I don’t have wedding pictures yet, and I don’t have time to find some from my camera (most of mine didn’t turn out anyway), but here are some quick Paul “favorites” updates.

Paul loves:

• Trains, Planes, and Automobiles. Yes, he’s a boy.
• New things, including people, places, and events. He (normally) loves new situations and just watches fascinated as new things happen. Case in point: the haircut last week. He didn’t even squirm, just sat there with a big smile on his face. There are always exceptions, but normally, new things are fun.
• Nursery. I’m not sure why he loves nursery, because whenever I go in for singing time (I’m the song leader), he’s knocking over kids trying to give them hugs and kisses.
• Hugs and kisses. He finds these fun to give. I love the moments he lets me cuddle, even for the briefest second. I hope this isn’t top on his list when he’s 15.
• Schedules. Paul has had a few non-scheduled days lately because of family events, and he’s been a whiny puss. Even when his nap is shorter than normal, he becomes a basket case when something isn’t just as he wants it. I certainly encourage schedules, but I try to follow what he needs too (i.e., unlike some moms, I don’t wake him from his nap at the same time each day. That’s nuts!). It always takes a least a day to recover from an “off-nap” day or a “stay up too late” night. I like to stick with the normally planned schedule just so I can ignore those whines!
• Daddy. Oh, he loves his daddy when he’s home! He’s a fun daddy.
• The toilet. What fun to sit on the Winnie-the-Pooh chair and clap when something comes out!
• Winnie-the-Pooh. Still a favorite friend. We’re rereading the books right now, and Paul definitely likes me to read it to him.
• Puzzles. Paul is very good at puzzles, and normally has the patience to put all the pieces in the right spot, even the 26 piece alphabet puzzle!
• Dancing. We watched Mary Poppins this week, and he was dancing, and trying to do somersaults, when we got to the Stepping Time “rooftops of London” scene. Very cute.
• Outside. Paul loves his hat, he helps me put his sunblock on, and then he runs to the swing and slide. When I’m weeding, he “helps” by digging in the dirt.
• Mail. Paul likes to help me get the mail. For some reason.

Okay, that’s a start for a bunch of stuff he loves. Hopefully I’ll post some cute wedding pictures or cousin pictures in the coming days!

Vital Stats

• height: 33 1/2 inches tall (75th percentile)
• weight: 26 lbs 13 oz (50th percentile)

Paul is an incredibly happy boy, and apparently he is completely up-to-date developmentally. The doctor kept saying “Oh he’s so good” when he did things like open his mouth when she asked him too. I think he was just observing and taking it all in because it was all new to him (relatively; he doesn’t remember the last visit three months ago).

When the doctor left, we had to wait for the nurse. He was ready to be done though. He kept walking to the door saying “go? Go? GO!” When the nurse finally came, he got two shots. He wasn’t sure what was going on with the first one, and since we were clapping and saying “yeay!”, he started clapping too. For the second shot, he was a little more wary and tried to pull away. It brought tears, but when he saw the bandaids, he was fascinated with that too, and even the tears stopped.

Overall, I love my boy. This week’s special words are “Hi! Hi!” and “Bye! Bye!” to strangers both coming and going, “shoes” as he wanders the house looking for them (anyone’s is fine), and “go!” for everything and everywhere. He still signs “thank you” with a little kiss.

Paul finally has enough hair that I had to buy him a brush this week. When it is wet, it is matted and long. When it dries, it curls in the back to produce an adorable head of curls. Ryan is quite traumatized by this: every time someone comes up and says “What adorable curls! What lovely hair!” he has memories of his own childhood. He, apparently, hated having curly red hair because everyone wanted to touch it. Alas: like father, like son.

Paul is signing at least 30 words now — surprising me every day with new ones. I shouldn’t be too surprized since Signing Time is his only show these days.

Paul is saying at least 15 words. Sometimes his talking sounds like babbling and other times it actually is words.

Paul has become fascinated with dogs and birds. He also loves the train table at the library. He also loves the slide and the swing at the park: I need to fix up our play set in our yard because right now it’s not useful for a baby Paul’s age.

Paul has a runny nose again this week. It will never stop, I’ve decided.

Paul’s naps are still sporadic. I never know if he’ll go down or when he’ll be ready for it. (Saturday he was ready at 10 a.m. and he slept for three hours. Today it was one hour. And that’s it.)

Paul likes his binkie. He can only have it when he’s in his bed, so sometimes he begs to go in his crib, just to have his binkie. Ten minutes later, he’s ready to go on with his day again.

Paul is a smart kid. There are so many stories I meant to share. I’m going to have to write them down as soon as they happen because now I’ve forgotten!

My goal was to post an update on Paul on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday each week. Now it is already Wednesday. How time flies!

Paul got sick along with Mommy and Daddy last week. While he wasn’t coughing, sneezing, and otherwise acting sick, he certainly acted like he felt miserable. I mentioned in the last update that he was phasing out his naps — but then last week there was a day when he slept for more than 4 hours during the day! He was definitely acting unwell. He’s better now, but he is back to taking a two-hour nap. Only time will tell how long he’ll keep that up.

Daddy was working from home last week. Paul absolutely loved to have Daddy around, and always looked for him over Mommy. When Mommy tried to take him to do other things, he cried and whined for Daddy. Daddy is much more fun! Paul is definitely a Daddy’s boy. Daddy is traveling again this week, but Paul will love to have him home Thursday and Friday.

Other than being a bit whiny and testing Mommy’s patience everyday, Paul is still the delightful boy he’s always been.