Drumroll Please!!!

Scott is the most solid little man you ever did see... sturdy and unbreakable. He also happens to be a big chicken!! Getting the kid to walk is an adventure because he is so afraid of falling that he just doesnt try!!! So, we've been working with baby steps. Got him a walking toy, been walking with him between mom and dad, holding hands, to the park and back. And most recently, walking with him EVERYWHERE! If we need to go somewhere in the house, instead of picking him up, I stand him up, take his hand, and walk him to our destination. He seems to be getting more confident, and will now take a step or two to get to you. As long as he thinks he'll be able to reach you before he falls. If it looks too far, forget it. Straight to the butt and crawling. The most entertaining part of the walking to me, is that he KNOWS hes doing it, and he gets so excited that it makes him giggly and wiggly, which makes the walking a bit harder. Vicious cycle!! Finally we caught some of this said walking on tape!

Only 2 weeks and 2 days til this kid is ONE YEAR OLD!!! We just cant believe its been that long at all! He is such a little boy! He makes sound effects Ive never taught him (such a boy gene, what is it??) and he has a DEFINITE and ADORABLE personality! Ill post more about his fantasticness in his 1 year post, but I had two story I just had to share!

Dude got home from work last night, and (as always) Scott was thrilled to see him. They played for a minute, and then Dude walked into the other room. Scott noticed his dad was missing and YELLED "DAAAAA", sat down and crawled to me with this look of sadness and abandonment on his face. He was seriously sad! Dude, or course, came running back into the room, and as soon as Scott saw him he was happy again. Needless to say, the next time Dude left the room, Scott was on his hip! ;)

Dude gave Scott his bath the other night, while I cleaned up dinner. After a while, i hear "mamamanananmamama" coming from the bathroom. Dude opened the door and said "youre being called!". Sure enough, when I walked in, he stopped yelling and gave me a HUGE grin. I left, and he resumed the chanting. We played that game for a few minutes before I decided to just join the party in the bathroom, and it became family fun!

Scott knows us, and he knows exactly how to melt us and get what he wants. We are in trouble.... :)

"I can do it, mom!"

Scott seems to believe that he is the master of all things edible. I mean, look at the kid! He definitely has some skills!! But for some reason, he can't decide which hand he should be using, which makes holding and using a spoon isnt an easy task. Very entertaining tho... and messy. A bath followed immediately after the event you are about to view... immediately!!

Scotty and the Jets

We had a great time at our playdate yesterday!  We got out into the sun and took some pictures. Scott is just loving his buddies... as you can see from his tight bond with Roman in this picture!

They're bros!

Anderson and Scott have really turned out to be the odd couple. The picture captures it well. Anderson refusing to sit still for a picture, wanting to be exploring and moving... sitting still is for quitters. Scott smiling contently and waving at Anderson's mom who is trying to get Anderson to sit still!! Anderson started walking, making Scott's mommy jealous, but not so much Scott. He is not phased by the kid way up high getting everywhere faster than he is... he'll crawl on the safe floor thanks. Another testament to their different personalities. 

8/10 mamas. The other two showed, but either too early or too late. Getting 10 moms and 10 babies together all at once is... more challenging than one would have thought.

L-R: front-Stacey and Rylee, Daphne and Ryland. back-Deni and Roman, Janae and Rylan, Me and Scott, Candice and Colin, Martha and Matias, Amy and Anderson. 

Here are the girls. As soon as they were put down by their moms they all had the same reaction... screaming and yelling and wanting to be picked back up. Typical women! ;)

L-R: Rylee, Rylan, and Ryland. Aurora is missing.

The Boys. The one on the left, Matias, is the youngest of the group, but has followed Scott's growth pattern and is twice the size of Roman next to him, who is a few months older. Crazy huge boys!!

L-R: Matias, Roman, Colin, Anderson and Scott. AJ missing.

The whole group of happy babies, minus Aurora and AJ, of course!

Scott and I are so lucky to have such a great group of friends to spend our days with! We feel blessed!

L is for the way you look at me...

I woke up yesterday morning to a husband with secret plans. A day full of fun, planned by him for us! It was awesome!! We had to make up a swimming lesson that Scott missed while we were in UT, so it was scheduled for today, and Dude did the swimming with Scott. I was glad that he was able to see what Scott is learning and have fun with him. Scott learned to swim forward in a noodle that was bent so that scotts tummy fit perfectly in the end loop, and he was able to kick and get himself around the pool. It was great! He did so awesome... still not so hot on the backfloating tho.

Then, we went on a hike. South Mountain is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the city, and when you get to the top, there is civilization in every direction... pretty cool. No waterfall at the top or anything like that tho, this IS Arizona! But it was a PERFECT 70 degree sunny day, and the hiking was perfection! My hubby knows me well!

Spent some time shopping and had lunch before we dropped Scott off with the best babysitter in the STATE and took off for more fun. We went to downtown Phoenix, where the all star games were going on. There is a science museum, a history museum, a shopping plaza, all of the sports arenas, and because of the all star game, TONS of people everywhere. We wandered, ate and visited and were able to spend some quality "dudenjessi" time. It was super fun. Better than any fancy schmancy restaraunt, schmoozing and "wining and dining". Id take a day like this over that anyday. What a great hubby I have! I love you Dude!!

It was fabulous to be able to share my Valentines Day with the two men in my life, who I love and adore, and coudnt live without!!

(Swimming pictures to come. Didnt have my camera, so they are currently in transit from my phone to my email, which is proving to take FOREVER!!!)

This was my valentine from Dude... He built the program himself. Just for the record, I typed Y... this is just a screenshot of what both options returned. When I answered Y, the heart was drawn one line at a time, and I watched as it became a heart. So cool... just goes to prove, nerds make the best husbands! ;)

For Daddy #6

Ringo Bori

The kid is a drum prodigy! His dad will be proud!!!

What a Rocker Baby!!

For Daddy #5

Random Scott

The stairs are Scott's favorite thing here at CiCi's house, and he spent most of the day climbing them, trying to get through me to them, and being upset when we wouldnt let him. Once he gets to the top, he loves to use the railings to walk along, to peek through and wave at the people below and all sorts of good things. This is just some randomness of him and his sound effects. He spends his days talkin to himself, making all his new and various noises, and entertaining everyone here!

For Daddy #4

Stacking Cups

CiCi gave Scott a set of stacking cups and he LOVES em! I stack em up, he knocks em down!! Fun for hours! Besides stacking and knocking, we've found numerous ways to play with these colorful cups. Observe:

While playing with the cups, or ANYTHING in the family room, Scott will occasionally stop what hes doing, look up at the gigantic family photo above the fireplace, and wave at his daddy! He misses that guy, and its so cute to see him wave at that photo. Ill try to catch it on video, but man this kid is not a performer for cameras. He stops doing tricks as soon as the record button is hit. Daddy: we would like to skype you tonight and play peek-a-boo. Be there or be square!

XXHUGSXX

note to self: dont rotate the camera while filming... :)

For Daddy #3

Tennis Schmennis

Scott has taken custody of one of Charlie's unchewed balls. We have been trying to get him to throw the ball to us, but hes just not quite getting it. He knows that hes supposed to move his arm forward, but his little hand never lets go! So he acts like hes throwing it to you, or up in the air, and even makes a little grunt noise like hes using all his effort to toss it... but in the end, the tennis ball remains in his hand. Occasionally it will be thrown, but only when he loses his grip accidentally. Pictures of Scott and Charlie to send to Uncle Devan on his mission in Puerto Rico. They are both much bigger than they were when he left!
Charlie Kisses!!!

For Daddy #2

Dinner With Scott

To eat dinner with Scott around in this house is an event. And a good diet. Nobody ate as much because they were so distracted by his crazy antics and entertainment! Bubba had just arrived home, so Scott was excited to see him, and happy to be sending monster hands and wiggles his way.

And also, Bubba's nose sounds like Scotts car toys at home. Very entertaining dinner show!

p.s. We love you daddy!

For Daddy #1

Scott and I are away from Daddy this week, but wanted to let him know what we are doing every day! I guess everyone else can peek in too... i suppose! ;)

This morning, Scott woke up bright and early (or rather, dark and early) at 6 am. I think its because hes not used to the room hes sleeping in (the theater... where there are no windows to let sun in... you'd think that would help. guess not!) We played with a yoga ball, crawled aroung the game room before we went upstairs to wake up the whole house! Scott ate his breakfast with an audience, which he loved. He would stop and be silly mid-bite, and was just cheesin it up for the gals!

Scott played with his buddy Charlie. They are so funny together. Scott will be excited about the puppy, and head for him reaching out... UNTIL Charlie returns the attention, then Scott gets shy and tucks away! Heres a snip of them hanging out.

This afternoon, Aunts Tiffany and Natalie are heading over to join in the "scott watching" and we continue to be the most entertaining thing anyone around here has seen since Christmas (the last time we were here!)

More of Scott's week with CiCi and Bubba to come. We miss our daddy!!!

Mornings with Daddy

Scott is Daddy's little buddy. Every morning, Scott wakes Dude up by sitting on him, grabbing his face, snuggling on him, occasionally giving him a kiss (which is funny because Scott doesnt know exactly how, so he just slimes dudes cheek with his wide open mouth) and doing lots of squealing and screaming! Then, if daddy has time, Scott joins him in the shower. This is Scott's favorite activity. He LOVES the spraying water, and will just play with bottles and scrubbers while the water sprays down on him. If he doesnt join daddy in the shower, he will stand outside the bathroom door and yell (hearing the water running) until mommy removes him from the area and starts breakfast early. 

Scott eats his cereal and fruit when daddy eats HIS cereal and fruit. They laugh and play, and Scott makes a mess of himself while Dude's "late for work" meter increases. Amazing how one cute kid can remove all desire to go to work! ;)

Dude lets Scott pick out his shirt. Scott seems to know what he's doing, and swipes at a shirt almost immediately when presented with a closet full. One morning, Dude came out of the bedroom in his undershirt and a blazer... nice choice scott! Luckily, daddy didnt leave the house in that one.  Yesterday, Dude decided it would be fun to let Scott wear one of Daddy's shirts.  Crawling = not so easy in a shirt thats more like a tent. Scott wasnt thrilled, and soon got one arm out, and then the other.

Sitting still tho, much easier and more happy-friendly! What a cute little mini-dude I have. He and his daddy have so much fun getting ready together every day! The mornings end with mommy and Scott standing at one end of the hall waving bye-bye as daddy heads off to work. Its part of the routine, and Scott knows as soon as dad starts down the hall, he better start wavin soon! We love our mornings with Daddy!!