room and hides under the table. It's a lot of fun.

On Friday, he went to my morning assignment with me on the beach. I decided it would be more fun to park the car and walk on the beach to the places I needed to photograph. He had a good time running, splashing, picking up shells and chasing birds.

At the end of July, dad came for a visit for a couple of days after a conference in Miami. It was nice to have him around for a couple of days especially in the mornings when he would play with B while we slept in. He also bought B some cool new clothes.

playing hide-and-seek behind the curtains

The first weekend in August was a monumental occasion. We spent our first night away from Bryson ever. He stayed at Scott's mom's house while we checked in to the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point a few miles away. It was nice to relax, drink a few pina coladas and enjoy a nice dinner and the sunset and lightning show on our balcony. But of course we woke up early, so Scott picked up Bryson and we took him swimming in the pool before we checked out. He slid down their tiny water slide and had a great time.

The weekend before July 4th, we also went to Clearwater Beach for a night. We needed to make a trip to Ikea, but didn't want to drive up and back the same day. We got to have dinner with one of Scott's former students, Jane. It was great to see her since it had been a while.

On the day we got there we stopped at the Tampa Aquarium. Bryson loved looking at the fish.

Bryson still LOVES his trucks and his books. This week he also began getting on the slides on the playground and sliding all by himself.

Here's a few more recent photos......

Garden update and another spectacular sunset

purple haze carrot

Our garden is really growing fast now. We've been eating a lot of salads for dinner, and I've been taking freezer bags full of salad greens to my co-workers. The corn is starting to flower and the peas are just starting to make pea pods and the first round of carrots are almost ready to be harvested! It's an exciting time here.

purple haze carrot. apparently the amount of purple color depends on the temperature.

corn and spinach

lettuce, mesclun greens

carrots

peas

 The squash and zucchini and the corn planted in the round bins did not get the message to grow, however. The corn in the metal bins was planted at the same time as the corn in the main garden behind it. I have no idea why it never grew.

dead zucchini

 These photos were taken on Thursday, and later I looked outside to see this sunset.......

 So I ran out into the street with my camera, and I called for Scott to hurry and get the bikes so we could make a mad dash for the river before we lost the light. It was so worth it.....

 

 Oh, I almost forgot. Stay tuned for pics from New York City this week. I'm flying up on Tuesday morning and coming home Friday. I'm going to a taping of the Martha Stewart Show -- the bride-to-be show-- on Thursday afternoon. I'm soooooo excited. I'll post at least one pic on Tuesday evening. Let's hope all the travel goes well. My dad is meeting me there and there is supposed to be snow and ice in Raleigh on Tuesday.....His first trip to the big apple, by the way!

Another awesome sunset sky

Last night, I was home alone catching up on some TV while Scott was coaching a JV football game. I noticed this crazy warm light out in the yard and decided to check out the sunset. It was so beautiful. My lens wasn't wide enough to cover the whole sky, but the clouds were amazing. They kindof looked like a winking eye with long eyelashes. These are from right in our front yard.

So here it is......