Just for fun!

I had a bunch of pictures in the camera and on the computer that I thought I would post just for fun and a video from messing around tonight at dinner. This might be the strangest little boy ever, for dinner tonight we had chicken fajitas. He mowed through 8 strips of bell pepper, 4 red and 4 green, and 4 chunks of chicken. I've never seen a kiddo his size eat bell pepper, must be my exemplary cooking ability. :) Probably helps that he got his six tooth and seventh and eighth all in about 9 days. After 6 weeks of fussiness waiting for number six we couldn't figure out why he was still cranky, because there were two more teeth just beneath the surface. Hopefully we can get a little break before the next round. We are also in the process of trying to night ween him so that mama can get some more sleep. That's just a mini update on the boy, now on to the fun pictures.

Aunt Renee gave us these knee protectors since we have all tile in our house to help cushion his knees while he's crawling. Unfortunately, Ari doesn't have one size fits all legs, they were a little small for his chubby thighs.

Ari and I were left to our own devices on Saturday while mama went to a board meeting for Desert Dove. I went into the kitchen to throw away his applesauce container and when I turned around this is what I saw. I guess we didn't get as much in his mouth as I thought. :)
Is this a cute face or what, with or without a cheerio on his cheek?
Saturday night's bath shenanigans. Gotta love the baby mowhawk!
I'm glad he has decided it's cool to smile for the camera now.
Check out this boy's curls! And it just keeps getting curlier!
Not much to say about this video except TA DA! Just some dinner time fun.

One Year Dr. Appointment

Yesterday we took Ari in for his one year check up, on his birthday no less. We were a little disappointed when we got there and found out that his normal doctor, Dr. Bean was on vacation. No one told us he would be out when we scheduled the appointment. So Dr. Shee was covering for him and much to our satisfaction we liked her a little better that Dr. Bean. She seemed a little more attentive to Ari where Dr. Bean I think focuses more on us. If we could put them both together we'd be seeing the busiest Dr. in town. But let's get back to what's important here and that would be Ari.

He weighed in at 21lbs 13ozs, he's 30" in length and his head was 48 cm. That puts him in the 50th, 50th, and 90th percentile respectively. To give you and idea of how much he's grown, when he was born he weighed 5lbs 7ozs and was 17.5" in length. So he's quadrupled his weight and almost doubled his length in a year. Man the fridge is gonna be empty when he's a teenager. Most importantly he's a healthy little boy!

Unfortunately, he had to get shots yesterday. Three of them to be exact and he was none to crazy about them. He was already screaming when we laid him down because now that's he mobile he doesn't have time to just lay down, even for diaper changes. Fortunately the two nurses that we've had give him shots are very quick. It just seems so traumatic for the little fella. Today was no different than most following shots, he was pretty cranky all day probably from being a little sore. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and if not then by Monday when Momma doesn't have any backup.

Here's a little retrospective. From this....
to this in just one year!

Happy 1st Birthday

Well folks, as of last night at 7:05 we officially made it through one year! We have some catching up to do here so lets get right to it. It seems as though our little man learns something new everyday. It's amazing to see the changes in him. Currently he can sign daddy, milk, more, eat & all done. He says mama and if you ask him if he wants a bath he says, " bah bah" very softly, it's very cute. He can also tell you what sound a doggy makes as he starts to pant. He is a crawling master at this point. He doesn't seem all that interested in walking just yet but you can tell he's dieing to go faster. He does cruise along the furniture more and more each day so I'm sure it won't be long. In the afternoons when I come home if he's not sleeping, he usually hears my truck pull up and starts making a beeline for the door to greet me with a smile and a kiss. Let me tell you that's not a bad thing to come home to, twice as many kisses! Kisses are another one of his new skills, Cara gets all the credit for working on that with him.

Last weekend we had a party for Ari, his cousin Ian who will turn 3 on the 13th and Papa who is turning 60 on the 15th. It was a great turn out, lots of friends and family. We even had a surprise visit from Aunt Robin, my dad's sister who lives in Kentucky. She was here hanging out with her sister Susan, so we had all my dad's siblings together at once. But enough family reunion, let's get to the good stuff.

I just had to throw this one in, Cara says I make this face. Probably when she's telling me I make that face is when I do.
Mom and Ari in the pool before presents.
You have to keep your eye on these two they are hell raisers, Kaitlin and Camden.
This was my Dad's present from my cousin in law Vanessa. It's a Spiderman Pez dispenser, I think she's still bitter about my Dad luring her into his Elvis Pez dispenser at our Christmas white elephant gift exchange a few years ago.
Cousin Ian, this boy loves him some cars!
Check out the size of this ball.
New clothes.
Unwrapping an eco-friendly dump truck. It's made from all recycled goods. It was a big hit.
The best cup in the world was from Aunt Renee and her crew. The straw has a flared bottom so he can't pull it out. He didn't put it down for a while. Fortunately for him Mom is testing it to make sure that it's totally kid approved. There might be a power struggle involving the cup someday.
Cake time!
I'm not sure about this....
Ok, I'm sure!!
I can't wait to see what the next year holds for this little boy! Oh wait, that's when the terrible two's start, maybe I can wait a little longer.

11 Months

Ok, so you got us... we never did the 10 month post. However the pics in this post were taken around 10 months - so consider this a combo post. :)

Ari started crawling a couple weeks ago, see previous entries for video of his cute one-knee-one-foot crawling. He started pulling himself up to stand about a week and a half ago and has already figured out how to sit himself back down gently and cruise the furniture a little. He is definitely into everything now and we are still not finished baby proofing... which just means I keep a very close eye on him. Heh, like I can do anything else. His separation anxiety has actually gotten better the last couple weeks but he still often screams when I leave the room. Now that he is mobile he wants nothing to do with things like carseats and diaper changes either - he is way too busy for such things!

He is loving his solid foods. Some of his favorites are: blueberries, sweet potatoes (still), cheerios, graham crackers, bread, bananas, yogurt, peas. He absolutely does not like eggs thus far, nor plain pasta. Not a big fan of cheese yet either, although he will eat a little bit. He will eat rice, green beans, chicken, carrots etc - pretty much any veggie or fruit we give him. He also likes oatmeal now, which he didn't used to. Some surprising things he has decided are tasty: artichoke and steak. Go figure. He will let us feed him but more and more prefers to feed himself finger foods. We have not worked on a sippy cup with him but he LOVES drinking water with a straw. And of course he still loves to nurse.

He mostly says "bah bah blah blah" but lately I have actually heard a couple (unintentional I'm sure) "ma ma"s in his babble. He has five teeth and has been miserable for the past week and a half with the sixth and seventh ones coming in.

I can't believe he will be a year old in only a month! He has gotten cuter and cuter, and more fun as well, these past few months. He is starting to look like a toddler to me know instead of a baby.

A few more things about Ari before I post pics:
- he loves to zerbert/raspberry mom - any bare skin will do but belly is preferable. ;)
- he is starting to wave.
- he dances like a little white boy to music.
- he gets SO excited when dad comes home.
- I'm pretty sure he knows what quite a few words mean, including milk, water, all done?, daddy, nana, papa, more, etc.

Pump you up...

Hans and Frans and their little puny cousin Arnold won't have anything on Ari pretty soon. Ari told me he was feeling a little flabby and wanted to get rid of some of his baby fat so I started him on a workout routine. In case you're wondering his shirt says, 100% Muscle Lightweight Div.

We started light with the 0.5oz weights.
We're still working on form.
You gotta flex afterward so you can see your results.

Cara's Birthday Party

So about a week ago I decided to throw Cara a birthday party on Sunday. I didn't let her in on the secret till a couple of days before the party and she was in disbelief. Last year Aunt Piper was kind enough to include her in Mikaela's birthday party. I figure everyone deserves to have a party thrown for them even if their age becomes surprisingly stagnant once they hit 30. Cara has a few years yet before we start using the new math. We had a good time with friends and family and even Cassie, Cara's niece, came in from San Diego to help us celebrate.

Present time.
Everett and Papa checking out the presents.
Oooh, now he's hanging out with his momma. None of the youngest bunch of kiddos had great nights of sleep as all have some sickness they are dealing with.
Ari was excited for presents. He'll be more excited when he get to help open them. In a little over a month they'll be all his.
Can I have some ham with that cheese? Here they are!!

Watch the police and the tax man miss me....

I'm mobile!! That's lyrics from a Who song for those of you non rock and roll fans. Our little man has figured out forward mobility. Nana Mary took this video for us last weekend. Since then Ari will try to get anything just as long as the goal isn't too far away. We're not sure what the deal with the leg is just yet. Could be a crab or maybe he wants to be a pirate??? Just as long as it's working for him.

Redneck paradise...

So for those of you who always thought I was joking when I talked about living in the ghetto, well here you go! This is the remnants of the previous night's redneck ho-down. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of the neighbors in there as well. There were no less than four people in the back of the truck the night before drinking beer. It's an early 50's Chevy truck, primer gray but I'm pretty sure it runs. The HOA wouldn't let it sit out there for too long if it didn't run. Of course we are worried about decreased property values from such classy acts, but ironically one of the neighbors in the back of the truck is trying to sell his house. Holy hell!!

Sittin' up machine

It's been about 2 weeks since our little man first sat up on his own. We figured it might take him another 2 weeks to remember he could do it, like he did with rolling over for a while. We figured wrong! The first couple of days after his first success he only sat up a couple of times a day, but since about day five he's become a sittin' up master. It won't be long until we are wishing for the days when he would actually stay in the same spot you put him for more than 5 seconds.

Ari's a little slow in this one because he's trying to figure out what Mom is doing.


Same video as the last one just a little longer and from the other side. One of his favorite toys is the top to a block/shape match which has holes in it so it whistles.


Yes we use plastic bottles as incentive. That's like recycling isn't it?

Birthday Party

No not for our little man sillies, for cousin Mikaela! Last weekend we went to Phoenix to help celebrate cousin Mikaela's 5th birthday. Ari wasn't crazy about being in the car for that long again but he was also cutting a couple of teeth. Everyone seemed to have a good time so it was worth the trip. Thanks to Aunt Renee for sending us photos since we forgot to bring our camera.

Party time!!
Hangin' with cousin Kaitlin. It's short lived but at least we go the picture. KK is all dolled up because she came straight from a dance competition.
A couple of proud mommas!!
What family resemblance??