Oh, Friends of Bunting, how remiss we have been. Has it truly been almost two months since we updated you on the goings-on of our resident hybrid boy?
We have no excuse.
However, we do have photos of a rather cute kid.
Yes. He is coloring with crayons. He learned how to do this by watching the 'big kids' (ie the 3 and 4 year-olds) draw. Alas, this also means that he has figured out that crayons, pens, etc. leave marks, whereas previously he would just clutch them in his hand. You people know where this is going, I'm sure. For the sake of our cabinetry and furniture, all writing/marking implements must be corralled and in non-Bunting accessible areas. This region is shrinking by the hour. Soon all of our possessions with have to be kept in bags strung from the ceiling. You know- like when you camp and try to keep the bears from stealing your food.
As soon as I am finished riding this here zebra whilst wearing Winnie the Pooh ears, those pens will be mine. Our boy is 16 months old, and boy is he a busy bee.
At his 15 month check up his stats were thus:
Weight: 26.5 lbs-- 80th percentile.
We have a hard time fathoming that there are kids who weigh more than him at this age. This kid is like a wet bag of rice. My left arm continues to remain super strong from toting him around. It is at least as strong as my right, which was certainly not the case B.B. (before Bunting).
Did I tell you about the time a few months back that I was lotioning after a shower, and felt a lump, on the outer aspect of my arm, right under the cap of my shoulder? And that due to my cumulative life circumstances, I immediately concluded that I had some sort of terminal arm muscle cancer? But really it was a heretofore unused but now highly developed deltoid muscle? Moral of the story: having babies gives you ripped arms. Put it in the 'pro' column.
Dr. H's office, 2 months old. Look at the widdle turtle baby!!!!
Height: 33 inches -- 93rd percentile.
WHAT?!!? I sit here as I type this, a solid 5'2", the daughter of a woman who claimed to be 5'0" but was probably 4'11" first thing in the morning before her vertebra compressed. FRK is 5'11"-ish, which is guess is on the tall side. But still. Who knows if this trend will continue, but this kid has been long and tall since day one, and it is a head scratcher.
Head circumference: 51 centimeters-- giant percentile. Above the curve.
Once again, the M.A. measured his head twice, because she was sure she misread or mismeasured the first time. Then she said "I hope you had a c-section". Oh, what a cut-up. Anyway, as I have mentioned before, we are big- headed people. My sister married a big-headed person. Bunting will almost certainly have big-headed cousins. Katie bar the door, one day there will be a little pack of giant-headed half Pengs roaming the Western seaboard. Oh yes.
Dr. H's office, 15 months old. The back of his hair needs to be trimmed, so it is a wee bit fluffy- but he does have a tremendous amount of back head.
Our camera is terrible, but look at this! Look at the curls! How can I cut that off? How!?!?!
Oh, kill me with the sleeping cuteness. The enormitude of the noggin is nicely on display here.
Our boy has always concentrated his energies on his gross motor development. His passion for climbing things continues unabated:
Mephers make for excellent jungle gyms
Climbed up on the couch on his own. Deeply pleased with himself.
But now his verbal development has begun to grow, and it is so entertaining.
He is a hilarious little mimic. Mepher gave him her old iPhone (tchhhhh- don't say a word. It is old and Auntie prerogative trumps all), and he loves the thing. He knows how to turn on the iPod function, (he will be tootling along and then suddenly we hear The Cranberries playing), and he obviously has been watching his father closely, because when he hears a phone ring he will glance at the screen, jab at it with his finger, put it up to his ear, and then leave the room.
Making a business call, double fisting iPhones
Oh young people today, with the driving and texting. So unsafe.
More Auntie prerogative: when the baby wants 8 Akmak crackers, you give him 8 crackers.
I love my Mepher. Also, electric toothbrushes.
Beefcake shot. Also, more electric toothbrush.
He continues to be an enthusiastic omnivore, and now insists on using his own utensils. Our friend Pilar gave us some straw sippy cups and toddler utensils a few months back. I figured they would come in handy, but not for some time. Oh woe is me, I was wrong, soooo wrong.
Heartbreak in a ziploc bag. He refuses to have anything to do with baby sized spoons of any sort. Metal please, or a big plastic one. Thank you.
Mmmmm. Yogurt. Mama has mess issues (ironic much?, considering what she does for a living), but boy oh boy does he enjoy feeding himself.
How adorable is my Baby Daddy?! Love that man.
FRK's grandfather Snuffy (Bunting's namesake) made fantastic omelets. FRK is continuing the tradition, and Bunting absolutely loves them. With pepper jack cheese- he just can't get enough. Witness:
For the fellas, it's all about the omelet. Myself, it's all about the coffee. Can you hear the excitement in my voice?
Straw cup. Pilar gave us 2 of these cups, along with approximately 30 pristine, unused, replacement straws and valves. When the zombie apocalypse happens, I know we will be fine, because we have Pilar.
Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows that I am crazy about books. So it is with great joy and satisfaction that I watch Bunting's love for books grow every day. He not only loves being read to (we have been reading to him pretty much from the beginning, but now he really seems to enjoy it, and has definite preferences for certain books), but increasingly we find him sitting with a book, 'reading' to himself. I find this development very exciting because: A) please see previous reference to my bookmania, and B) up to this point Bunting has had only two speeds-- totally asleep and moving, moving, moving.
The following clip is especially sweet because the book he is reading is "Twinkle Twinkle" by Iza Trapani. It is a great favorite of my sister and myself. We read it innumerable times to the kids that we nannied for, especially BRH and OGO (seen below at Mepher's wedding)
The entire book is sung to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Please note that my amazing doodle bug is attempting to sing "up above the" at the very beginning. Also note the glider, yet another Pilar-me-down. The cushions are leather. When I was her nanny and it had not yet been bequeathed to me, I thought that the leather was an aesthetic choice. It seemed a bit much, but she and her husband take their furniture seriously. People, I am here to tell you: IF YOU BUY A GLIDER GET LEATHER CUSHIONS. If you aren't familiar with babies, I shan't frighten you with too much detail, I'll just say that leather wipes clean in a jiffy, and upholstery does not.
The weather has turned lovely and sunny, and so we turned our attention to our garden. When Bunting was in utero one of the things we dreamed about was puttering around the garden with our boy. Again, it was something we thought we would have to wait a bit longer to enjoy. Bunting adores being outside in the sunshine. He putters and babbles and collects rocks, stuffs pulled weeds into his bucket and dumps it out, creating auxiliary piles. I gave him some buckets, a little plastic pot full of soil, a trowel, and a plastic spoon to dig with. Well, we already discussed his rapidly increasing prowess with spoons, so you can guess what he did right off the bat:
He only tried it once.
He is Daddy's loyal assistant, he trails him around and wants in on whatever task is at hand.
And then he assists with cleaning up. He's a keeper!
Mepher and Josh continue to come over every week for family time. We are so blessed and lucky to have them so close by.
We Peng girls can get a little punchy when we are together with Bunting
Bunting continues to be an Olympic caliber sleeper, and for that we are so very, very grateful. Here he is right before bedtime:
The cast of bedtime characters, clockwise: Al the bear (made of alpaca fur and so incredibly soft), Silky, Taggie, Grandma J blankie, Auntie Audra blankie, Ribb Scribb in Bunting's hand. Ribb Scribb is the main dude. Bedtime doesn't happen without Ribb Scribb.
He only sucks his thumb when Ribb Scribb is in his arms. Have never seen it any other time.
The sleep fuels shenanigans such as this. Acres of grass and sidewalk, all he wants is to hang out in the parking lot.
Part I:
Part II
Part III
Our life is so full right now- full of the best and the worst that life has to offer. Every day we are struck anew with wonder and love for our sweet, funny boy.
He makes every day seem right.
Bunting with his Mamaji
