Fun in February

I’m a little behind, but Connor enjoyed some new outdoor fun last month that I wanted to share.  I finally found Connor a bike helmet so even though it was a chilly and windy South Florida day, we ventured out for our first ride on the bike.  Connor threw a fit about the helmet but settled once he went into the bike seat. 

A little concerned about this new bike venture:

Checking out the sights with Mommy:

Connor was very serious during the whole bike ride:

Although I thought he wasn’t so sure about the bike ride, whenever we go out now and we pull back up to the house he points back out to the road – a sure sign he loves it. 

We also went to the fair at our church in February and Connor loved the petting zoo!

Checking out the duck (much prettier than the ducks we’re used to seeing):

Checking out the rooster – or is he trying to attack it?  Good thing it was in the cage!

 

We also went down the big slide – I always loved it when I was a kid.  It was hard to tell whether Connor really enjoyed it or was scared – it seemed a little of both :)

He liked being at the top with Daddy:But not so sure about the ride down: 

Connor had fun checking out the fair sights though, we look forward to more fun ventures as he continues to grow!

For all you bloggers out there . . .

So I’m not a big blogger or anything but totally get annoyed at how long it takes to organize a blog post and add the pictures.  This totally hindered my desire to blog.  But a week ago I was reading another blog where she just switched to using Windows Live Writer and raved about how much easier it made writing new blog posts.  I downloaded it immediately and it is awesome.  Inserting pictures is 10 times easier than it was before and for that alone I love it.  But there are also many other options that I haven’t even begun to explore.  And I can write my blog posts while not online and post them later.  Plus it lets you write your blogs as if you’re writing right on your blog page instead of writing them in a window and then previewing them.  Anyway, I just wanted to spread the word that Live Writer is great and definitely encourages me to blog a lot more!

Water Table!

One of the gifts Connor got for Christmas from Nana and Joe-Pop was a water table – it was a great idea and will be very useful to keep Connor entertained while we work outside.  He loves loves loves taking baths and showers so I knew the water table would be a big hit.  It was such a big hit that he complained when I dumped all the water out – and he almost never complains when it’s time to move on to another activity!  But his hands and feet were freezing and his shirt was soaked :) This water table is pretty cool!

He quickly learned he could dump water out of the sailboat and found that quite entertaining.

He then realized he could dump a lot of water out of the little bucket onto the patio and thought that was a lot of fun – now I’m trying to make him understand the water stays in the table!

He spent a lot of time moving around the water table to check it all out :)

I think the water table will be even better as the weather warms up and his hands and feet don’t get cold while he plays :)

Summer Vacation 2009

I'm really late in posting these pictures, but we had a great time in August visiting my parent's house in North Carolina and spending a few days in Atlanta with Jeremy's family. We spent almost a week there and really enjoyed the cool weather and the mountain air. Connor went on his first hike and his first boat ride - actually with all the boating I did growing up who would've thought his first boat ride would be in the mountains? He loved the boat ride, especially when we went fast!

Connor swimming with his cousin Troy:

Connor's first hike - he was heavy, that's why I look exhausted!:
I love this picture of us while hiking up Whiteside:
At Dry Falls - Connor loved walking behind the waterfall:Aunt Maggie and Connor:
I also love this picture, Connor is looking at his friend like what's wrong with you:
Connor's first boat ride - he loves to be with JoePop:
Our little family at the top of Big Sheepcliff:

Relaxing on my parents patio:
We had lots of fun and enjoyed the break from normal South Florida weather, even if Jeremy had to work most of the time we were there. But at least we got a couple of hikes in, and hopefully next year we can do much more exploring!

Christmas with Connor!

So I'm not good at updating often, but I hope to be better in the new year! We had a wonderful Christmas this year and it was a joy to watch Connor open gifts and play with his new toys. We went up to Atlanta the day after Christmas to visit Jeremy's family and enjoyed seeing them, although we all came down with bad colds. I don't have the pictures from our visit with them yet, but here are some from our Christmas in Florida:

Connor loved his new toys:

Connor and me in front of our Christmas tree:

Connor and Daddy playing with his new wagon:
My family with the wagon they gave Connor:
How we found Jeremy at my parents house before dinner - this is their dog's new bed:

In all fairness, Buddy's new bed is very soft - Connor kept cuddling with it! Connor was definitely spoiled this Christmas - I'm still putting together his new toys! But it was such a blessing to enjoy Christmas with him and I love to watch him explore all his new toys.

Connor is One!

My little baby turned one a few weeks ago and I can't believe it. Actually I can believe that it's been a year since he was a newborn because he's nothing like the little newborn who used to sleep all the time and just lay still on his playmat looking around. Now getting him to sleep anywhere but in his crib or carseat is nearly impossible and he never sits still for more than 10 seconds. He's quickly getting into everything and going everywhere - still not really walking, just taking a few steps here and there. But he's a very fast crawler and the callouses on his knees are so rough I don't think his knees feel pain when he crawls on them anymore!

Connor had a wonderful 1st birthday party and discovered he really loves cake. My biggest fear was that he would be miserable, especially for the big cake moment, but he put on quite an act. It began with crying - he doesn't like everyone singing happy birthday, and this wasn't the first time he's cried during the song:
He wasn't so sure about the cake at first:
But finally decided to try some:
And decided that cake was pretty good:
And then he really started getting into the cake and kept smiling away to show everyone just how much he really loves cake:
Here's Connor at the end of his cake experience, very pleased with the cake and the wonderful mess he made of himself:

He definitely has a sweet tooth! He had a wonderful 1st birthday party and received so many wonderful gifts, he loves to play with them all. And I enjoy it when the toys keep him entertained for a little while - but not for too long, he usually finds his way to whatever room I'm in to play with a drawer, a cabinet, a door, the toilet paper, the toilet handle, a box, the window, the dishwasher, the refrigerator and so on :)

Connor also enjoyed his 1st birthday the day after his party. I made him chocolate chip pancakes that he really liked. Later that day we went to the bookstore to buy our gift for Connor - The Foot Book by Dr. Suess. I had borrrowed this book from the library and Connor loved it so we bought it for him and we've read it many times a day everyday since. He always laughs at the clown on one of the pages, it's funny. Then we got gelato from our favorite gelato shop - Connor is a big fan of gelato too! And that night we capped off Connor's birthday by going out to dinner for pizza with JoePop, Nana and Aunt Maggie. I think he enjoyed his first birthday - but I think I enjoyed it much much more. It's so exciting to see him grow and learn and turn into a little person. It's amazing to see how even though he can't say but a few words he really understands a lot of what we're saying and really wants to communicate with us. He loves to blabber away to us and tell us all sorts of stories - I really wish I knew what he was trying to tell me! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful little boy and to have had such a great first year with him. I look forward to watching him grow more and more :)

Summer Days

Ok, so I haven't written in awhile, which is due to the fact that I'm bad at taking pictures. We have been pretty busy though - well Connor's been busy crawling everywhere and standing up while holding on to anything and I've been busy watching him and trying to baby proof the house. He's fun to watch though - and if I open the refrigerator he drops whatever he is doing and sprint crawls to try and make it over before I close it. It's pretty funny to watch him sprint crawl.

Connor got his first haircut mid-June and he needs another one again, his hair grows fast! Jeremy cut his hair with his clippers, Connor really didn't like it at first but once we turned on the tv for him and gave him some cheerios he was much happier. Connor also got to finally visit Jeremy's family again when we went up to Atlanta in June. He had a great time smiling at everyone and he loves loves loves his cousins, he's quite content to watch them all day!

He also likes to swim a lot now, he's finally realized the pool is just like a big bathtub that he can splash in. Here are some pictures:
I love him in his floaty, it's so cute!

Unfortunately we've been having a problem with dead ants in our pool, so we haven't been swimming as much as we'd like to, but hopefully we can clear up the problem soon - we love the pool but it's a lot of work!




I'm still amazed at how quickly Connor is growing up and how independent he likes to be, every day he shows me more of his personality and I love it - but he's definitely more like his daddy than his mommy, he's such a people person! I can't believe in less than 2 months he'll be one - I've got to start planning a party :)