A boy and his dog

Or maybe it should be "A dog and her boy?"

TJ got into his diaper bag yesterday (I really should know better to always keep it zipped up) and found his emergency stash of cheerios. I'm sure Lucy did her share of prompting him, those two are thick as thieves lately. An entire baggie full of cheerios covered the floor and I found these two sitting together eating them up. Of course I had to grab the camera before cleaning them up but a little dust on your cheerios never hurt anyone. ;-)









Over the last 10 months Lucy has worked her way through the stages of denial, anger, avoidance and is finally on acceptance. She's learning to love her boy and most of that has come since she discovered the rain of food that occurs if she sits under the highchair. TJ is learning to be gentle with her and he loves to pet her ears. Once in awhile Lucy will get a pudgy little finger in her eye but she takes it all in stride. We have the kitchen and family rooms gated off and she actually spends most of her time inside Alcatraz with TJ and me but she knows she can go to her own island of the living room couch any time she would like.

eyes and EARS and mouth and nose...

I just wanted to post a quick note that TJ found my ear tonight! We've been working on body parts recently and just tonight I asked him "where is Mama's ear?" and he climbed over to me and grabbed it! I was a flabbergasted - isn't this a bit early? I guess it goes to show how much babies adsorb. I'm so excited though! I absolutely love this age, it's my favorite yet. He's so fun and is discovering the world around him.

Double Digits!

Happy 10 Months TJ!

You might remember the debacle we had last month trying to get a picture of TJ... well something must have clicked because he was cooperative! He smiled AND held his sign. I was flabbergasted. It may have helped that he had just woken from his nap so he was a bit more on the mellow side...

To celebrate we took Lucy for a nice long walk and went to the park. TJ hadn't been in a swing since last November but he loved every minute! Laughing, smiling, and squealing, I wish I would have brought the video camera.

This is such a fun age. TJ's all over the house but a very careful child. He rarely falls, if ever. He holds onto things and has only lets go to reach for me. He's suddenly found his voice and babbles constantly (and loudly), shrieks and squeals. He's also learned to shake his head no - which comes in really handy since he does it when he's finished eating. He loves chicken and anything to do with cheese. Tonight we grilled chicken breasts and had macaroni and cheese so he was in heaven.

TJ sleeps through the night consistently, going to bed about 7:30 and waking in the morning between 6:30 and 7. He's gotten sooo much better about napping and will go down for a good hour and a half to 2 hours in the morning and an hour to an hour and a half in the afternoon. He also puts himself to sleep! He's become a bit of a pacifier addict but I try to only let him have it in the car and in the crib. Unfortunately, if he sees one he'll do whatever it takes to get that thing in his mouth. I'm not too concerned right now, he needs the comfort - we'll cross that bridge later.

I love having such an affectionate child. He'll still cuddle, when he's not too busy chasing Lucy, gives me kisses and pets me. We've gotten him to raise his arms for "sooo big" a couple of times but a lot of the time he just laughs at us. Right now I'm working on eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. I can see the wheels turning in his little head so I bet he'll be pointing them out by next month's update.

On to the pictures!









I think we might have a musical prodigy on our hands!

Generations and Vacations

Every year for the past 10 or so my parents and grandparents have taken a vacation together over spring break. My grandparents have timeshare points so they book a really nice condo and meet in Branson, MO since it's about equal distance for both of them. This year I decided to go with since I no longer have to worry about PTO. Jim must not have wanted to be the one left at home so he decided to come with as well. ;-) It was a bit of a crazy and unpredictable vacation but I'll just give you some highlights.

We did lots and lots of outlet shopping.



I get asked a lot, and yes TJ actually enjoys wearing hats! He pulled it down over his eyes and took a little nap. Shopping is exhausting you know.... see?



But TJ got new kicks!



We went to one show - Dolly Parton's Dixie Land Stampeed. Great show! The horses were extremely well cared for and the food was amazing. Jim and I were even selected to participate in the show and had to race another couple on a stick horse. Thankfully, pictures were not allowed inside. But we did get a family picture outside by the horses.



And spent quite a bit of time just relaxing...



The best part of the week was spending it with my grandparents - TJ's GREAT grandparents. He absolutely loved great grandpa. They were instant best friends.



He really liked grandpa's cane - we called it TJ's Shepard hook.



I love you great grandma!




p.s. 3 of these pictures were taken on a Canon power shot and the rest were taken on a DSLR - can you tell which ones? I see a huge difference. ;-)

Hippity Hoppity Happy Easter Day!

TJ wishes everyone a Happy Easter!

His first time coloring eggs




He wasn't too impressed with the process but he did enjoy chewing on the new little person the Easter bunny brought him.

Enjoying the nice day and checking out his Easter baskets








Sadly, it seems I've only been posting for special occasions. I've been a lazy blogger... but we did just get back from a week long vacation. I'll post about that within the next few days and hopefully get back to regular updates! In just a little over 2 months my baby will turn 1. So hard to believe.