This is what happens if I leave the fridge open for even a few seconds. Cedar unloads everything he can reach. Luckily he also likes to put it all back, but it's not a very energy efficient hobby.

washington

We left Cedar with the grandparents for a weekend while we visited good friends in Washington. We enjoyed a relaxing time of food, wine tasting and a beautiful, but very wet hike. Cedar is now paying us back for leaving him for a few days by being extra clingy and fussy, but it was a great weekend.

almost 15 months

Taking a moment to watch the birds.

A few things I don't want to forget about this age...

• He has this habit of rubbing his head when he is tired or cranky or done with eating, which results in so much food in his hair that he needs a bath most nights.

• Falafel and hummus are favorites while peanut butter is always thrown on the floor or fed to Lucca.

• Lucca is amazingly tolerant of the constant "attention" he gives her. The attention is often a one sided wrestling match. When she is napping he likes to sit on her, lay back and make himself comfortable... she is his la-z-boy.

• He is in an annoying clingy stage and won't even let Rob read him a book if I am in the house. This makes the time when I am cooking dinner torture for all three of us.

• Morning can come anywhere from 4:30-7:30am.

• He is very good about setting up his little people and cars right side up.

• He has perfected a nice back-handed swipe that he uses to push his cars and balls and also to tell us when he doesn't want something.

• I didn't realize that having a book lover would be so exhausting at times. Some days we read for hours and often the same book over and over until we can manage to hide it while he is a bit distracted. Most days involve littering the house with every book that we own.

• He shows an amazing amount of excitement for things that he loves and an amazing amount of emotion for things he does not.

• I am not a winter person, and spring can not come fast enough this year. Cedar wants to be outside and the cold windy days that are so nasty are killing us both. Give him a shovel (or spoon) and something to dig in and he is a happy camper. He is just happy walking around in an open field. We hope this love of the outdoors continues. And as Rob says about me, maybe Cedar is also solar powered.

ouray

What started out as a family Christmas in the mountains turned into an ice climbing trip for Rob and my dad when the others didn't want to travel or couldn't get the time off. The men enjoyed beautiful weather at the ice park while my mom and I followed Cedar around town as he explored every set of steps on Main Street. I am looking forward to the end of this "morning" sickness so that I can enjoy food and travel more. We got back late Friday night and were awakened at midnight to Cedar fighting Croup. After 3 hours in the ER we came back home and finally got some much needed sleep. We are just thankful it didn't happen on the trip. Rob is now scheming to find a way to purchase a vacation home/rental in Ouray.

christmas

We went to church on Christmas Eve where Cedar spent the entire service walking around in the back of the building. He was much more interested in walking than the service. We had dinner at Caleb and Amanda's before trading a few gifts and then heading home to bed. After waking up and opening a few gifts at home we went to my parents for a day of gifts, food and relaxation. Cedar got a new basketball hoop from my parents, which he loves. He now has something to do with the 15+ balls that he has collected. New indoor activities are always appreciated since this winter has been so cold and snowy. We are all eagerly awaiting spring when Cedar can go outside for more than 15 minutes at a time without putting on so many clothes that he can't walk.

walking

Cedar has been taking steps here and there since before he turned one, but decided at 13 months to make the switch from crawling to walking. He went from 15% walking/85% crawling to 85% walking/%15 crawling in about 2 days.

Our annual Christmas tree cutting was almost jeopardized by snow and a family bout with the stomach flu. We finally made it up this past Sunday afternoon, barely making it into the cutting area before it closed. My dad, Rob, Cedar and I went up and cut three trees. We were the first to succumb to the bug and were the only ones well enough to go up to the mountains so we got trees for everyone. We all enjoyed some snow and sun.