Sunny day = water play...

One of Fen's favorite things is the watering bucket. Papa and Grandma have two...oh boy! And it was a good thing, because on this day, cousin Claudia wanted to play. By the way, Claudia is 3 1/2 months younger than Fender. I think I forgot to mention that before now.

 
 
 

And the kids loved the baby pool, but my camera did not. This was the only decent shot I got.
 

Cousin Clauida visits Papa and Grandma...

My second mother's day was great and we wish we could have shared it with all our moms.

We had a terrific lunch over at "Papa and Grandma's", which my sister, Drew and I prepared. I think the folks were a bit nervous that we were preparing all the fixins. :) Grandma seemed to really enjoy the full house, which included her youngest granddaughter (more with her later), and not having to cook for everyone. I really enjoyed seeing my mother's day post from Drew. Yep...I try to engage in conversation and they typically ignore me or tell me to get lost. :/

So in honor of my boys, I'll stop talking now and get on with the pics...

The first one is just for fun and not related to mother's day or Claudia's visit at all...
 

DJ and I took the kids over to the zoo on Thursday...they were asleep when we got there, but one was waking up just as the other was drifting off...yep, should have known that wasn't a good sign. It was a rough visit, but there were good moments. Here are a couple of pictures.
 
 
 

These are pics from Mother's Day...


Fender had everyone looking for the "roly poly" bug he lost. Too funny.


And this is our "family" picture...I'm there...can you see me...:)

Happy Mother's Day

I just want to wish Candice and all our moms a very Happy Mother's Day, but especially Candice. She works non-stop to take care of the boys in the house (the dog, our son, and Sebastian). And the video below is the typical thanks she gets:


So today I thought I'd say a big thanks, and I love you.
-Drew

Forever young...

Forgot to mention that Fender recently started going through a phase where he wants to be a little baby again. No idea if he got the idea from watching babies at the daycare, or if it is just one of those natural development phases...either way...I think it is very cute!

He doesn't do things often, but when he sees things that remind him of babies, he tries them out himself. For instance, he wanted to swing in his old baby swing the other day instead of rocking it himself. Sometimes he will also climb up into one of our laps, grab a blanket to wrap around himself and lay his head on your shoulder and say "baby." I have to admit...I LOVE that. It is one of those rare moments where a mom can actually hold her sweet, otherwise ever-moving, toddler boy...even if the novelty wears off for him after about two minutes max.

And the funniest thing we've seen lately is how he has taken to climbing into his old walker (which he actually never used much the first time around) and he'll grab the sides and lift it up off the floor and walk it around like the Flintstones did with there cars. OMG...(and I know I sound like the typical momma here) it is one of the cutest things he's ever done. We tried to film it, but the lighting was too dark so maybe I'll take it outside and try again later.

May Day, May Day...

Wow...with as busy a lineup as this month has to offer, I may need to post an SOS to get through. ;) So here's what's planned for us under the New Moon:

* Tomorrow DJ (fabulous step-mom) and I are off to OKC to pick up her granddaughter, Claudia Magdalene, for the week. Yea. Claudia (though I want to call her Maggie so bad!!!) is only three months younger than Fender so we should have a blast...and our hands full! A trip to the zoo is definitely in order.
* Then, lets not forget...Sunday is Mother's Day and my sister and I are planning a nice luncheon for DJ where she doesn't have to do a thing. :)
* We take Claudia back home around May 15th and then just after the full moon (May 20th), Drew and I celebrate our 10th anniversary on May 23rd, which is the start of...
* Memorial Day weekend (May 23-26).

But that's not all...oh no...not even close...

* Wednesday, May 28th Fender's "Uncle Bobby" Boswell and his new team, the Houston Dynamo's (here's a late..."Welcome back to Texas, Bobby.") play here, against our own FC Dallas and we plan to attend that late night game in Frisco.
* To be immediately followed by an early morning flight to Tampa, FL to cheer on Fender's fellow guitar named cousin Gibson at her High School Graduation that Friday.
* We'll end the month away, but literally return home at the start of the next New Moon (Jun 3rd).

So if I don't post many updates this month...you now know why. But I'll do my best, because there are sure to be plenty of photo ops.

Love and Peace and SOS...



P.S. Fender is now 19 months old. Have not weighed or measured lately. He climbs with ease on anything. He communicates more nearly every day. Likes to play in the dirt. And LOVES "namos" (balloons). He doesn't cry much unless he is really hurt and even then, not for very long. Little bumps, scrapes, bleeding busted lips, fire ant bites etc...apparently no cause for alarm. He wants things HIS way and fusses if he doesn't get it. We have to "stick to our guns" and not give in once we've told him he can't have or do something. But he is smart and he "gets it." Wow...he really knows what he is doing when he acts up. Parents of yet-to-be toddlers beware. But he is still so amazing to watch. You can see the thought process turning in his mind before he does something and he is such fun to play with. Still ambidextrous at this point, though still favors his left hand, as he has for a long time now. We'll watch to see when he switches over to favor his right, or if he is destined to be a lefty after all. I don't think you can tell until they start to write (but he draws and colors with his left right now).

Dallas arboretum...

Attended a first birthday party on Saturday at the Dallas Arboretum for our friend Finnegan. Fender loved the flowers, but preferred to play with the monkey grass. We took tons of pictures, so I'll post quite a few. The birthday boy, Finn, is standing with Fender in picture number three. He is such a sweet, good natured little boy, much like his parents. We had such a good time.
 
 
 
 

Tons more pictures...




Watching the bees on the flowers in the picture below...

The last one is the tall "monkey grass", Fender's favorite.

Dog pile...

Here are a few pics of Fen with our pack of Pits the past weekend. The solid black is Aeon, the mom of the three others. Ours (Sebastian) is the big black and white one, and the only male of this group. Grams also has the smaller black and white one (on the chain because she leaps 6 foot fences in a single bound) and is only baby sitting the brown one (Morty, shorty for Morticia)until she can find her a good home. Fender keeps them all in check.

 
 

Oops...looks like a feeding frenzy and Fender is the snack.
 

Ah, thank goodness, they just thought I needed a good cleaning...less work for mom. :)
 

Water sports...

After pitching practice (see videos in previous post) it was time to clean up in the kitchen sink.
 

 
 

Here's a picture of Fender trying to give a peppermint to two of the three dogs mom brought with her for her visit. Yes, they are all American Pit Bulls and all the epitome of the true bully breed characteristics. In case there are any of you who still actually believe the bad rap they get of having a bad nature, it couldn't be more opposite. They are incredibly good natured, and love people to a fault...which actually makes them bad guard dogs because they want to love on everyone they see. (Unless they get a bad owner who wants to train them to be possessive and mean tempered, they just won't be that way naturally....and I am not making this up.)

Their strength, and patience make them perfect with children of all ages. Just this weekend I caught Fender playing in their food bowl with two of the dogs trying to eat at the same time. They all share their food with each other and were happy to share with Fender too. These dogs have actually let kids pull their ears, bite them, pull their tails, sit on them, etc etc and they don't even seem to care. No other dog I've ever had would let anyone do any of that stuff to them...mind you, I hope Fender doesn't ever do any of that to any animal "We like to pet animals softly and sweetly." :)

Anyway, the two pups (well, 2 year old adolescents) you see here are actually two sisters of our dog (Sebastian). The fourth dog we had is the mom of all three, who actually had a litter of 10. I'll try to take a good picture of all of them with Fender, but it is hard (okay...probably impossible) to get them all together for a posed picture.

Kitchen pitching...

Fender shows off his mad (left handed) pitching skills.

"Watch out Daddy, here comes the fast ball."


"I'm a pitcher, not a catcher, folks."


"The outfielder feels left out."

Non-update...

Fen was sick with ear infection/sore throat, but is doing well now. Then, I of course, come down with whatever he has because I spend so much time with him when he is sick. I'm still mending. Plus my mom has been visiting since Thursday so I haven't had time or felt like posting anything new. Just wanted to reassure anyone still checking out this site, that an update is coming. If not later today, then certainly this week. Hope you've all had a great weekend. Cheers for now.

Worms and snails, tattoos and tails, that's what little boys are made of...

On Saturday Fender and I went to a vermi (worm) composting class. After we explored the small garden and played with dirt and worms, Daddy helped Fen dawn his first tattoo.
 

That's a worm in his hand...
 
 
 

Just a cute picture showing off how much Fender looks exactly like his daddy.

Texas blooms...

Fender discovers the flowers of spring. The first picture was taken a month or so back. The last picture was taken this past weekend.
 
 
 
 

18 months...

Fen had his 18 month check up today (that's 1 1/2 yrs to those of you who don't convert quickly in baby age). All was great. He got a Hep A shot...not sure that is standard or not, but it was for this doctor and hopefully there won't be any harm in it. He gets part 2 of that at his 2 year check up in 6 months.

He weighed 28 1/2lbs and was 32 1/2" tall. He talks all the time. Says things like ball, baby, spoon, shoe, tattoo, 'night 'night, and on and on. He tries to say balloon, but it comes out nuhnoo. If you ask him to say anything, he will typically give it a shot and come pretty close to whatever you've asked him. He still uses sign language for more words he still can't say. At the moment, his teacher says he can and will talk more than the other kids, I'm not sure that's good for me, who likes the occasional peace and quiet. :)

Most notable lately is the way he tries to sing his abc's already. He can say a, b, (skips c or says b or d twice), d, e, f(occasional effort), g. Sometimes he even gets some of the tune right. So much fun! He can count with you (one, two, three, four) but hasn't shown correlating fingers in sign language or indicated at all that he understands the quantity of anything. Guess we need to work on that more.

All in all, he's learning, going, and growing strong. I think he is a pretty good boy. He isn't without the occasional tantrum now, but they don't tend to be obnoxious, horrific tantrums just yet. He doesn't like to be told no, and even though he knows a tantrum doesn't get him what he wants, he still prefers to give it a try. :( Sorry in advance to any of you out there who may have to see one of these in action. And if I could ask...please try to keep the giggling to a minimum, when one is in progress, it only serves to make me laugh too, which prolongs the tantrum if he thinks we're not serious. :)

Here are a few misc photos from the end of march.
 
 

This photo was not staged...all by himself, he climbed up in the chair for breakfast, put his milk on the table, grabbed the paper, and started reading. :)