so big!

soooo... i don't have a lot of time to blog because i'm pretty busy being high maintenance, fussy, needy, and generally in a sour mood (for me). i've been this way for over a week now and i'm not even sure why. i'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to mommy for being so difficult these last few days but i love you very much and will get over this soon. :) i had to get the MMR shot last week plus i'm working on at least 3 teeth plus i'm over the 1-year hill, so there's just a lot going on. i like the idea of blaming it on the shot, since that's better than it just being my fault, plus i do have actual physical symptoms that show the shot is taking it's toll. see - check out my spots! (they're really tiny but all over my chest and back - you have to look close...)

but what do i say to those spots? away with you, spots - i'm superbaby! i will blast you with my chapstick!

and as you can see, i look pretty happy in these pictures today, so hopefully i'm getting over it. :) i also was having one rash after another last week but mom has finally gotten those cleared up too, so i'm back on the mend. good thing - because we're going to san antonio this weekend on our first mini-vacation as the 3 of us. yea!! i'm very excited and will post pictures of that next week.

otherwise i've been up to my usual self, putting things into containers and boxes...

and then getting them back out again... this is actually me doing "so big" which is also what i was doing in the first picture above. mommy says that and i put both my hands in the air above my head. it's just one of those things we do and it makes me feel like a big boy. :) but this picture is also good because it gives proof that i do have ribs under my layers of chubby love. :)

i also really, really love to dance. i dance to all kinds of music but especially love the musical cards that beamee and aunt chris got me for my birthday. these provide at least 6 minutes of uninterupted entertainment for me at one sitting, and that's pretty good! i just bounce along to the beat and can't help but be in a good mood then. i also like dancing to classical music, my mom's cell phone ringer, and sometimes even the dryer...

this is me and daddy on his ginormous recliner. i've included this picture at mommy's request because she recently posted this recliner on craigslist but daddy made her unlist it and said she was not allowed to sell it on craigslist. so... she thought maybe if anybody was reading this and wanted to buy this recliner, just email her and she'll make you a deal, since that wouldn't really be going against what daddy said... see, isn't this a great recliner? and what a fabulous beige color - it goes with everything! "real" leather too! seats at least 2! you know you want it...

okay, that's all for now. i'll close with these pictures of my belly, drool, and smile. bye!

birthday celebration...

as promised, here are some pics of my birthday celebration last week! we decided against having an official party for my first and, instead, kept it simple by enjoying some family time here at home. mommy made a two-layer cookie cake with yummy icing (above), and it was so good, as you'll see below! and we spent the day remembering many wonderful moments from the past year, while mommy repeatedly commented, "i can't believe it's been a year already!"

as i've mentioned here before, i love balloons. it was especially fun to play with so many at once, but i made them nervous (mom and dad, not the balloons) because i kept trying to pop them - yikes! i don't actually know what it's like to pop a balloon, but mommy said it would be kind of scary to me and i wouldn't like it, so i'll take her word for it...

here i am trying to eat one instead, and that was the end of the balloons!

mommy had a birthday hat for me to wear throughout the day - gotta love that mommy. :) she meant to cover the pink ribbon with blue or green but didn't have a chance. as you can see, the hat is big enough that i'll get to wear it again next year, and i'll make sure we cover that pink! here i am enjoying real milk - yum! i am off bottles and formula completely, and i love drinking milk out of a cup like big boys!

this is where the real fun begins... as you can see, i really liked the cookie-cake!

i'm not very good at portion control, though. mostly if there's food on my tray, i stick it in my mouth, regardless of how much food is already in my mouth (or my tummy!) at the time...

here's me about half-way through... i'm feeling a little full by now, but there's still cookie to be eaten, so i persevere...

at this point i start to wonder what the catch is. mommy typically makes sure i don't eat too much at a time, and i've definitely never had this much sugar in my life. i check with daddy to be sure i'm not going to get into trouble at any point (while eating all the while, of course)...

when he didn't stop me, i really started to get suspicious. maybe mommy was too busy snapping pictures to notice what was going on! wait a minute, is this even my real mom? it sure looked like her, but this was weird...

but sure enough, that was really my mom, and it was really my birthday, and so the cookie kept coming!!! i've never been allowed to get this messy before, so i was very curious about all the crumbs and bits of food and icing everywhere...

and finally, i had eaten enough! truth be told, i could've eaten more, but mommy eventually decided it was enough. YUM! birthdays are great!

here i am a bit later walking and playing... check out my tummy - WHOA!! yikes. mommy and daddy got a kick out of that, but it's probably a good thing that birthdays only come around once a year!

birthdays are also fun because of the presents. even though beamee and grampee couldn't celebrate with me on my special day, they did send presents - woohoo! grampee got me a cool little car (pt cruiser, of course!), which i love, and beamee got me a neat book about trains, and some special train cake-candle-holders that mommy used as a child, and a membership to the austin children's museum! i'm very excited about that! :)

aunt mandy and jacy came over for a bit, and aunt mandy gave me a phone! very cool! i was fascinated, as you can see...

so all in all, my birthday was really great! i wonder what kind of dessert i will have next year...

that's mostly all i have to report this time. here's another random picture (of me honking daddy's nose)...

and here's our new kitchen wall! actually, the wall isn't new, but the paint is - it's chalkboard paint! daddy painted over the sadly outdated floral wallpaper, and then hung a big bulletin board and some little buckets! for now, mommy loves drawing on the wall, but i will get to draw on it pretty soon too! i'm putting this picture on here because mimsie asked me too, since she and grandpa couldn't come this weekend. i was really sad about that but am purposely not mentioning it very much so no one starts crying. i know i will get to see them again really soon though! in the meantime, here's our new wall. so anytime someone sends us a card or picture or something, we'll hang it on the board and think of them! pretty cool. thanks dad. :)

bye!!!!!!!!!!

happy birthday to me!!!

that's right - i'm officially a year old today, as of 8:51am CST. :) woohoo!!!i won't write much today because i have a lot of celebrating to do, but i wanted to post a few pictures. then later this week i'll post more pictures of me today doing birthday stuff with mommy and daddy.

so far today i've already been to the doctor and had to get some shots, but i was pretty tough (after i stopped crying). dr. booger said i'm perfect, and now i'm officially a toddler - yikes! mommy is having a hard time with this one, so that's why i cried during the shots - so that she could comfort me one last time as a little baby. :)

i'm walking all over the place now and am just as happy as can be. it's been cold here a few days so i had a few more chances to wear my cute hat. mommy couldn't help herself, so there's lot of pictures of that... enjoy! and stay tuned for more pictures from my Special Day... bye!

more christmas fun!

hello again! sorry for the late follow-up on the rest of our christmas celebrations. it's already been a busy (but good) 2009, but i wanted to share pictures of christmas with daddy's family too! of course we had a great time, and i got even more cool toys. because i got so many toys for jesus's birthday, i wonder who is going to get all the toys on my birthday? hmmm...

in any case, i will always think of my relatives when i play with these toys. here's one of my favorites now - band instruments from grandpa! he knows how much i like to bang on things, so he got me a drum - with bonus instruments inside! this one is a lot of fun and fits right in since mommy and daddy and i like music so much. ..

here i am peering in to see if maybe there's any snacks inside (sadly, no)...

although i got some drumsticks in my band set, i found my mom's cooking spoon to be fun as well. here i am testing out the acoustics on a gift waiting to be unwrapped...

and inside that big gift was a cool animal-ball-roller-coaster thing - very fun! as you can see, i didn't really like it that much, though... (kidding!)

here's grandpa playing with me...

and mimsie got me a neat activity table too (not pictured). and lots of other cool stuff... here i am chewing on a rubber longhornie (as opposed to a rubber duckie) - yum...

no comment...

here's what i look like right before sneezing...

and just a general shot of me from the side... mommy thought this one was especially cute since i resemble a chipmunk, although my cheeks are actually empty!

another close-up of a funny face...

here i am playing the recorder (which came in the drum) the other day! mommy practiced with me until i could do it myself (about 3 minutes) and now i love to make music and sometimes even dance to it at the same time! i like this instrument a lot...

thanks to everyone for all my fun gifts! i am so blessed to have a loving family and really had fun with everyone over the holidays. and now i'm pretty set for my birthday, so i'm just asking for lots and lots and lots of cake... and ice cream! :)

now that christmas is over and things are getting back to normal around here, i like to help mommy around the house. i'm really good at dusting because i give it all i've got...

i also have been walking a lot! crazy! i especially like to walk back and forth between mommy and daddy, but i still do a lot of crawling too. i'm pretty fast on the ground, so if i need to get anywhere in a hurry (like to the dishwasher before mommy closes it or to the kitchen if someone's in there having a snack) then i just crawl. i'll keep you updated on the progress i make over the next few weeks...

otherwise, mommy and me are back at it during the day, and i have loads of fun with daddy in the evenings and weekends. we saw the dwights the other day, which was fun, and i think we'll see them more this weekend! i've been working on my noises but am not speaking any official words yet, other than dada and mama (i'll just stick to typing them since that's easier). i love emptying the contents of drawers onto the floor. i like kitchen utensils a lot. books are great. i'm eating all kinds of foods - almost everything that mommy and daddy can eat! breads are my favorite but i'm still good with veggies and especially fruits.

okay, enough about me. i'll leave you with a few more pictures of me goofing around... and p.s. my shirt is red, even though it may look a little pink online. it is definitely red. :) bye!