elmo-mania

I am not gonna say my son is obsessed, but....



I guess I am getting him Elmo TMX for Christmas after all... :)

the debut

"I like Marisa because she comes over and plays fun games with me... she promised to shoot baskets with me, but I don't wanna make her look bad with my slam dunk!"

sweet dreams

"Naps with Papa are the best!!!!!!!!"

The family that flosses together...

Of late, Jared has taken a keen interest in all aspects of dental hygiene. Hoping to foster good habits from an early age (ha) and because he is always following me around when I brush my teeth or floss, I finally decided to sit down and give Jared a flossing lesson. He quickly turned it around on me, because clearly he thinks he has it down pat!

"Hey, mom... let me help you with that... I think you missed something there..."

"Yea, thats much better... ok, now I can floss my own teeth..."

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A few days later, I had left my floss out and I walked in to find the expert flossing on his own!

"Hold on, Mom... can't talk yet... I had a big lunch and I need to make sure I floss after every meal..."

"Okay, now you have my undivided attention... how can I help you? Do you need to borrow some floss?"

The Mall Park

While Jared and I were at the mall, I decided to take him to the play area to see how he would fare around other kids. He has never been to daycare and has really only been around other children in the family. For the first 30 minutes he clung to me desperately as bigger kids raced by. Every time I tried to get him to try something, he would clamor back into my arms. Finally as I began to pack up, he spontaneously decided to venture out and check out the scene. Once he felt comfortable, all was well.

"All right, Mom... I am gonna see what this place is all about. Be back in a little bit."

"So what am I supposed to do here? Climb this dragonfly thing?"

"I am okay, Mom. Really. It just took me a few minutes to get my bearings!"

"Okay, that dragonfly was kinda boring... what else do they have going on around here?"

"This bridge/slide thing looks sort of fun..."

"What do you think, Mom? Should I climb it?"

"All right, Mom, I am going for it!"

"Whew climbing this thing is not as easy as it looks!"

"YAY! I made it! Okay, now what?"

"Okay, I'm outta here! That was good enough!"

Jared and Jordyn

Well, Jared and I went to the mall recently to meet up with his girlfriend, Jordyn and her mom Shelley. She is an absolute living doll and I completely understand what he sees in her! :)

"Hey, Jordyn! You look pretty cute today!"

"Whats takin' your mom so long? I thought we were gonna go get a bite to eat..."

"Well, my mom got me some Chic-Fil-A... want some? It's good stuff!"

"Um, Jordyn-- why are you man-handling me?"

"Hmm... I am not sure how I feel about public displays of affection yet..."

"All right then, as long as its okay with our moms, I guess we can hold hands."

"Okay, so I guess it's official... we are boyfriend-girlfriend now."

MY BIG BOY!!!

I will spare you the graphic photos, but guess who used his potty for the first time tonight (the 2nd night that we had it out for him to use)!!! That's right.... my BIG BOY!!

Of course, 2 seconds later he picked up his potty and poured pee all over the bathroom floor... :)

My quirky son, Part 2

By request, here are a few more photos of Jared with his newfound love... He particularly likes it when I can clip it on, so that it stays on by itself. As you can see, he is quite pleased with himself.

He looks less like Superman and more like someone's grandmother draped in a shawl... my son.... sigh....

...But how can I resist that smile? :)

My quirky son...

As a mother, it is so interesting to observe the various things that intrigue and delight your children...


One of Jared's newest delights is wearing these headbands... Here he is with his new sitter, Lia, who discovered this game. As you can see, he also likes to carry a folded blanket on his shoulder. He will burst into giggles as soon as you place the blanket on his shoulder... why? I have no earthly idea! Apparently he thinks he is about to go to the gym.


Here I caught him with TWO headbands on! It is so hilarious... my son who wouldn't wear a hat for his first year will walk around with one of these headbands on for hours! Here he looks like an 80s tennis player... Apparently he felt that the headbands were appropriate apparel for his afternoon snack.

"Gee, what's the big deal mom? Can't I wear my headbands in peace?"

It's Bedtime!

When Jared is ready to go to bed, he has a way of letting Mommy know...

"Hey Mom... it's getting kinda late. Are you ready to put me to bed yet?"


"Look, I know you and Dad like to stay up all night reading those books and grading papers and stuff, but SOME of us like to sleep at night!"

"Okay, well I got these pillows off the couch, so I am just gonna rest here until you are ready to take me to my bed!"

Brush-a Brush-a Brush-a

Jared didn't get his first teeth until he was eleven months old... That is when his two bottom teeth started to peek out. It wasn't until after his first birthday that his top teeth made their appearance. So now, at 13 months old, he has four half grown in teeth. These are pictures of his first real tooth-brushing. With dad's help and mom modeling appropriate tooth-brushing for Jared it went very smoothly. The Elmo toothbrush didn't hurt! :)

"Okay... wait, Dad.... what are you putting in my mouth? What are you doing to me, Dad?"
"Okay, wait... Mom's doing it too. I've seen you guys do this before! I guess it's not so bad..."
"Hahaha! You can't see 'em yet, but inside this mouth are some gleaming, bright shiny new teeth!"

Jared's Play Date with Prince William

Recently we went to visit our friends Cynthia and David and their lovely son, William who is 8 months old.

Here is Momma Cynthia and her lil prince, William! What a cutie pie!

Jared had a blast in William's basement playroom. It was like a toy wonderland! Jared had so much fun exploring all the different toys. :)

William was generally a very mellow, friendly kid-- and extremely generous with his toys! He let Jared sample pretty much everything! Jared's favorites were probably the stacking cups. I had to rush home and get him his own set.

William popped up to say hi to me! So adorable! Jared's first play-date went very well! :) Thanks, William!

Elmo! Elmo! Elmo!

Before I had Jared I was only peripherally aware of whatever new craze all the kids seemed to succumb to... now that I am a mother, I am painfully aware! Even at 13 months, Jared is totally and completely in the throes of his first love affair... with Elmo. Morning, noon, and night, it's Elmo, Elmo, Elmo. I don't really understand it! I mean, Elmo is cute, I suppose... but why the obsession? Whatever it is, few toys bring a smile to my child's face like that furry red creature!

So often, Jared walks around the house calling out... Elmo? Elmo? Elmo? So we thought we would give him a little Elmo overload and see how he reacted...

As usual, he reacted with glee! It is DEFINITELY Elmo's world!

The Park Part II

Well, after the silly disappointment of our last trip to the park we decided to give it another try while visiting Jared's godmother, Ni-Ni (aka Donni). He actually calls her Na-na and repeats it confidently as though I am the crazy one.

Going to the park is definitely more enjoyable now that Jared is a bit more mobile, but perhaps in the future I should avoid the park when it is 100 degrees outside! Poor Jared was drenched within minutes and quickly got tired.

"Okay, Mom, here we are again! Where do you wanna start this time? I am being open-minded!"

"Well, I can tell that this is gonna be fun for me at some point, but right now it's so hot out that my legs are pretty much congealed to this slide.... so no actually SLIDING is going on. Thanks for the moral support, Dad, but I think I'm gonna need some actual help here!"

"Hmm yea, Dad... you're not going any faster than I was! I'm just gonna climb over here and do this on my own!"


"Hmm... this round slide isn't much easier to get down! This is making me sleepy!"

"I'm just gonna climb down this thing on my own, thanks!"

"Whew, Mom it is HOT out here. Can we go inside now? Come on, dad! Just another fun day at the park!"

Dangerous Adventures

Jared is becoming more and more adventurous every day. He recently encountered his first set of stairs and had a blast climbing them (while visiting his new friend, William). Thankfully he navigated them safely and had fun doing it!

Yesterday he fell while running through the house. Naturally, he is just fine... it definitely hurt me more than it hurt him! I keep telling myself he is just a normal boisterous one year old having normal toddler accidents, but it's no fun to watch at all!

"Hey Mom... No, I'm not doing anything... I am just standing here... I'm not going anywhere!"

"HAHA! Move Dad, outta my way! Mom's not looking! This may be my only chance!"