Troublemaker!

I put Penny in the tub and stepped in the hallway to find this:

That basket was not even close to where I left him :) I've finally got a little troublemaker on my hands!

My little lady

I'm so aware of the many ways Penny observes and copies my behavior. I'm never more aware than in a public restroom when she uses a paper towel pull the door handle.

Yesterday, at a first birthday party, she wanted to take pictures while our friends baby dug into his cake. So I gave her my phone and while all the adults snapped away, she did too. Some pictures turned out like this:

But, she got many great shots. She took over 100 photos over a few minutes. I can't wait to see this hobby develop!

18 Months

I am 18 months old today.

I can put myself to sleep at night.

I ate half of mommy's enchilada for dinner tonight.

I say more words each day. Some of my favorite are:

• Boat- sing row, row, row your boat right now
• Eat- I thought you said we were eating dinner five minutes ago. Where's my food?
• More- my tray is empty mom, please give me more food
• Up- pick me up
• Ball- I want to play catch or throw the balls into the dinosaur toy so it sings to me

I'm really trying to sign. I can snap my arms like an alligator and I'm trying so hard to do the sign for train. I like trains! I like when my sister sings me songs and does the signs along with the words. I am starting to do the hand motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider.

I like to read books. I like to swim. I like to play with friends and family. My neighbors Alex and Liam are my best buddies.

I went to my first Phillies game this past month and I went to see Alex and the Kaleidoscope Band in concert. You should have seen me dance!

I am a happy little guy! I'm working hard in PT, OT and Speech and am so excited to be moving up to the next class at school next week. I'm growing up faster than anyone expected and I'm doing it with a smile!

I'm Porter and I'm 18 months old. Watch out world...here I come!



Busy...

I've been working a lot the past few weeks, missing too much of these two. They shared this moment with me at bed time tonight. So thankful for every smile they bring into my life! Have a fabulous weekend!

Our Butterflies

Nana thought it would be fun for the kids to see the life cycle of a butterfly.

 Our caterpillars arrived in the mail and we read about the stages they would go through on their way to becoming butterflies.

 For a few weeks, we patiently watched as they built their chrysalis'. We watched and waited and eventually, they became beautiful butterflies. 

 Penny took the butterfly house to school to show her friends. That night, we decided it was time to let them be free.  The first three quickly spread their wings and flew off into the sunset.

 But the fourth little guy hung around for a while and let us really examine just how beautiful a butterfly is.

 Penny loves looking out the back window to see if she can see her butterflies.

 I think Porter loved them too!

Penny and the water table

Oh my...what starts as this...

 ...quickly turns into this...

 ...before I can turn it into this.

Turn my head for one second and she's nakey. "But mommy, my jammies got wet."

St. Louis...it's a wrap!

The morning after the party, someone got into the cake icing that had been left on the table.

 She had fun helping to clean up.

 And volunteered to help Pa with his scratchers.

 We said goodbye to Terra and Bill, who headed off to Oklahoma.

 And while Porter napped, Penny decided to explore the basement.

 Grammy and Pa sure do have a lot of fun things!

 Penny taught Uncle Chris how to color (just kidding...Uncle Chris is surprisingly good at coloring).

 And we took a few more pics before we had to head off to the airport ourselves.

 In case you couldn't tell, there was no giggling...

 The cousins said goodbye...

 Andria got a few more snuggles.

 Aunt Lori and Aubs too!

 She packed up her six string and hit the road...until next time!



Happy Birthday Pa!

Settle in...there are a lot of photos in this one.  The reason we headed out to St. Louis in June was to celebrate Pa's 60th birthday.  Aunt Meggie ordered the most amazing Star Track themed cake. Pa was impressed!

 And, so were the party guests.

 Friends and relatives traveled from near and far to celebrate with Pa.

 So, we cut into that gorgeous cake. And, it was just as delicious as we expected!

Even Bubby had some :) 

 Porter had a blast hanging with the boys!

 And everyone loved meeting Miss Reagan.

 Porter proved he was a Thompson, as he had his first taste of cheese balls. He loved them!

 The Thompson five were in attendance.

 With their families!

 And of course, Pa's family! 

 Old Dude was busy chasing after his grandkids.

 Daddy's family together again!

 The Johnson & Robinson crew helped with the fun!

 Porter enjoyed time with his Emily.

 And these two were like two peas in a pod.

 They had so much fun playing with the cousins!

 Emily learned the hard way that Porter loves to pull hair.

 Aubrey Ann did too!

 Penny got jelly beans for Pa.

 There were some fun plays on the number 60.

Lots of smile...

 ...lots of fun...

 lots of love. For me, it was most awesome to see Penny playing late into the night with her cousins.  We decided to ditch bed time and let them build memories!

 And memories, they did build. In the middle of their dance party, Penny convinced the girls to do ring around the rosy!

 We watched some Thompson family videos.

 And spent quality time with the ones we love.

 What a great trip! Happy Birthday Pa!