Cigar Drumsticks

The other day I found Trip had opened a box of his Dad's cigars and was using them to drum on the guitar. I thought this was so cute an innocent ... until he started putting the cigars in his mouth! A little too early to learn how to smoke a cigar.

One-Year Update

Although I've already posted three times about Trip's birthday, I have yet to do a "monthly update" ... so, for the sake of record keeping, here it goes ...

height: 31 inches (88th percentile)

weight: 22 lbs (50th percentile)

development: Trip no longer eats any purees, and prefers whatever is on my plate. He cruises around the furniture and can move across from one piece to the next. He no longer parrots, but instead has developed his own unique little language.

likes: He has become obsessed with his Lamby and Monkey. He wrestles and cuddles Lamby and sleeps with Monkey's nose in his mouth at night - it's pretty hilarious. He also loves playing J's guitar.

dislikes: Trip hates nap time and going to sleep at night. Once he has cried for a good amount of time, he sleeps like a champ. He also gets REALLY grumpy when he is hungry (much like his father who is grumpy when tired or hungry). But at the top of the list of things Trip HATES is going to the nursery at Bible Study Fellowship! This has been an ongoing struggle and he cries for almost the entire 2-hour period. What's odd is that he does perfectly fine at MOPS and at church, so I'm not sure why he struggles with BSF in particular. Please pray for us on this one!

favorite moments: The other day I picked Trip up from the church nursery (where he is one of only 2 babies) and was told that Trip had his first kiss! Apparently Trip "kissed" his friend Adaline, who is about a month younger than him, on the forehead. Adaline did not appreciate this "kiss" - probably because it was really a bite! A little explanation... My wild child has a fun game he plays with his dad where he bites J's nose and J screams really loud and Trip laughs. Not so funny when your child starts biting the other kids in class!

Birthday Number 2

We had a fun-filled birthday weekend (again) for Trip's second first birthday party with J's family. Trip's grandma Cupcake drove in from Houston to spend the weekend with us and help to prepare for Trip's party on Saturday. She baked her homemade red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing (pictured below in front of the two cakes), which were a huge hit! I also contributed to the sugar overload with a vanilla and chocolate icing layer cake which I decorated with an origami sailboat flying the Naval flag for the number 3 (because Trip is the third) and sugar cookie fish floating around the sides. Once again, Trip had his very own mini cake to destroy!

We fondly refer to J's mom as "The Cupcake" or just "Cupcake", so her contribution to the birthday party is fitting! She loves to bake wonderful sweets and she loves to give Trip lots of "sugar" (her word for kisses).

The party was hosted in Alamo Heights by Trip's Grandad, Coco and Auntie Georgia. Most of the family that we have here in town was able to make it, despite the freezing temperatures.

Trip received some really great toys including this drum set from Aunt Holly and Uncle Denny. Trip is becoming quite the musician and loves to sway his hips to the beat of any music.

After all of the presents had been opened, we let Trip devour his second cake in a week. There was absolutely no hesitation to literally jump right in ... feet first! In the first picture below, you can see Trip crawling through his cake. In the second picture, it is as if he is saying "Who Me? Did I do that?"

We topped the weekend off barbecuing on Sunday with our good friends, the Emmitts. Trip loved playing with their oldest boy, Daniel, who was thrilled to see all of Trip's new presents! They played all evening, we enjoyed some great adult conversation with close friends, and (despite some undercooked chicken) we also enjoyed a great meal!

First Birthday Cake!

Today we celebrated Trip's birthday with my mom and sister who came in town for the weekend. We will be celebrating next weekend with J's family, so this is the "first birthday cake" and next week will be the "second birthday cake" (not number of years, but number of cakes!). Trip LOVED the cake, despite feeling under the weather with an ear infection. He dug right in and made a magnificent mess! It has been so wonderful to have some of my family here with us, but we were sad not to have the rest of Trip's uncles, aunt and grandpa Cappy, who all sent him birthday wishes from Missouri.

My Birthday Boy!

Yesterday -March 9, 2010 -My baby boy turned 1!

Unfortunately, Trip woke up yesterday morning with a fever and runny nose. After some cuddling from his mom and dad, some Motrin, and a good long morning nap, he woke up feeling much better just in time to get his very first birthday present. His Aunt Kelli (my best friend and college roommate) had mailed him a wooden block pyramid. I went to the kitchen to make his lunch while he played contently with his toy. When I returned, I saw that Trip had found at the bottom of the package a packet of "Silicon" (the stuff that keeps things fresh) with the words "DO NOT EAT" printed boldly across it, and had consumed half of the contents of the package and some of the packaging itself! Frantically, I yelled for J to call poison control. Much to our relief, we were informed that Silicon is non-toxic and the package is only a chocking hazard for babies. Since Trip had not choked, but swallowed down the package, we were out of the danger zone.

After a crazy morning, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing, enjoying the weather, and letting Trip do all of the things a 1 year old wants to do. He wore only his diaper the entire day, he ate peanut butter from his dad's PB&J for the first time, and he enjoyed some of his favorite foods, including strawberries, chicken and animal crackers.

We will celebrate more with friends and family in the coming weeks and Trip will have many opportunities to eat/destroy cake on those occassions.

Hard to believe ...

As I sit here, post-run and drinking my second cup of coffee for the day, with a toddler playing in the other room, it is hard for me to believe that one year ago I looked like this. Trip had yet to make an appearance and was resting comfortably in my belly. It is also hard to believe that my belly was ever able to stretch so big!

Dear Friends

Our dear friends the Underwoods came to visit last weekend. Their little boy is about a week younger than Trip. The weather was beautiful and the time spent with them was filled with memories, good food, good conversation and fun activity. The following is a photo summary of the weekend.

The boys getting reacquainted. We hadn't had the two together since they were only a few months old.

Day one: We ate "the best hamburger in Texas" at Alamo Springs Cafe, and then took a hike to work off the calories and enjoy the weather.

Like most good stories these days, this one included Trip exploding through his diaper and me forgetting an extra outfit. Trip enjoyed the hike atop his dad's shoulders wearing a fresh diaper, socks, shoes and a hoodie jacket.

We spent the rest of day 1 relaxing at the house and grilling out. The boys were enthralled by their dads playing the guitar.

Day Two: We went to church, the babies took naps, we ate lunch outside on the front porch, and then headed to the Guadalupe State Park for hike number two.

We couldn't resist getting some cute pictures of the boys in their diapers and cute hats after the long hike. In this last picture Trip was dancing to the music ... I'll post a video of this, it was priceless!

The weekend was a complete success and we can't wait to see the Underwoods again. J, Trip and I are so blessed to have such good friends!

trip's first haircut

After some kind nudging from my husband, I finally agreed to give Trip his first haircut. I was pushing this occasion off until he turned one, but J could no longer stand the mullet. Many will not be surprised to learn that Trip was quite the pistol during the haircut, flinging his head backwards each time I raised the scissors. The last picture is the final product.