I have been so busy that I haven't had time to update the journal here.  Chris's first birthday party was a great success.  We flew back to Texas so the grandparents could be here for it.  Pictures will be up soon, and they are great.  He's starting to actually talk now.  He says Momma when he wants me, and he points to a picture of Danny and says Dadada.  He says cat, and bad, and look.  If you ask him how old he is, he'll hold up one finger.  He'll also raise his arms when he wants to be picked up now.  I'm waiting for him to say up!  It'll probably be his next word.

We took him to the zoo a week after his birthday.  He loved the monorail ride, and the merry-go-round.  His face just lit up.  I have pictures of that as well.  I'm wondering how we are going to get all his toys home now, he has so many! and clothes and books.  He's spoiled pretty rotten at the moment.

He's got me run ragged now, he climbs onto furniture, and he doesn't want to be confined anymore.  The only time I get a chance to get online any more is nap time and bed time.  It's insane.  I miss the days when I could get on any time, but I wouldn't trade this life in for all the tea in china.  Or Gallifrey.

And getting into everything.  That's what this little eight and half month old baby loves to do.  From the time he wakes up til the time he goes to bed at night, he's one big bundle of energy.  Good luck trying to get anything done around here when he's wired to play.  I try to let him explore as much of our home as possible, with some limitations.  He can't crawl in the area beyond the couch because we haven't figured out what to do with the cords, and there is too much furniture in our bedroom for him to safely explore, so his room and the living room are the places he spends most of his tme.  Which usually means trying to squeeze in a chore here and there when he's napping or happy to be in his exersaucer.  Otherwise, it's roll on the floor time, or keep him from our rickety old TV stand.

 Which is going to change.  With Chris crawling and pulling up on everything, Danny and i decided the best course of action is to get this entertainment center we saw at Best Buy the other day.  It's rather nice, sturdy, and cabinets to close away the electronics, meaning he can pull up on it all he wants ,but he can't get a hold of the DVD player or the Wii.  We're alos slowly but surely getting more and more toys and books for him

 He's sleeping in his own room now for the most part.  the majority of time he's in his crib(finally) but there are times when we just let him curl up with us because he's just too cranky otherwise. 

 Which also means updating his website is kinda tough since it means finding a time when I'm not busy with other things to upload photos, and update his growth chart and such.

So, after two and a half months in Dallas, we are finally back home in Silverdale.  Let me tell you, it's great to be back here, it really is. But let's update with all the going ons

Christopher's first Christmas was amazing.  He made out with plenty of toys, clothes, books, money, another college fund, and a new high chair.  Which, since we don't have one here, it s a blessing.  He got so many new goodies, my mom and danny's mom are going to have to ship them to us.  We did get quite a bit of pictures, but I didn't have time to upload them to my computer, so I'm gonna have dad either order me my own CDs and mail that to me, or just have him upload them to his computer and email them to me.  So it might be a while before new Chris photos are uploaded.

He's standing up now.  Never really got the hang of crawling, but every time we turn around, he's standing up in his playpen, or using us as support to stand up.  He's also gotten too big for his swing and his bouncer, so it's time for upgrades.  Not a swing, but he could use an exersaucer.  He had one at my parents place, and he just adored it.

Chris is taking to the new organic diet we've started him on.  We also switched to seventh generation diapers and wipes.  Tried their kleenex, but it was too harsh on my sensitive nose.  The paper towels are good though.  We're already using their dishwasher detergents.  I would use their laundry detergent but the store we found it at, Central Market, wanted too much money for it.  So perhaps another time.  After all, Chris has grown so much, we're pretty much reduced to buying him a whole new wardrobe.  He's outgrown all the clothes here. Time for a trip to good will, I suppose.  For dropping off his clothes, and perhaps finding him some new ones...or perhaps...yes, I think since this weekend we were talking about hitting Once Upon a Child in Tacoma, we will take his old clothes there and get some store credit.  *nods*  I is a genius.

Chris was an angel on the plane ride home, again.  He was a little more fussy, simply because he doesn't like to be confined to his car seat much anymore.  He slept on the way home from the airport.

It snowed last night.  So Chris is getting his first glimpse of snow.  I haven't taken him out into it yet, but I will, and will try to get some pictures of that as well.  Nothing like baby's first snow.

So, alot since the last post.  Christopher has met plenty of mommy's friends growing now, and has gone to see both my old pedatrician and my old high school.  I can't believe how many teachers are still there from when I was at that school.

Yesterday, we took him for his sixth month check up, and yes, vaccinations.  The doc was really impressed with Christopher, and has him on pureed baby foods like chicken and of course, fruits and veggies.  So now his eating schedule is cereal and fruit in the morning for breakfast, bottle, meat and veggies for lunch, bottle, meat, veggies, and fruit for dinner, and two more bottles.  He sleeps through the night now, well, once we get him to sleep.

 He's sitting up on his own now, so we had to lower the mattress in his travel crib, because I was doing my homework while he was supposed to be napping, and saw him trying to crawl from his bed to my bed.  NOT GOOD.  So I picked him up with one hand, went to the dining room, grabbed his exersaucer, dragged it into my room, and finished my homework as fast as I could.  It was insane.  I didn't think he would even try that for another month or two.

My mom thinks Christopher is going to walk before her crawls.  She says he's doing things just like his uncle, my brother, did when he was Christopher's age.  Like pushing up on his legs and nearly standing on his head.  So yes, my baby boy is growing up so fast.  It's so weird to even think how much he's changed.  Every time I look back on pictures from when he was a baby I realise how much he has changed in just six short months. 

So, yesterday was Christopher's first Thanksgiving.  It was alot of fun.  We went up to see his Great Grandpa on Danny's side in OK.  The whole family up there just fell in love with him.  And I got some great pictures of Christopher with his Great Grandpa, and his Great Aunt Lisa, and with Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Sally.

 Although I think Christopher might be allergic to dogs,  He's been kinda stuffy and wheezy since we got back.  Which isn't all that surprising.  We've been warned he's probably got Asthma, and he has had problems with Cats as well.  Same kinda thing, the hair makes him a little wheezy and very stuffy.

Today I got Christopher a picture frame that says Baby's First Christmas, and a cute little footie pj that has gingerbread men all over it.  I love After Thanksgiving sales.

Christopher is Six months old as of yesterday.  He's actually starting to get the hang of this crawling thing, and I think by Christmas, he will be able to sit up on his own.  I'm really excited about that.  He's also sleeping through the night, and eating first stage foods.  We only use Beech Nut, because he tolerates it better than Gerber.  So far, he's had Squash--loves it; Peas--allergic to them; and applesauce--practically gone after two bites, loves it more than anything.  We're gonna be starting Carrots on Monday. 

So, Chris's first Halloween was...a bit of an ordeal, but not much.  See, I spent the night before at my friend's Debi's since it was my birthday, and he was at his Grandma's Sally.  So we had to go early in the morning, and pick him up on Halloween.  And Grandma Sally put him in his cute little Tigger outfit.  He was just too adorable.  So of course, we got lots of pictures of him in his little outfit.  Then it was back over to Debi's for a bit, to watch a movie and have lunch.  And of course, I changed him out of his costume, because it was hot in Tx.  We went back to my parents a little later, cause I developed a migraine

 We didn't go trick or treating, because I was sick and so was my mom.

My father, Grandpa Jim, came home from the hospital this past week, and that's been interesting.  He had had surgery, so i have been helping out with the house, and taking care of Chris, and still trying to get in as much friend time as I can where I can.  Last weekend we went up to Denton and saw Laura, and then

Chris finally got to meet his godparents, Kat and Carey.  That was alot of fun.  They took to him instantly, and he took to them.  However, he and Emma did not take so well.  Emma is Kat and Carey's little girl, and she is about ten months old, so she's mobile.  She can sit up unassisted and crawl, and fast.  Chris had never met a baby that was older than him, this frightened him, and he started crying.  It would have been cute if it wasn't so heartbreaking.  Oh, and Carey's explosive laughter also frightens Chris, but the two soon made up.

Tomorrow, Chris and I will be spending more time with Grandma Sally, and hopefully, if there is time, I will try to get together with some friends from the Movie theater that I used to work at.  they really want to meet Chris. 

I had planned on updating his website when we first got here, but things got in the way.  It's been a hectic two weeks, let me tell you.  But we shall start with the plane ride.  That was great.  It was a straight flight from Seattle to Dallas, and Christopher was very VERY good.  He didn't cry when we went through security, he didn't cry while we waited for the plane, and he didn't cry at all on the plane.  He slept the entire way here.  Many people on the plane were so shocked to find out that they had shared the plane with a baby, since he didn't cry or howl and I didn't look the least bit frazzled.

I was worried about the time change and how it would affect Christopher.  So far, it hasn't been that bad on him, and it just gets easier as time goes on.

 He's started sleeping through the night.  He usually is asleep by now, but Grandpa's got him all wound up and I doubt he's going to sleep any time soon.  He takes a full eight ounce bottle and then he's out for a good seven to eight hours before a full diaper and empty belly demand attention.  Right now, he's fighting sleep with tooth and claw. I give him a few more minutes and he will be out.  I'm tempted to give him to grandma and let her rock him to sleep.

 He's also starting to crawl.  Very slowly and kinda awkwardly.  He can army crawl real well, but coordinating his body for a full crawl is a little harder.  He lifts his head up, then dive bombs into the floor, lifts his hind end into the air, and scoots that way.  It's hilarious to watch. 

He's met several of my friends, and both sets of grandparents.  He's having a grand ole time.

i play a video of his daddy everyday so he won't forget what daddy sounds and looks like, and won't be afraid when Danny comes home.  That's the last thing Christopher needs.

 He's now five months old.  He's started eating cereal a little at a time.  It's great to watch him eat.  He's so messy.

Well, it didn't start that way.  It started off a nice quiet day.  We went out to Olive Garden with a friend and then went to the grocery store, since I started a diet.  i want to be healthy for my son, which means I need to lose weight.  Then Danny came home and we went to Walmart to get some things he needed for work.  Well, while we were there, we noticed that Chris's hand was red and looked swollen.  Enter Parent Panic Mode!  we dropped everything and rushed Chris to the ER.  And of course, the car starts to act up, again.  We finally get there, and we realise we don't have Chris's diaper bag.  We weren't expecting to be out that long.  After all, before we left, we had fed and changed Christopher.  The hospital gave us some pedialite to hold off Chris's hunger, and then we saw the doc, andit turns out...it was nothing.  He was holding it weird, and his hand had turned red.  Can we say embarrassed.  We were so tired, we ended up at home and just crashed after getting Danny's stuff ready for an inspection.

Today has been much calmer, but I'm sooo tired.