I love my puppy!

Aspen and Garrett just love each other. Its just so hard to get a good picture of both of them! (Garrett has cottege cheese on his mouth in one of those pictures!)

And then there is Haylee, who likes Garrett well enough as long as he stays out of her "personal space" :-).

Going to the Pool!

I took the boys to the pool today. Here they are before we headed out the door. Garrett is learning to swim, its so cute. Will try to get some pictures of that soon.

Mmmm, watermelon!

This trait of watermelon-loving runs in the Naaseh side of the gene pool! He eats more of this stuff then seems humanly possible.

Park

I took Garrett and Xander to the park last week. Xander ended up sleeping through the whole outing, but Garrett had a blast!

Toddler x2

Xander hasn't been around the house much in the past month--he went to PA to see his family, his Grandma was in town . . .in the midst of it, he turned one and started walking. Its TOO FUN to have twice the toddler antics around the house. Yesterday we went outside to play and the boys had a blast. Garrett had fun taking his favorite football (Thanks Cynthia and Amanda!!) in and out of his car's hood. He tried to put Xander's hat on his head when he took it off. When that didn't work, Garrett tried to put it on his own head.

Today we went to the park. Silly X fell asleep on the way there and slept through most of the fun. Garrett loves the swings, and also enjoyed playing in the sand with his Big Red Shovel.

There is never a dull moment with Garrett around, and its outright hilarious every minute of the day when they are both here--Xander climbed my stairs today, and stood in Garrett's red wagon (the one Nana and Pawpaw gave him for Christmas--which he LOVES to pull around the house now!!) . . .

Garrett is singing and dancing all the time. He continuously runs up and gives Aspen kisses, going bububububububu. He tries to do the same to Haylee, but SHE won't have it. We are back to going for walks together, at least Garrett and the dogs and I, while daddy is at work. Garrett likes to hold Aspen's leash and talk to him as we walk along. Basically, life just way too much fun right now, and I am so glad not to have to miss a minute of it!! :-D

Watermelon Man

Garrett loves, loves, loves fresh fruit, especially watermelon, papaya and plums. In this picture (from sometime last week), he ate a LOT of watermelon--see the juice running down his face? Oh, and bananas of course. This morning we were eating watermelon and he brought me a banana :-)

He is getting more expressive about what he wants, whenever he wants something he points and goes "is" or "ease". . . we aren't sure if the "ese" is "please" or "cheese" since half the time he is asking for cottage cheese, shredded cheese, or cubed cheese. He loves bread too, will eat it by the loaf. He is picky though, it has to be fresh and just right--if Brad makes homemade bread and isn't pleased with the way it turned out, chances are Garrett won't be either.

He eats on the go alot, and eats pretty much all day long. He is such a good eater, though, I just can't complain! For whatever reason, he is suddenly preferring peas to his broccoli, not sure what is up with that.

4th of July

Independence Day was wet this year. We almost didn't go to the fireworks because it was wet and miserable all day. But we decided to go, and were glad we did. We met up with our friends Rocky and Teresa and had a good time. Teresa shared her chocolate ice cream cone with Garret,which he loved, of course! He also had his first snocone. He was way more interested in the music than the fireworks. It turns out he REALLY likes to dance :) He also loved being able to stay up late and spend some time sitting on daddy's lap!

More playdate pics

More pictures of Garrett chasing bubbles at our playdate Tuesday. He had too much fun. There is also a video on You Tube.

Bubbles!

We had a potluck picnic with our playgroup today. Haydee, our organizer (who took these pics!) brought a bubble machine. Garrett had a BLAST chasing the bubbles!! I took more pictures, still have to upload them, but here are a few to keep you guys happy :-)

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!!

Samantha Foundation

www.samanthafoundation.org

I saw this organization at a Children's Expo at the fairgrounds. Its a really good cause motivated by a really sad story. They make childproofing kits available to the public. . . such a good cause!

13 Months

Garrett turned 13 months this past week. Those monthly birthdays don't seem to be such a big deal now that he has hit his first birthday. He is just getting SO big. He is literally running everywhere. He got his first pair of big boy shoes. He will bring me a diaper to let me know he needs changing. He points to things he wants. He started saying uh-huh (thank goodness, he hasn't learned to say NO yet :-) ). He is mostly wearing 18 month clothes (but only because his cloth diapers add a bit of bulk!).

Sorry I haven't been posting many pictures, things have been crazy around here. Work and Discovery Toys have been keeping me super busy! I promise to take some new pictures this week.

For 4th of July, we are going to fireworks with a bunch of our friends. Should be lots of fun. We went last year with Garrett (at 2 months!) and he had a blast then. Hopefully he will have as much fun this year!

Garrett's bud Xander turned 1 on Saturday . . . it's just too hard to believe how big the boys are getting! I am so glad that they have been able to grow up together, its good for them!!

Fussy babies and silly puppies

Last night was the absolute pits. I think Garrett was up at least once an hour, SCREAMING at the top of his lungs. His top 2 teeth are so close to breaking through, and I think it is causing him some major pain. He isn't eating much, only milk and anything cold and soft. Forget meat or anything hard. He has spent most of today napping--no wonder, since he was up all night. Too bad I can't nap, but the work has to get done sometime!! Hopefully those toothies will make an appearance soon so I can have my happy boy back.

In other news, Haylee is just a silly girl. Not that this is anything new. Today, after I put Garrett down for his first nap, I went to feed the dogs and found Haylee missing. Which of course meant that I had (yet again) locked her in Garrett's bedroom when I put him down. You would think she would learn to stick closer to me when I put him down for naps, or just not come into the room!! She is always so happy to be set free, silly girl! Hopefully agility won't get rained out tonight, for the 8-millionth time in a row. I miss playing out there with all my doggie buddies!

Okay, back to work.

Potty Time

Since Garrett really hates wet and dirty diapers, we decided we would get a potty and see how he liked using it. I picked it up last night, and this morning he went poopie in it!! :-) Horray! We obviously aren't planning on starting potty training in earnest, but we figured we would see if we could get him to use the potty a little bit, it would be nice. One less poopie diaper to change. Apparently "elimination communication" is a big thing. There is a book called "Diaper 3 before 3" we will have to check it out.

Other than that, we had a nice father's day with Daddy. We got him (or rather, HE got him) a new weedeater. Garrett and I made a little father's day poem with Garrett's footprints (see the pic from our playdate, thanks Haydee!!) and a frame for him. Then our friend Cassie came to stay with Garrett so Daddy and I could have some alone time :) We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 . . . it wasn't as good as #1, but way better than #2!! We haven't had a date night in a while, so that was nice.

Other than that, G-man is super fussy off and on lately, his teeth are definately bothering him. He has gone to 2 feedings a day of breastmilk back to every couple of hours, and is refusing any solids that aren't chilled and very soft--this is the same stuff he did before he got his first 2 teeth.

Anyway, not much else new. Hugs to everyone!

Sea World

We went to Orlando last weekend with our former neighbors. We went to Sea World on Saturday and Typhoon Lagoon on Sunday. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, too busy having a good time.

We fed the dolphins, which Garrett slept through, despite my best efforts to wake him up. The poor guy was pooped, and conked out in the sling while we were in line. Thank GOODNESS for the sling, because otherwise we would have gotten very tired of carrying him through the attractions that didn't allow strollers very fast. The dolphins were so neat to touch, all rubbery and wet. Too fun!

Then we fed the stingrays. Also VERY cool. Garrett napped through the first half but got to touch them, even though he just about fell into their pond in the process. People probably thought we were trying to feed HIM to the stingrays!

The rest of the day was a complete whirlwind. We caught a few shows, which Garrett enjoyed, and saw lots of neat animals. It was incredibly hot. Garrett decided he could no longer be bothered to eat jarred babyfood, which was all I brought, so he was a bit fussy in the afternoon. We didn't see everything there was, by any means, so we will go back again sometime soon!
Garrett had more fun at the water park on Sunday, and at the pool at our hotel both Friday and Saturday night. The kid just likes to be in the water, who can blame him!! :-) He is, after all, ours!

Ride-On car (6.7.07)

Garrett loves the little ride-on car Jess and Chris gave him for his birthday--he opens and closes the trunk all the time. He tries to use the shape sorter and occasionally gets them in, but usually he gets frustrated and opens the hood to put it in. Silly goose! You can see from the last picture that all play requires a bunch of concentration! :-)

Big Red Shovel (6.7.07)

This fun little toy is a Discovery Toys product . . . I bought it because it was on sale, and I really didn't expect Garrett to play with it much (its aged 3+) It is one of his favorites though. He pushes it around everywhere, and now he CARRIES it everywhere, which is funny since it is as tall as he is!

One little pic to keep you guys happy!

Garrett at Typhoon Lagoon . . . just a picture to stave off the Grandmas until I can get more up, lol :-) My boss leaves Saturday for a few weeks, so things will be moderately insane until then. I promise more soon though!

All Garrett wanted to do here was go up and down the steps. Coincidentally, that was his favorite part of the pool at the hotel too. That and splashing like a mad man, err, toddler!

Big boy!!!

Garrett had his 1 year checkup ( a little late due to that stuffy nose!) . . . he is 20lbs, 11oz and 28 inches. Amazingly enough, he is finally on the "curve" for his weight (but not his height) . . . such a busy boy, I am amazed he finally made it to 20lbs!

I have a ton of pics to post, just busy . . . hopefully in the next few days!

Keep my friends in your thoughts, my Friend Adrianne will be having her little boy via c/s on Thursday 6/21 and my friend Jess just found out she is having a little boy too (she's due in November) . . .babies, babies everywhere!

Little Piggy

So far today (it is 2:09) Garrett has had the following to eat:
1.5 bananas
1 cup cottege cheese
bread (homemade, half a slice . . .if I broke it up to feed to him he refused to eat it, he wanted the whole piece so he could tear off his own bites!!)
1 cup of cauliflower
Leftover Mac & Cheese from last night
Shreaded cheese.

Plus milkie and a ton of water . . . seriously, its amazing he doesn't weigh 500 pounds!

Work is crazy busy right now, so I guess I should get back. We are going to Orlando this weekend, can't wait to get away!!

My official DT Model :-)

Took this picture of Garrett for a flyer I was working on . . .too cute to pass up! The shovel in the background is one of his absolute favorite toys, I never would have guessed he would enjoy it as much as he does.

Super stunt pilot

Apparently I can NOT leave him alone with his pilot rocker . . . I was working in the other room, realized I wasn't hearing Garrett doing much, and this is what I found when I went into the living room!

Lighthouse and Beach

Went to Bill Baggs/Cape Florida State Park on Sunday with our ex-neighbors, Rocky and Teresa. There is a beautiful old lighthouse there, so we decided it was the perfect time for Garrett's first lighthouse tour. Daddy carried him in the backpack, because I am not a big fan of heights when I don't have my most prized thing strapped to my back! Garrett, always the adventurer, thought it was great fun.

The lighthouse keeper's cottege was beautiful, I would mote in there in a hearbeat! It comes complete with a sterotypical outhouse :-)

After our big adventure, a dip in the ocean felt great! Garrett played in the sand with the new truck/sand toys Rocky and Teresa gave him for his birthday.

Some "1 year" pictures

Too cheap/poor to get pictures done professionally (plus Brad always says he can do better!) . . . so here are a few of our "backyard" 1-year pictures.

My helper

I think Garrett has seen me washing poopie diapers a time too many . . . today he took a clean diaper from the dryer and was repeatedly dunking it in the dog water bowl . . . .I think he was helping. SILLY BOY!

He is walking everywhere now, and is into everything. Today he was also playing with the fish tank (he stood on his pilot rocker and was playing with the glass) . . . crazy kiddo! Pics later, we had a busy weekend.