Catching up from the holidays

Connor is doing great and is starting to talk up a storm. We did our normal trip to Colorado over the holidays and we all had a fun time.

Pumpkins

Today we took Connor to the pumpkin patch for some pictures. He seemed a little overwhelmed at first with all of the pumpkins but finally decided it was okay to play. Mommy & Daddy had fun trying to keep up with him as he was running around.

They grow up fast

Wow, we have made it to 18 months! Connor weighs just under 31 lbs and is 33 inches long. We have a big boy on our hands. New words seem to be added to his vocabulary on a daily basis. I'm just scared that he will pick up some "adult" words in the process.

Coming home from work the other day, Connor escaped and crawled in the front seat of the car. Imitation is the name of the game now, so he decided he needed to go for a drive.

Videos of the action

Connor could be nicknamed the quicker picker upper since he likes to clean up spills.

He is also helping "make" Grandpa Ben's famous pizza.

Catching up

Connor is getting bigger by the day. He is learning "big boy" things but is seeming to be a little reluctant to talk. His favorite form of communication is the grunt and point method but he does have the word "kitty" down pat.

Grandma Ann & Grandpa Ben have started cooking with Connor. They have even purchased an adjustable height platform so he can be closer to/get involved in the action on the countertops.

Pool Time

Connor definitely enjoys playtime but especially enjoys it when it involves water. Grandma Ann & Grandpa Ben have turned it into a learning experience as they work on his numbers.

H-O-R-S-E

Nope, don't mean the basketball game but do mean a toy of the bouncing variety.

Connor got a horse from his grandparents for his birthday. He hasn't really been interested in it until recently. Here is a video of him "riding".

Keeping up with Connor

Happy Memorial Day! Connor is growing daily and is so much fun! He went from walking to running in what seemed to be a heartbeat.

He loves the dog crate. We think it is because it is more his size and he can easily sit in there. He also likes to "play" golf.

Connor is 1!!!!

Wow! We have made it to the one year mark. Connor's first birthday was yesterday (Sunday) and we spent the evening with Paul's family for a small celebration. As far as presents, he was more interested in the bags than what was in them. Oh well, that will probably change soon enough.

Next weekend, we celebrate with my family in a mega-celebration of Connor's birthday, my Mom's birthday, and Easter.

By the time we got to cake last night, Connor was definitely done with the entire ordeal. And apparently, he doesn't like our singing either.

He didn't get too involved in destroying his own little cake.

Daddy runs a half marathon

Paul ran the Zooma half marathon yesterday morning. This is a primarly women's race series although men are allowed to participate as well. In order to better fit in with the rest of the pack, Paul wore a hot pink running skirt, one of my jog bras, and a pony tail. You can't see the pony tail in this picture but I promise it is there.

He was asked to pose multiple times for pictures at the post race party and was the recipient of many cat calls. Considering he did not train for this race, and, in fact had only run 13 miles since completing the marathon in mid-February, he did a pretty respectable job. The course was pretty hilly and seemed to take a toll on alot of the runners.

Why did I not run? First, I didn't have the training mileage to do so. Second, I got roped into running a waterstop by my running coach.

Strange things that amuse

Connor is fascinated with everything around him. Apparently, the shiny garbage can at Grandma and Grandpa's can be hard to resist.

Connor is walking!!!

I'm not sure why I'm excited about Connor walking since that means that I have to keep an even more watchful eye on him and his antics. Below are a few videos taken at his grandparents house this past weekend and you can see that he is now walkng without holding on.

Connor was having fun playing with some bowls after taking his bath.

Connor playing with one of his toys at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Connor @ 11 Months

Connor officially turns 11 months old tomorrow. Time seems to be speeding up on a daily basis. He is now walking and working on his first word(s). Seems that Maya will be the first official word past Mama and Dada. Maya is one of our dogs and Connor sounds like he is yelling at her, just like we normally are. Maya has a good soul but is a little on the destructive side so she seems to always be in trouble. Her nickname is Little Miss Destructo.

We were at my parents house this past weekend and took both some pictures and some video. Connor is now manhandling the tractor.

Connor & his cousin Justin

Apparently both Connor and Justin partied too much the night before.

Connor looking like his sweet, innocent self.

Happy Valentines Day!

Connor got to celebrate his first Valentine's Day at daycare. There wasn't so much of a party for the younger set but Connor did manage to get his hands on a cupcake.

Paul held the cupcake and Connor was taking some aggressive bites out of it. He definitely enjoyed eating (and destroying) the cupcake as he had a HUGE smile on his face when he was done with it.

Connor Plays Golf

No, we don't have a Tiger Woods in the making but Connor likes to swing a putter around. Grandpa Ben is "helping" in part of the video.

Tractors

Connor got a John Deere tractor from his Meemaw and Peepaw for Christmas this year. Since he was not feeling very good at Christmas, he had no interest in it.

I pulled it out this morning to see what he would do with it. He played/pushed it around the living room for about 30 minutes. Had a few falls, most of which didn't bother him but he had a couple that really hurt his feelings.

Enjoy the show!! FYI - the file is pretty big so it may take a little bit to load.

Merry Christmas

We took pictures with "Ski" Santa this past Saturday at Copper Mountain, Colorado. What you can't see in the picture is that Santa is also wearing ski boots as he had just come off from a few runs on the mountain.

The mountain was pretty deserted last week so we did not have to play the line ride game on the lifts. Snow was decently plentiful and we skiied thru some almost white-out conditions on Thursday. The wind was blowing the snow so hard at times that I swore that it felt worse than a microderm.

And, no, Connor is not exactly happy in these photos. He already had a fever and was working on getting pretty sick. We arrived home Monday morning at 6:30 am and we were in the pediatrician's office at 8:30 that same morning.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Michele, Paul & Connor

My Little Snow Bunny

We are on our annual trek to Colorado for a week of skiing. For those that do not know, yes I did ski last year while pregnant so this is really Connor's second trip.

We took two days to drive to Dillon from Austin. We normally do it in a one day 16 hour drive fest but broke it up this year not knowing how munchkin would take being in the car for so long. He was a trooper and did not protest too much during the trip.

Below are a few pictures we took this morning of Connor in the snow. I am also throwing in some of the pictures we took at Thanksgiving.

Connor is crawling now, has been for over a month. He has also cut his first two teeth - they came in at the same time and is now working on what may be 4 more (2 on the top and 2 more on the bottom).

GO COWBOYS!!!!

I saw this and couldn't resist. Yes, I am starting him young!

Connor @ Four Months

Well, we have survived to four months. Connor is growing like crazy and is becoming more and more interactive on a daily basis. His four month checkup last week went really well. He weighed 19 lbs 13 ozs and was just over 26 inches long. Yes, we have a linebacker in the making right now.

He as accomplished a few new things in the past week. He is now rolling over but doing it in the opposite order of most babies. I'm sure my Mom is making some sort of comment about he is just like me in making things more complicated or doing it my own way. I love you too Mom.




He has also started figuring out how to hold his bottle. So what do I do, I start using a bigger bottle. Back to square one.

I'm on the countdown for returning to work on August 25th and Grandpa Ben is on the countdown to retirement on August 31st. The Austin American Statesman did a nice article on Ben. Connor was a little upset that he wasn't mentioned but we did actually go buy a paper to put a copy of the article in Connor's baby book. http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/technology/08/11/0811plugged.html