Monday, November 30, 2009

Fishin' n' Grinnin'

I can't believe it but our little lazy bones is still asleep this morning (it's almost 8am!) so I have a bit of time for an update. I completely forgot to post our pics from Colorado (Lathan's first plane trip!) so I've put a few below. I've also included some current events as well. He's growing by leaps and bounds and has learned all kinds of new skills. I know all moms say this but he keeps getting cuter too. I love his rosy cheeks and his silly smiles. Things that make him laugh these days are the squeaky sound (it's the trumpet playing sound), buzz buzz buzz like a bee and squinting your eyes at him. All hilarious. Oh, and mooshu is the most hysterical thing he's ever seen. Well, it's December 2nd, I have the Humber dinner under my belt and now it's just time to get ready for Lathan's first Christmas!! Can't wait.


Lathan in his cute skeleton jammies scaling my legs. He's a strong baby--I can tell he is trying to stand up by himself because I catch him in the yoga pose downward facing dog frequently. He thinks that by forming a tripod he can stand up.


Here are the two stages of waiting for breakfast. Sedate and WHERE'S MY FOOD!!


These are from our Thanksgiving in Gastonia. We had a great time with Anna, Papa, Aunt Slow-J, Uncle Greg, Aunt Joy and the cousins Tori, Conner and Corbin. Lathan was hugely entertained by the kids (you can see him here investigating Conner's zipper). He was even able to experiment with piano playing (see below).


Maybe a little Amadeus? Just the music, not the insane personality.


The morning we left Gastonia the little munchkin was pretty pooped...see here snuggling Daddy.


Looks like a little rest did him a world of good!


Kickin' it with Uncle Greg--just reading the morning paper.


A few days ago we made a trip to visit Nana, Lathan's Great Grandmother, in Kinston (or K-town as we call it). He had a wonderful time visiting! He chased Coco around the house giggling the whole time, found some lovely prismatic rainbows cast on the cabinets in the kitchen--"where do those come from" he thinks, and he enjoyed playing the "I'VE GOT YOUR NOSE" game with Granddaddy! Altogether a fun time.


Look at those rosy cheeks. That the "I've got you!" face.


OK! Finally, Colorado! Beautiful mountains everywhere...lots of great fishin. Here's our guide and dad floating along. It was an amazing day!


Here's my first catch (yep, you can see it around the middle of the frame...yes you can! That would've made a lovely lunch!"). Here's a great shot of the canyon!


Getting untangled!


This was my pumping station "au naturale". The guys gave me some privacy while I tended to the chores. It was a nice rest...but I assure you I was on the lookout (and listen) for any bears!


OK, now we're talkin. Here are a couple of other lovely fishies.



Dad got a nice 'un!


Ah, relaxing back at the place. Lathan decided he was going all out with his GLUG hat and a wine cork. Don't worry, I'm not feeding it to him...just removing it fro his grasp!. He also had some QT with Uncle B and Aunt Wendy on this trip. Here he's just chillin' with they guys. They look like they're deep in conversation!


I love this pic, even though it's blurry, because it's after our big event in the parking lot of a grocery store in Vail. Just before we were all about to hit the road back to the place after a lovely outing, Lathan decided to have the biggest blowout I've ever seen (still...that one truely takes the cake). Coco and I spent a good 20 minutes rangling this messy creature in the back of a rental SUV (trying not to soil it!)--went through all of our wipes and had to go into the store for more! Oh, and we didn't have any backup clothes (there was NO WAY he could wear that outfit home) so I had to put him in one of my t-shirts that I had spare (whew). That's how he rode home. I love this expression though---that "FINALLY, I feel MUCH better now Mommy!" look. Priceless.



His first balloon. He loved this thing that we got a the Vail farmers market. That was lots of fun--we even scored some yummy dinner fixins, cuppy cakes and chocolate covered bacon!


Dinner out at a fancy place (we got there realy early). Lathan was great--here you see him enjoying his dinner!


The rare shot of me & Daddy!


On the way out to the airport--this was when he was all dressed up in his mountain man gear! We had a great breakfast, got on the road and listened to a fuss fest for about 3/4 of a 2 hour drive. He was amazing on the plane though!


Pre-boarding--getting ready to get back to his own crib!! :)

That's all for now! Hope everyone is will have a lovely holiday season! Only 22 shopping days left!

Monday, November 16, 2009

A BOY AND HIS DOG

Just a quick post this morning with a few pics of the Lathan & Mooshu Show. They're becoming best buddies! Mooshu doesn't know it yet though! We've been cracking up this morning in the nursery over velcro on bibs and Mooshu's scootching. Hilarious.


Yesterday we went on a walk with "old baby" (that's Mooshu). He really enjoyed the 70 degree weather and was getting used to the stroller. Everyone did great and we had a lovely time. Lathan has been helping me recover from some back troubles by allowing me time for my exercises and getting me out for walks. What a great physical therapist!


Last weekend we went to Garden Supply Company in Apex to see their open house. They have such killer decorations--Lathan was especially enamored with the Sock Monkey tree display. So cool. Coco accompanied us and was helping Lathan test out his Chuck Taylors as seen below! He's about ready to walk--already a great stander in his crib, along the couch--anywhere there's support. If Mooshu would just stand still long enough he would use him! Also, see Lathan sporting some of his new/vintage duds courtesy of my friend Madeline and her son David. It's great to have friends with amazing fashion sense! Lathan loves his new sweaterpants, cool zip up sweater (ZIP ZIP--just the sound is entertaining) and his awesome aviator star hat. That's my favorite--he tends to rip it off at the first chance of course!


That's most of what's fit to report at this time. We're just gearing up for Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then 1ST BIRTHDAY!!! Can't believe it's so close! More soon!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

YIKES!!

Hi Everyone!
No, I didn't get sucked into a wormhole (unless you consider Facebook a wormhole) I've just been busy with work and baby and...I need to move the computer out of the nursery! That was a good idea in the beginning but now the only time I really have to blog is when Lathan is in dreamyland (which he is right now...I'm on the laptop).

It's been an amazing couple of months with lots of milestones. He now has 8 teeth (yup) and they're sharp--don't get your fingers caught in there, ouch! He crawls. A lot, and fast!! He can stand up in his crib (and outside it with support). He's eating all kinds of things (we shared some of daddy's chicken salad that he made the other day) including lots of solid foods (he's cool with Asparagus, Pot Roast, Chicken Salad, oatmeal, plums, parsnips, apples...the list goes on).

You'll see some of the milestones in the photos below. I'll put a brief caption with each--they're not exactly in chronological order so don't be surprised if you see Halloween next to a September event~

Here's a little video to get you started off. It's his first "playing in the leaves" experience.
Enjoy! :)




These are some pics of from our childbirth class group Halloween get together. We wanted all of the babies to get dressed up early (we did brunch) so the most appreciative group (other parents of little ones) could see them all together--so adorable. This is pre-costume. I love the one with Lathan and Clara in Lathan's crib. He has such a sly look--kind of a "she has no idea what she's getting into" look!


Here are some of Lathan in his costume. He was a rainbow trout (yep, his Granddaddy is pretty proud)--costume made by me with lots of help from Coco. What you don't get out of a photograph is the priceless wiggling--he really looks like a caught fish when held up like that. Who knew you could catch a 22# rainbow trout in the suburbs?


Here are just a couple of cutie ones. I love his little Merrell shoes and his all-brown outfit. And those stripey "babylegs" are so hilarious.


Here are a few from the state fair! We took tons but I tried to edit down. He was a total trooper--stuck with us for over 2 hours and not a peep. He even slept for about 30 minutes or so (see middle pic). Amazing.


This is us the day of the fair pre-trip. He looked so cute in his outfit I couldn't help but sit him down for a quick shoot. Love this little anchor onesie that Wendy & Benton gave us and
his cute Chucks.


Here are the first pictures of him crawling! He decided to start on the morning of his 9 month"well baby" doctor's appointment. We haven't been able to catch him since!


Awww. Here's a picture of Lathan and his daddy at 3:00am when Lathan had his first fever. It was around 102 degrees+ and he was pretty unhappy. A cool rag and some baby Tylenol helped though. From what the doctor said later it looked like he fought off some kind of little virus. He was hot for a couple of days but in good spirits. What a great kid!




These were taken at Great-Aunt Fran's house when we celebrated Nana & Coco's birthdays. We had a great time with awesome food (as usual!) and Lathan got to do some major socializing with the ladies! He also got to show off his Sophie teether--one of his favs.


I just love these pictures. He was starting to scoot around and I thought it would be fun to sit outside in the shade with Mooshu. He loves the grass (pulls it up, squishes his fingers through it) and he really digs herbs outside. He'll eat a basil leaf in a heartbeat if you let him!


Just a couple of fun ones. Out for a walk with mommy and chillin' with some toys and his favorite fuzzy/scootchie toy Mooshu.


I like to call this "swing day". The first time out in a swing and he LOVED it. We may have to install one at home. He could have sat in that thing all day.


Here's a nice set of monkey-tee shots. I really love this outfit--a Paul Frank Julius t-shirt (it says "Chicks dig scars" and the monkey has a band-aid on his head!) and his homemade t-shirt pants & hat. Now that I think of it--the whole freakin' outfit is t-shirt!
Sounds like a dream come true for his daddy :)
I don't know how this pic of mooshu and his plushie likeness wound up in this group but that was made for Lathan to take on his first plane trip out west.


A couple of random ones. some brownies I made for Uncle B for his birthday (made Lathan Cherry labels for them) and the baby boy and his dog doin' laundry. What a helper!


Here are a few outside pics before he could crawl. He would sit in one place and wiggle his legs so much that he would rub holes in the grass!
Now he's just burning knee tracks through it!


Here are a series of knits from Great-Aunt Fran. He had gotten a bit big for the sleep sac when I took these pics (see the foot sticking out) but he was SO adorable in it. The other is a great little wrap kimono type sweater that looks great with his t-shirt pants!


Just a couple of fun ones. Great smile in the cloud pic. Making "zerbert" sounds
in the second.


Here are a couple of pics from when Anna & Papa came up from Gastonia to see the Grandson! We had a great time and they brought with them an adorable little German hat that was Andy's when he was a toddler. Once it fits a bit better you can count on a bunch of pics of Lathan in it. Anyone know where we can come up with some lederhosen?


Sweet baby w/Mommy on the stoop. Love that belly and his cutie feet.



More of the same.



Could he have been singing showtunes in these shots? Possibly. I'm bummed that hat doesn't fit anymore--it was so cute!

He LOVES our door knocker. Chris took it and gave it a bronze/copper finish a while back and it really stands out now. Every time I'm holding Lathan coming through the door he grabs hold of that thing with a strong grip...it could seriously pull me over.

Introspective in his Marley onesie on mommy & daddy's bed. Just looking at the trees move in the breeze (one of his favorite pastimes).


These were from a trip we took out to Harris Lake park
(by Sharon Harris nuclear power plant).
No, we didn't see blinky (the 3 eyed fish from "The Simpsons") but we had a hellofa walk. That trail isn't what I could call "stroller friendly". Next time it's the backpack for sure.


A few random pics. Us kissing on the baby (he likes to kiss now--he just hasn't figured out how to pucker up--he just opens his mouth and launches towards you.
Pretty cute, just a bit sloppy!
Here he is riding daddy's shoulders and then woofing down some PURPLE. Some kind of blueberry breakfast...he likes color.


I had to scan these once we got home from a visit I had to the dermatologist. While we were in the waiting room (Lathan and I) another mother and her two kids came in. They were something like 4 and 6ish I think. They were completely ENAMORED with Lathan...couldn't stop entertaining him. They were super sweet but after a while the mom thought they might be over stimulating Lathan (thanks Anonymom!) so she had them chill next to her and draw some pictures. They each drew Lathan and gave him their drawings. How super sweet! So here are their two portraits of Lathan.


Ok, present day. Here's Lathan one day after I left for work and he was having some separation anxiety. Andy took this picture after his nap and sent it to me at work to ease my mind. So sweet (and what a happy baby--Daddy days are SUPERFUN!)
Also, here are our two pumpkins from Halloween. I went with an easy "play with your food" approach this year!




Here's the childbirth class party pic set. Lathan crashed out near the end for a little bit (see the first pic) while lots of action was going on! He didn't want to keep his fish-head hat on but loved looking through it--PEEKABOO! And here was the zoo of babies at the house. They were hilarious and it was amazing that we could get them to hold this still for a pic. They were all crawling all over each other seconds after these were taken. I love the one on the right where Lathan and Braydon are "talking" to each other. Lathan had his arm around him for a while when they were sitting there...such a pal. We had two monkeys, a butterfly, a rainbow trout, a giraffe and a turtle. I'm glad I opted not to make Lathan a "sushi" costume (although-it would've formerly been a creature). I would've hated to ruin the critter theme.


Ok, last two (you can't complain though--this has been a mountain of photos!). Here's one of the munchkin with a big toothy grin during bathtime (easily his favorite activity). He LOVES the bath. And a priceless expression from him as I'm trying to get pics of a new fleece hat I made for him. He kept pulling it off (even though his mommy kept telling him "it's cold out--you need a hat!") and then gave me this look. What a character.

We are having the absolute best time with this little guy. Every day even better than the one before. He's so sweet and cute and funny and smart and amazing. Is it not obvious how proud we are of this little guy! We're so lucky! LOVE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, my goal is to start blogging more regularly so keep a lookout for new posts. It's doubtful that they'll continue to have this many pics but at least you won't have to wait for 3 months to get an update!!
XO
Mommycakes