Sunday, July 12, 2009

Spotlight on Stone


Stone gets to visit Church Nursery almost every week, since Erik is on baby duty every week while I play the piano for the older kids' singing time. So he takes Stone into Sophie's class, where at least Stone has toys to play with. Today, Erik had to teach the men's group while I played the piano, and the Nursery leaders said Stone could just stay in there with the older kids. When we came back to get him, the teachers said he was more comfortable and engaged than many of the older children... so much so that the teachers had him participate in all the activities, and only remembered that he was still a baby when it was coloring time, and instead of drawing a picture, he started eating the crayons. Atta boy!

He is growing up though, and life is just getting sweeter and easier as he starts to sign and talk. Favorite words: Mama, Dada, Diddin (Lindsay), Bue (book) Wa-wah (water), Bah (bottle), Bapth (bath), Ba-hoom (Bathroom, which he says whenever he sees a bathroom or hears someone say the word), Dah (dog, which he adores more than almost anything else in life), Ha ha! (whenever we do the "that's funny" ha-ha, Stone parrots it. Which means we do it over and over again, just to hear his cute little voice.) We love this boy!!

This boy requires full-time, hands-on attention every moment he is awake. He is climbing (stairs, playground equipment, stools, tables), running (toward streets or bodies of water), eating (sometimes food, but just as often, rocks, dirt and sand, and almost a snail today until I shrieked and intervened), kissing (any other baby), hugging (kids and dogs) and exploring every minute. In this picture he is running between rows of blackberry bushes on our berry-picking adventure with friends.

Capitola Beach


Beach day with the Furrs, McDonalds and Andersons. He was mesmerized by the waves (but luckily didn't want to go in them).

Water Baby


Stone started saying "wah-weh" (water) a few weeks ago, and both says and signs "bath" all the time. He loves water! Pools, baths, fountains, puddles, fresh water, salt water, stagnant water. He loves to drink it, to bathe in it, to splash in it.

Written in Stone


Since Lindsay was a baby, people have always commented about Lindsay's, and then Lucy's, and then Sophie's ability to sit still and focus on books. We had wondered if a boy would be different (everyone said he would be), but it appears that a Y chromosome and the love of literature are not mutually exclusive. (At least not in a McPhie-Allebest family, where the males and females alike have printed words flowing in our veins in place of blood!) We are delighted to see our little buddy run to the bookshelf many times every day, sometimes bringing us stacks of books and backing up onto our laps (one time, Erik was standing by the couch, and Stone pushed Erik down onto the couch, then climbed up onto his lap with a book) or simply sitting in the middle of a pile of books, looking at the pictures and turning the pages himself. He loves all of us to read to him, and we all eat it up, since it's the only time he'll sit still to snuggle.

Lindsay and Lucy will have the important role of being the oldest cousins to a throng of worshipful younger cousins. Sophie has one cousin her age, whom she adores. But Stone has lucked out! Not only does he have two girl cousins within a year of him, he also has two boy cousins who not only sandwich him in age, but also live 5 minutes away. Scott and Rachel's boys, Tyler and Cameron, have always been Lindsay, Lucy and Sophie's little angels, and now they are becoming Stone's best friends. The Sunday this picture was taken, they showed up at our house unannounced, coincidentally wearing the exact same outfits! Great minds dress alike.

We love that he does things just to be funny now. He puts on our glasses, then looks at us for our reaction. He thinks pulling on things is hilarious (like shoelaces, hair, dangly earrings). He, for some reason we can't figure out, cannot stop laughing when we wiggle our feet at him. Especially my pink-painted toenails.

Playing hide and seek in the pan cupboard