Eating By Myself

I am slowly getting JD comfortable with eating his food with utensils on his own. I really don't like him getting messy with the food (I know, I know - let it go, Mandy), so it has been a slow process.

Plus, he doesn't really like it either. He gets frustrated because he can't get enough on his spoon to satisfy his hungry tummy fast enough.

But every once in awhile, he reaches for the spoon and wants to go at it.

Where, oh where, did I put that high chair drop cloth???

Can I Eat the Sand?

We are now back in the 105 degree heat with no cool ocean breeze or waves crashing anymore. I think we all had a pretty good time and I loved watching JD enjoy the ocean for the first time.

He played in the waves until he got tired...

And then he played in the sand until I took him back to the house kicking and screaming.

I noticed that my little guy really enjoyed the taste of sand while we were there. He would actually take his snacks and rub them in the sand so he could eat more. Eww! I tried not to be too much of an over-protective mother, even though I drew the line at drinking wet sand from the bucket.

When it was really rainy from Hurricane Dolly, we took the kids into town to go to the Rainforest Cafe. They all liked the animals that moved around, although it was a bit shocking at first for the little ones.

JD was really into making this face for most of the trip. Not sure where it is coming from, but it made me laugh (and everyone else) everytime he did it.

JD had such a good time with his cousins! He played so hard that he passed out every night from sheer exhaustion.

And yes - my sister did cajole us into getting decked out for a family picture on the last night (see previous post) and yes, we did it kicking and screaming. But I think we are all very glad that we did it. Thanks, Dara, for talking us into it! We got some really nice pictures out of it!

JD and his Grandma and all of his cousins.

We watched the Wiggles this morning on tv and saw a scene on the beach and JD started saying bath, bath and pointed at the screen and looked at me - as if to say, can we go out to the waves today and eat some more sand??

I guess we will need to start planning our next beach vacation with the kiddos sooner rather than later!

Having Fun at the Beach

We have been enjoying a family vacation in Galveston at the beach. Our house is actually on the beach, so we have beautiful views of the ocean.

We had some minor worries earlier in the week with Hurricane Dolly, who kicked up some crazy winds and even crazier waves.

But the last couple of days have been great beach weather with nice breezes and lots of fun! We are looking forward to another day today!

Sunny or Scary??

Hmmm...I'll keep you posted.

Riding the Rails

While we were in Colorado last week, we took JD on his first train ride. It was a steam engine train on a narrow gauge railroad in Cripple Creek, Colorado. As a side note: My dad was really getting into the Colorado train stuff before he died and purchased a train set for the cabin (which still has yet to be assembled). So it was fun to take JD on a real Colorado train.

Of course, we had to get him outfitted in a railroad hat. He actually kept it on for most of the trip.

He was a bit startled by the loud whistle since we were sitting right by the engine.

He liked to see the coal going into the stove and said hot, hot when he saw the red coals inside.

Overall, I think JD really enjoyed his first train ride!! His grandfather would have been so proud!

Stringing It Together

JD is starting to graduate into the world of small phrases. He has never been much of a babbler, as far as baby talk is concerned. He jumped right into words, granted many of them sound suspiciously similar.

Now he has started to string words that he knows together and they actually seem to mean something. Here is his current favorite phrase:

Mama-Dada-Baby-Car-Go-Bye-bye

Do you think he was traumatized from all of his recent car trips??

Slightly Traumatic

We had such a wonderful trip to Colorado. It was a much-needed vacation and great family time. We only had the slightest hiccup at the end of the trip...

As we were closing up the cabin and just minutes away from leaving, JD tripped on the top stair and smacked his head on the top stair, where the hardwood floors meet the carpet. He actually dealt with it just fine, only a few tears.

I, on the other hand, was beside myself. As I watched the goose-egg growing on his forehead, I just about cried. My poor little guy!

Even though it looks so much better now (two days later), I still can't bring myself to take a picture.

Also - growing up in Texas and going to summer camp most of my young life, I know that there are a few certainties about the summer. There will be mosquito bites, chigger bites, ant bites and probably some poison ivy rashes and sunburns, here and there. It just comes with the territory.

Well, I was pretty good about protecting my little guy in Colorado. I sprayed him with family safe OFF whenever I saw the biting flies or mosquitoes buzzing around. I rubbed him down with sunscreen and plunked on his sunhat if we were ever outside.

But I forgot about another threat.

After a LONG drive on home on Saturday/Saturday night, we all slept in on Sunday morning (even JD). As we prepared to get some food, I wet JD's bedhead down and noticed something funny. It looked like a scab on his head. I thought - Great he cut the back of his head somehow during his stair trip-up.

Then I looked closer. It was a TICK!! Yuck!!! I just about lost it!! Visions of Lyme disease started dancing in my head. My skin was crawling!

I picked him up and brought him into the bathroom for my doctor on hand to inspect (my husband, the paramedic). Jon thought the same thing - just a scab. I told him to look closer and sure enough we both agreed that it was a tick.

Jon did the necessary surgery required, while I soothed our confused and upset kiddo. It was still alive, so I trapped it in a ziplock bag. (They tell you to do this in case the kid starts showing symptoms of Lyme disease).

I became a bug expert in a matter of seconds as I scanned the internet to see if our tick was indeed a Lyme disease tick. Google images is so helpful, don't you think??

According to several reputable medical websites, our tick is just a common dog tick, not known for any sort of disease. Hooray!

But I'm keeping an eye on JD, just in case...

The Big One

I think when we have children we automatically begin to relive our childhood through them. It is so much fun to remember what we enjoyed and then try to introduce that to our kids, hoping that they like it as much as we did.

JD has probably had his fair share of that experience recently. As we were planning our trip to Colorado, Jon decided that he wanted to take JD fishing. This was something that Jon really enjoyed when he was younger in Colorado.

But it wasn't enough to just take him fishing. JD HAD to have a Snoopy fishing pole, which is what Jon had when he was younger. So Jon went to Wal Mart to see if he could find a Snoopy fishing pole. Well, times have changed and the kiddos like Dora and Diego and Cars and Barbie - not so much Snoopy.

So Jon went out to eBay and found a Snoopy pole for JD. JD doesn't even know what a Snoopy is, but, by golly, now he has a Snoopy pole! We got it the day before we left for Colorado and Jon and JD hooked it up with a Curious George doll to see how it would work.

We went fishing yesterday in a pretty reservoir with Jon's grandparents and parents. Everyone was bringing in the fish. Jon caught one right when he put his pole in.

So we set up JD's Snoopy pole, which Jon had a pretty tough time casting. It sat in the water for about an hour with no bites. JD didn't really mind because he was having fun playing with the rocks and the dirt.

But at the very end of our trip, Snoopy got a bite! Jon and JD reeled it in to see what they got...

And they caught a pretty nice sized trout!

I told Jon that I bet that fish felt pretty silly about getting caught by a little Snoopy pole.

Fun Around the Cabin

Whenever we get to the cabin in Colorado, it is immediately relaxing. It is in the middle of a valley with very few people around us and no traffic to speak of. It is actually kind of hard to make or receive phone calls, so you feel kind of isolated and removed from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

This year has been no different. Jon and JD have been off enjoying the wilderness on the four-wheeler, while I have been reading books and enjoying the views.

We went to Aspen yesterday with some beautiful weather and walked around the town. JD enjoyed it, but fell asleep during the prettiest part of the drive, so we didn't stop to take pictures. We got a cute one in the car before he fell asleep though! He was looking so handsome!

Today was a lazy day with lots of play time. I think JD really loves it up here!!

Good Ol' Fashioned Fourth of July

Updated with some more pictures

Jon and I have been planning a trip to Colorado for a few months now. We had a few things to celebrate - our fifth anniversary, a whole year of taking care of a new baby and a much needed vacation.

We drove up to Colorado in two days, leaving after Jon was off work on Wednesday and stopping in Amarillo. JD did really well in the car and watched the Wiggles for most of the way.

We arrived at the Broadmoor on Thursday and spent the afternoon enjoying the scenery and getting settled. We also went that evening to an English pub that they have onsite called The English Bee. The original owner brought in the actual insides of a real English pub and had it re-installed at The Broadmoor. Their specialities are fish and chips and yards of beer. (I always thought the English were all about the metric system).





JD had some of his own "fish and chips" and Jon enjoyed a half yard of beer. JD entertained the family next to us for most of the dinner.

On the Fourth, we started off at a brunch at one of the restaurants. JD was very excited about all of the fruit that was available.

Then we took JD to watch the Huck Finn fishing for the older kids. He was pretty impressed.

We spent a lot of the day in the pool. JD really loves the pool now and cried when we had to leave.

In the afternoon, we went over to Jon's grandparents' house for a cookout with the family. JD played like crazy in their big sandbox (volleyball court). Then we went back to the Broadmoor for their fireworks display. I tried to get some video of his reaction, but it didn't come out well because of the dark. He loved the fireworks and shouted at the louds one and said Oooh after all of the bright ones.

Saturday was our actual anniversary. Jon treated me to a manicure at the spa and he got a haircut. Jon also gave me a book of every email that we have exchanged with each other since we first met. I loved re-reading the beginning our romance together and seeing how we progressed together. I gave Jon an 8x10 picture with our wedding picture and a few more pictures on it. After JD's nap, we took him over to Jon's grandparents' for JD's Grandma and Grandpa to babysit for the night.

We had reservations at the Penrose Room, a five diamond restaurant at the Broadmoor. It was incredible food, but way too much!! We really enjoyed our time together even though we were missing our little guy.





We did enjoy sleeping in on Sunday morning though. JD has been getting up at 6:30 every morning since we took away his pacifier a couple of months ago. So he has stuck to it in Colorado too which makes it 5:30 am. Every morning. Without fail. No matter how late we all went to bed. So we really enjoyed sleeping in until 7:30 on Sunday morning. We ordered room service and watched our wedding video while we ate.

After we picked up JD, we planned to go to the zoo, but he was too tired. We had a tough time convincing him that we weren't leaving again, so he wouldn't go down for a nap. So we did some pool time and wore him out. After his nap, we went for one last dinner at the Broadmoor.

On Monday, we hired a photographer to take some family photos around the property. We will get to see them at the end of the week. Then we left to get to the cabin.

So now we are here and JD has settled into his home away from home. He even slept until 6:00 am (Colorado time) this morning. Wow! We'll see if we can make it to 6:30 tomorrow...

Coming Soon

Jon, JD and I have been having a great time here in Colorado! So far we have had gorgeous weather and lots of fun things to do. We have been staying at the Broadmoor, where Jon and I got married FIVE years ago on July 5th! The hotel staff actually upgraded us to the exact honeymoon suite where we stayed five years ago. It was a total surprise and we have loved every minute of it!

We are leaving today to head out to the cabin and spend some quality family time there for the rest of the week, so I will post some pictures and stories from the week shortly.