We have a climber

Over the last few weeks Porter has started the climbing phase of life.  He is starting to get good.  He can almost get in and out of the tub without help. He heaves his leg up over the side.  Yesterday he actually fell in fully clothed while I was showering.

He was climbing at the gum today and had a blast.

If you look closely, you can see that he has his leg thrown up on the bench and is attempting to pull himself up.  And, he is wearing big boy underwear over his diaper.

House, friends and the temple

We had our dear friends the Ulicny's over all day Sunday.  We love them.  While they were here with their three kids, it reminded us how important it is to have a home with space for friends and family to gather.  Frequently we have people over and we remember our days of living in Boston with no place to entertain, so we were always limited on who we could invite.

This means we have done a lot of open houses, drive-by's, viewings and online searching.

Monday, Myrna Anderson, an elderly woman in the ward, kindly and bravely offered to watch Porter while we went to the temple.  It was so nice to go together.

 Porter learned how to do the hokey pokey and he is quite good at turning himself about.

Today I got a much needed pedicure.  I rarely ever pamper myself, but my friend Amber called and I couldn't pass it up.  Next time maybe Porter will stay home so it can be relaxing too:).

Shopping Buddy

Porter helped me shop Friday.  He also managed to get a little snack during our trip.

Field trip

Porter and I decided to go to This is the Place Park.  They have the baby animals out now since the weather is getting warmer.  I have been wanting to go and today was the perfect day.  It wasn't too busy.  Porter got to ride a pony, pet animals (he was going crazy, he is quite the animal lover), ride the big train and the little train and eat donuts.  Porter is a little too young to appreciate a lot of the stuff they have there, but we will definitely go in the future.

In the afternoon we had friends over to swim and play.  It was a great day!

Tricks, April 23rd

Early morning hello pic for David.

Porter helps unload the dishwasher.

He folds him arms for prayer.

And he is really good at telling you when he wants food to eat.  He uses the "more" sign, although his is a little unique, but super cute.  While we were out helping someone run errands, it was getting close to lunchtime and Porter was getting fussy.  I looked in the rear view mirror at him and he was frantically doing the sign for "more".  It was so cute and so sad.

Rough Day

Porter was a little beast today.  He threw about 101 tantrums.  And then he totally redeemed himself.  After throwing a fit earlier in the day I said, "Porter, if you are tired and want to go to sleep, just take my hand and walk me to your bed."  So he grabbed my finger, walked me to his bed.  I put him in, he lied down and slept for 2 hours.  Poor little guy.  He was exhausted and knew he needed a nap.  

Hopefully tomorrow will be a happier day.  These tantrums make we wonder if I can handle two kids.  Good thing Porter is so incredibly fun when he is happy.

He now says, "Thank you", with sign language.  David and I realized how it important it is to help him communicate so he's not so frustrated.

Fresh Air

Porter and I love going outside.  I can't wait until we have a place with a backyard.  Today we played in the field at the elementary school down the hill.  Porter found great pleasure with grabbing fistfuls of mulch and tossing it.  It was all over his hair and down his shirt... He is all boy.

New tricks:  Porter is learning to jump, although he doesn't get much air.  It is still really cute. He is extremely coordinated for his age.  And when we read "Where the Wild Things Are", he likes to rumpus right along with the wild things.  He stomps his feet and shakes his head.  He is our little wild thing for sure.

Caught again

Porter was so proud of himself when he succeeded with sneaking a strawberry from the fridge.  He was laughing with delight at the thought of getting away with it...little did he know that I was fully aware.  

And he made a huge mess with it.  

He also practiced being a ghost.

And here is a pic of David and Porter singing "When you're helping, you're happy".

Deer Valley Weekend Trip

David had a grant writing workshop at The Lodges at Deer Valley and families were invited .  So of course the Porterman and I tagged along.  David worked all day Friday and Saturday, so Porter and I played.  We explored the lodge surroundings, went to downtown Park City and Olympic Park.  We missed David, but we had fun and the suite was super ski resort swanky.

Still love him

Even though Porter is getting more and more naughty how can you not help but love this face.

Pastry Class

I hired a woman from the ward that is a culinary specialist to come and teach me and a few friends.  We made Molten Lava Cake and Cream Puffs.  It was a lot if fun and delicious.

It's here

Finally spring has arrived and we played outside.  It was so refreshing and Porter could run his little legs.  He also practiced his backward walking.  And I must say he is pretty remarkable.  

We are on the house hunt.  When did everything get so expensive.  Originally we had hoped to stay in the Salt Lake area, but we haven't found anything that we like in our budget, or the house is cute, but way overpriced for the square footage.  Ugg.  Tomorrow we are broadening our search to the Millcreek area.  I'm not sold on the area yet, but maybe I'll change my mind tomorrow.

Food fight

Porter has turned into a little stinker at mealtimes.  He will eat, but as soon as he decides he's done he starts throwing food.  The first time he did it I tried so hard not to laugh, but it was pretty funny. I would bend over to clean stuff up off the floor and then I'd get hit in the head or back with food.  Most likely I am partly to blame for this continued behavior since I initially laughed.  Porter laughs now whenever he does it.  It makes for a super messy cleanup.  

We took a little dip in the pool today.  Porter thinks he doesn't need me so its becoming a little struggle.  I'm glad he likes to do so much on his own, but how do I teach him that somethings he still needs our help?

He has upped his weight to 2lbs.  I guess those 1 lb weights were just too light.

Conference Weekend

We had a great weekend watching conference, seeing friends and having Ashley come up to stay.

Porter Loves Aunt Ash.  He was really silly this weekend.  He started rubbing his eyes to pretend like he's tired and then he peaks under his hand to see if you're looking and then gets a little smirk and laughs.

Caught in the act:  Porter has decided that when he is hungry, he will take matters into his own hands.  I caught him getting an apple out of the fridge.  He ate almost all of it.  Then he pulled out the jug of milk.  The next day he got out grape tomatoes and ate them whole.  I guess I don't need to cut up his food anymore.   

On a walk conference am.

Pretending he's tired.

Watching conference with Dad.