Weekend Pool Time

I haven’t posted much lately and I need to update my blog on a few of my latest words the past few weeks:

- Bubbles – I said this as clear as day when Mom took me swimming in my kiddy pool on our patio…Mom was very impressed because this is a pretty complicated word!
- Lara – I can say my Aunt Lara’s name! Well, it actually sounded more like ‘Wara’, but close enough. She’s the first person I’ve named, other than ‘Ma-ma’ and ‘Dad-die’ or ‘Da-da’…and of course my greyhound buddy, Bella…
- Hi! – I looked straight at Mom and said ‘Hi!’ with a big smile on my face. She thought it was so cute.
- Ball – I’ve been saying this for several months, but this weekend I went crazy with this word. I’ve discovered my Auburn Football and I must hold it at all times and repeat the word over and over…ball…BALL…BAAAAAALLLL! Dad loves this and was trying to teach me words like ‘fumble’ and ‘touch down’. Mom’s seeing her life flash before her eyes: Many years of football obsessed boys in the house to come…yikes.
- Milk – I love this word and use it all the time. My Bobpy took me swimming in the redneck pool last weekend (an above ground pool at the ‘ranch’) and I kept repeating ‘milk’ while I was swimming, according to my Aunt Lisa. No one knew what I meant, because it actually sounds like ‘moaw,’ until my Mom cleared up the confusion later. Do you hear the words coming out of my mouth? Give me MOAW! Why wouldn’t I want a cold refreshing glass of milk while taking a leisure dip in the pool?

There are many other words I can say, but of course when it comes time to remember them all for the blog, the mind goes blank…

So we had a nice laid back weekend. Saturday afternoon, we went to one of my parents favorite Mexican restaurants for lunch and you guessed it, I got a cheese quesadilla…Yum! Then we drove over to Mt. Laurel to stroll around the area and go to the playground. I love that playground and I got to go down the slide a few times, crawl around the jungle gym, climb on the choo-choo train, and my favorite, go on the swing. Unfortunately, it was so darn hot, we made it a quick trip because it was too miserable outside to really enjoy walking around. But the heat made it perfect swimming weather and I got to go swimming twice on Sunday…once in the morning in my kiddy pool on the patio (Mom cleaned out the contamination - see previous post) and once at the ranch with Bobpy. In the morning, I started out just sitting in the water splashing around, I eventually grew confident and started leap frogging around the pool on my hands and knees. That was a lot of fun because water splashed everywhere and when Mom would try to get me out, I’d leap to the other side so she couldn’t get me! I was in NO hurry to get out of there because I was having a great time! Until, that is, I sat up and lost my balance and tipped backwards so that I was lying on my back in the water. I sucked in a mouthful of water and although Mom said I had a look of absolute horror and panic on my face when it happened, I recovered quickly. No tears. Then I kept trying to do it again (I’m such a daredevil) and would laugh every time, but mom didn’t like it, so I had to stop. Later that day, when I went to the ranch, my grandpa would blow on my face so I would hold my breath and then he would plunge me completely under the water! It was AWESOME and I kept smiling every time he did it…again, I like to live on the wild side! But I managed to be a good little boy and I didn’t poop in the pool this time…I took care of my biz beforehand, so Mom was happy!

When Doodie Calls

Thanks to all this intense Alabama summer heat, I've been able to enjoy a little pool time to keep cool. Gram babysat me yesterday for a few hours and she cleaned out my kiddy pool on the back patio that had been filled with nasty bugs, leaves, and rain water. She scrubbed it down and filled it back up with fresh water and my tub toys so I could take a dip. Boy did I love it! So today, because I enjoy it so much, Mom let me go swimming twice! I went swimming in the morning and then she let me take another dip in the pool after lunch. I had successfully gotten mac-n-cheese all over me at lunch and instead of Mom bathing me in the bathtub, she thought she'd let me take another swim since the pool was all set up. Well, after a while, I realized that I REALLY needed to go, if you know what I mean...and when doodie calls, doodie calls! So I pooped in the pool without Mom realizing it because I was wearing my snug 'little swimmers' diapers that held it all in. Until, that is, water started dissolving it into the pool and mom eventually figured it out! Man, was there a lot of 'Ewww's! and 'Ughs!' I don't know what all the fuss was about, but she stripped me down in the grass and hosed off my behind with cold water! That got a few squeals out of me! But after that, Mom wouldn't let me go back into the 'contaminated' pool because she needed to drain the dirty water out. Pool time was over...

Later today, my Aunt Lara babysat me and we had a bunch of fun. Mom especially wants to thank Grammie, Gram, and Lara for all their help babysitting me recently while Mom studied and took exams. She knows it has been a lot to ask because I'm such a handful! She's going to take a much needed hiatus on the testing for a while, which is good because we haven't had as much fun-time together because of it. (No trips to the zoo or botanical gardens lately...boo!).

Yesterday was my great grandmother's 80th Birthday and the family put on a big surprise party with all of Gaga's friends and in-town family. Happy 80th Birthday Gaga! It was a lot of fun and of course I always enjoy an opportunity to get attention from TONS of ladies!

Birthday Party Pictures

To view the pictures from my 1st Birthday party, go to:
1. http://www.shootstarphoto.com/index2.php?v=v1
2. Click "clients"
3. enter password: heston09

Family can order pictures from this link!

A Very Sad Weekend

This weekend was a sad weekend for my Mom's family. My Great Uncle Scott (Mom's 49 year old uncle and Bobpy's younger brother...) passed away after having a terrible accident falling down the stairs in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Dad took me to my Grammie and Papa's house during the Day on Saturday, so Mom could tend to her grandmother, Nana A., who was having to deal with the loss of her son. Later that day, Nana A. came to stay with us and my Uncle Todd and Aunt Lisa came over for dinner that night and we had a little family gathering so we could try to lift Nana's spirits. I made my best effort to cheer her up being my cute baby self and I think I did a pretty good job, considering the circumstances. Unfortunately, I woke the household up twice in the night for some odd reason (I never do that anymore).

My Great Uncle Judd and my Grandfather, Bobpy (who was in Bermuda with my Gram on vacation when the accident happened), came in town late last night to help Nana and to assist in funeral preparations, so Nana went back to her house and I miss having her undivided attention and affection! She sure gave me lots of kisses while she was visiting...She had three boys, so she knows all about what it's like to have a rambunctious boy running around and how to keep us entertained and happy!

We will sure miss Uncle Scott and will always remember what a fun and caring Uncle he was.

It's A-L-I-V-E!!!!!

Well wonders never cease...this evening, while I was attempting to get a little shut-eye, it started storming and we briefly lost power in our house. When the power came back on, Dad got up to check something and noticed a very odd thing...my fancy-shmancy LCD baby monitor, which Mom and Dad practically took a loan out for and was thought to have bit the dust, came back alive! Alabama Power replaced our house's power meter without notifying my parents several months ago...and consequently, the power surge from the new meter fried the LCD baby monitor (or so my parents thought). Mom and Dad couldn't get that thing working again...couldn't explain why that would happen...and we've been without the TV screen for probably 6 months. I was particularly upset, because I love living my own little reality show, with a camera on me at ALL TIMES. But thanks to the weekly Alabama severe weather and an equally devastating power outage to counter-act the damage from the power meter surge, it's back up and running. I now have a camera to capture my every move, so I guess I better not be up to any more secret missions or shenanigans during the night!

With Mom's cell phone coming back alive two weeks ago and now this, she's wondering what other stroke of luck may come our way. She just may drive to the Alabama/Georgia line and buy a few lottery tickets!

Sinking My Teeth Into...

...my Dad! Dad has been laughing hysterically at my little ‘hitting problem’ when I aim them at Mom, but he didn’t laugh much when I bit him last night. Dad and I were playing on the floor and I was a little cranky because I didn’t nap very well yesterday. Well, out of no where, I rolled my head onto his shoulder and bit him. I’m not sure where the urge to bite came from, but I couldn’t resist. Dad yelled and realized what I had done after there were slobber marks from my mouth on his shirt. This morning when Dad was getting ready for work, he noticed a pink puffy welt where I took a bite...I must have packed a lot of punch with that one for it to last overnight! I’m impressed with myself!

Trip to Mt. Laurel

Mom and I went to Mt. Laurel today for a recreational trip...it didn't start out too well because I was extremely fussy on our car ride over there...which consequently made Mom almost have a meltdown too. She pulled over into a neighborhood to sooth me so I'd stop crying, gave me my handy-dandy whistle that Grammie and Aunt Lara bought me to keep me content (which in all actuality is not a whistle, but a plastic recorder...Mom can play a mean 'hot crossed buns' on it!) and then we were on our way. Once we got there, I was all smiles. We went into the small grocery store and got me an apple juice and then we went to the toy shop and we picked out an 'Ugly Doll' to keep me entertained. Mom put a lime green ugly doll and a red demon looking 'Ice Bat' in front of me and she let me choose which one I wanted. Big surprise, I choose the red demon Ugly Doll. He's red, like my hair, and looks ferocious. Then, Mom stopped in a few shops, bought a cool American Flag lawn ornament out of corrugated metal, which was made locally (Mom says it's totally creative), admired the architecture while strolling around, and then we went to the playground. We went down the slide a few times, I walked around the padded playground all by myself and refused to let Mom hold my hand, we got a "Wow, he's already walking at 12 months" comment from one of the other Mom's (yes, I'm a rock-star), and then I got to go in the baby swing. This part I loved the most! I did this all while holding my plastic recorder. (Mom couldn't pry it out of my hands without me freaking out). I didn't have a meltdown on the car ride back because I was too pooped and I slept the entire ride home, so it turned out to be worth the trip for Mom after all!

Spending The Night

Last night, after a fun-packed 'Monday with Grammie,' I got to sleep over...It was awesome! Mom needed to study for her exams, so I stayed the night and part of this morning to give her the extra time to do her study-business. I got to eat at Logan's Steakhouse with the Lazenby's and Rogers last night and stay up past my bedtime. Then, my Grammie and Aunt Lara took me to Hobby Lobby the following morning, where I got to get a few cool toys...a maraca, a long plastic whistle, and this funny thing you shake and it makes strange monkey sounds! The whistle was the coolest and I was surprised to find that I could blow into it and a funny noise would come out! It made me laugh every time. So I took my new toys to lunch at Full Moom BBQ, where Mommy and Gaga met up with us. I got to eat some yummy grilled cheese (a new favorite!) and play with my new whistle. When Mom tried to take away my new toys so I could eat, I would squeal with anger. I threw in a few angry scowls at everyone for good measure. I was totally pooped afterwards and fell asleep on the car ride home. It was a fun 24 hours...I got to eat out twice, which is always a great opportunity to cause a ruckus...and now Mom can count on some good solid naptime from me today because I wore myself out!

My Future Wife

(Photo curtesy of Taylor's blog.)

Mom, Dad, and I went to Auburn to visit my ‘Aunt’ Jenny and ‘Uncle’ Lance and their new baby daughter, Taylor Elizabeth. (Jenny is one of Mom's B.F.'s from college). She is one pretty little girl with ‘luscious’ lips like Angelina Jolie (as Megan Rogers would say). I’m sure she’s going to be a complete knock out when she gets older, so I’m telling my Mom that we need to be sure to keep in touch with them over the years! But I was really fascinated by Taylor’s cries…I kept looking at her like, “That little thing can make all that noise?” It was impressive…as was her stash of Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals in her crib and boy did I want to sink my teeth into a few of those. But Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me…but I did get to take a spin in Taylor’s cool activity center, so that entertained me for a while, while Mom rocked little Taylor.

Unfortunately, I was not on my best behavior when we were visiting. I didn’t nap very well on the car ride down, so when we got there, I was completely crabby. I was scowling a lot and taking swipes at my Mom…nobody else, just Mom…but I did give everyone my signature angry face to let them know I wasn’t happy.

As everyone knows, food is a key ingredient to keeping me happy…which is why I’m a little on the chubby side, I suppose. I got to try two new snacks on the car ride to and from Auburn and Mom was REALLY glad she packed these, because they kept me entertained for most of the trip. Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts (freeze dried whipped yogurt pieces) and ‘lil crunchies…the ‘lil crunchies being my absolute favorite! They’re like whole grain Cheetos, without the orange cheese 'dust.' I love me some cheetos…I tried them for the first time at my school end-of-the-year party and they were awesome! I ate Cheetos and a chocolate chip cookie and Mom, who feeds me nothing but organic or healthy food, was shocked to see me eating junk! (Although Mom admits that my cheese quesadilla fetish isn’t exactly healthy, but it keeps me happy and allows Mom and Dad to eat out at their favorite Mexican restaurants, so she allows them.) But anyway, she figured a few junk snacks here and there are okay, as long as it’s not a regular occurrence. So, because I liked the cheetos, she bought me the ‘lil crunchies and I love them! I especially love to crush the puffed whole grain and corn snack with my fingers and I make a tough ‘don’t mess with me’ face as I do it, which apparently resembles the face I make when I’m pooping. I think Mom was intimidated…I am one tough dude because I can crush these corn snacks with my bare fingers -I'm not a force to be reckoned with!

Another food update: Mom let me have cow's milk instead of formula this weekend since I'm officially old enough to drink it...not bad not bad...much better than that powdered milk stuff I've been drinking! I'm not sure if it will totally replace the formula (Mom needs to research that), but it may substitute it occasionally...yum!

Dad Thinks It's So Funny...

...that I keep hitting my mommy and giving her a mean scowl every time. I don't know what my deal is, but everytime Mom gets near me to give me a kiss or hug me or snuggle with me, I give her the 'back slowly away' face and then take a swipe. Dad was laughing uncontrollably this evening when he was playing with me and I toddled over to my mom (who was sitting on the couch because she wasn't feeling well), hit her, and then toddled back to resume playing with Dad. It was pretty random, I admit...but funny none the less...

BIRTHDAY DETAIL PHOTOS!

check out: http://www.shootstarphoto.com/blog/?p=1101

Mom likes the way Lori makes her out to be the next 'Martha Stewart!' She'll take that compliment any day! :)

New Words and Dog Drama

I haven’t been able to post my ‘one year’ slide show yet, post B-day pics, or update much lately, thanks to Mom’s busy study schedule (Architecture exams left and right…boo!) But I wanted to do a quick update on some of my new words lately:

-Balloon…thanks to my birthday balloons, I have a new favorite thing. I must hold the string to my ‘ba-lloon’ (or sometimes I just call it ‘boon’ for short) at all times and when I see it in the room and it’s not in my hand, I just repeat ‘ba-lloon…ba-lloon’ over and over until my parents give it. It’s also the first word I say when I wake up from a nap these days. And boy, do I pitch a fit when they take it away from me…
-Uh-oh…you’ve heard this one already, but did you know that I can appropriately apply it to scenarios? Like, when Dad and Mom were driving me in the car, I tooted and said ‘Uh-oh.’ Mom and Dad laughed pretty hard about this one.
-Oh, wow…I learned this from Mom and I use it A LOT! Mom usually says it when she opens my diaper and there is poop in there…
-Whoa…Another favorite…and another one I learned from Mom opening my diaper to find the stinkiness that is my poop…
-Poop…I actually pronounce this ‘Boof,’ but mom gets my drift really quick when she smells it…I’ve been ‘boof-ing’ a lot lately…every diaper change, in fact for the past 2 days…
-Book…I’ve been saying this for months, but Mom gets a kick out of it when she’s holding me and I’m saying ‘Book’ because I want her to read…
-Bottle is still a word I’m repeating these days…and boy do I like my bottle or ‘bobble’
-Duck...Dad taught me this…I’ve got a few ducks that go in the bath with me…
-Ball…not sure where I learned this, but I like this word…
-Dog…been saying it for a while, but Mom and Dad love the way I say it…’DAAAWWWGGG’ like a true Southern boy…not sure where I got my Southern accent from, but Uncle Chris, a big Georgia fan, would be proud…

Speaking of dogs, I had a very bad thing happen on Tuesday night. Bianca, the Italian Greyhound who is usually my buddy, bit me...or scratched me…my parents aren’t sure because it happened so quickly…and on the FACE! My parents freaked out, almost killed the dog (not really, but wanted to), but I’m alright. I cried pretty hard at first, but quickly recovered and was playing hard minutes afterwards. My parents have always been worried about Bianca…she has a ‘superiority complex’ that makes her think she owns everyone and everything. Bella, the crazy one, is sweet to me. But still, Mom and Dad have always been cautious with me around the dogs because they know that animals can snap over little things. I unfortunately was walking around the living room and fell into Bianca’s basket where she was lying and I partially landed on her…so it was a protective instinctual thing. But I was apparently trying to hit the dogs that day (according to Gram, when she babysat me) and that could have also contributed to it. So anyway, bottom line………the dogs are not allowed near me unless I’m in my pack-n-play or being held by my parents. A sad reality, but if it happened once, it could happen again and it could have a far worse result… Animals and babies don’t mix, regardless of how sweet or friendly they usually are. Mom and Dad are just thankful that it didn’t break the skin or worse…

On another note, hitting, scratching, and biting have been a few things I've done to my Mom and Dad lately. I broke skin on my Dad's face after I scratched him and when my Mom makes me mad, I hit her in the face (a 'mean' face proceeds the hitting, typically). They're not sure where I learned this (school, maybe?), but they don't like it! I, on the other hand, like to show them who's boss...me!

And Then There Were Three...

7 years ago…7 long years, according to Dad this morning…my parents joined in holy matrimony. On June 1st, 2002 at 2:00, my Mom and Dad tied the knot at Asbury United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. But Mom and Dad have officially been together for 12 years, because they dated 5 years before marriage. So it took them 11 years before the addition of wonderful me. Geez, what took ya? Little did they know, this year would easily be the best year of all…not to be confused with the easiest year, but definitely the best…because I’m a handful! But I’m darn cute and that makes up for all of it! But Mom and Dad waited for several years to have me because they wanted to travel and ‘enjoy freedom’ while they could. And they said it was great. But then I came. And they said it was wonderful. So you’re welcome, Mom and Dad…and Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary!

Birthday update to follow shortly! Here's a sneek peak...http://www.shootstarphoto.com/blog/?p=1082