"AhhhhhhhhhhhCHOOOOOOOO"

Ok, if you couldn't tell from the title, I was trying to spell what a sneeze sounds like. Believe it or not, I actually just googled "phonetic spelling of a sneeze sound." I kid you not.

Freddie has recently found sneezing to be absolutely hilarious. It doesn't matter if it's him sneezing, or me, or William or a stranger we're walking past. He howls with laughter every time. It does not get old. Ever.

Here he is laughing at William fake sneezing the other night:

A definite case of the giggles. I've probably watched this 15 times already and I still smile every time. His laughter is contagious!

Baby Sign Language

Ever since Freddie was about 6 months old, I've been trying to teach him a few signs. I myself took sign language for a couple years in high school and found it really interesting. I've always heard babies can pick up sign language at quite a young age and that it can then, so they say (no pun intended), be a useful way for them to express themselves before learning how to talk. I've seen it in action as well, when my sister Anna taught our niece Keeley how to sign "More" last summer. Very impressive!

However, when Freddie turned 1 last month I started to doubt my teaching skills. At every meal, I did the signs for "Please," "Thank You," "More," and "Finished." EVERY. MEAL. Plus other times during the day if we were passing toys to each other etc. William got into the action too and we would sign to each other to set an example for Freddie (while he was busy launching food or tipping his bib upside down). And what did we get back? Mostly nothing but an occasional bit of eye contact and a blank stare at best.

And then...a week or two ago at dinner he shoved his plate forward to show us he was done and threw his hands up in the air. We asked if he was "finished" and he did it again! The sign for "finish" is sort of hands in the air then twisting them away from you but Freddie just throws 'em straight up. He totally knew what he was doing too and looked pretty dang proud of himself afterwards.

And then again...this morning he pointed and grunted at my bowl of bran flakes because he wanted one and I asked him to say please and he rubbed his chest like the sign. William and I looked at each other in shock and then asked him to say please again and he did it again! He even did it a third time after I went and got the camera so it definitely wasn't a fluke.

So, to all the parents out there- this is a reminder to us that whilst (I feel like they only use that word over here in the UK. Do we use it in the U S of A or have I just been gone too long?) it may seem like our little sprogs are in their own little kid world, they ARE listening and paying attention to us. Who knew!

PS if any of you actually clicked the links to the sign language videos, they are pretty great huh! Talk about straight to the point. :) Love it.

Photo of the week- Happy Father's Day!

We had a fantastic Father's Day last Sunday, starting with a creative card-making session at 630am while William slept in (I wasn't too organized this year!), followed by breakfast, a nap and Freddie's swimming lesson.

It was William's turn to be in the pool with Freddie and they had a blast splashing in the water, swimming to grab toys, and singing Humpty Dumpty and diving into the water. We had a delicious lunch of wraps with chicken (or Quorn chicken), hummus, rocket and avocado afterwards. Mmmmmm. A perfect Father's Day!

Here's one of my favorite pics of William and "mini-William" as people have been calling Freddie. They really are two peas in a pod. Lately their favorite activities include:

• Cardboard box/rocking horse races through the flat
• Dancing (Freddie holds William's hand in a traditional waltz pose)
• Going up and down the stairs by the park
• Climbing out our bedroom window to the back garden

And Happy Father's Day to my dad as well. Love ya Dad and can't wait to see you in August!

A Royal Visit

Freddie got his first taste of the Royal way of life yesterday when we saw the Royal (do I really need to capitalize that every time?) helicopter in Holyrood Park. Prince Charles was in town for an event at Holyrood Palace which, coincidentally, some of my previous colleagues were invited to. They were being honored for some of their recent work on breast cancer, which I too had a hand in back when I was working there. Very exciting stuff- you can read about it here. Way to go guys!

Because we live so close to Holyrood Park, it is obvious when anyone from the Royal family is in town. They stay at the Palace when they come so, naturally, their personal helicopter has to land right there. And it is LOUD. I knew something was up yesterday when I heard the racket so Freddie and I went out to the park to see what was up.

And there was the helicopter- parked right on the grass. And if I didn't already suspect it carried Royal passengers, the crown on the side of it convinced me. Ha! Is this cool or slightly ridiculous or at the very least bizarre?

Anyway, we managed to get a few pics with it, although Freddie was definitely more interested in playing with the grass clippings. Later that afternoon we were also around to see it take off (yes, we loiter at the park a LOT). Freddie thought that was pretty cool although, again, he was more interested in seeing Margaret walk up to meet us then to watch it actually fly up into the air.

Trying to sneak on?

Photo of the week- It's SUMMER!

The weather has been great in Edinburgh lately- we're talking 18 degrees C (mid 60s Fahrenheit) and not a cloud (ok, maybe a few) in the sky. For some reason, even if it's only in the 60s it always feels hotter in Scotland then it does in Seattle.

Is there some scientific reason for this? Or are we just so sun-deprived here that when it does get close to that oh-so-rare 70 degrees, we have to bust out the sun screen (SPF 50 for Freddie), sunhats and sit in the shade of a tree.

Whatever the reason, we've been outside in the park or at the playground a ton this week and it's been fab. We usually bring Freddie's bucket, shovel, rake and a football and he ends up spending most of the time investigating the stroller, trying to sneakily eat a woodchip (see below) or picking dandelions.

Have to give a shout out to Dotty Bots, the company we got Freddie's diapers (nappies) from. They sent him the pair of shorts he's wearing for free. They're so cute and he's finally big enough to wear them! Thanks Dotty Bots!

We've got a walker on our hands!

Ha, that title sounds funny if you think about it. Anyhoot- Freddie took his first steps a few weeks ago and really figured out how to connect more than a couple in a row yesterday! I managed to catch some of him walking on video (until the memory card got full) so check him out. And ignore our messy house. :)