happy place

Dennis got to go to the lake houses today, and he was excited because he hadn't been in several days. He is always so happy to be at the lake. He was glad to see his Little People farm again and played with it for a long time. If you ask him what a cow says now, he says "mmmmmmm", which is pretty close to moo if you ask me. And he can say "sheep" and "horse" and "pig" and "cow" now. If you ask him what the farmer says, he says "hey". Pretty cute.

He walked around and around and around at his Grandma's lake place--she had totally redecorated and moved the furniture around since he was there before. I think he was trying to get his bearings. It was familiar to him, but very different than he was accustomed to. He appreciated the echo from the new floor sans carpet. He likes a good echo; it brings out the yell in him.

I think he would have eaten every morsel of food in both houses if we had given him the opportunity, and if he could have done it before he was tired of being trapped in his high chair. Lisa and Robert came to visit with mucho cajun food from the restaurant (Dennis liked the pork the best, but he also ate the bread, black-eyed peas, and mashed potatoes). And Janet (Gigi) came to visit as well, so Gran brought down barbecue and baked beans. Dennis ate more pork and some beans, and when Gigi presented Gran with a Chocolate Tortuga Rum Cake for her birthday, I thought Dennis would topple his chair in his quest to reach for some of that cake. Of course I let him taste a couple of crumbs of it. Couldn't let him eat as much as he wanted to because, hey, it was a rum cake. He's only one. Twenty more years and we can renegotiate.

Of note: we sang Happy Birthday to Mom (Gran) as she opened and cut the cake, and when we finished singing, we heard Dennis still singing "Happy Birthday to you". I hope he remembers how for Chloe's birthday party coming up very soon. I would say how soon, but Chloe's mom reads this blog, and she knows how soon it is, and she's probably stressed to the max getting ready for it, so I won't add to her stress level. I was pretty stressed about Dennis's first, but I conveniently got the flu the week before and absolutely could do nothing in preparation. Turned out fine anyway, but only because we didn't have it at our house!

Everyone exclaims over how smart a baby he is. Naturally I want to think so as well, but I haven't been around many 14-month-olds so I can't say whether he's more advanced or not. I just know that he amazes me every day, and I couldn't be prouder of him. I was proud of him when he was a champion spit-bubble producer in the early weeks of his life. I was enchanted by the dozens of silly expressions his tiny little infant face could go through in two minutes. Even if he calls a pig a dog instead, I still think he's brilliant. They both have four legs and eat a lot, don't they? I rest my case.