Wednesday, February 3, 2016

An Extraordinary January

Let's be honest.  January is kind of a lame month.  Taking down Christmas decorations is never fun, and I don't love having the cold really set in...  Yeesh, it can be downright depressing sometimes!

Well, while we've definitely had our bouts of cabin fever (poor Atticus had his first real encounter with "lootz" as we called it in Armenia- a.k.a. Montezuma's Revenge or the runs...) we've also been fortunate to stay relatively busy.  We've had a lot of fun this month!
                               
For starters, David came to visit after his birthday.  We love seeing this guy and we've definitely seen more of him in the last year than we have in a very, very long time!

My mom's cousin, Jocelyn, also came for a visit, which made it all the merrier.  We decided to celebrate all of the January birthdays to mark the occasion.
David even convinced me to go and hit the slopes with him at the end of his stay.  It had been a couple years but woowee did we have a good time!


Uh oh!  He found Uncle Corky's video game control...  Here comes trouble!
Meanwhile, Atticus had a really pretty lady take care of him.  (Oh, wait.  She's my sister-in-law?  Cool!)  Thanks so much, Whitney!  She took these cute photos above.


Atticus wanted to show his appreciation, so he helped his Aunt Bobbie give Whitney a back rub.  As you can see, he really gets into his work...


Thanks to all of the birthdays and get-togethers, we've definitely gotten more Loader time this month.   That is NEVER a bad thing!

We've also made sure to spend time with friends as often as possible.  Here's an adorable Fun with Foods class we went to.

Isn't he so cute in his little apron?  He chowed down on the food they had.  His appetite has really picked up lately!



And when we weren't hanging out with family or friends, Atticus has made life exciting all on his own.  He's not walking yet (it'll be a bit...) but mannn is this kid all over the place!  Even with our recently acquired baby proofing mechanisms, this child is constantly exploring.
                  





He keeps me on my toes, that's for sure.


As for milestones, well, tooth #7 made its appearance.  We didn't even notice extra drooling like we have in the past!  While we have no evidence, we suspect this tooth is the culprit responsible for his inordinate amounts of diarrhea...

Oh, he started clapping on February 1st!  It's his new way to ask for food or to be picked up.


And this might seem like a no brainer, but his hair sure has gotten longer.  Here's proof if you need it.


 He started using spoons and forks!  Ha ha, here's his very first attempt.

Hey now!  It isn't nice to make fun!  "He got better!"
(If you read that in a British accent, you're spot on.)

He's also (finally!) starting to like books more!  We're still only into the touchy-feely, musical, flap books, but I definitely count it a success.  Especially now that he's the one pulling them out and opening them.  (And closing them... and opening them again...)

In addition to "Dadda" he has the cutest way of saying, "No."  He shakes his head again and again, saying "Doe, doe, doe, doe."  He definitely gets his point across.

Still, while other kids are starting to walk and talk in earnest, Atticus is too busy "tinkering" with the mechanics of objects around him to notice.  As a result, his hands have developed a surprising amount of control.  It is so fun to watch!
I'm not sure this video does it justice, but he's mastered unstacking and restacking his rings.  He loves to try to take things apart and put them back together.  He also really enjoys shaking and bashing things.
These new abilities can lead to trouble, however.  He has developed a morbid (adorable!) fascination with things that frighten him.  
Take, for example, this buzzer you see him holding.  He hated it at first- it made him cry every time it would go off!  Yet still, several times a day, he would find it and push the button- often throwing it aside to run to us and hide.

Here we have another example.  This kid LOVES the vacuum.  No kidding.  He knows where we keep it and every so often he'll go up to the closet door and knock on it, as though to see if his friend can come out and play.  Every time we bring it out he lets out a joyful cry and crawls right up to it.  It can make cleaning a little difficult but it's so hilarious.  But this month, with his ever increasing dexterity, he discovered how to turn on the machine with a not so pleasant outcome...
 His friend betrayed him!



 An account of this month wouldn't be complete without sharing the sad news.  Atticus already likes Grandma and Grandpa more than his mom and dad!  While "Dadda" is really the only word he says with recognition, we're sure that Grandma and Grandpa will be next...  Poor Mamma!  Then again, who can blame him?  He gets the royal treatment with these two!  ;)


But...  The poor little mite is stuck with Dane and me, most of the time, mwa ha ha!
Ah, I wouldn't feel too sorry for him.  We have fun, every now and again...

Friday, January 15, 2016

2016- My Baby's 13!

Man, the second half of December really was jam-packed.

A couple days after we got back from Alabama, I turned 30!  While we were chomping down on pizza Atticus had his first encounter with a lemon:
 Poor little guy!

Then, on Christmas Eve, we celebrated Dane's Aunt Lori's birthday with a breakfast.  Atticus got in some quality Great-Grandma time:
That night we had such a sweet experience.  We ate our traditional New Mexican beans, chili, and homemade tortillas and then went through an inspiring Christmas program that Marti had put together.

Christmas morning was magical.  It was the whitest Christmas we've ever had here in Utah (since I've lived here, anyway!)  and we headed over to Grandma Marti and Grandpa Bob's house for breakfast.  Sitting under the tree was the most adorable little airplane.  
Atticus was ecstatic.  He still is!
We even saw Santa & Mrs. Clause on the road.  I guess they were visiting family here in Utah, now that Santa's big job was over.
Later that day, we spent some quality time with the Brough clan, and sang some carols with Grandpa Dan.  Couldn't ask for much more than that!

It was a very Merry, White Christmas!

On New Year's Day we were able to get together with the Maes family and Atticus got to meet the second Great-Grandchild, Everest Jackson.
In the midst of all of these get-togethers, the adventures continued...
Adventures in dressing... (this was not posed, people!)  :)

Adventures in speaking...
(This just might be Atticus's first word: "Baba" -his way of saying "Papa"?  Then again, he says this a lot, often in reference to his bottles and binkies...)
He's also saying "Woah!" and working with his Rs a lot.



 Adventures around the house...


Adventures in walking...
Whew!  What a workout...

And just growing up!  He is waving now- it is the cutest thing across a crowded room or when he beckons us to come and chase after him.

I swear he gets more ticklish every day (sometimes the palms of his hands are ticklish!  I didn't know that was a thing!)
Yep.  We love our little Hulkster.  And he loves us!- Most of the time, anyway...

And now he's 13 months!  As if he knew it was his 13 month birthday, Atticus, for the first time ever, slept 11.5 hours in his cribs.  No crying.  No feeding.  I could cry from happiness.
Now we have to sleep train Momma so she can learn how to sleep again, ha ha!  

The Party...er, Parties...

Well, Atticus kind of had two birthdays.  The first was on Thursday with his Grandma Marti (Grandpa Bob has been sick! :(  )

Here he is opening his first gifts:


A little later the little guy got to eat spaghetti.  Any. Way. He. Wanted.  I guess it could have been messier.  Right?  
  Maybe not...
Then, on Sunday, we got together with some of the Brough clan to eat some good food and watch him eat some cake.

Trouble was, he didn't eat any cake!-  Not a bite!  Only a teensy bit of the frosting.  
Strange boy... :)

But he sure had fun throwing it around and getting it on my mom's dog, Marley.




He got absolutely spoiled with presents!  


 Thank you, everyone!