16 Month Highlights
Derek continues to be so much fun!! He is full of energy and does not stop running around all day long. With all his activity Derek has had his share of bumps, bruises and scrapes this month. He is definitely all boy! One week he touched a flood light at a restaurant and burned fingers, fell off a  stool and chipped his front tooth, bruised his nose from walking into a table, and scraped his shins from climbing everything and playing in the rocks. The biggest change this month has been transitioning to 1 nap a day. It has been a hard transition (for all of us), but we are pushing through. Some days Derek basically falls asleep at lunch and other days he will stay awake longer. Going to 1 nap a day has been really nice in some ways though because now we can go out in the morning and come home for lunch and nap time. Some new words Derek has been saying this month are "eyes," "car-car," and "hot." When he sees a fire truck or police car he makes a siren noise. He does a lot of babbling. Its so cute to listen to him in the monitor in the early morning before we get him from his crib. We LOVE this boy!

Derek is really good at feeding himself. He eats everything with a spoon or fork. Some meals he will sit there for 20 minutes eating.

Derek is such a good helper. He continues to LOVE making ice cream with me, taking out the trash and recycling, pulling out laundry from the dryer, putting away his toys and shoes. He is very good at following our directions.

Putting his waffle in the toaster and pressing start.

 Helping Daddy put his new table and chairs together.

 Tasting some strawberry ice cream!

Sitting at my desk working on his laptop.

A new favorite snack this month has been apples and peanut butter. 

Derek has LOVED wearing a hat!

This month we had some cooler weather (only 80 degrees) and Derek wore his new big boy sneakers  a few times. It was so cute to watch him run laps around our house.

Derek still has his adorable chubby feet!! 

This month we had many visitors - Uncle Kevin and Aunt Valeri, Grammy and Pops, Grandma and Grandpa. It was so nice to have family in town.

Forward Facing Car Seat
About a month ago (14 months) we turned Derek's car seat around to be forward facing. We do a lot more driving in AZ than CA and it was becoming frustrating for both Derek and myself to drive anywhere. It is so much fun to interact with him now that he is forward facing. We point out the trucks and cars and mountains as we drive. The other day Derek was making a siren noise and sure enough off to the right of our car there was a Police car! Such a smart kiddo!

Baby #2: 16 weeks
This pregnancy continues to be totally different than the last one. Some new symptoms this time around include being achy, tired, uncomfortable sleeping, and more emotional. I am also craving lots of different foods, unfortunately not healthy foods. But it is SO FUN to have cravings!!! Last week we went to IN-N-Out Burger for dinner because I really wanted hamburgers (yes 2 burgers), french fries, and a milk shake! If you look closely you can see my belly button has already popped. We have also been able to feel the baby move!! I do not want to not rush through the pregnancy because I want to enjoy this season of life when its just the 3 of us, but its hard not to want to meet this little baby. We've scheduled our 20 week ultrasound for the end of October and can't wait to find out if we're having a boy or girl!

 Although the lighting is not good in this picture, I love the Derek is looking up at me!

Train table
It was like Christmas morning in the Buman household!! Matt and I were so excited to watch Derek play with his train table. We had bought it the night before and Matt put it together so that it was ready for Derek in the morning. Derek played with his trains for almost 1 hour straight!! It was so fun to watch him get excited and walk around and around the train table as he pushed the train around the track.

Diamondbacks Baseball
Matt and I went to our first 2 baseball since living in AZ. Ironically, the Diamondbacks were playing the Giants! Chase field is a great ballpark. It is incredibly family friendly, clean, modern, and has a retractable roof. For the Friday night game the roof was open and for the Sunday afternoon game the roof was closed and the AC was blasting (I was actually chilly by the end of the game).

 

On Friday night the Diamondbacks clinched their division, so after the game there were fireworks and the players went crazy!

We also found out that Chase Field has 1 GF food stand. I was craving a hot dog (pregnancy cravings!) so we walked all over the ballpark to find it. My GF hot dog was $6 compared to Matt's regular $1.50 hot dog, but it sure was yummy.

 

We had not planned to attend 2 baseball games this weekend, but we were unexpectedly given a 2nd set of tickets. After the Friday night game as Matt and I were walking back to our car, a woman stopped us and asked for directions. She was a Giants fan and had flown in for the series, but she was lost. We ended up walking her to her hotel and chatting the whole way about San Francisco. When we arrived at her hotel, she was so grateful to us that she offered us her extra set of tickets for Sunday's game! We felt so blessed!

Morning at the Children's Museum 

We hit the Children's Museum early this morning (right when it opens is the best time to get there). I am so grateful that I get to stay home with Derek. It is so much fun to watch him explore, discover, and try new things.

 Scooping up some dried beans!

 Pushing the car down the track!

 Driving a pickle car!

 A cool xylophone made out of wrenches!

 Playing with lots of cool mazes.

 Picking flowers for mama!

 Washing hands at a Derek-sized sink!!

15 Month Highlights
We took Derek in for his 15 month well check today. It was nice to get established with our new pediatrician in AZ. We LOVED Dr. Glinder and were sad to leave Palo Alto Medical Foundation, but our new pediatrician worked at PAMF prior to moving to AZ and we got a great recommendation for her before we moved.

Derek's 15 month well check stats are: 

height - 32" (93rd%) 

weight - 24 lbs 11 1/2 oz (53rd%)

We were excited to see what Derek's stats were since we knew that he had grown a ton the past few months. Most people I meet seem to comment about Derek, "He's only 15 months old. He's such a big boy. Your husband must be a big guy." HA. At Derek's 12 month well check he was in the 50th% for both height and weight, but in the past 3 months he has shot up in height! Derek seems to be growing just like his daddy did when he was a kiddo!

Derek eats like a champ (eats just about everything we put in front of him) and sleeps like a champ (12 hours through the night)! We are most grateful for those things. His napping is not as consistent these days as he is working on dropping a nap. Some days he takes 2 naps and other days he takes 1. It is hard for me (the planner), but I am learning to adjust. Derek has a few words - cracker, Costco, hi, ice, up, and dadda. He still signs "more, all done, and please." We are working on "thank you." Derek is also into shaking his head no! It is so fun to see him learn to communicate through words and not just signs

Derek has been consistently going to the childcare at the gym we belong to and the church we have been attending now for just about a month. He still clings to me (I have to pry him off and hand him to the childcare workers) and cries when I leave, but for the most part the crying only lasts 5 minutes. At least I get to workout and Matt and I can go to church together, for this we are most grateful!! Here are a few pictures from the month!

 Great Aunt Flo Flo's stool are still fun to play with!

 all ready to go to the Children's Museum

 playing outside with his dump truck

 Derek loves to attach the straps together

 This is the typical way Derek plays at the water table (splashing and pouring water over his head)!!

All set to play outside! This kid LOVES buckets.

Derek is also into singing these days, espcially songs with actions. Enjoy this video!

After the bath, Derek's favorite thing before getting his jammies on is running around naked!!

love his eyes and long eye lashes

 practicing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (the spider is crawling up the water spout here)

 brushing his teeth with Thomas the train toothpaste

Making Ice Cream with Mom
When Matt and I got married we registered for the Cuisinart Ice Cream maker. We used it quite a bit for the first few years we were married, but then we got sick of it and put it away. Recently we pulled it out again. So far we have made peppermint, espresso, and cookies and cream ice cream. All have been super delicious. Derek LOVES to help me make it. He especially likes to like the spoon just before it goes into the freezer, who doesn't!!

 getting out the ingredients

 Yummy!!!

Tot Town
Twice a month, a local church transforms their gymnasium into a toddler's dream play place. The church sets up about 20 different stations for kids to play at including bounce houses, trains, play kitchens, trucks, doll houses, slides, blocks, work benches, forts, basketball hoops, cars etc. All the toys you wish you could have in your house, but don't have room for! Derek has such a blast playing there and we look forward to our next opportunity to play.

Children's Museum
Derek's favorite place at the Children's Museum was the Noodle Forest. He would run through the noodles (bumping into whatever got in his way) until he reached the other side. Then would turn around and run back. Matt had to chase Derek so that he wouldn't run into other kids or objects. He was squealing with delight!!

 "Oh I see, so this is how the Noodle Forest is made!"

The 3rd floor is dedicated to imaginative play and we spent the entire day on that floor. Guess we'll be back to explore the other floors another time.

checking out the way the air blows his hair

playing at the cash register in the grocery store

 shopping with a Derek-sized shopping cart

 cooking

 making a pizza with daddy

 

How cute is Derek's apron?!

putting the pizza in the brick oven

 getting his pvc pipe cars to send down the track

 

sending the cars down the track

Derek is just so much fun! He gets excited about everything and such a happy boy. I love to watch him explore and discover things on his own. It was such a fun family trip to the museum. We can't wait to come back!! (Derek looks so tired in this picture because we it right before we left the museum. He took a 3 hour nap when we got home!)