bed head

Thomas got his crazy hair from his dad. It's always wild, but especially after a nap. Kind of goes along with his silly grins...

gift box better than the gift?

For a baby, it seems that the gift box or packaging is always much more interesting than the gift itself. I was snapping photos of Thomas today wearing a gold ring he received for his birthday. In nearly all of the photos he is playing or chewing on the gift box.

[Note: It is a Korean tradition to give a gold ring to a child on their first birthday. I still have one given to me but it's much smaller than the one Thomas received.]

Happy 7th Birthday, Bela!

Bela is seven years old today. Seven years old. Today. I can hardly believe it. The past seven years have been incredible with this truly amazing and wonderful little dog. We are so lucky!

[Okay, so I borrowed that from Thomas' first birthday post, but it's true... Bela is the best. She was born on a farm outside Olympia, WA and was the smallest of her litter (the "0" tattoo inside her ear proves it). She picked us and we could not have made a better choice ourselves. We love you, B!]

Check up: one year

Thomas continues to grow! The pediatrician says he's doing great and to continue doing what we're doing...

weight - 24 pounds, 8 ounces (75th percentile)
length - 31.5" (95th percentile)

new trick: the one leg stand

It isn't enough for Thomas to start walking, standing on his tippy toes, and even squatting. Now he does this (no, he's not learning it from the girls). Must be just another one of those "let's see what this does" things he is trying out.

Saturday Market (on Sunday!)

We took advantage of yet another incorrect weather forecast this afternoon and headed downtown to the Saturday Market (open both Saturday and Sunday) to enjoy the sights, smells and sunshine. Some live music held Thomas' interest (I think it was the harmonica player of the duo) while we snacked on some yummy pocket sandwiches. We picked up a new fleece tug toy for the girls and a cool, psychedelic t-shirt for Thomas...

the great outdoors

Thomas enjoyed a quiet outing this afternoon with us on some local hiking trails. Snails and slugs were in abundance, but no other wildlife was to be seen. Afterward we hit a nearby farmer's market for some treats and a drink.

Catch me if you can!

Thomas likes to flash us a mischievous grin and take off running. We've seen him on his tippy toes. He has also started to squat, sometimes to pick something up and other times just for fun.

eating crow

I've learned to never say never when it comes to children. Before becoming a parent, I would frown upon some of the things I saw other parents do and/or say. I had no basis for thinking what they were doing was wrong, but I did anyway and swore up and down that I would never do those same things. Yet today, I need 10 minutes to eat a snack and use the restroom. And I have just sat Thomas down in front of the television with a cup of goldfish crackers.

Sadly, this occupied him for a whole 2 minutes. He has been walking circles in this room for the past 10 minutes, crunching goldfish crackers and proceeding to grind them into the rug forever.

I am amazed by his recent development in mobility and speech. Two weeks ago, he could only do the commando crawl and he really wasn't even all that good at it. Now, he's crawling, walking solo and chatting up a storm, alternating between what sounds like a statement and a question. Wild.

heat wave

The kids are keeping cool in the pool. Greta is always the first one in and loves playing in the pool. Thomas enjoyed walking around inside the pool as well and getting in and out of it. Bela thinks its a giant water bowl. She takes a sip or two and goes back to doing whatever she was doing before the pool was brought out.

Mother's Day

Nothing makes me happier than enjoying outdoor activities with my two favorite guys. We gave Thomas a bike trailer for his birthday so today we took it out for his first ride. Thomas did great! We didn't have him strapped in correctly the first mile so we stopped at the trailhead to adjust him. He's such a trooper. He had slumped down so he was pretty much lying down and the helmet was completely covering his face, yet he never cried. We corrected the problems and then set off for a nice little ride. On the return trip, he fell asleep and snoozed for probably 10 minutes before waking up when we stopped in our driveway. He never sleeps in any of his strollers or the carseat. Maybe he needs a bumpier ride? Or maybe the new Burley is just that comfortable!

Happy 1st Birthday, baby!

Thomas is one year old today. One year old. Today. I can hardly believe it. This past year has been incredible with this truly amazing and wonderful little guy. We are so lucky!

music to our ears

Thomas discovered the joys of blowing into a roll of wrapping paper. He's becoming quite the comedian. Once he saw that we were laughing at the sounds he made, he continued blowing and would stop only briefly to look at us and laugh also. He really seems to get a kick out of entertaining us and seeing us laugh.

We've seen lots of changes this last week - everything from the way he plays with the dogs to his mobility. This morning I was sitting at the computer and he was on the floor behind me playing with his train. Or so I thought. He makes a funny little grunt when he's doing something new or something he's proud of. I heard the grunt and turned to see what he was doing. He was walking toward me from across the room with a huge grin on his little face.

He's been pretty close to walking solo for a few weeks now, but we always insist he hold our hand because he wasn't breaking his fall until just a week ago. He still isn't doing it 100% of the time, but we're getting close. He's going to be off and running very, very soon...

little swimmer

We got a little off track about a month ago and skipped three weeks of swimming. Today was our second week back in a row! Thomas seems to enjoy it and definitely enjoys it more and more each time we go. We walk around the 1'-0" deep area, play with some floating boards and tubes, check out the tile around the pool's edge, wave at the lifeguards, watch other swimmers, splash and play with the squirting water, and start all over from the top. After an hour of doing this, we are both worn out. I nap when we get home and Thomas' afternoon nap is always just a little bit longer than usual. Funny how playing in the water does that.

trek to Starbucks

This afternoon Thomas and I walked up to Starbucks. Normally I throw him in a stroller, but today I decided to have him walk. It probably took us 15 minutes to get down to the end of the block. Granted, this is a long block (or "super block" as I like to call it) but it's still just one block. We must have stopped to touch something every 6" along the way. He wanted to pet the rocks in front of one house, look at the primroses in front of another, touch the tree of yet another, pick dandelions, etc., etc., etc... Almost 40 minutes after leaving our house, we finally arrived at Starbucks. We live 6 blocks away.

Come to think of it... Last year on this very same day, it probably would have taken me 40 minutes to walk the 6 blocks, too. These were the last photos taken of my pregnant self at 37 weeks, exactly one year ago today. Thomas was born 10 days later.

first haircut

before & after

We took Thomas for his first haircut today. He did such a great job. He never fussed or cried, even when she brought out the electric clippers. Afterward he received a "first haircut" certificate with a lock of his hair attached in a baggie. We were really proud of how well Thomas did. He looks so grown up now!

the waiting area

the haircut



...celebrating afterwards with lunch at Chevy's & a lime!