Happy Birthday, Little T

One week old!

One year ago today, my life was irrevocably changed in ways I never could have imagined: I had a little boy. I never really thought of myself as a mom; I wanted to be cool Aunt Krista, but I'm finding motherhood is so much better and so much more rewarding than just being a cool aunt. It hasn't all been sunshine and roses (please, he's a baby, not a cabbage patch doll), and I've spent a lot of time obsessing over what was "normal" and the "right" way to do things, but I've learned that you just gotta do things the best that you can, and hope that your kids forgive you for any mistakes you make. Because you will make them.

As I reflect on this past year, I'm still amazed at how fast it went, and I find myself agreeing with the advice that I continually got from random strangers: hug and kiss them now because it doesn't last long!

So, happy birthday, little T-Rav. It's been a great year (cuddling, cooing, smiling, laughing, cuddling, talking, walking, cuddling...); I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did (other than the diaper changing, and the crying, and the uncertainty, and the fall from the shopping cart, and the crying).

Remember this hair? (3 weeks)

I hope the next year is twice the fun with half the angst! Let's meet back next year to reflect on year two!

At daycare--Merry Christmas! (4 mos)

A day outside (6 mos)

Swinging and laughing (6 mos)

Camera Lover (9 mos)

I survived the first year! (12 mos)

Little Red Wagon First Birthday Party

After years of totally lame parties, we finally scored a fun, clever first birthday party--it sure helps that Travis is happy and cute!

The Theme

I didn't like the traditional party accessories that I kept running across; I wanted something a little bit different, something simple and classic, so I did a lot of research. It took awhile, but then I found two things that helped solidify the theme.

1. Trav's birthday gift from Pappaw
2. Several other mom's blog posts who had done parties with related themes, and encouraged me that it was possible to do it myself.

Our theme centered around the classic little red wagon. I created banners using scrapbook paper of sky, sand, grass, pebbles, denim, and wooden fences to create an outdoorsy feel.  I made cupcake toppers using the same design as the banners, but smaller and glued onto toothpicks.

Cupcakes

Then I decided on decorating cupcakes. Taking several cupcake decorating classes was very helpful, but I knew I wanted something simple. Using just a couple of colors and a few different decorating tips, I created green grass and white peaks sprinkled with red sugar and sparkly fairy dust. For Travis' special cupcake, I made a jumbo red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. I thought it was appropriate since I discovered and fell in love with red velvet cake while I was pregnant with Travis (because he didn't like chocolate!).

He had such a fun time tearing apart the cupcake and making a huge mess.

Gifts

By now, I'm sure you're wondering about that gift from Pappaw! It was  a little red Radio Flyer sports coupe. Absolutely adorable. Travis LOVES it! The other kids took turns driving him around the house in it.

As I was trying to think of a birthday gift from Ken and I, I thought how fun it would be to have a little gas pump to go along with the car. But I didn't want to spend much money, so Ken suggested I go online to get a little inspiration on how to make one. Surprisingly, I only found one reference to a homemade gas pump, so I used it for the basic idea, but embellished the idea for a truly unique homemade gift. I'll tell you how I did it in a separate blog post, but for now, here's some teaser photos.

Several months ago, I began a project that took such a long time to complete that it became Travis' second birthday gift. Using a robot theme and coordinating scrapbook paper, I made a matching game.

I took 12 pieces of ready-made craft wood, and decoupaged  rectangles of paper on both sides. One side is all the same design, while the other side has 2 each of 6 designs. I then embroidered a robot onto a little pouch that holds all of the wooden rectangles. It is a little old for him yet, but he'll be able to play before we know it.

We had such a fun time celebrating our little man's first birthday with family and close friends. I'd like to thank our amazing friend, Ashley Terry, for capturing the day with such amazing photos. 

We've got a walker, and other photos

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but I've been trying to get Travis walking on video for awhile, and I've finally done it! 

Don't blink--you may miss it! He's only taking a step or two now before he falls down, but we're pretty happy. 

Here's one of him dancing.

Since I'm feeling lazy today, here are some new photos of T.

Before dinner with Bob

Happy 4th of July!

It's time for the eating!

Always with a hand on Howard

Playing

Peek-a-boo!

Pouty

Eating Cheerios-can you see his bottom teeth?

So cute!

Congratulations, Daniel!!!

Our good friend, Daniel, recently graduated from the law school at the College of William and Mary near Colonial Williamsburg. We are super proud of him, and we're so excited that he and Laura are heading back to Tucson, Arizona.

Daniel, we just know you're going to be an amazing lawyer!!

Travis Marlin Scooter-Butt

Travis has been trying so hard to crawl; the best he's managed is a scoot/army crawl. Here's a video showing him moving with the proper motivation: Mama's phone. It won't be long before he's crawling!

A little of this, a little of that, and a dash of love

Well, I fell behind a little bit on blogging -- sorry about that -- anyone miss us? I have no excuse, we've just been so busy playing and visiting, I haven't taken time to stop. Truthfully, my spare time has been spent sleeping. Travis' first tooth has poked through and a second is on the way, which has disrupted his (our) sleep, so we've been up a lot even at night. However, it seems to be getting better, and his sleeping patterns are improving.  He is also starting to talk up a storm, and it won't be long before we're hearing mama and papa.

We had our 6-month check-up this week. Travis is still in the 90th percentile on height - he's 27-3/4 inches now. However, he's dropped a little on weight - he's 17lbs, 6oz - not quite double his birth weight. He's gained 1-1/2 lbs. The doctor says that's normal since he's been getting more active, learning to roll over, sit up, etc. I notice that he's not as chunky as other babies his age, so what this tells us is that he's likely to be a lot like Ken - tall and skinny!!!

Now that the weather is getting nicer, we're spending more time outdoors. We recently got a swing for Travis, and he loves it! He hasn't learned to swing himself yet, but it's only a matter of time. I really miss having a safe place and a good friend with whom to walk. In my younger days, my friend, Laura, and I would walk several miles every morning, chatting and observing the architecture of Tucson houses. Here, I simply walk up and down the street, which gets really boring after a while, and sure, I can always go to a park or something, but it's such a production getting ready and loading everything that it just never seems worth it just for me and Travis. He's talking more, but he's not a brilliant conversationalist yet. I really miss having friends close by who keep me accountable for getting out of the house to walk on a regular basis. I'll be glad when Travis is a little older and takes 2 regular naps so we can plan our day a little better. We recently joined the Bastrop MOMS Club, so maybe I'll find someone there interested in a regular walk...

I am still enjoying staying home with Travis; I love being able to spend my day with him and watch him grow and learn. He's been trying to crawl, but so far, he can only kick his legs really hard before looking around to wonder why he hasn't moved! We miss Ken throughout the day, and I wish we were independently wealthy so that we could both stay home and play with Travis!

Well, I hear someone wanting to get up from his nap, so I'll close this post with our love and a short video.

Roly-Poly Travis

I was going through our videos of Travis, and found this one that I took earlier this week. He's finally learned to roll over both directions--yay!