What did we do this weekend? We came sooo close to saying “mama”. So close! Lil B started making the mmm sound last week and he was still playing with that new sound this weekend. The three (sorry, four) of us went to Toys R Us Saturday to pick out some bday gifts (can’t believe he is about to be 1) and one of the books I bought was teaching words, and one was mama. So we immediately whipped that out (of course he got some of his gifts early) when we got home and practiced. He was really trying to say it. Bryce was my witness. He looked a little astonished, and said “he is trying mama”, he really was. Sweet angel puff. He also stood by himself. He has before, but by leaning his little belly against the window seal or whatever. He did it without the help of his cute little pudge this time. What else, oh-he also got to sit in his new car seat and facing forward. Two weeks shy of his one year, but I figure it is ok. He looks so cute, as he does no matter what he is doing, but Bryce and I just kept turning around to look at him and we would all just give each other big smiles. This is all courtesy of mama finally deciding on an SUV. So now we have room for the growing fam. Other than that excitement, we went to Kemah for the first time too, well first for Lil B and mama. He loves to people watch & to be outside, so he enjoyed the day. It seems to be a fun place to take the kiddos when they are a little bigger. I feel like I say that at least once a week, but there is so much fun stuff in and around Houston for kids. I get so excited thinking of all the fun, and educational, activities we are going to enjoy as a family.

I have video and pics I need to upload, but I’ve been so involved in buying the car and finding accessories for the new nursery and planning photos and such for Tyler’s 1^st  bday & 1^st  Easter…

Another big weekend for Bubba! Friday Kaki took him to a Go Texan's Day parade at the church. The babies' strollers were turned into covered wagons, etc and he lead the parade. He is the cutest baby, so why not! He then had 2 birthday parties on Saturday. We went to Miss K's 2nd bday party at Chuck E Cheese. It was our first visit there b/c he is still a little young for the rides/games, but he had a great time. He loves loves to people & kid watch and there was a ton of that to do there. We went out to lunch and then headed to Carson's 1st bday party. He really liked the wrapping paper and tissue from the gifts (Christmas flashback). He crawled over and got in the middle of the gift unwrapping. He had a great time there too! We were so impressed that he made it all day without getting grumpy. Pops & Janet even came by to visit on thier way out of town that evening, and he was still up for it. He pulled up on everything and "walked" along everything. Such a show-off, haha! I don't know where the energy comes from, but I'm seeing more busy times in my future. Besides showing us how hyper and happy is, he has been showing a great memory. Lil B has been great at remembering where I "hide" things from him. Fun! Daddy's energy but mommy's brain, so far!

A few tricks our perfect 10 month old has showed us recently: sits with a toy and spins 360 using his heels (bull dozing whatever is in his way with those chunky legs), points and touches everything with one finger, waves at himself randomly, stands in crib and grabs at and talks to the humidifiier while waiting for us to come get him, bends his knees like he is jumping when we pick him up (so we will bounce him or throw him in the air), and claps his hands. He is just so much fun!

We took Tyler to the Houston Zoo for the first time Saturday. That is one of my favorite places in Houston, so we went ahead and became zoo members while we were there. It will be something else fun for Kaki to do with Lil B during these nice Spring days coming up. The 3 of us met Steph, her hubby and Miss K for our outing. Tyler didn't seem to mind it, but he wasn't real sure what he was supposed to be looking at. The animals are still a little far away, and he unless they move, he can't really pay attention to them. He was still having a good time people watching, one of his favorite pass times. He got more perky at the children's zoo b/c the animals were closer I guess. We confirmed that he difinitely had daddy's complextion...I burned, he didn't change a shade. So our first zoo trip was a success, and we surely stick to mornings for our next trip. Tyler was also the best baby ever as usual when Pops took us shopping Sunday for some new toys and some pretty clothes for his little sister.

Tyler has also discovered this shrieking sound over the weekend...and he loves to make it over and over again. His favorite noise is still spitting though, like sticking his lips out and blowing. It is really funny. He was also alot more energetic this weekend, his personality is really coming through. 10 months has marked a milestone for that! He is fearless and hyper, like daddy. But still such a sweet boy and reaches for me and doesn't like me to leave the room at times. He is loving feeding himself snacks and still a good eater in general. His crawling is still "army style", even though he is more than capable of pulling his knees under him, he just prefers this method. He is really good at pulling up and alot more stable at standing once he's up there. His "cruising" on furniture, tables, etc is also becoming a little scary for me! Cannot let him out of our site for a second. He sits and plays really well by himself with his toys and "talks" to them the whole time. Last night his favorite toy was his sock. He pulled it off and wouldn't let go of it, no matter where he crawled. He is also using both hands more, as in holding 2 toys at once. I just sit and stare at him, watching those wheels turning in his head. He is so observant and I would just do anything to know what he is thinking. Tyler's newest trick is waving, but at himself! I guess that is the way it looks when he sees us doing it. He repeated daddy say "yay" last night too, so the imitating is beginning....us grown ups have to start minding our manners now!

Just a quick entry to update some stats on our big boy. He had his 9 mth dr visit where he got another vaccine…and did not cry, or even make a face. He does not have my low pain tolerance! He weighed in at 20 ½ lbs and 28 inches long. I love that he stays right on target for the clothes that match his age. It makes it so easy to shop. Which of course we did this weekend. I had stocked up on clothes through 12 months, but now he is creeping out of the 6-12 mths and into the 12-18 mths. Well not in shirts, but in jammies and pants (b/c his tummy is so round, it makes the buttons look so uncomfortable!). Aunt Holly is always happy to shop for baby clothes so she came with. I also couldn’t help but buy some more little dresses. Just one more day until I know if I can take the tags off! Anyway, Lil B is still doing very well at standing, and he "walks" when you hold him up by his hands. He has his army, or combat, crawl down pat but he would rather me stand him against something like the ottoman so he can get the view from up high. He is so observant. I do love when he crawls over to me and looks up and holds one arm up for me to pick him up. Being carried around by me is still his favorite mode of transportation. I love being mommy :) Tyler is still the biggest joy and makes our lives so full. Daddy always says how “cool” he is. He really is so funny, it just makes us laugh when he laughs, which is often. He is so big to me now, when I hold him in the glider and his legs are hanging off, I just can’t believe that just a few months ago he would fit in one arm. Babies are such a gift for such a short time and we are treasuring every second we can as a family.

Baby’s 1^st Christmas was so special for us. Just the three of us spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together.  Tyler helped me wrap gifts Christmas Eve, so there may have been some teeth marks and torn paper on a few of them. He really liked to chew on his reindeer slippers that I had him too. We went out to dinner and he was so good, as usual. I figured he may sleep later since he went to bed past his usual 7pm bedtime, but nope. He is like a clock when it is time to eat, so up at 6am. He went back to sleep for a couple of hours Christmas Day, and when he woke up at about 8:30 we introduced him to the fun of unwrapping gifts. We got it all on video, and it is too cute. He was really excited to rip the paper and he loved his baby grand piano the best. We played with that and bubbles until he could barely stay awake. He ate his 10am breakfast and then fell right asleep. It was perfect timing for me because I got to start my crawfish etoufee. We had a Cajun Christmas, haha. He played Wii with us later on and that wore him out too b/c he took the longest afternoon nap. It was such a long day for him, but we were glad to see that he enjoyed all of his new toys…not that he doesn’t get new ones almost every weekend.  We have so much fun playing with him. There is nothing better than a smiling laughing baby, especially with that dimple! I just kept remembering last year when I was pregnant with him and how all I could think about was how much better and different this year would be. It did not disappoint. Life is amazing as a family. Now, it was my first Christmas not going home, but we didn’t feel comfortable getting in all the traffic and construction with our precious baby boy. It was strange not doing the hectic traveling visiting all the relatives in 24 hrs deal, but this is how our Christmas’ are going to be-at our home, so we figured we might as well start now. And next year we will surely have too much to travel with ; ).  We had Christmas at Kaki’s and Pawpaw Curtis’ over the weekend too. Lil B got so many compliments from cousins he had never met and everyone else about how good and pretty he is. As usual he never fussed when passed around and just took his naps on me, so no grumpus baby- to my surprise b/c it was such a long weekend and so many people played with him.  So obviously this was the best Christmas I can remember b/c I had my own little miracle with me on such a special day. God is good.

I’ll do a Christmas update later, but this is cute. When I went in to get Tyler up this morning, he was already awake in his bed making the “duh duh duh” sound. I thought crap, Bryce is going to win! We are having our own little battle over him saying mama or dada first. Anyway, I told Kaki this when I dropped him off. So she just called me and said she thinks he is trying to say “dog”. They play on the floor everyday with Lance, her little dog, and this morning when Lance came into the room he started making the “duh duh duh” sound again. He does hear the word dog quite a bit during the day, but I have always joked that his first word would be Lance, or No, or a bark b/c he hears those words in relation to that dog so much. Lance brings him his toys for Tyler to throw and then someone will throw it and when the dog runs Tyler flips out laughing. He gets so excited over that dog, so it will be acceptable to me for him to say dog instead of mama first…b/c it isn’t dada! He does seem to be fearless when it comes to animals (and heights unfortunately). He apparently had a bonding moment last week with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Aggrevation’s big dog, about 8 or so Lances in size. That fearless nature is why we gotta keep a close eye on our little angel! So the first word battle may soon be over, and it goes to the dogs. Typical.

Daddy went with us to Gymboree Saturday to check out all the fun we have. The bubba sure did like having us both there! He showed off his scooting skills, but still not crawling on his knees yet. It is hard on our floors and he really likes his legs straight, hince the standing all the time. Bryce was amazed at how much bigger he was than all the other babies in the class even though he is a good 2 mths younger than the next youngest. Big happy boy! After class, we went to the outlet in Cypress...and didn't bring one of the 3 strollers. Smart. So we took turns carrying him. Refer to how big I just said he was. He loves to people watch so he had a good time. Sunday we went with the Hastings to the Winter Wonderland in Memorial, but it wasn't that wonderful. Bryce took him out on the "snow" for a few minutes but we were over it and left. We hung out and watched Lil B and Lo play. He would grab at Lo, like someone almost my size, yay.

So after our big weekend, our angel officially crawled today! Motivation? kitty's tail. Poor kitty. We were playing on the floor with some toys and he just looked over at kitty laying down and got on his knees and went for the tail. He got it and held on tight. Good kitty just stayed there. Then later this evening when Bryce was playing with him, kitty came by again and layed down. So Tyler body slammed him and then crawled right over him. Poor kitty. This time he finally decided to move. So where did Tyler go on his first taste of freedom? after going after the kitty again, he turned around and went to try to pull himself up on a shelf that the tv is on. Cannot take our eyes off him for a minute now! And he started leaping out of my arms tonight too. So we gottta watch him and hold on tight. I love all his energy!