Flat Stanley

We received a house guest into our home yesterday. His name is Flat Stanley and he is vacationing in AZ from his home in Florida. Scott's cousin Alyssa paid his airfare (USPS Airways) and he will be spending the next week or so with our family. Stay tuned as we show him the sights, and record our vacation in pictures. Thanks for sharing your friend Stanley with us Alyssa, we'll show him a good time!!!

Translation for those who don't get it: This little paper man is a school project for our cousin Alyssa. She read the book "Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown and is now tracking her own Flat Stanley's adventures from town to town of her family and friends. Arizona is his first stop, and we will return Flat Stanley to Alyssa in a week or so and she will continue her project elsewhere. Totally cute idea!! We're excited to get to participate!

Whistle While you Work

Officially and by no "teach babies to whistle" knowledge of mine... Scott can whistle. Somedays thats the first thing I hear on the moniter in the mornings. Often, he just whistles as he goes about his other business... keeping his mouth busy. When he first learned, he would start just as blowing with his mouth in a round shape, and you could actually see him adjust the shape of his mouth til a whistle came out. Now he can whistle on command! I was trying to capture his random "as I do my thing" whistling, but ended up having to request it in the end. Either way, the kid is a whistling prodigy. What kind of money can I make off of this... i mean, THIS is talent!! Forget the NFL or law school... a WHISTLING 1 year old!?! ;)

Update- a few un named people didn't think that my first whistling video was good enough. Hopefully this will clear any doubt as to whether my son can whistle or not, and will do him better justice all around! (I left the first one, cause hes so dang cute!!)

Got Milk?

For the first time in the history of Scott... an iconic food hit his pallete. The classic, delicious... CEREAL AND MILK!!!

We recently transitioned from formula to "big boy" whole milk, and he wasnt phased at all. I expected that at least he would pull his bottle out of his mouth and inspect it when he tasted the difference (like how whole milk tastes like DELICIOUSNESS, and formula tastes like dirt), but nothin... He just slurped it down just the same! Hes not picky when it comes to food! Unless we're choosing between cake and carrots, but who isnt picky then?!
After every bite of cereal, he pointed at the bowl as if to say "thats good, get me more of that stuff!". It was so cute and fun, and the mess afterwards deserved a post on the worldwide web, cause everyone deserves a shot of this magnitude of cute every now and then! Love him!!

Dear Scott

A Year ago last week, your dad and I became parents. Not only did we become parents, but we were blessed with the most happy, laid back, cheerful child! The past year has been full of first's, and last Friday was a bittersweet day, because it was the last of the firsts. No more first Christmas, or First tooth, first word, first step or first Mothers Day. The kind of firsts that I have to look forward to now are much too grown up for my taste: first time you say no, first day of school, first DATE!

But enough of the future, lets talk about now!! You are the joy of our lives! You are now walking up to 11 steps if you are really motivated, but on average 5-6. The best is that you will stand up just to stand up now! You are starting to grasp that its a cool thing to do. You have 7 teeth, 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom. Brushing those teeth makes you laugh, and you will remove whatever else is in your mouth as soon as you see that toothbrush! You use those pearly white teeth to give cheesy grins, and more effectively maintain your ultra-irresistable chubby figure. At your dr. appointment today, you weighed in at 27 lbs 10 oz!! 32 inches tall too. My big boy! You love to be outside. The park down the street is one of our favorite places, and we take Sam out to play ball most days. You have started pointing at what you want, and have learned that if you do the sign for FOOD, then point... you can get and eat exactly what you wants (within reason... it has been towards all sorts of non-scott foods recently) Daddy spends a lot of his time nowadays holding you, and taking you to the next "point" destination. He loves you!

You now face forward in your carseat, which has been exciting for everyone! Mommy can sit in the front seat with daddy, daddy can see you in the rearview mirror, and you can see EVERYTHING! You are the master of taking things out. Its starting to be a game. You remove it, mommy replaces it! Pots out of cupboards, toys out of toyboxes, movies out/off of the shelf, you name it! Its as if the dishwasher screams your name. No matter where you are in the house when it is opened, you can hear it, and come running to remove everything inside! We'll start working on putting those things IN soon enough!! ;) Needless to say, the times when I can get the dishes done are slimming. You know what a fishy says, what a lion says, what a monkey says, and our personal favorite: the dog. Your little woof is the cutest thing!

My life has only increased in happiness for getting to spend my days with you! I am the luckiest mom the world, and our house and family have been blessed with your happy little spirit. We are better people for having you in our lives and we love you!

Happy Birthday last week Scott, here's to many many more hugs, kisses, laughs and good times! Love, Your Mommy

Scott's First Block Party

We recently returned from our UT trip, where we were able to celebrate Scott's birthday with our family and friends in UT. Scott had a great time and the party was a blast! Lego everything!! From the cake, to the HUGE pile of blocks for your stacking enjoyment they were everywhere! On the walls, in your food (lego chocolates, jello jigglers, ice cubes, ONLY the lego colors of m&ms, you name it it was there) Nothing that wasnt yellow, red, blue, or green was allowed in this house!! There was a "guess how many blocks" game, a ring toss onto a stack of LEGOs, a build zone with more blocks than any one kid should have and people to pay attention to Scott all over the place. The kid got so stuffed and packed with attention I fear the consequences as I am now home with him alone once again! We were so glad to be able to share Scott's birthday with all of these people who made his first your so fantastic!! We had a blast!

Slapstick

Anderson and Scott at a playdate last week. Reminded me of those old sitcoms where two stooges try to get out of the same door at the same time. And also, I wonder how its possible that when you are one year old that roll on your inner thigh, and the cottage cheese bum is IRRESISTABLY ADORABLE... I wonder at what age that wears off?

Jungle Boogie

It was Birthday Party #1 today, and it was a total success. We celebrated with our playgroup friends, and Scott had a GREAT time. It was funny because, he seemed to know it was all for him. He acted shy at times, but never too shy to smile and be adorable. We had "ancient ruins" blocks, "safari tour" wagon rides, "jungle book" story time, and lots of food... including monkey chow, mud covered ants, quicksand, and elephant droppings. Scott completely enjoyed himself. Smiling and talking, being friends with everyone, and getting into everything. Him having a good time made the whole day a success, and I loved seeing him enjoy!

Cake eating: went AWESOME, of course! Scott was timid at first, but it didnt take him long to completely smash the cupcake into his face and make a mess of himself, which happened to make for the perfect photo op! The only sad moment of the day happened when it was clean up time... post cake. Scott wasnt thrilled about that part!

Scott is a joy to have in our home and our lives, and we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends to share our happy lives with! Thanks to all who came to help us celebrate this crazy whirlwind of a first year. I wouldnt change it for the world!!

The Face of Hunger

In my defense: The child eats healthy food. He is SO active. I know what you're thinking... "he isn't that size for no reason." I have no defense except to blame the double cheeseburger cravings during pregnancy that may have given him a head start on the "chub" from day one. One thing I will not apologize for is the fact that my kid is carrying around more pounds than some his age. It looks good on him!!! As his CiCi so lovingly put it, "he has to be that big to hold all the CUTE". As the other kids on our picnic were running around, playing, or simply refusing to eat, Scott sat quietly and contently on my lap, chowing away. Apple in one hand, pretzel in the other. 'Atta boy!

He is the love of our LIVES!!

Tunnel of Love

Scott and I went on a picnic today with our friends! Rylan and her mommy brought their colapsable tunnel, and Scott thought it was GREAT!

He is so fun and happy!!! We have his first of two 1st birthday parties this weekend (i know, call me crazy) and I can't believe it! Hes so big!! Update on the walking: still not so excited about it. He will take 4-5 steps towards you, but once he has taken those (its like there is an unbendable limit) he just leans and lunges toward you, no matter how much space is left between you and him. One day he will walk and Ill wish he'd just sit down... but for now, my fingers are still crossed he will be able to walk by his first birthday. That would be a great birthday gift for mommy!

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.... :)