Grandpa Boyce's 70th!

On July 26th we celebrate Barbara's Dad's 70th birthday. He had a big shindig in Kerrville, and it was a great chance for the family to get together.

The extended Boyce family

Grandma Pasta and Sean

Dave with Elissa ("Sissa" to Sean) and Sean

Sean and Elissa score peaches in an orchard near Fredricksburg

Grandma Pasta with Sean and Elissa in her motel pool

Sean and Elissa together in the backyard

Quite a turnout for Ted's birthday

Dave, Sean and Elissa have fun playing with ice

Dave breaks out the Slip-N-Slide (and then is in pain for the next 3 days)

Fun weekend

We had a very busy weekend. We started Friday night at the Jen and Dave Hofmans' celebrating Dave's new job. Congrats Dave! Carol and Penny made it from New Mexico, but somehow we forgot to take any pictures.

Saturday was yardwork and exercise.

Now where do I put this thing?

Later we had fun at the Boyces'. Sean, Elissa, and the dads went to the park and swam in the backyard pool while the moms and Darlene went to the outlet mall.

Then we all had a great meal.

Sunday morning Sean and Dave read the paper and then started the day.

We ended up at the Johnsons' celebrating Morgan's first birthday. Look for the Johnsons' big announcement on their blog here.

Sean 18-Month Update

Sean had his 18-month check-up yesterday:

• Weight: 24 lbs. 2 oz. 30%
• Height: 34 inches 90%
• Head: 18.75 inches 45%

Everything checked out fine. He had two shots and was extremely unhappy about it. He was so stressed out he acted funny the rest of the day. He may have been slightly dizzy, too, which was a side effect of one of the shots.

His main developments have been vocabulary, comprehension and memory. He has many two syllable words and phrases: "all done," "night night," up please," "off please," "help please" and one "I don't know." Sometimes he strings things together for emphasis, like "night-night all done" when he really wants to be put in his bed; or "all done bye-bye" when he is really tired of his car seat.

He gets very frustrated when we cannot understand him. When we were in Johnson City this weekend he suddenly started saying "shoe, shoe, NO NO" and trying to take one shoe off. I put it back on and he cried "shoe, shoe, NO NO NO NO." I eventually found that he had stepped on a huge thorn that went through the bottom of his Crocs and poked out about 1/8" out of the sole (and into his foot.) So, in retrospect, what he said made complete sense.

The cutest things are words he can't quite say yet:

• Ice weem = ice cream
• Hopter = helicopter (or, sometimes, a plane)
• Pafier = pacifier
  

He is a complete Elmo fanatic and loves everything Elmo.

He has the location of every fake owl in south Texas memorized and will say "hoot-hoot" or "owl" when brought within 30 feet (even if he can't see the owl.)

His other fixation is buses, like his friend Daniel in Colorado when he was Sean's age. A bus, or anything that looks vaguely like a bus, elicits: "bus bus bus bus bus bus bus," Most times it is a bus that he some how spots (or senses) before we can ever see it. Scary.

Grandma Pasta and I have taken to the bad habit of showing him video of Elmo, owls, buses, hopters, etc. on YouTube. He now associates LCD monitors with Elmo. On the plus side, you find videos like school bus racing!

4th of July

Sean turns 18 months old today!!! Happy birthday today to Dziadziu!!!

Link to photo album HERE

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4th of July weekend started with Barbara's birthday on the 2nd. She co-hosted her own party at our house on the 3rd. We had 11 kids there who all had a great time. Sean did not go to bed until after 10:30pm - a very late night for him.

We loaded up the car and headed for Kerrville on Friday morning and celebrated the 4th there. On Saturday we went to the Sauer-Beckman Farmstead near LBJ Ranch outside of Johnson City. It is an 1869 farm and home now run as a historical site by Texas Parks and Wildlife. Sean loved the farm animals and mooed at the cows and clucked at the chickens and roosters.

Saturday night Beth came over for a great slow-cooked brisket dinner. Both nights Sean played in the hot tub, which he loves.

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Sean helps Daddy build Barbara's birthday present

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Sean watches cows

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Sean facinated by a rooster

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Limestone watering trough that Sean insisted on getting closer to: "pool, up please!"

Start of Summer!

The start of summer has been a busy time. Lots of outside play, almost buying a house in Pearland and lots of weekend trips!

Sean has been a blast. He learns a new word or three every day. He loves his books and likes to climb every thing.

OK, I've got my bib, I am half-way up the highchair - where is my food?

Is this Mama's birthday present or mine? Until Dada gets around to putting them together it is all mine!

Sean's first professional sporting event - the Astros v. the Dodgers. He liked: 1) the Minute Maid Train (Choo Choo!) and 2) the hole in a support girder on the concourse (peek-a-boo!)

First Weekend of Summer

We have been so busy having fun that we have had a hard time updating the blog to show it!

This weekend Dave rode in a bike race Saturday morning and then met Barbara and Sean at the Cook's in Pearland for Casey's 3rd birthday. After that Sean had his 2nd haircut and we had dinner at Grandma and Dziadziu's house.

Sunday we went to the Zoo with Nick, Heather and Elissa. Then, back to our house to play in the frog pool and grill chicken for dinner. Sean and Elissa had a big day.

This was Sean's 1st trip to the zoo in over a year, so it was a very different experience. He loved (in order): fish, owls, monkeys, elephants and then seals.

Dave with Sean and Nick with Elissa

Finally, Sean gets to see real owls. His favorite toy is an owl and he loves to say "hoot hoot!" He knows where to find every owl in his daily routine, including the fake one that guards the roof of the YMCA.

It was hard to pull Sean away from the first small fish exhibit we came across

In the rain forest building Sean barely ever left the first exhibit: fish, of course. We could get him to say "bye bye fish" and then walk off, only to have him turn around and run back to the fish. Elissa is on the right.

Nick and Dave have some quality brother-in-law time in a tube through a fish tank

Sean, who has been afraid of tubes in play structures, goes through one for the first time - to see fish, of course. Dave and Elissa help him through....

Finally: we head off to see the monkeys

Sean and Elissa loved watching the monkeys play

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day on Saturday at Grandma and Dziadziu's house with the Jennifer, Dave and Alton Hofman. Joanne, Barb and Grandma cooked a medley of our favorites: meatloaf for Dave.

Grandma gets her baby fix with Alton and Sean

Dave and Sean read together

And the Port Aransas pictures!!!

Click here for the photos from Port A!

Florida pictures--Finally!

Well, we've finally gotten the Florida pictures organized and ready for viewing. Click here to view.

We hope you like them.

Sean the Pool Monkey

After a couple of beach vacations last month, Sean has decided that near the water is a pretty cool place to hang out. Grandma and Joanne gave him a frog pool and we decided to invite the neighbors over to help Sean see the full range of activities available to him. So far, he had only stuck his fingers in the water and played with the spray fountain from outside the pool. Abby and Mackenzie showed him the slide and how fun splashing IN the pool could be. Sean still didn't get all the way in, but he did have a great time spraying the girls.

Swimming makes me hungry! Cupcakes are great energy food. Thanks Mackenzie!Ready for some lap swimming with Mom's goggles.

On Saturday we headed down to the League City YMCA to check out their great kids' pool. Slides, splashing water buckets and lots of kids to watch met him at the pool. He had a great time. Unfortunately, we were having so much fun we forgot to take pictures.

On Sunday we decided to swim again, this time at the Pearland Y by Grandma and Dziadziu's house. Again, we forgot to take pictures. Later that afternoon, after a nap, we joined the Johnsons' at the Carters' pool for another dip.

As the weekend came to a close, Sean and his pruny fingers and toes fell into a deep, restful sleep.

New Pool Setup

Too little time to even get all the vacation pics up, so here is an interlude. After hearing about how much fun Sean had in the lazy river and pools in Florida his Grandma , Dziadziu, and Aunt Joanne got him a pool. Here, we try to blow it up...

What is this thing, Dad?

Are you sure you are doing this right?

Here, let me help!

I think this pump will help...

More Destin Pics

See Destin photos by Darlene HERE

We have been running and gunning with little time to update the blog.

After our Destin weekend we spent a long weekend in Port Aransas with the Boyce's, Heider's, VonDolan/Landry's and Greg. We had a great time.

Sean's best time was stopping at Prasek's BBQ on the way home for dinner. Sean was fascinated with the mounted animal heads and fish. The BBQ was excellent.

Tomorrow we leave for Memorial Day weekend in Kerrville.

In between all this Sean has been having a great time and is expanding his verbal skills. He is now stringing two words together, like "no more" and "all done." He is recognizing a lot more of what we say, like "Do you want to get into the pool?" (the answer: "no, no")

New Pasta Blog

See the links list at right or click HERE for the new Blog - Environmental Curmudgeon

Beth's Pics from Destin

Beth's Pics

Polish Weekend

Thursday Uncle Greg came by for dinner. He competes with Grandma for making Sean laugh.

Saturday Sean, Mama, Dziadziu and Grandma ran the Ovarian Cancer 5K at MD Anderson. Dad slept. Saturday afternoon we all headed to the 2nd Annual Houston Polish Festival. We ran into David's Polish co-worker Tom Wojcik, of course. Sean was all about the fishing pond and the Polish dancers. Dad was all about the Polish food and the Slavic Playboys band.

Afterward, we migrated a few miles west to Kevin and Denise's house. They just got engaged(!) finally. This was, officially, a planning session for our beach trip to Port Aransas in two weeks. Sean and Cousin Elissa really got into the boys tossing the football around and loved being tackled.

Sunday after church we went back to Discovery Green for lunch and for Dave to play with the remote controlled sailboats. Sean had a great time roaming the park. He especially likes the vertical giant xylophone.

Sunday afternoon we went to the YMCA pool. Sean first played in the kiddie pool, then we took him to the (warmer) adult pool. He shook his head "no" a lot at first. But, for the first time since Iceland he floated and had fun in a "big" pool. He thought Daddy blowing bubbles was hilarious and was actually screaming with laughter. He did NOT want to leave. He kept trying to make his own bubbles under water, but kept inhaling, not exhaling. He is definitely ready for a couple of beach weekends.

Uncle Greg is crazy!

Uncle Greg, Stop!!!

Sean in reading mode

Sean helps Dad water the flowers

Happy Birthday Braden

Braden celebrated his 6th birthday Sunday at Pump It Up! It is a storefront full of inflatable jump toys.

Sean was very cautious about the whole thing. He had been on a bounce toy at about 12 months and immediately started crying. When we first got to the place he did not want to go within 2 feet of the inflatables. Then we charged up one that was a slide and we slid down - which he thought was great fun. After doing that a few times we got inside one of the bounce toys and jsut sat together for about 30 minutes. I would try to lift him off of me and put him on the surface and he would vigorously shake his head. While he was in my lap he had a great time. Eventually he kind of warmed up to the idea.

Sean making sure the Bounce Monster is not out to get him

Sean checks on Gillian

Sean waits for his cake

Braden had a great dinosaur cake

Abagail reads to Sean while Braden lets them borrow his Birthday King chair

At Braden's house afterwords playing games