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!

Life and Another Video

I was recently asked for an update and more photos, so here you go! :-)

Ken has been working in San Antonio, so it's been me and the boy alone together Monday - Friday. It's hard being sole caregiver with no breaks and no relief except for naps and bedtime. I'm not the most social of people (did you know that about me?), so we mostly stay at the house. Also, Trav's been teething, so he's been cranky and whiny lately. Not a pleasant way to spend the days. However, we're hanging in there. Next week, we'll go visit Ken again. We have friends in SA, and there's a little pool at the hotel, and a Target nearby, so we should be plenty happy.

Ken's job is going well, but he's been very busy, and we weren't planning on him being gone like this. We visited last week, and I got to meet several of Ken's coworkers. Everyone was really friendly and geeky so I totally fit right in. One gal held Travis so Ken and I could eat lunch, and he never cried or anything. In fact, we couldn't find them when I was ready to leave, so we had to go looking for them. She had him with a bunch of girls cooing over him. Yeah, the little flirt is gonna be a ladies' man.

I found this really cool TV series (no longer going), it's called Digging for the Truth, and it was on the History channel hosted by a guy named Josh Bernstein. I have found each episode really fascinating, and whether you're into history or not, I think you'll find it entertaining.

You've politely read everything I've written, but I know you were hoping for some more videos of Travis, and I won't disappoint you. Here you go! Here is a video of T walking around the coffee table saying "Mama." He still doesn't realize I'm Mama, but it's cute anyhow.

I've added some more photos of Trav's room after I added some wall art. What do you think? I decided that I'm not fond of the blue that I chose, but it works and it's not worth repainting. It's a nice blue, it just doesn't have a lot of pizzazz, which I guess is fine for a kid's room. 

Closet wall

Above the closet

Family Photos

With Howard after their nap

Pooh in the rocking chair

Wall art and changing table

Please continue to pray for us during this rough time; Ken will be going to SA every week until probably mid-August, and then we should find out whether he will go back to the Austin office or what our next steps will be. 

One for me, two for Saige...

Lately, Travis has discovered that feeding Saige is more fun than feeding himself. So now, he throws his food on the floor and giggles when she picks it up. I've started making her sit outside the kitchen until he's finished making a big mess, but today I was a big softie and let her in while I ran to get my camera. Here are some videos of the two buffoons.

Enjoy!

More Videos

I've been taking some videos, and decided to post them for your viewing pleasure. This boy is so cute!

Playing Peekaboo

Learning to slide

More sliding

Standing and chatting

Playing with Saige

Photos of Trav's newly painted room.

Give me back my binky!

Travis and Adrian had such a fun time playing, and I just realized that I have a short video of them "fighting" over the binky, so I just had to post it.

Video Diary

I just transferred some videos from my Blackberry to my computer, and then, of course, I had to play a few to see this ridiculously cute child (since right now he's asleep and it wakes him up if I watch him too long--just  kidding! I don't watch him sleep; that's creepy). Watching them reminds me all over again why I decided to stay home with this little bundle of joy. I can't express how grateful and happy I am that we are able to live on one salary. Ken, being a whiz with budgets and money, is amazing, and I probably don't tell him enough how wonderful he is. Honey, you're wonderful, and I'm so thankful that you are happy to have me and Travis stay home together, but we miss you, so retire soon and play with us!

Here are some of the videos that made me smile:

This one is before T could crawl - taken in March before our trip to Arizona. I love that hat, but Nana and Papa agreed that it made him look like a girl.

Here's one where Ken teaches Travis to drum - taken last week (sans girlie hat).

Here is a sampling of our day - taken this week:

First, we wake up, eat, change the diaper, etc. T is a morning baby, and he loves to giggle, so here we are giggling together.

Then we play for awhile with T's toys. Sometimes T plays cheerfully by himself, and sometimes Mama likes to play with him (but always there is laughter at his crazy antics).

Now that T is mobile, a lot of our day is exploring the house. So sometimes we follow Mama, and sometimes Saige (and sometimes we like to go off and explore on our own, but that's another story). Look how good he's gotten at crawling!

Then Abbi comes over after school, and we just hang out and pretend we aren't anywhere near tired. (here, Mama was entertaining Travis while Abbi finished her homework).

Sometimes, we just like to sit and play with our toys. Here's one where T learned that he could bang things together and make lots of noise. I keep trying to teach him to clap, but it's not nearly as fun because it doesn't make much noise.

So there you have a sampling of our day; looks fun doesn't it? Sometimes we go shopping or to lunch with friends, but we enjoy our days at home, which are anything but quiet and boring! I'm constantly surprised at how busy we stay, and how the house can remain cluttered even though I'm continuously straightening up throughout the day. Oh well, I suppose life is meant to be lived, not cleaned. Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed our video diary of life at home with Travis.

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.