Beginning of Summer & Meeting a Doggy

On Saturday (May 16), I had a morning filled with rummage sales (with friend Jenny in Luxemberg), while the boys hung out at home. That evening we went for an impromptu family bike ride before supper. We wanted to visit George and Joess who live just over the river from us. It was Fischer's second time in the bike trailer, but our first time out as a family using it. Fischer wasn't a big fan of his helmet because it is thick and when he was strapped into the trailer, the helmet made his head go forward so his chin was always on his chest. So we folded up a towel to put behind him, and Fischer was a bit more comfortable. It was a windy ride, but the temperature was perfect for riding. After our garden walk with George and Joess, we stopped at Taco Burrito Mexico for a yummy dinner before we rode home for the evening.
On Monday, May 18, our friend Ryan celebrated his birthday with a cook-out at his house. The Enz family was there with Flora and Leo. Fischer got to play for the first time with our friend Natalie's daughter, Lyra, who is three. She was very kind and willingly shared her toys. I brought along Fischer's activity table to share.

Fischer was ever-so excited to see Amy's dog Cheyenne, again. The first time he'd seen her, a few days before, he was very uneasy at first and didn't let her out of his sight while he was clamped onto me like a monkey. Fischer's not been around dogs, and they are much bigger and move faster than kitties! But when he saw Cheyenne this time, he was cautious at first, but warmed up to her quickly. It also helps that Cheyenne is the biggest sweetheart of a dog ever!

Fischer was signing puppy (patting his hand against his thigh) and making happy exclaimations as he got to pet her.

He followed Cheyenne around quite a bit! She even laid down and offered Fischer her belly to scratch. He hugged her, but seemed unsure which end to pet first...she's so big, and had such a busy waggly tail!

Cheyenne was very mellow and tolerant of Fischer touching her and following her around.

It wasn't long before they were friends :)

Fischer is now actively using baby sign language. He can "say" more, milk, eat, puppy and even combined more and milk the other day (after he threw his cup on the floor at daycare)! He says "boo" when playing peek-a-boo, even if he's playing with his reflection in the mirror. Fischer hasn't taken off walking, yet, but he's getting more and more confident, and can take 4-5 steps unassisted.

We have begun actively weaning him from breastfeeding. I still have enough of a freezer supply that I'll send to daycare for the next 2 weeks, seeing him through his first birthday. But we are down to only bedtime and midnight nursings! Yesterday was my last day pumping at work. This weekend, Joe and Fischer will be bachelors, as I am going to visit my friend Jess in Milwaukee for a girls weekend and trip to Ikea. This will be the longest I've been away from Fischer, and will give both of us (hopefully) an opportunity to get used to not nursing or being nursed. I'll bring my pump to keep things flowing for the bedtime nursing, which I wouldn't mind continuing a bit longer. But it'd be nice to cut out that middle of the night nursing session. I'm so proud we successfully nursed for a year!!!!! We make a good team :)

Have a fun weekend, everyone!