From The Normans: 45 Down, 2 to Go

The last time I updated Dexter's sign language list (used to give to the grandmas when they babysat) the number of signs he used was 47. It perhaps increased a bit since then, but we'll stick with what we know. Today? There's only two signs Dexter uses on a regular basis. "Drink." And "Swing." I'm not sure why he still uses those signs - he's perfectly capable of saying both words. But "drink" is a hard one to spit out for him. And "swing?" Well, really it's far too cute a sign to give up. So I'm cool with him signing "swing" pretty much forever.

What this all means is that Mr. Chatterbox is talking up a storm. John and I laugh and wonder why we ever wanted him to talk. Last night we were coming home from a friend's house for dinner. It was late, and we had a long drive home, so I told Dexter he had a blue light, and that he needed to close his eyes and go to sleep. No talking. So we pull up to a stop light and we hear, just as a little whisper, "red light means stop." John and I both were rolling on the ground laughing because, hey, the kid is smart. We said no talking, but nobody ever told him he couldn't WHISPER.

The little man is sick right now, although if you didn't look closely at his runny nose, and if you didn't have a thermometer in your hand, looking at the numbers that tell you he has a fever, you'd never know he was sick. He's been romping around all day - playing outside, taking Buddy for a walk, running around with stick horses. Today he was walking around with "big horse and a pinwheel." John said we need to write that one down - it's a good name for a band when Dex grows up and wants to kill his parents by playing a guitar or some drums.

I had a cold, wet weekend at Foxcatcher Endurance (of course - it always rains there) while John and Dex went swimming and did other fun stuff. Sunday we killed an entire morning in Oxford looking at baby bunnies and baby chickens, and buying some grass seed.

Dex and I went to Longwood on Friday morning - it was beautiful. Tulips were not quite peak bloom yet. Fountains were on. Cherry trees were blooming. We had a good time, and I got some good pictures. Which I shall not be sharing with you here because I haven't edited them yet and it's going to take far too long. So - maybe tomorrow. I need to get to bed.

So - here's a few random photos from the past week: