Happy 1st Birthday!

Our sweet little boy has blessed our lives for an entire year now.  I can remember the day he was born like it was yesterday...the stay at the hospital, taking him home for the first time, those first few days of us getting acquainted with each other.  All of the magical moments that were created this past year will be remembered forever. 

With the luck that Alan and I have, it's bound to pass down to our kids.  And an example of this is that Paxton's 1st birthday landed on Friday the 13th.  We made sure he steered clear of any ladders and didn't touch any mirrors.

We threw a big monkey themed birthday bash at our neighborhood park.  Monkey cupcakes, his own monkey cake, monkey party favors, bananas and monkeys everywhere…add in about 30 guests and we had a great party!  We’re so thankful for such supportive family and friends.  They were all as excited as we were about our little guy turning 1.  Paxton had a great time playing with all of his friends at the park.  After lunch, we sat him in his highchair and gave him his own cake.  Everyone sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him and we expected him to dive in to the yummy, sugar-filled cake sitting in front of him.  He studied it for a bit, then stuck one finger in the frosting, tasted it and realized shortly after that this was CAKE, so he was all about it!  There was frosting everywhere by the time he was done. 

Later on, after his sugar crash and a quick nap, Paxton opened his gifts.  He was more interested in the paper…oh, and a helium filled balloon that he would take everywhere he went.  And when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE.  We bought tunnels and a ball pit for him, and he would take that dang balloon through the tunnels!  He cracks us up!  Another thing this silly boy does is pull the tailgate down on his new Cozy Coupe truck, crawl into the truck bed and stand up with a huge smile on his face.  Scares us to death, but he loves it. 

We had such a great time celebrating Paxton’s birthday.  Thanks to everyone that helped make it special!

Click here to see some pictures from the party.

We're Walking...We're Walking...

Paxton has turned into a walking machine!  It literally took him a weekend to learn how to walk.  And, it just so happened to be Mother's Day weekend...what a great gift :-) 

He had been standing up on his own for a couple of weeks, but last weekend, he decided he wanted to start walking.  We kept thinking, oh it's going to take a month or so, but he surprised us once again!  Paxton started off pulling himself up to his feet using furniture or grabbing on to our pants...now he's able to stand up completely on his own.  He'll take about 10 steps, then plop right down on his bottom.  Thank goodness for the extra diaper padding to break his fall!

To celebrate, little Pax and I went to buy him some new shoes.  He decided on two pair (like mommy, he can't choose just one), some Nikes and some cute DCs.  Although he's not the biggest fan of keeping his shoes on, he sure does like to take them off and chew on em!  We're still getting him used to wearing and walking in them.  Oh, and this kid's feet are huge...size 5s seem to fit the best - they're like water skis!  He's going to be tall like his daddy.

Here are some videos of Paxton walking like a little penguin :-)

Say Cheese!

Can you believe that Paxton is 10 days away from his first birthday?!  Oh my gosh, it kills me.

We took him to get his 1 year pictures taken over the weekend.  Once he woke up that morning, we got him ready and sprayed his curls down to his head.  Unfortunately though, the wind was RE-DICULOUSLY strong that day...I think it was God's way of telling us that his hair is just fine when it's curly.  Sometimes though, when he wakes up sweaty, his hair is SO curly that he looks like an old woman who just got a tight perm, no joke.  Anyways, I digress...back to the photo session.  Paxton was such a good boy, the only thing is it was hard to get him to look up at the camera.  For the most part, he was too occupied in a piece of hay he found on the ground.  And if he didn't have the hay in his hand, he would be eating rocks.  Oh, and the hat and tie caused a lot of frustration...A LOT!  Pax absolutely does not like anything on his head or around his neck.  He ripped the hat and tie off every time we put them on him.  The poor photographer had to have the camera ready with her finger hovering over the shoot button so that we could throw the hat on him and she would take the picture.  There was literally about .002 milliseconds of time for her to get the picture before he would take it off.  This kid is fast!

The worst part of the day was me locking the keys in the trunk of the car, not once...but twice.  Luckily, our friends from Austin were in town staying at our house and they were able to bring the spare keys to us. 

The photographer was amazing, she took the best pictures!  They came out so cute!!!  Below are some of my favorites.  

If you want to see more, click here:  Paxton 1 Year Pictures



This is how windy it was!


 

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Paxton and his boy Greyson showing off their beach bods

Paxton went swimming for the first time last weekend...well, if you don't count swimming in the bath tub, that is!  We went to a friend's son's 4th birthday party at an indoor water park.  They had a separate section for kids with only 11 inches of water and some slides.  It was perfect for Pax.  He loved being in the water.  He would crawl all around, in and out of the pool.  He'd take a few swigs of water here and there and act like it was no big deal.  And when kids ran past him, splashing water all over his face, he wiped it off and went on his merry little way.  Paxton and his little friend, Greyson, who is just a few months younger than him, had a great time splish-splashing around.  They had plenty of fun together!

I'm so happy we have a little water baby...he wasn't afraid one bit!  Looks like we'll be spending lots of time at the pool this summer...and I'm totally looking forward to it!!! :-)

 

He Grows Up And He Grows Up

This little boy of ours isn't so little anymore.  He's disliking baby food more and more - who wouldn't?  He will literally swat the spoon full of goop away as we try to feed it to him.  Hey, he likes what he likes, and baby food isn't at the top of the list.  We have about 30 jars of it left, so I'm trying to give it to him along with 'real' food just so that it doesn't go to waste.  In fact, just recently I've had to start cooking for him.  It's actually fun finding different foods he likes.  So far, he seems to enjoy hamburger meat, spaghetti, bacon, eggs, twizzlers, mac and cheese, apples, yogurt, and most of all, Cheerios!  He still loves his formula too...but only when it's in a bottle.  We've tried the whole sippy cup thing, but he refuses to drink out of it.  I figure we can wait on that one a little while longer...

So, the other day at lunch, we thought as a treat we'd order Paxton his own meal...for the first time!  This was a momentous occasion for us, we took pictures and everything...it's the little things in life that make it so great.  As we were ordering, I'm sure the waitress was wondering why we would order a whole meal for a baby.  We got him a grilled cheese sandwich and fries off the kids menu.  Since it's from the kids menu, it would certainly be 'kid size', right?  Nope!  This thing was big enough to feed and fill up a grown male.  Anyway, the food was ready and the moment the heavy ceramic plate was set down in front of him, I was worried that in his normal fashion, he would grab it and toss it to the floor.  Luckily, he knew exactly what to do.  He immediately picked up a french fry and started gnawing on it with his toothless gums.  We cut up the grilled cheese and he loved it!
Sidenote:  Yes, it's true, our 10 1/2 month old still does not have one tooth.  We're hoping he'll get one for his birthday. 

In addition to the 'growing up' theme for the weekend, we broke down and installed the new big boy carseats in both of our cars.  And, although the old carrier was nice to lug him around in if he was still sleeping upon arrival to wherever we went, Pax was just too long and heavy for it anymore.  I know I looked like a fool trying to carry that thing around with it throwing off my balance each step I took.  So, the new seats are in and the old ones are out.  Check that one off the list.

And, to top it ALL off, Paxton is turning 1 in less than 2 months.  I.Can't.Believe.It.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Ok, so maybe we didn't see any tigers or bears, but we sure did see some lions!

The weather was perfect and we had the day off from work, so we thought it would be fun to take Pax to the zoo for the very first time.  One of our first stops once we got there was the Children's part of the zoo.  Paxton got to pet a goat.  He makes his own little goat sounds all the time, so what a perfect time to meet the real deal! 

After that, we took a stroll by the monkey cages.  Daddy would point them out to Paxton so he was able to see them.  He actually seemed pretty interested!  He would follow them as they walked across the cage.

Then, it was off to the bigger animals.  On the walk over, we saw flamingos, anteaters, and some other fun little animals.  We finally made it over to see some elephants, zebras, gorillas and impalas.  Right next door were the giraffes.  It was so neat that we were able to walk right up to these tall animals!  Someone gave us some lettuce to feed them...we tried to get little man to hold it out to the giraffe, but he wouldn't, so Alan did instead.  Afterwards, we went over to the lions den.  Paxton was able to sit up close and see them through the glass only about 1 foot away!  He didn't seem as amazed as we were though, hehehe!

It was so much fun taking our little boy to the zoo for the first time.  We'll definitely have to go back!  I'm sure Paxton would appreciate it more once he's a little bit older.

King of the jungle

Elephants are his favorite (they have to be, his room is full of them)

Hello goat

(More zoo pictures can be found on the Photo Albums tab)

Let's Go To The Park

I took little man to the park for the first time last week.  It was such a nice day, but just too windy.  We could only stay for a little bit because Paxton is just like mommy, he hates the wind.  So, the next weekend, Alan and I decided we'd try to take him again.  He sat in the swing and had such a great time.  Soon enough, he'll be running around the park playing on the monkey bars and sliding down the slides.  I wish we could keep him little forever!  If you watch the video below, rest assured that he didn't fall out of the swing at the end...his weight shifted as he reached for his hat and he moved forward...slightly.