Declan's First Birthday!

It's been a year! Maybe time for reminences later, but right now, I'm trying to upload pictures, answer email, organize files, get dressed and get ready for a hair appointment, so I'm doing good to get pictures up here this morning.


We took his 12 month pictures on Saturday, and then let him into the backyard to explore and play. He got dirty, of course. He's a boy. He had to taste a couple of rocks, but I think everyone survived that experience.

I will say, he's getting squirmier every month I try to take his pictures. Daniel had to help hold him still, and then we finally gave up and went into the backyard. I think I took 95 pictures, and kept about 12.





Going outside.




Exploring grass.




We gave him his birthday present a couple of days early, since my mom has to leave on his actual birthday. He got a Radio Flyer rocking bouncy pony.

At first, he wasn't too sure what this was.


And he had to have help to stay on.


"What the heck is this??"


"Do I sit like this?"


"Oh hey, this might be fun."


Next day...

"Yep, this is fun!"


"But riding horses is tiring."


Then it's time for a mommy ride.


He loves his Meme.






Story time with Meme

Watch Him Grow - ps

I showed the post to Daniel, and he laughed and said the last 8 pictures are basically watching his hair grow.

Watch Him Grow

Birth


1 Month Old


2 Months Old


3 Months Old


4 Months Old


5 Months Old


6 Months Old


7 Months Old


8 Months Old


9 Months Old


10 Months Old


11 Months Old


11.5 Months Old (My latest picture of him)

Some Stolen Time

I'm taking Declan's precious nap time this afternoon and using it to catch up on email, pictures, blogs, etc, instead of painting the bathroom or doing some cooking. I'm way behind in my pictures and writing. I've been very productive on all other fronts though. :)

I initially gave myself 6 weeks to finish my bathroom, and I think I'll get there. The painting is coming along okay. As I said, I'm sacrificing a couple hours this afternoon, but I'll do it after the little guy goes to bed tonight, instead. I have to give everything 2 coats, and it seems that in this bathroom, there aren't any easy sections. It's either around the vanity, over the tub, behind the toilet. Actually, I'm saving the big flat walls for last. I should probably be changing the light fixtures right now, but no, I said I'd work on this stuff instead. It's light in the evenings now, so I can do it one night after work. I've got the areas around the new lights painted, so I can do it at any time and finish painting later.

Still to do in there: hang the towel bar, find and hang a new toilet paper holder, find or make a new shower curtain, and find a new bathroom rug. Oh yeah, either find or make some new shelves, or paint the old ones and put them back up. And of course, the final clean up. But it is taking shape.

As I'm writing this, the wind is going crazy outside. Another typical Texas wind storm. I don't remember the wind blowing this hard and this frequently in Virginia or Illinois.

So far this weekend, I've managed to bake a butter pound cake (it was an experiment, since my last one flopped), bake more blueberry oat bran mini muffins for the little guy's breakfasts, paint a couple walls in the guest bath, steam some veggies for the week, go to Sam's Club, run the vacuum cleaner, play with my son, cut out fabric to make a shirt for him, hem some of his pants and go to a farmer's market. We didn't get to pick our own strawberries though; the weather was too bad.

Besides learning his first sign, he's making great progress in learning to walk. He can probably walk on his own, but he doesn't have the courage to yet. He can toddle while holding on with just one hand.

Declan's also figured out how to use a spoon, flip a light switch and use a toothbrush. Sorta. Mainly he chews on it, but I figure that's gotta count, right?

Okay, pictures...

We went to a park last weekend and let him crawl around the grass. He thought it was great, although I think he got annoyed that we kept taking the grass out of his hand after he pulled it up. I think he only ate 1 leaf. ;)





"Hey, what happened to the green stuff I grabbed?"



I got him at breakfast one morning. He's like both his parents - he doesn't wake up very fast. He looks like he's thinking, "geez, mom, give it a rest. I haven't even had my bottle yet."



Here he is using a spoon. He got the concept over about a week. It went from him learning to hold onto it, to putting it in his mouth, and today, he got the idea of scooping stuff out of the bowl with his spoon and putting it in his mouth. He's not any good at it, but he getting the idea.



He loves music. This interactive music table was a great gift for him.


And here he is with his toothbrush. Granted, he does have to be in a decent mood, otherwise, he just cries and pushes it away. Very effectively

Declan's First Sign / Word

He can't talk yet, aside from calling everything 'da da'. But on Thursday, he made the sign for "milk" at dinner and he did it very deliberately, looking at each of us and bouncing up and down in his high chair. So we gave him his milk and hoped we could get him to repeat it. We can't. But at least he did it once!

A Relaxing View

Sometimes I just have to take a moment and realize that I'm lucky and I can get out of my fluorescent-lit, ugly cubicle and take a walk on a pretty day and see something like this.



At least there's a few patches of pretty nature nearby when I'm working.

Bed Head and Chill Time with Daddy

Major bed head. He just woke up and isn't too sure he's ready to be awake yet. Just like me in the morning.



Chilling out with Dad on the couch. I think they were watching The Colbert Report.

My Parents' Visit

So I'm finally getting around to the pictures and everything a couple weeks late. It's been a busy time. Little guy is getting more active, and I had a good book to read (The Name of the Wind) plus a bathroom to work on. Finished the book, got the bathroom walls sanded and started priming, so I decided to take some time and work on my pictures this weekend while the little guy is napping.

We tried shoes for the very first time. A pair of sandals.


They didn't go over very well.


Here's Declan with his granddad.


We went to Ikea one day to get shelves for my garage. So of course, we had to put him in the egg chair, shades of The Prisoner.


Then he got to try on Granddad's hat. Looking a little gansta there.


He absolutely adored the sheepskin rugs and buried his face in them for 5 minutes.


Daddy attacked him with the sheepskin dusters and that was funny.


A couple days later, we went to see the endangered Attwater's Prairie Chicken breeding facility at NASA.


Daddy ride on the way to the breeding pens.


Declan loved watching the chickens walk around and hoot. They do this neat little dance where they stomp their feet really fast, then puff up their feathers and hoot at all the lady birds. I'm sure if you're a lady prairie chicken, it's very exciting.




Learning to walk with Meme. You'll notice we gave up on the sandals and stuck with socks. They can be washed.


One last hug from Granddad before they head back home.




It was great to see my parents. I wish we lived closer together. Plus my mom helped me organize my garage and my dad helped me tear out some awkward shelves and put in something better. Now I can actually use my garage to do work in, not just to shove crap in.