1st Father's Day

Happy 1st Father's Day Da-Da!!
My cousin's Ashlyn & Austin and Uncle Jamie

They are trying to teach me how to spell my name with these blocks

Cousin Austin trying to eat an apple to make his tooth come out!!

My cousins handed down their puppy to me and I LOVE HER!!

My GREAT GRANDMA Theda with Granddad and Dad!

Happy "93rd" Birthday Great Grandma Theda!!

Are you serious??? This is my room for the night??? It's PINK!!!!

Put my food right there!!

This is a pretty old timey high chair BUT it's so COMFY!!

Okay MaMa... the total for DaDa's Father's Day present is...... oh darn...the paper got stuck!!

I can feel my new teeth coming in!

Swimming with my cousin's!!

Grandma...are you finished water walking yet???

Granddad...you don't look so scary out here next to Grandma's rose bushes!

Are you sure that rose bush will give me an ouchie ???

They want me to play with scarves???? They are itchy!!!

I like the balls MUCH BETTER!!

Us three guys hanging out at Hungry's for lunch! ( My Gymboree friends Nikko & Taylor)

Well we started this week off with " Sleepless in Cypress" which pretty much continued throughout the week and weekend to include "Conroe and Tyler" but by the time we got home on Father's Day Jaxton's front teeth had FINALLY pushed through and we were able to sleep through the night again..WHEW...can't wait for the next ones to come in...NOT!!!!

We had a really fun week though...we had our usual trips to Gymboree and all the Mom's keep cheering Jaxton on to crawl BUT all he does is gets up on all fours and then scoots backwards until he is sitting again BUT he does want to pull up on EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME. I guess we should enjoy these last few non-mobile days of his before we are up and running around after him ALL DAY LONG...hey...maybe my legs will match my in shape arms then!!!
We spent the night at Ross's Mom & Dad's house on Wednesday since his cousins were in town all week going to vacation bible school. We went swimming and had dinner at the Pizza Shack! Ashlyn and Austin carried him all around the whole time I was there....what a break that was for my arms and NECK!!! We came home for one night and then it was time for our first trip to Tyler ( where Ross's sister and family live ) and to Longview to visit his other Great Grandma ( Theda ). Once we all got on the road ( yes...including Kenney too!! ) we had to stop in Navasota so I could feed Jaxton his bottle and when I was changing his diaper in the truck he said something LOUD and PERFECTLY CLEAR..., "MOM"...Ross and I just looked at each other stunned and we both said "NO WAY!!!" He has continued to surprise me with it since then...he sounds like a TODDLER...WHAH...he's growing up too fast!! We stopped one more time in Palestine at a very old Italian restaurant so I could feed Jaxton his dinner ( mind you we were having dinner at his sister's very shortly BUT it was time for him to eat!). So we ordered one order of mozzarella sticks...oops...fried mozzarella sticks....and brought in a bottle of wine we were taking to his sister's and enjoyed a glass while Jaxton ate his dinner!! Then we were off again.

We finally made it there and Jaxton was so wired he didn't go to bed until 9:40 P.M.!! He and I slept in Ashlyn's PINK room that night BUT moved to Austin's room the next night so we could sleep on the king size air mattress so I could stay up for awhile without worrying about him falling off the bed! ( Remember...he hates the pack-n-play!) He has really gotten used to falling asleep anywhere now which is actually good!! Saturday Jaxton took a 2 hour nap in the morning....SO EXHAUSTED...and then we headed to Longview for him to meet his other Great Grandma Theda! He LOVED her hands and kept pulling at her stretchy skin...poor Theda!! She was so happy to finally meet him! Then it was back to Tyler where we celebrated Father's Day with an awesome Prime Rib dinner Shannon & Jamie cooked and a TOTALLY AWESOME chocolate cake with strawberries!! That night Austin's 3rd tooth had been trying to come out all week long and he finally let Ross PULL-IT!!! I couldn't watch it....it gives me the eebie jeebies!!! I hated the feeling of that when I was a kid!! Austin was very brave!! Sunday morning we headed back home and we all were in bed by 7:00!! We were some exhausted travelers!!
Jaxton and I gave Ross a Father's Day present that he can't use until September. Ross is a TOTAL TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL FREAK so I knew he really wanted to take Jaxton to his 1st football game this year so I was able to get tickets...by a very gracious family friend ( my Mom's Boss who is a UH Alumni Season Ticket Holder PLUS other things who immediately called the ticket office and ordered them right up for me...OTHERWISE I probably would not of been able to get a hold of any ). This is the first time Tech is playing UH in 15 years down here..WHEW..thank goodness there was a game here in town!! So I bought enough tickets for Ross, Jaxton, Me (of course), my mom, and his mom & dad to go!! Since it is the day after Jaxton turns ONE I also reserved a room for the whole weekend downtown at the Hilton of Americas as part of his Father's Day present too!! I think Jaxton is going to start expecting to stay in a hotel once a month!!

Okay one thing I have to write about since I keep forgetting is about Jaxton's MOMO's lately!! There have been LOTS and LOTS of them with all this food he has been eating and they sure have been VERY COLORFUL ( like melted crayons!! ) when he eats what I cook him BUT when he eats the packaged food they are SO BLACK!! Holy cow!! Two times when he ate the packaged food a couple meals in a row he had filled up his diaper so much that it came all the way up his back and onto his clothes!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes!! That's when you throw your hands up and just go wash him off in the water!!

Last BUT not LEAST...he has grown very attached to his penguin stuffed animal that we bought him during our Moody Gardens trip...so much so that when you hand it to him he squeezes him so hard because he is so excited ( like he is giving him a hug ) but to the point I feel like I almost need to administer CPR on the poor stuffed guy!! I will have to warn all his other stuffed friends!!

Our LaCantera Adventure!!

We are really going to be here for 4 days?? Will my new duckie stay too??

Ok then...what should I order for breakfast this time???

I need a few zzz's before the fun starts!!

Can you guess what face this is??? ( LOL!)

Toby...your skin is so smooth..how old did you say you were?? My Dad's age???

Can I just lay here for awhile?? You can keep talking...I like your voice!

A NEW POOL!!!!!

( I can't get enough of his eye lashes! )

This is SO MUCH FUN!!

We get to go back AGAIN tomorrow?? Yea!! I'm going to hold onto my red boat til then!!

Dinner at Paesano's!!

Daddy LOVES me!!

And so does MOMMY!!!

MOM-MA!!!

This waterfall is COOL!! And I still got my boat!!

I have to squint to see through the water!!

That was so much fun!! Nap time with Mr. Penguin!!

Strollin' by the River in my new ride!!

Dinner at Casa Del Rio!!

Look at all the boats in the river!! ( My teeth are sure hurting though!! )

Dad... hold me tight...I don't want to fall into the river!

Hey...There is a pigeon under my highchair!!

Fire Alarms make me want to blow milk bubbles!!!

I get to pet some real animals???

This iguana definitely doesn't have smooth skin!!

Can I take him home with me to cuddle with FOREVER???

That was ALL SO MUCH FUN!!! When is our next trip???

Okay so this is our 2nd road trip with Jaxton so it made it a lot easier knowing what we needed to take this time....you would think we would take LESS but it seemed like MORE...we even had to buy a microwave (which we FORGOT at the hotel )to take with us to heat up Jaxton's food this time because they didn't have any available...so you can probably picture what our truck looked like loaded up..HA!! To start our trip off I was so excited that morning and running around finishing up some last minute packing and putting some stuff into the back of the truck. (Which was still in the garage but I had the tailgate open.) I went to open up the other garage door and hit the wrong button and all I heard next was CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH.... the OTHER garage door was trying to close on the truck tailgate....I did the OMG dance and ran in tell Ross what I did before I assessed the damage and THANK GOD it only broke off a little piece of the rear window windshield wiper...WHEW!!! After that...I SLOWED DOWN!!!

So we were finally on the road and I do my usual thing for Jaxton to get him to go to sleep in the truck....I play my Kenny Chesney CD on song # 2 & 3 OVER and OVER until his little eyes close and then I continue to play the CD on a few more songs on the SAME CD while he sleeps....it is such relaxing music that he sleeps for a long time BUT I think Ross wanted to throw the CD out of the window by the time our trip was over ( I did this on our last trip too....LOL)...so Ross should have learned and brought his George Strait CD but didn't so he had to suffer!!! We made it there and Ross played golf with his friend Toby from college and Jaxton and I toured the hotel then we all met up for dinner and Jaxton couldn't get enough of Toby...he even laid in his arms for awhile!!! Sometime that night ( which we did NOT hear any of it BUT saw it on the morning news the next morning ) a man was either PUSHED off or JUMPED off the 6th floor of OUR hotel and OUR floor and was still in critical condition!! Holy Cow!! Never got the whole story from the hotel either BUT SCARY!!!

On Friday we played in the pools all day and Jaxton had a blast...he even wanted to go under the waterfall!!! He definitely has NO FEAR of the water!! That night we went to the Rock Quarry ( sp??) and ate at my FAVORITE restaurant in San Antonio...Paesano's!!!! YUM YUM YUM!!! I even have their secret recipe for their Shrimp Paesano!! Jaxton still won't sleep in his Pack'n Play which I wouldn't blame him since he is almost too big for it and probably feels confined in it so we had 2 double beds in the room and we pushed one up against the wall and lined it with pillows and I slept on the other side to keep him from falling out. BUT each night he would look over me at Ross and play peek-a-boo until he wore himself out and fell asleep...it was so precious...PLUS waking up next to him is even better!!

On Saturday I had the BEST massage EVER..it was a TRUE sports massage!! If you had been in the room with me though you would of thought I was doing aerobics on the massage table!! But it was worth!! We headed down to the pool once more for awhile and then went down to the Riverwalk and had dinner. Jaxton was COMPLETELY entertained by the pigeons so I had no problem getting him to eat ALL his dinner..BUT it was too hot so we headed back to the hotel after dinner. Just as we thought our night was over and we were dreaming away...the HOTEL FIRE ALARM goes off at 4 AM and we had to EVACUATE!! We all ran down the fire stairs out to the pool area waiting to see what this was all about. Jaxton was ALL SMILES and thought we were just doing something FUN late at night...poor little guy!! He didn't even get scared of the LOUD fire alarms going off!! Many people had the hotel robes on and I can only imagine what they had on underneath...OR NOT!! They finally told us a DRUNK MAN pulled the alarm and to go back to sleep...YEA RIGHT!!! An 8 month old going back to sleep??!! But to our surprise about 30 minutes later he did and we all slept until 7:15!!

So Sunday was here and before we headed back we took Jaxton to see a bunch of animals at an event at the hotel called Zoomagination...they rescue animals from people and from the wild and teach at all kinds of places...Jaxton even got to pet a baby kangaroo!!! Then it was time to get back on the road again with Kenney!!!

2 MORE TEETH...Help!!!

Do I have to brush my tongue too??
"Come here...let me brush your teeth too !"

Mommy you did a good job trimming my hair...now I LOOK GOOOOOD!!

ALMOST crawling!!

I'm so tired of trying to crawl...I'm just gonna close my eyes while you finish drying your hair Mommy !!

I love these balls at Gymboree...( I have them at home too)

"Hello Gymbo"

Catching some grub with Mommy's friend Sharla

Crossing those feet all the time!! Typical man!!

WOW...this is a HUGE balloon and it sings to me too!! Can I get in it???

What?? Yes...I'm sipping out of a straw....What's the BIG DEAL????

Uncle Jason, can I have your shades???

" I don't want to ever leave her...she's mine FOREVER!!!"

Let's just hold footsies then!!

Lauren, let's toast to our parent's birthdays!!!

Happy "34th" Birthday Mommy!!

What did you say??...there's a monkey behind me???..where???

Good Morning!!!

Like my Mohawk....looks like my hair when I was born!!

Jaxton noticing sunlight and shadows

Oh I can get out of here....NO PROBLEMO!!!

G.G. your face is still so soft and smooth...tell my Mommy your secret...she's 34 this week!!

G.G. Where am I???

I knew they were coming and they FINALLY arrived but the funny thing is when his first tooth came in we ate lunch at Black Walnut Cafe and when these teeth started to show their presence we were at the Black Walnut Cafe AGAIN having lunch with my girlfriend who is about to have a baby ( Noreen )...maybe we should go back there every time we are waiting for his teeth to come through!! Weird!! This time they are really bothering him and we have had too many nights he has woken up quite a bit...whah!! But he finally slept through the entire night last night so I think they have made it though his gums!! He HATES for me to feel them so I have not had many chances but when he laughs I get down and look up and I can see them making their way!!

Well we had a full week last week...Gymboree is always a favorite of his and he has become quite the charmer there...always flashing a big ole smile at the moms!! This past week all of the moms were waiting with me for him to crawl in class BUT he didn't...I even asked him to do it for my birthday BUT that didn't happen!! Maybe it will be in San Antonio this weekend!! He sure is pulling up on everything though...he even tried to get out of the crib at my mom's house last week when we stayed the night...it was hilarious!! When we were there he noticed the difference between the sun shining on the carpet and not shining on the carpet..he just stared at it trying to figure it out since he couldn't grab it.

On Friday we had a play date at my girlfriend's house ( Heather ) with her daughter Emma ( who is 1 1/2 ) and this is where Jaxton was introduced to a balloon for the first time...he loved it BUT kept pinching it and I didn't want it to blow up in his face but it never did!! He also was introduced to a baby doll for the first time and he kept playing with the face like he does ours..I'm not sure if he figured out it wasn't real. Sorry Ross....he did play with the doll for awhile!! That night we met my very best friend I grew up with since I was ONE and we celebrated our birthdays at El Jarrito with our Mom's and spouses and the kids. We caught JAxton playing footsies underneath the highchairs with Lauren...OH NO!!! Jaxton also surprised us and SUCKED through a straw all by himself... maybe we can skip the sippy cups???

On Saturday we celebrated my birthday with my mom and sister and her husband at our house...I thought Jaxton would go down at 7 AS USUAL so I could relax the rest of the night BUT HE ABSOLUTELY wanted to stay up and PARTY!!! I tried several times and he cried and the second I brought him back downstairs to see everyone he was ALL SMILES...Geez...I think we have a PARTY ANIMAL on our hands!! He didn't go to bed until 9 !!! It might have been the BIG SINGING balloon Ross bought me that Jaxton thought was HIS TOY!!

This week I took Jaxton back to the Dr. because his rash was still there and now he had very dry spots on his back PLUS he was grabbing his ears so I wanted her to check those too!! Come to find out the ear pulling is from the pain of his teeth coming in (his ears looked fine) AND now she recommended I use hydrocortizone 1% ADULT ointment for his rash and said he may have a little eczema too so use Aveeno CREAM for that....and believe it or not IT ALL WAS GONE BY ONLY ONE DAY OF TREATMENT!!! Yea!! He also weighed in at 19 lbs. 9.6 oz...he has been eating really good lately!!

We met my old partner Sharla for lunch up in the Woodlands and it was good to catch up since we were both laid off...she finally got a great new job that she wanted and now gets to pocket the rest of her severance money...YEA!!

Today, Wednesday, June 10th Jaxton got his ears lowered some by me ( a tiny little hair cut )!! He sat very still why I carefully used the rounded tip scissors to trim around his ears...now he looks little a little man!! But all ready for our trip to LaCantera!!

We stopped by my Grandma's ( Jaxton's G.G. ) last week and he played peek-a-boo with her blanket and tried to pull up on her ottoman...he's going to be a mess once he figures out how to crawl !!

We went to BabySigns class again and learned more new signs...I think the one Jaxton pays attention to most of all is the one for "ALL DONE"...he laughs at the one for HOT HOT HOT (you basically blow three times ) which isn't good..we may have to change that one!!

Well maybe by the next blog post I will reveal a picture of Jaxton CRAWLING or not!! I finally got my new camera so I am all ready to catch him in action!!