Category: Milestones

The Tiny Vacation

This weekend we took you to Stillwater, Minnesota. It was only 40 minutes from our house but felt like a world away. Our intention was to spend the night, get up the next day to see the frozen St. Croix River and do a little window shopping on it’s charming streets.

The Water Street Inn and Stillwater Lift Bridge

We stayed in a great hotel called the Water Street Inn with a large bed, a fireplace, a setee which looked like it came from the 1930s and three large, tall picture windows. The TV was in a cabinet that we barely even opened. And momma and daddy’s bed was a large, carved relic from an earlier age (or perhaps, made to look like one).

Our amazingly big room

But it was too cold, so it became a little jaunt to a tiny local brewer, a mexican meal at Nacho Mama’s (which, as it turned out, was far too spicy for daddy’s palette), some Saturday shopping and staying near our hotel.

Eating at Nacho Mamma's

The Inn was very charming though. There was a pub downstairs, a formal receiving room and a great set of dining rooms.  And there was a tub in our room! Mamma wanted to get into the whirlpool jaccuzi, but the jets were far too loud to allow you to sleep. We still managed to have fun. You got to see an Irish band play a couple of songs (you watched from the door), ate at the restaurant twice and absolutely shocked your mother by saying “hi, da da!” very plainly when I joined you at the table.

Just after saying "Hi, dada!"

You did wake up fussing in the middle of the night, which turned into screaming; we weren’t sure if it was your teething or if you were just scared at being in a different place. But after about a half hour, daddy rocked, sung and snuggled you back to sleep (and pulled his back in the process). On the way home, daddy stopped to shoot some pictures while mommy guarded you in the car and you slept all the way back. It was a fun weekend, even though it didn’t exactly turn out as we’d planned.

Sorry, buddy. Not your bed this time.

At the crossroads of Milestones and Awesomeness

Well, you did it. Tonight, while you and daddy were playing on the floor, you let go of your table, turned, and walked a solid five steps! Mommy missed it because she was in the shower, but it was pretty great. (No video yet, but we’ll get some soon enough, I’m sure).

Other things you’ve done this month that are pretty awesome:

  • You’ve started to pick up books, turn pages and make noises (like you’re reading to us)
  • You pointed to objects in the book and are excited when we tell you what they are. You really enjoy reading time.
  • Your words are getting more frequent and you say “hi” softly when you see people you know. We swear you’ve also tried to say “apple”.
  • You grew some new teeth (incisors and molars, which made sleeping tough for you).
  • You’ve started to imitate daddy’s laugh with a frightening amount of accuracy.

So many more exciting things to come!

Catching up

It’s been a little while since we posted, so we have some catching up to do!

This past weekend, mommy was sick so daddy spent the entire day taking care of you. It was a lot of fun. You even did your time in “baby jail” with great aplomb. You’re ready for Christmas it seems, since you’ve paid more attention to the lights and tree this week. You’re even taking a bath out of the safety chair (but within a finger’s reach of mom or dad).

You’ve been eating nearly all “table food”. So far your favorites include fresh banana, veggie meatballs & soy yogurt. You’ve not yet mastered the spoon to mouth thing, but your ability to pick things up in a “pinch” is unparalleled.

You’ve also found it funny to stand up on and try to walk around nearly everything you can get your hands on. In fact, tonight we played a little game where you crawled back and forth down the hall between mom and dad.

Santa, Baby!

We had a great Thanksgiving with friends and you sat at the table and ate with us. On Friday, while out looking for Christmas presents, we got your picture with Santa Claus! Of course, with your predilection for beards, Santa was nearly as fun as a pirate.

Your first pic with Santa. And of course, it's in a pirate-like hoody and pants.

In other news, you’ve really mastered the finger food thing. Your favorite so far? Tofu!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMPBELL!

WOW. We can’t believe it’s been a whole year, but today is your birthday! We had a party for you at the Minnesota Zoo, themed “Sea Creatures” since it seems to be your favorite part of the zoo.

Many of our new friends attended:

  • Jack, Emmet & Ollie Wilcox
  • Joy,  Audrey, Molly & Maddy Himmer
  • Steve, Carter & Charlie Crane
  • Todd, Gracie, Adi & Gavin Dexter
  • Jud, Katrina & Luna Kilgore
  • Jason Johnson & Rachelle Traut
  • Molly Murphy & Ben

Of course Grandpa Boyd and Grandma Belinda. And joining us via Skype were Mimi & Doc.

We started with some activities while you ate your lunch, then the rest of the crew had pizza. There was coloring, a little talk about dolphins and finally CAKE (Although your cake was made up of many cupcakes). You were a little reluctant to eat the cupcake at first, but mommy and Grandma Belinda finally coaxed you into it.

After that we all went into the Tropics section of the zoo, the Minnesota Trail section and finally, the Undersea section. Our guests had to leave, but the family remained to take a tram ride around the park.

You also got a few things from the party, but we asked that people bring toys for Toys-for-Tots (for kids not as lucky and fortunate as you).  You even stayed up in the car and hummed all the way home.

I hope you had a good day! We love you. Happy First Birthday.

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As One Year approaches

It’s amazing what you’ve been able to do in the last month or so. Since we came back from your Uncle Todd’s wedding, you’ve sat up on your own (and you do it often), you crawl around like mad and just recently, we’ve seen you standing in your crib. Of course, mommy is no longer worried about you walking and daddy has started worrying about you falling.   🙂

Here are two videos from Nov. 3rd and 4th to show the world your progress:

The Distracted Eater & Other Tales of Growth

 

Yesterday you were a little hard to feed. Between talking up a storm, making smacking noises and laughing at mommy in the background, you were quite funny. This video is a little sample of about 7 minutes of trying to get you to finish one jar of food.

Today you astounded mommy with another new skill; you pulled yourself up in your crib! Not long before you’re running up and down the hallway. No video of that yet, but when I do, I’m sure all your readers will be interested in seeing that.

Uh oh…

Well, you did it. You finally made some forward progress on the floor. Mommy told me how you “crab crawled” across the floor (while I was at work) to get a toy. Tonight you showed us a little of what’s going to be many nights of chasing you.

You’ve also been VERY vocal this week. In fact, it’s sort of been hard to feed you at night since you’ve decided that making raspberries is much more fun with a mouthful of food. However, tonight you did something I’d not yet seen. Unfortunately, I only captured a short bit of it. But trust me… you were doing this non-stop for about ten minutes prior:

Swimming Lessons and Apple Juice

Today you had a couple of firsts. It was your first official swimming lesson (You’ve been in a pool a few times and like it, but with all this water around, we want you to have some “formal” training). Unfortunately the YMCA wouldn’t let me take pictures, but I was able to sneak in a video or two before they shut us down. However, you’re now officially a “SEA TURTLE” according to the Y.


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We celebrated your swimming success by breakfast at the Bryant Lake Bowl. You quietly ate little Cheerio like things. You were doing so well, Mommy decided to try something new: Apple juice! You weren’t entirely sure what do to with the cold, sweet stuff, but once you got a solid taste of it, you gulped it down.