Grandma Head's Spaghetti Squash

Eating spagetti squash that Grandma Head brought up from her last visit. We've been enjoying the produce. Megan especially enjoyed the tomatoes - making brushetta with it. A craving for brushetta was the first pregnancy sign. When I was pregnant with Travis, brushetta was pretty much the only real craving I think I had (minus the one time I really really wanted a root beer float!).




Buddy needs a haircut.
Do you want some?









Megan went LaSalle Peru with a friend Tammy today - met Erin and baby Cooper and Bob. Had a good time - learned a good trick to try about learning to use a sippy cup. Going to have TJ practice in the bathtub. Why didn't I think of that?! Sunday is TJ's first year birthday and he's supposed to start using cups instead of bottles.
Good news on our house too. The closing has been moved from Sept 1 to Aug 15.

Laundry Room

Getting our laundry room redone. We're in the middle of the project now. (Travis likes to carry this flag around the house and yard. We put them out for July 4th - still a couple hanging around the house and TJ seems to know where they are.)

Just finished getting a ride in the laundry basket. "helping me do laundry."





















Finding the flag.

Nighty Night

This is the first day Travis only took one nap, and it was only an hour long! He slept almost 11 1/2 hours straight at night (minus one bottle), which meant he woke around 7:30. Yay! Mom got to sleep in. Here he couldn't stay awake one minute longer -fell asleep during his night stroller walk. It's not uncommon for him to do that, but tonight we were really pushing him to stay awake until bedtime. Here he is snuggling into Dad on his way to bed.

Watermelon

Travis usually eats anything, except he always spits out watemelon. We have fed it to him at least half a dozen times with no luck. Experts say to feed a child a food at least 7-10 times before they can decide if they like it or not, so we were determind to keep trying. Besides, who doesn't like watermelon? Today it was so hot that it was a great day to try it again. This time he got a big slice instead of bite size pieces. That did the trick. Grandma O says he is a "me do it" kind of kid and she's right. Once he got to hold it today, he decided he loved watermelon! He is so funny.

Ball Climber

Went to a garage sale this morning looking for an outdoor play thing. We were too late (someone already bought it), but we did get these balls for $1. We've been thinking about gettting a ball pit for Travis - thinking he'd like it. When he saw these balls, somehow he knew they would be fun to play in. He tried to climb in the plastic bag they came in. My mom found this white bowl that we put them in. Travis loved trying to climb in and out many many many times.

Put the balls in a this upside down cushion because it seemed a little safer for climbing. It was a challenge TJ happily undertook.

Morning Crib

This morning TJ woke up in a happy happy mood. When he saw me come into his room at 6:20 am, he started bouncing/ jumping up and down in his crib. I was gone all day yesterday (my mom and I took a girls' day to the suburbs), so maybe he was just so excited to see me again. Or, maybe he just woke up happy since he wasn't hungry. It was hilarious to see him jumping and smiling so early. This is the best morning greeting a mom can get! The jumping didn't photograph well; should have had my flip.

We spent some time playing in his room next, where he crawled under the bed. He was going for what else but a pacifier. It was a first that he so intentionally went under there and crawled around. He had to have some help getting out, but I think he was pretty intrigued under there.

Only a week until Aunt KiKi and Uncle Mark's visit!

Double Fisted

Double fisted at breakfast with two spoons here. This was the second time he was double fisted that day. We had walked to the park earlier that morning (like 5:30 AM earlier!). While discovering the playground covering which was similar to our mulch but more rubbery, TJ put some of it in his mouth. A couple of times I firmly and loudly told him no. He pretended like he didn't hear me of course. ..But since he did actually hear me and he does actually know what no means, he then took two fistfuls of the covering, turned his back to me, walked away about 6 feet, and put a fistful in his mouth. What a stinker! Time to work on how to teach him 'no' so that it sticks and I can't laugh even though I really want to!

Back to Chucky Cheese

It's been a good news week! This Sunday we told my parents' that we're pregnant, and the same day we got an offer on the house.

Yesterday we went back to Chucky Cheese; this time met Grandma there.

Hot Rod is driving the car here.









Driving the firetruck.
Climbing the firetruck. This was more appealing than driving the truck.
We actually put a token in this one so TJ could throw small basketballs into the opening up front.

Giraffe

Chucky Cheese

Went to Chucky Cheese for the first time today. They have a small toddler-aimed playroom off to the side of the main room.
If he had to choose a favorite part, it would probably be climbing up this slide. (We won't tell him he didn't get very far up it!)

Didn't quite figure out the whac part, but intriguing non-the-less. It was more interesting watching other kids play it.

Here we could watch other kids through the little playhouse window.

Had a snack in the main room - just a bit distracting! TJ got some crust of my bbq chicken pizza. Travis enjoyed the main room too, but it is pretty loud and chaotic there so we spent most of our time in the smaller toddler room. It was a great afternoon and I think we'll be going here often.

Animal Blanket

Travis & I stopped by the baby boutique where Aunt Blair works, to say hi and drop off a snack. After a few timid steps, TJ was off and exploring the store. His favorite thing was a big soft blanket-mat kind of thing that was also a bear or a monkey (I'm not sure which!). I put it on the floor to see if he liked it and he immediately rubbed his little face in the softness with his little butt up in the air. Then he spent quite a while just cuddling in it. So cute. I think he needs one of these for his 1 year birthday!!

Toys?

Look at all of these toys outside. Looks like fun, right? Travis says 'wrong'! He has lost complete interest in these toys and many more. We think he's more interested in exploring the 'real' world and walking, walking, walking, especially outside. I brought the large toys outside for one last play here before my parents' came to pick them up.












Grammy and Grampy say hello! He cried when they left. Grammy said it was because TJ didn't feel well and was cranky. I think that's partly true, but I think he was crying too because he didn't get to spend but 3 minutes with Grammy and Grampy. They were just stopping by to pick up the toys and keep their distance because we've all been sick.
At first when I saw this photo, I thought they were saying good-bye to the toys that we loaded up....Then I remembered--the "og" is in the backseat! Probably one of the highlights of the day.

July 4 Continued

Not sure why this one didn't post before with the others. Been playing in the mulch here. He likes to dig!

July 4th Weekend

Travis's first July 4th!

Here are our own "fireworks". Although Travis and Kerry did see some neighborhood fireworks on a walk. Unfortunately, we all took turns being sick over the weekend. First Travis, then Megan, then Kerry. Poor Travis threw up a few nights in a row. Kerry soothed him back to sleep in the middle of the night a few times. Lucky Dad since TJ fell asleep in his arms!!

One of his favorite things is walking up the steps in the front walkway. He really only needs help on the top steeper step. (We spot him of course anyway.) One of his least favorite things is wearing a hat - as you can see Travis pulling it off in this photo.

The flags were a bit intriguing, while the mulch is fascinating!