five whole years

I can't believe it has already been 5 years since Chris and I were married. I was reminiscing about all the things we have done together and gone through. Here are just a few:

-four college graduations, four different degrees
-two pregnancies
-summer internship in Houston
-Chris' first time to Schlitterbahn
-Chris getting over his fear of roller coasters
-hundreds of late night design projects strewn around our floor as Chris helps me cut and paste through the night
-summer internship living in different states
-anniversary trip in LA
-cancer!
-living in a basement in Provo

-Chris' grandpa passing away
-my grandma passing away
-appendicitis on our Florida trip
-baby Thom!!
-countless sleepless nights, diaper changes, spit ups, and play dates.
-holidays with families
-moving to Houston
-trip to Prague

now here comes the mushy part:

when i got married i thought we were in love.  and  we were.  but 5 years later and i can't even quantify how much our love for each other has grown.  we have gone through amazing, nearly perfect times; really difficult, trying times; and boring, everyday times together.  and all of those experiences have strengthened our marriage and commitment to each other more than i could have imagined. and we now have a little guy to share our love with, who only adds to our happiness.  i am looking forward to the rest of our lives together and beyond...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABE!!  LET'S CELEBRATE!

birthday boy!

thom turned one last saturday!  we had a great little party with some friends on saturday and partied with family on sunday.  i thought thom would be too young to understand the concept of a party but when he woke up from his nap and there were balloons and food all over the house, he got so excited and started flapping his arms and squealing!

i will be the first one to admit that i always forget to take pictures of exciting things happening, so i didn't take tons of photos at the party, but i did get a few:

opening presents

first taste of cupcake

 

ooooooh!

thom loves:

-splashing in the bath and shower

-playing with friends

-wrestling and being thrown around

-seeing pictures of himself and other family members

-sesame street (or most TV for that matter)

-to be independent

-playing with the remote control, cell phones, and banging on the computer keyboard

-swinging on swings!

thom hates:

-most green veggies on most days.  occasionally i can get him to eat a bite or two but then he's back to sticking out his tongue and rejecting whatever green thing i try to put in there.

-being told no

-the waves at the beach.

thom can:

-walk! (but has only done it twice)

-eat most foods because he has 6 teeth now!

-pull himself up onto the sofa

-climb up all of the stairs in our home (though he can't climb down yet)

-make lots of single syllable sounds: "mamama," "dadada," "bababa," 

-hum.  he does two funny little staccato hums together in a major 5th interval like this, "hm-hum."  too cute!

thom keeps us on our toes, but i really love being a mommy now.  he is getting so interactive and fun, i understand him better, and i think he understands things better now so he knows what to expect, too.  i love this little kid and wouldn't trade him for the world!!

9 months (and a half)

i missed thom's 9 month anniversary so now it's 9 and a half months!  but here it goes:

stats (from his 9 month dr. appointment):

height: 29"
weight: almost 20 lbs

thom loves:
-to eat.  but mostly when he is feeding himself.
-to laugh.  he gives the best smiles and laughs now.  oh, how i love his goofy side.
-wagon rides.
-going new places.  he just stares and takes in all the new sights.
-magazines and paper.  he loves to crinkle them up.  i put the children's Friend magazine up in his bedroom each month and we read stories from it before his naps and he wrinkles it when he's playing on the floor.  by the end of the month it is in pieces.
-his pacifier.  not sure how i feel about this one.  but since he's getting his first tooth in (!!) i have been really lenient with it and let him have it even when it's not sleep time so he has something nice to suck/chew on.
-his family.  yes, he gives big smiles when he sees mama and dada.  that is my favorite time of day.  :)

 

  

thom hates:
-getting his face and hands washed off after he eats.  weirdly, though, it's not a problem in the bathtub.
-being bored.  yep, sometimes i am boring.  those days when i have no energy?  probably the worst days ever for thom because i'm not constantly entertaining him.

thom can:
-pull himself up to standing.  on tables, chairs, my legs, other babies... you name it.
-crawl really quickly
-go up a stair.
-give high fives (though he seems partial to chris on this one)
-wave hi (ok, he's only done this a couple times but he's catching on!)
-cruise along furniture

 

 

thom is a sweet heart.  he is not a baby who is quick to give smiles and laughs to strangers - you have to earn them.  but when he does give in and get goofy, it is the greatest feeling in the world!  it's like i can see happiness from his head to his toes and from ear to ear.  adorable.
thom is stubborn.  if he has his mind set to do something, he will not be deterred.  i'm getting good at providing distractions.
thom is observant.  i think his most common facial expression is a curious one.  he loves to explore new places and faces.  he quickly figures out toys and wants to play with the "big people" toys (phones, remote controls, computers...).  he knows there's something cool about them.
thom is full of energy.  yes, he tires me out sometimes.  but what better way could i spend my energy?
thom is fearless.  are all babies fearless?  thom plunges head-first down the stairs, and tries to stretch his body across the gap between the bed and the nightstand to grab tissues from the table.  this is another reason he keeps me on my toes.

 

i think we love this little guy more and more with each passing day.

little mover

thom pulled a side table over onto himself yesterday.  i suppose it was only a matter of time...  

it was a lightweight table from ikea so no major damage done.  in fact, thom didn't even cry.  but the table is gonna have to go away until thom stops using furniture to pull himself up.  maybe we can find something a little heavier until the table can make a return.  

he has been crawling like a madman, pulling himself up to his knees, and then pulling up to standing for the past week or so.  

 can you see this picture?  it's dark because i went into thom's room when he was supposed to be napping.  but instead of napping i found him awake, up on his knees, holding on to the bars of his crib and talking away to himself.  little stinker. 

other things he likes to do instead of sleeping?  sing to himself.  again, sorry for the darkness.  if you make the video large, you can see two little white spots (his socks) kicking around.

but really, he is quite a little mover now.  here he goes, crawling up the step on the balcony into the home.  he did it all himself!  

 

and look! he pulled himself up using the tub while i was getting ready in the morning.

in other news, thom now feeds himself finger foods.  we started with saltines, then cheerios, and now he's tried lots of different textured foods.  mashed potatoes, mango chunks, noodles with red sauce, and even scrambled eggs this morning!  yes, this little boy loves to eat and really seems to like to feed himself.  i sense an independent streak... 

am i the only person who finds this stuff interesting?  haha, well maybe he will one day enjoy looking back at the chronicles of his baby-hood and thank me for posting all these mundane videos.  that's the hope.  :)

and finally, on a non-thom related note, chris had his birthday earlier this month!  we had a nice romantic dinner at carrabba's, then went go-kart racing!  and thom and i spent our first night away from each other.  yep, one of chris' birthday presents was a full night of sleep!  thom slept over at grandma and grandpa thomas' house.  he was a good boy and slept really well for them, but honestly, it was a little weird for me being home at night and not having him there.  weird but wonderful, too.  i loved sleeping in.  :)

pardon me... i can't seem to make normal faces for self-portraits.

happy birthday, love!

thom is 8 months

it's been a while.  thom is growing up so fast and i'm trying my best to document it.  so yeah, i've been meaning to update but here's what has happened since i've last posted:

thom got a wagon.  actually, he got it for christmas but it's just taken us a while to actually get it here and assembled.  he loves this wagon.  he loves going on rides and looking around the neighborhood.  i think he especially likes a little bit of turbulence.

 thom likes to play with sticks.

thom = harry potter

thom looooooves his binkies.  can you spot both of them in this picture?

thom got his first haircut.  i didn't take real before and after pictures, so use the above for a before and this for an after.  he was so squirmy and uncooperative (surprise, surprise...) so it looks like a bit of a hack job.  but still, i think it's better than his goofy baby comb-over.  i sucked up my love of his long baby hair and did it.

eating a post-haircut apple

thom now crawls slowly, scoots quickly, and practices yoga.

doing down-dog.

and in case that wasn't enough thom-goodness for you,  here's some more of what he's been up to:

learning to "play drums."

chasing radishes.  i mean... learning how to perfect his pincher grasp.

doing a little bit of singing

and a bit of giggling, too.

ok now we're mostly updated, i think.  thom is growing like a weed.  some days he's really fun.  some days he's really fussy.  he has been sick this past week with his first cold.  it's been a little bit miserable for all of us.  no sleep and lots of whining... boo...  plus, i'm convinced he is teething.  though i have said that before and he's still all gums.  oh well, we'll see.