May started out cool…and ended delightfully warm! We had a riot of flowers and the kids both hit growth milestones. Come see!
Tiny girlfriend had quite a month; she started trying to climb up the stairs and got up one step, and started standing by herself, often in the middle of the room while holding a toy. Look ma, no hands! She also got her bottom molars and had her first trip to the dentist.
She loves to go outside…but sometimes those morning strolls to take big brother to school are tiring.
We started the month by another trip to Lilacia Park in Lombard, IL. We met up with our friend Abbie (who took the photo on the right!) and the kids had a great time exploring the park with magnifying glasses!
Here she is throwing balls out of the ball pit as fast as she can, only to climb out and put the balls back in. Big brother “helps” by hand-feeding her Cheerios. She is 1/3 Cheerio by weight!
Our papaya tree got repotted and is so happy! We also acquired from the garden club cherimoya and passionfruit seedlings!
When she hears the sound of Cheerios being grabbed from the box she does happy wiggles…which turn to outraged cries if you give them to big brother instead. She insists on being fed Cheerios while we drive, which leads to some interesting contortions. She’s also learned that she can get a snack after we get home by crawling in to her car seat (that she is rapidly outgrowing).
We went to the Oak Park Conservatory one rainy day! The big kid enjoyed using the pump. This month he started writing his name well – and he’s crazy about pirates! He drew me rainbow garbage truck drawings for Mother’s Day, and enjoys making potions in the backyard with sand and leaves.
We went to Evanston and the Chicago Botanic Garden for Mother’s Day! We ended up going a week after Mother’s Day because we figured *absolutely everyone else in Chicago* would have the same idea to take Mom to a garden.
The flowers were gorgeous, but we missed Peak Tulip and Peak Crabapple by about two weeks. Late April/early May would be the right time to go for that!
One of my favorite recent photos of Bug. 🙂 He made incredible strides with fine motor control this month, abruptly changing from drawing scribbles to drawing legit pirate ships, skull-and-crossbones, among other piratey paraphernalia. He also wrote “Mom” for the first time which was the sweetest.
Love these Icelandic poppies and ranunculus!! Ranunculi don’t grow well on the west coast, so it’s a treat to see them here!
Oh girl. While I was out for a 1 hour errand she managed to chew on her brother’s watercolors, then figured out that she can drop toys into the toilet/splash around in the water. When Dad finished cleaning that up he discovered her ON THE STAIR LANDING. He met me on my walk home to hand her over.
How big is Buttercup? So big! She started walking!! Her first steps were May 22.
CURL APPRECIATE PHOTO.
Bug drew flags for Memorial Day…and we had a pool day in the backyard!
Naturally that meant a fair bit of mud pie making. Outside of the pool.
Thanks for joining me for May’s installment – see you in June!
Kristen Hazelton is an Oak Park, IL (Chicago, IL metro area) and Livermore, CA (San Francisco East Bay Area) senior, family, and engagement photographer. She occasionally photographs in San Diego, CA, Tucson, AZ, and Seattle, WA. You can inquire about your own photoshoot here!
