18 months

i was amazed at the development that donovan went through his first year, and i am amazed again at the personality development that has happened from 12-18 months!

- 29lbs 8oz. (30%) 33in. (75%).....donovan refused a head measurement.....he also noticed the shot being carried into the room for the first time

-he is in size 5 diapers and 18-24 month clothes...and size 6.5 shoes (but we put him in size 7 with thick socks because that is what we have)

-he insists on sitting at the table and feeding himself

-he continues to be a pretty good eater. we can get him to eat pretty much anything if we are eating it (except eggs) . some of his favorites granola and yogurt, tomato, anything with vinegar, guacamole and bread of any kind.

-on average still takes 2 naps a day, but more and more seems to be practicing with only one nap. let's face it, he is fine with 1 nap but his parents like the donovan better with 2 naps.

-he is starting to imitate. he pants like buck and snores when he lays down.

-he has started rolling his eyes....most often at mom.....usually when the grandparents are in town and i speak to him at all. he will also do this on the weekends if he and dan are having a good time hanging out and he is in no girls allowed mode.

-he gives hugs and kisses when you ask him for it.

-he continues to love being outside. coming inside is usually the trigger for tantrums. he loves pushing his car (that is made to be ridden in) throwing the ball to buck and using sidewalk chalk.

-he is continuing to do more and more talking. he doubles words "ba-ba", "ma-ma", "da-da", "buck-buck".

-he can blow his nose!

-he is getting stronger and stronger about his desire to be independent. he does not want to hold your hand anywhere....especially in dangerous situations. he insists on climbing steps on his own. he has become obsessed with checking to see if he is tall enough to reach handrails.

the beach

the murphy family had our first beach trip together. this was donovan's first trip ever to the beach. our extended family had lots to celebrate with my granny turning 95, dan and my 5th anniversary, and my great aunt betty being cancer free. we rented a big house on ocean isle and proceeded to beach it for a week.

the weather was perfect and allowed us to wade in the water, and dan and donovan even did some wave jumping together. we could not get enough of watching donovan's face as the waves came in and out on his feet and he felt himself sink in the sand. he loved stomping in the puddles on the beach, and feeding the birds each morning at our house. he also loved practicing saying family members names....his new favorite....matt.

we had another first on this trip.....donovan's first stomach bug. yep, that is right....projectile vomit in the car. could a carseat be made with more crevices for vomit to slide into????? the good news is that i did not leave all vomit covered things, including donovan, on the side of the road like i always thought i might. we lived through it and will forever in the future travel with paper towels, trash bag and lysol wipes.

a perfect fall day

donovan and i had a perfect fall day. mechanical truck ride, pumpkins, ice cream and playing at the lake. i love fall.

it's pumpkin time

we went to the same pumpkin patch this year as we did last year. it was a big difference this year. instead of just getting out of the car and getting a picture and grabbbing a pumpkin, we had the full pumpkin patch experience. hay ride, petting zoo, pumpkin patch and apple cider. boy a year makes a big difference!

mama is a racer

i have never been much for exercise. i do not feel the good feeling people talk about feeling after they exercise. i never say to myself "man i would feel better if i exercise". and to top it off i do not have a competitive bone in my body. with this mix of characteristics of me i thought it would be a good idea to run a 5k. actually, it just so happened that somehow i managed to marry the most competitive and physically fit man who suggested a 5k to me. i started training myself this summer and was pretty impressed that i could actually run as far as my training program told me to. i finished the program and started to lose steam in my new endeavor when dan told me about a race. he was going to actually hold me to this. so i bought myself some new running shoes and i ran that race.

a trip to the big city

i earned myself a trip to nyc! it appears that i am an excellent mother and wife and my husband would like to celebrate that by giving me a weekend get away trip to the big city.

my friend carrie and her family moved to hoboken, nj about a year ago and her new abode overlooks the hudson with the empire state building in the background. lovely. she has been bugging me about visiting, and i kept bugging her about visiting, and alas the stars aligned (and dan booked himself a weekend golf trip to myrtle beach to celebrate his excellent father and husband award).

i had never been to the city with a "local" so my goal was to eat good food, see a show and hang out with the "locals". and that we did.

we spent friday afternoon checking out carrie's new digs which happens to be home of the cake boss. we had some pizza and headed into the city, despite the torrential rain, for an evening of comedy and empanadas.


saturday we started the day in times square where we landed tickets to how to succeed in business without really trying, which happened to be one of daniel radcliffes last performances. we strolled hell's kitchen area and had thai food, and finished the evening shopping around grand central station and the library.





sunday, lunch and shopping in greenwich village for treats for dan and donovan before catching my flight home. the trip was quick, but chock full o' sights. thank you reger family for showing little ol me the big city.