This was a milestone weekend for me!  I finally did my first big-boy overnight at Grandma and Grandpa’s house with NO parents!  It’s the first night ever that Mom and I have been apart.  
On Saturday Gma and Gpa picked me up to go ride a choo-choo!  We got to ride in the caboose.
Mom and Dad spent the night at a Halloween Party with Phil and Holly, and then had to be at a baby shower on Sunday afternoon, so I spent the whole day with them on Sunday, too.  We went to church in the morning, then took a nap, and played on the tractor in the afternoon.

I didn’t miss Mom and Dad at all.  I was having too much fun!

I got to sleep in a SUPER big boy bed at grandma’s house.  It was a regular twin bed with a special railing on the edge, so that I wouldn’t fall out.  Grandma and Grandpa said that when they checked on me in the morning I was curled up on top of the blankets at the foot of the bed, just a few inches from falling off.  I guess I need some practice on a twin bed!  

We survived!  And it wasn’t bad at all.  I missed Preston a little bit, but I knew he was having a good time.  John and I had a blast at the Halloween Party, and now we are all at home on a Monday, cooped up, waiting for Hurricane Sandy.  It’s supposed to hit later this afternoon.

Mom and Dad said that Preston was very well behaved for them.  It was silly when we went to pick him up last night, because he was obviously showing off.  He was eating like cookie monster at dinner, then racing around the house at top speed.  He showed me his new bed, and all the fun toys he got to play with.  His favorite is the John Deere ride along tractor, and he takes all of his animals for rides.  

We had another busy weekend!  On Saturday Mom and I ditched Dad to go visit the Grand Parents and Great Grandparents (seriously, we saw Grandma and Grandpa, Mema and Poppop Krug, AND Mema and Poppop Locker).  Dad stayed home to destroy my bathroom.  He has since started putting it back together, but it’s going to take a while.  Mom dropped me off with Grandpa so that she and Grandma could go to a cross-stitch store (The Strawberry Sampler – They carry some of Mom’s patterns), and Grandpa, Poppop, and I went to look at model trains!  Then when Mom and Grandma came back we went to Mema and Poppop Lockers house for lunch. 

I haven’t mentioned this yet, but Mema Krug is a wonder woman!  She had knee replacement surgery two weeks ago.  Grandma went to stay with her and Poppop while she recovered, to make sure they could get to all of their appointments.  It has only been two weeks and Mema is already walking (barely using a cane), is the star of her class at physical therapy, and is recovering like a champion!  Grandma didn’t know how long she would need to stay with them, but she is already back at home and back to work tomorrow!  Yay for Mema!

On Sunday we went to my favorite pumpkin patch – Byler’s Farm.  It is the same one that we went to last year, and it was so much fun.  If you recall, last year when we went to the farm I was still just a little guy.  I couldn’t even walk yet.  But this year I was able to do ALL of the activities.  My favorites where the corn table, giant slide, and the haystack maze.  We went to look at all of the animals, too, but I think I prefer the animals in my books.  In real life they are big and scary.  We looked at them, but I didn’t want to get anywhere near them.  We also went on the hayride, which was fun, but I would have much preferred a tractor ride.  I picked out my pumpkin right away.  It was the perfect size for me, even though I had Mommy carry it back on the hayride for me.  It was kind of hard to hold.  

Here are some pictures, and don’t forget to visit the post about the pumpkin patch last year.

Mommy thinks it is crazy that I have been around long enough to start family traditions – can you believe that I am going to be TWO in 3 months!?- Mommy can, she says I’ve already started into my terrible twos.  What can I say, I know what I want… and usually I want it instantly… and then instantly want something else.

My new favorite things to say:  “That one” – “This one” – “Mine” – “I did it” 

Mommy's favorite pic from the pumpkin patch last year:

From Mommy:

A cute story from this morning:  I think I’ve mentioned it, but Preston has been having a hard time saying good bye when I drop him off at daycare.  It’s not a new thing; it’s been going on for a few months.  So every now and then I’ll try something new to see if it will ease the transition.  You may recall that I started the toddler hugging frenzy (link post), which the big kids still do, but Preston isn’t fooled anymore.  So lately I’ve been letting him bring a toy/book/lovey from home when we leave for daycare in the morning.  It’s usually whatever he has in his hand when I’m ready to go out to the car (unless, of course, it’s a spatula, phone, cheese grater, hair brush, novel, or other ridiculous item).  This morning it was his trusty yellow drill.  He kept it with him in the car and when we got to daycare (like usual) he didn’t want to get out of his car seat.  So I asked him if he wanted to show his drill to Connor.  He immediately lit up and said “Yay!” (of course, what little boy doesn’t want to show off to the other little boys).  So we went into daycare, signed in, and Preston showed Miss Tiff his drill and said “Con-con.”  And as we walked into his room, right on cue and very enthusiastically, Connor said “OH WOW!” as soon as he saw Preston’s drill.  So I said, “Preston, can Connor share your drill.”  And Preston said “Yay” and immediately handed it over to his friend.  Then the two of them chatted about its manly features while I snuck out, and he didn’t cry… at all!  I’m one proud Mommy!

We have finally (sort of) recovered from our super fun weekend in MA.  We went to visit Aunt Rachel, Uncle Ted, and Liora and were joined by Aunt Debbie, too!  Almost a full sibling reunion (Aunt Emily should move back east!). 
It was  a 6 hour drive both ways, which Mom and Dad knew would be a bit of a challenge.  Luckily, they were ready!  We took the Jeep – with the DVD player – and Mom and Dad decided to turn my car seat around to forward facing for the occasion.  That way I could actually watch the DVD’s.  Mom also brought snacks, drinks, stickers, books, crayons, and loveys to keep my company.  We only had to stop one time on the way there!  Go us! 
When we got there we had a yummy lunch of soup and egg salad sandwiches, and decided it would be nice to go on an afternoon walk.  I was a little bit shy at first, but it didn’t take me long to figure out that Liora had some awesome new toys, and that she LOVES to play with everything.  At the end of our walk we stopped at a playground!  They had an awesome big-kid slide with 3 different tracks.  I only wanted to try the slide on the right… clearly it was the best one. 
After our walk, and before dinner, we took a short trip to the apple orchard to pick some yummy apples.  They also had a farm stand, with boxes of cherry tomatoes just at my height.  I ran right over, and said “Yummy, tomato!”  and grabbed one.  Mom said that we needed to buy them first, though.  There were yellow tomatoes right on top, and they were my FAVORITE.   Once we were in the apple orchard we found where they grew the tomatoes, and were able to restock our small supply straight from the vine (Aunt Debbie was concerned with our tomato snatching, but Mom and Dad just said they were getting their money’s worth).  While we were at the orchard we also got to visit New Hampshire!  We just had to walk right across the border.  That made it a SIX state weekend.  Holy Moly!
Then we went home to warm up and eat some yummy dinner.
Liora and I got to take a bath together!! It was so fun (we actually basically ignored each other and played will all the fun bath toys, but the grown-ups thought it was the cutest thing they had ever seen). 
I got to sleep in an Elmo sleeping bag on the floor!  It was kind of weird, but similar to my cot at daycare.  I was SO sleepy from a very busy day! 
In the morning Liora and I shared some Cheerios, and then Uncle Ted made a fancy breakfast of eggs, bacon, Canadian bacon, and hash browns.  I got to dip my potatoes in ketchup – Yummy!  (essentially everything is yummy to me).
It was a rainy morning so we mostly played inside.  I learned how to say Liora “LEE-ah,” we played with her tunnel, all the grown ups tried “SUPER PEEJ,” and Aunt Rachel and I became best friends!  We read some of Liora’s favorite books, like “Zoo’s Who.”  Dad had some nuts to snack on, and I liked giving nuts to everybody BUT Aunt Debbie.  Luckily she doesn’t get insulted, and we went and jumped around the kitchen for a while instead.
After lunch it was time to head home.  We had another long journey ahead of us, and I think that everyone was tired.   We stopped 3 times on the way home, once for a bathroom break, once for dinner, and once for gas and a bottle of milk (I had been asking for milk for an HOUR it was about time someone pulled through for me).
We all went to bed super early, after a wonderful weekend with family.  We can’t wait to see everyone again!

I would maybe blog more if it didn't take me so darn long to go to bed.  Mom and I spend a LOT of time together at night... I think she's getting frustrated.  

From Mommy:
I'm so over bedtime.  

From Daddy:
Preston has turned a corner…

Daddy update time, mommy is so anxious right now it’s not even funny and I think it rubs off on PJ sometimes; tonight PJ wasn’t in bed until almost 10pm.  Whenever daddy is in charge – like when mommy has to work – Preston is a little angel, playing nicely, talkative, cooperative, and is in bed before 8pm.  In fact, I was so proud of him the other night that I said that he turned a corner.   Preston does so many big boy things: like when he ate his dinner he used his silverware and would guide the food to his mouth with his other hand so as to not make a mess, he enjoys riding his balance bike (Uncle Joe got him this) and reminds us that he needs a “hat”, plus when we are at the park he gets mad if you try to go down the slide with him – big boys go alone.

This weekend we are going to visit Ted, Rachel, and Liora in Massachusetts – Debbie will be there too; hopefully Preston is up for a 10 hours round trip in the car.  I will be sure to get some adorable photos of the two cousins playing, should be interesting to see how a 22 month old boy plays with an 11 month old girl!

One of the ways I get Preston to calm down or stop whining/tantruming is to ask him to “use your words.”  I think that it reminds him that he can communicate with me in ways other than whining and crying, and it also helps him to decompress.  I use it a lot at bedtime because he is generally fussy, doesn’t want to go to sleep, and is trying to wind down (but usually has a hard time).  So bedtime, now, instead of being a whine-fest  is a chatter-fest.
Preston climbs in his bed with his blankie and his friends, and immediately starts in on a seemingly disconnected series of words: up?, lambie, ding dong?, pickle, book?, water bottle, Mema?, Poppop, Jacky?, Dada, mailman?, PLANE, eye, nose, teeth!, up?, POTTY, book?, moon, stars, Mo Mo, tooth paste, etc.  I think that at lot of these words are really pleas to be allowed to get out of bed.  

 - Potty? Come on – he has never used the potty, but he still asks to use it.  
- Dada?  We said night night to Daddy 10 minutes ago, we’ll see him again in the morning.   
- Tooth paste?  Uh oh, we DID forget to brush teeth.  Do I let him get out of bed to brush teeth?  Nope, we’ll do it in the morning.  
- Plane?  Huh… there really is a plane flying overhead.  How the HECK did he hear that?
- Book?  Good one!  I’m always up for reading books, but we already read 8 stories, I think we are done

Preston is really good at procrastinating.