One

I remember sitting in a mom and baby class when Critter was just six weeks old and wondering if either of us were going to survive until he was six months. Last week, we celebrated Critter's first birthday. Not only have we survived, but on most days we have thrived. It has been a blessing getting to know this little man that God in His infinite grace and mercy has blessed us with. 

I don't know what I thought before I had Critter, but I think I assumed that I would just know my son not that I would need to get to know him. Well, I have definitely had to get to know him and continue to do so each day. What I can say about this special boy is that he is strong in spirit and in personality. 

He loves to laugh, wrestle, and explore. His Daddy is his hero (and mine). He is bright, loves music and playing with balls. He loves his dog, airplanes, birds and insists on touching all the trees and bushes that we walk by. He loves food and eats whatever we are eating (for this I am very thankful). He is full of life and adds so much to ours.

We celebrated his actual birthday with Nani, Grandpa and Aunt Kristy at the beach for the afternoon. The next day, we had a party at Tim's Aunt and Uncle's place in Templeton. Activities included lots of toy time, a zip line and a trampoline not to mention exploring in the trees. The highlight of the evening was Critter's reaction to his first cupcake - he gagged multiple times. He also managed to wipe most of the frosting all over his chest, face and hair. Critter was blessed by so many people who love him. As parents, Tim and I were blessed to see Jude surrounded by friends and family who love him and support us as we stumble along raising him.

As I look back I cannot believe how quickly the year has gone. My infant has become a jabbering toddler with a will of  his own. I am looking forward to what lies ahead, but also think back fondly (and not-to-fondly sometimes) to what we have come through this year.

Happy Birthday, my sweet Son. I love you more than I could have ever known. And just think, Jesus loves you even more!

Look, Dada! No Hands.

Have you ever visited downtown Paso Robles? If not, you must. Not only do we have fabulous wines and amazing restaurants, but it also boasts a beautiful park in the centre. There is ample grass, trees that will be changing colors here very soon, a picturesque gazebo and lots of great people watching.

In the past few months, a new park feature has become my favorite - the playground. The little kids' (as opposed to the big kids') playground is just perfect for Critter. It sits under a shady oak tree and isn't very high off the ground. We have started going there a few times a week and in the last few weeks he has mastered it completely. The fact that I am impressed goes without saying, but he's not even a year old and he can climb up the stairs, over the bridge, fearlessly go head first down the tunnel slide, turn around and climb off the slide to crawl to the stairs and start over again.

He loves climbing and sliding. He practices going up and down and up and down. He also loves the steering wheel, but that is another video. Like a true master, Critter ends with big finish. "Look, Dada! No Hands".

Red Ball, Orange Ball

If I had to guess I would say that Critter's love of balls - large, small, light, heavy, soft or hard it doesn't matter - started when his Grandpa visited in May. If my memory serves me correctly, it was the first morning they were with us and Grandpa got on the floor with Critter and started throwing a small, hard plastic ball with him. Jude caught on right away likely because he loved throwing anything and everything he could get his hands on. This was much to his Grandpa's joy since he played baseball through college - second base for Cal Poly, SLO - Go Mustangs!

Since then, his obsession has grown and now he has favorites. He loves his medium, red, bouncy ball which we have rightly named Red Ball. There have been a number of times when Critter is very upset for one reason or another and we don't know what else to do so we say, "Red Ball", and he starts to giggle. It works almost every time. He loves talking about it, bouncing it and kicking it.

About a week ago, we were taking our morning outing to a nearby park and lo and behold on the street (not near any homes) was a lonely, worn, orange basketball. I watched to see if anyone was going to pick it up, but given the early hour of the morning there was no one else out and about. We picked up the ball and proceeded with our jungle gym adventure.

Being the show-off that I am, I decided to show Critter my not-so-stellar basketball skills. I dribbled in circles, between my legs and bounced up and down with the ball. He loved it. He thought I was pretty good (some day he'll understand otherwise, but for now I'll take what I can get). From that point on, he has loved Orange Basketball. It is much heavier than Red Ball, but he manages to lift it over his head to bounce it across the floor. 

I not-so-secretly hope that he loves sports as I do. Me? Competitive? What? But even if this is just a phase it is fun to see him figure out what he likes and doesn't like. 

Cousins

On September first two thousand ten at four fourty four in the morning, Critter's cousin was born. This precious little girl's name is Rose. She was 21.5 inches long and six pounds six ounces. She is gorgeous like her Mama and we just know she's gonna be sweet and playful like her Dada.

This is Jude's first cousin and we are so excited to welcome her to the family. We showed Jude her picture online and filmed his reaction. Perhaps he is reacting more to how much he loves his Papa and every word his hero utters, but we're pretty sure he's also ecstatic over a friend for all those family reunions we have planned.

Or maybe he is just laughing at our ancient computer...

Shoes for a Little Boy

I admit it. I was giddy in the Target shoe aisle and it wasn't even for me. I was in the little boy aisle. I was browsing the size threes and Critter was busy seeing how many boxes he could pull off the shelves before I gobbled him up and put him back in the cart.

For the most part, Critter goes bare foot and I know this is something Tim loves. I've heard a story from when Tim was a wee one in PNG that he refused to wear shoes to school. I think if he didn't have pansy American feet now, he would still be barefoot.

Barefoot is still great when we're inside at home, but more and more Jude wants to push his Cozy Coup down the street or climb through the bark and up the stairs at the playground. The time has come for shoes.

We have been blessed beyond words by dear friends with hand-me-downs galore. Literally, I have not purchased more than two clothing items for Jude. With that said, shoes seem to be different. I've tried repeatedly a variety of shoes we have been given, but they either slip off or cut off his circulation (fat ankle syndrome likely from me). Today, we bought shoes.

I don't know why it feels like such a big deal, but it does. My little baby boy isn't feeling so baby like anymore. There are times where I miss the cuddly little guy, but in reality I love the moving, adventurous, discovering phase as he embarks on little boyhood. I know this is only the beginning. For crying out loud, he doesn't even walk on his own yet.

Right now it is his first pair of shoes. Hopefully soon it will be his first tooth. In another couple years it will be his first bike. Looking forward to lots more firsts, Critter.

The Family Band

My Nana gave us her piano when we were first married and she learned that Tim played. I love hearing Tim  play music whether it be piano, guitar, jimbae or any other instrument. I on the other hand have never had the knack for music and you don't want to be around when I'm trying to play guitar or pretending I can play piano.

Today Aiya (Tim's mom) captured our most recent addition to the family band. Just in case you're wondering, it was a one man band and his manager until recently. (Sorry for the angle of the video)

Cozy Coup

What can I say? I was really proud of myself. I assembled the Cozy Coup. I realize this is not a difficult task, but when I saw all the parts and the five pages of directions I thought, "This is a job for the man of the house."

Well, the woman of the house is not patient, so I set to work. While Critter took his afternoon nap, I followed the step-by-step instructions. An hour and a half later, he was cruising in his car. We have ridden around the block and down the street to the park. Lately, he is enjoying pushing it around on the grass or sidewalk. He also loves opening and closing the door and climbing in and out of his bright red and yellow ride.

Thank you, Dauphins, for sharing! We love you guys. And not just because you give us cool toys:)

Here is a photo of us upon completion and another of Critter enjoying the result of my efforts.

Umm...Cool, Mama, I think

Three Dollars Later I Admitted I was Wrong

One of the things I have learned (am learning) to appreciate about my dear husband is his love of cheap electronic "deals". Since moving into town a year ago from the country, we have enjoyed meandering the neighborhood on calm Saturday mornings perusing garage sales.

About a month ago at a garage sale practically across the street from us, Tim happened upon a Red Roomba. You are probably thinking to yourself, "I know that word, but can't remember why". That is because it is the robot vacuum cleaner that was heavily marketed not so long ago. I didn't know that people actually bought them. Apparently, they did, but now they are selling at garage sales for $3.

We didn't know if it worked, but it was in the original packaging with all the parts, etc. Tim said it looked like it had only been used a handful of times. I am not one to collect "junk". If I had it my way, our garage would be near empty and once a year we would take a truck full of stuff to the Goodwill just because it takes up space and time in our lives. Tim is very nearly the exact opposite. Naturally, my inclination was to leave the Roomba to some other sucker to store in their garage, but it wasn't a fight I wanted to take up. Tim saw the look on my face and responded like a true electronic engineer, "Jill, the sensors and servos on this thing are worth way more than $3. Even if it doesn't work, I can use the parts." I have lost track of the number of times I have heard statements like this. Our garage is full of these statements.

We got it home. It went in circles and didn't work. Surprise. Actually, no surprise at all. I had to keep in mind it was only $3 and Tim was enjoying the process. After google searches and a complete deconstruction and cleaning, my brilliant husband got it working. It turned out that it just needed to be cleaned out.

I was wrong. Tim was right. I'll say it again if I need to. He's brilliant and this may be the deal of the year for us. Thanks, Love, for being so handy and frugal.

The Roomba is awesome! It sweeps our tile and carpet floors while I am busily doing other things on the never ending to-do list. But the best part about the Roomba is captured below. It turns out it doubles as a babysitter/entertainer for our little crawler. When this video was taken, Critter had only been crawling for about five days. He figured it out pretty quick when he wanted to chase the vacuum.

Crackin' Up

I posted this originally without any text and then viewed the comments and realized that I look goofy in the video. I am used to doing silly things, but I thought it was funny that I didn't even consider what I looked like or what I was doing. When I watched the video before posting it, all I saw was Jude laughing and having a good time. I guess a mother's love truly is blind...to her own ridiculousness:) Enjoy. I did.

Nash - Chat - Fla and Back Again

We took our first cross country trip with Critter in early April. Please hold your laughter and horror as I describe our original plan:

Tuesday, drive to San Francisco and fly to Nashville. Wednesday, drive to Chatanooga. Wednesday night, start driving to Florida. Thursday, complete drive to Florida. Friday, hang out in Florida. Saturday, drive back to Chatanooga. Sunday, hang out in Chatanooga before driving to Nashville. Monday, chill in Nashville. Tuesday, fly back to San Fransisco and drive back to Paso. Just in case you forgot as we apparently did, Critter was six months old.

Most of the trip went according to "plan" except that instead of Critter and I driving back with the rest of the gang from Florida we caught a 1 hour flight from Orlando to Chatanooga. It may be the best decision of the year. It ended up taking the drivers twenty hours to get back to Chatanooga due to the Spring Break traffic coming out of Florida - Oh my.

Our first hint of trouble came as we sat at the Gate in SFO and I took Critter's temperature. It was 101F. I freaked out. Critter had never been truly sick before and we were about to get on a three hour flight. We ended up on the phone with the pediatrician sitting in our seats asking if we should get off the plane. They said it was okay to go, but if the temp got over 102 we needed to head to a hospital. Thank you, that is very comforting.

Critter ended up doing great because he slept for most of the flight. We were able to see my sister, Kelly, during our layover in Dallas. Critter was his happiest of the day with Kelly (no surprise there:)).

We finally arrived in Nashville and when I saw Tim's family, I cried. It had been a long day and my baby was sick. To Tim's surprise, close family friends, the Grahms from Papua New Guinea had randomly met up with his siblings in Nashville and suprised him at the airport. They were lucky enough to meet me with tears streaming down my face - lucky them:) Tim loved getting to see them and I enjoyed meeting another part of his very exotic other life.

The rest of the week was spent with Tim's siblings - Brian, Susan (wife of Brian), Julie, and Linda as well as lots of their friends and family. It is always fun to be with Tim's siblings. I am so blessed to be a part of his family. They make me laugh and they also challenge me to be a more real, honest person. I love my in-laws! So much in fact that sometimes I am offended by the word in-law because of its negative connotation, but that is another subject.

We drove to Florida to see Tim's Dad now known as Grandpa Steve. We didn't get to spend as much time with him as we would have liked, but the time together was good. We ate seafood on Anna Maria Island (see beautiful beach pictures) and then headed over to Grandpa Steve and Donna's house for a BBQ/Family Reunion. It was a great BBQ and we were grateful for all the family that came to hang out: Aunt Linda, Joselyn and her five (beautiful and way too fun) kids, Papa Emmerson (Tim's Grandpa) and Grandma Kay, and Donna's son and his three boys as well.

The week was a blur of travel though a few high points in no particular order were The Waffle House at midnight, seeing the Hawkins (Susan's Parents or my Outlaws), spring in Tennessee, eating so much junk food I wanted to barf, the crystal, clear blue water off Florida, the wisteria growing like weeds up tall trees, and...coming home.

On that note, this blog is a perfect example of why blogging needs to happen immediately after a trip and not two months later when the special details are all hidden away in my brain where I cannot seem to find them!

Warning: This slideshow is long so you might want to grab a snack for endurance. Also, we have a lot to learn about photographing the actual trip versus Jude during the trip. You will see very little of Tennessee or Florida, but a lot of Critter with people who love him.

Appearances

Sorry for the messy look. I'm working on changing up the blog and I can't find a preview button so I'm working with what I know, which isn't much.

Critter Movin'

I was in the kitchen listening to Critter play and decided to video him. He has been learning a lot this week and is putting a lot of it on display. He's doing his army crawl still, but gets up on his knees and feet quite often. He has begun moving from tummy to sitting and back again. My new favorite is the motor sound. I think the only thing he isn't doing in this video is showing his taco tongue. He has been playing around with folding his tongue and sticking it out - pretty cute if you ask me.

I had a hard time turning off the video camera so this one is pretty long. You also might enjoy knowing that many of his big grins are directed at his favorite toy of all - Kona.

Introducing Critter

First things first: I was recently informed that it might be a good idea not to use my son's first name in a public blog. With that said, I will now try to refer to Little Man as Critter. Sometimes I just look at him and think that with all his squirming and giggling that Critter just fits. Okay, now that is out of the way...

Critter and I had a very full Saturday. He attended his very first swim party. He and DaDa swam it up in the pool and he impressed everyone with his excellent froggy kick skills - well, maybe not everyone, but Mama was impressed. From the swim party, we went to a baby shower that I was helping organize for a good friend. I wasn't sure how the day was going to go because of so many activities and so little time for quiet peaceful sleep. Well, it went great.

Critter loves, loves, loves people. I know I have said this before, but it is becoming clearer and clearer as he continues to grows and express himself. He smiles at everyone, scoots around and grabs onto strangers' feet asking to be picked up and played with. He is an absolute ham; flirting with nearly every girl in the room (but none more than Mama, of course).

I think the reason I am struck by this is because if you have ever spent an extended period of time one-on-one with Critter you will soon realize that he gets bored quickly. I have (more times than I would like to admit to) gone shopping so that he has people to look at and smile at. If he could talk, I think there are a few times he would ask, "Mama, is it gonna just be you and me? I mean are there gonna be any friends coming over? Really? Just you and me? Huh."

Today it struck me that how it might make me laugh to realize how social Critter is and how being with people energizes and excites him, but that God has made him this way for a purpose. I was thinking today about Psalm 139:13, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb". God created Critter and knew from before time who he would be and what he would be like.

I am still getting to know my son and hope to always be learning more about him, but God knows Critter inside and out. He has a purpose to use the joy Critter gets from being around people for His ultimate glory.

I love Critter more than I thought possible. He brings me great joy...and also brings me to my knees. Today, Critter's naps were short and disjointed, but he smiled, laughed, played and made many new friends. Today was a great day. Thanks, Lord, for Critter.

Kona Plays With Jude

Jude is now scooting to wherever he wants to go. Last week he decided that he wanted to pet Kona. She is used to Jude trying to pet her but this time she started to play with him. You'll see her uncertainty in the beginning, but then she gets into it. My favorite part is listening to Jude laugh. Kona brings him so much joy!

KonaBear & JudeBear

Yesterday evening, I sat Jude on the grass in our front yard so I could water the flowers. About a minute later, I turned around to see how he was doing. He was sitting contentedly, pulling grass, and looking around, but the best part was that Kona had laid behind him encircling him with herself. I could just see her looking up at me and saying, "Hey Mom, since you can't sit with Jude I'll take care of him for a few minutes." I wish I had a camera. It was precious.

Please do not eat the paper

It finally happened. I knew that it would, but I wasn't prepared when it did.

We were in Target choosing a sippy cup for Jude. Jude was holding my bright blue shopping list as he has many times. I'm talking to him about the features of the different sippy cups so he can tell me which one he will actually use. It is a nice thought anyways. I turn to look at him and see that in is hand is half of a bright blue, now soggy shopping list. His eyes are really big and he is starting to get red-faced. My eyes get even bigger as I realize that he has eaten half the shopping list. I tipped his head back to see where it might be and it was stuck to the top, far back part of his mouth. I am so thankful it was bright blue. I was able to stick my fingers into his mouth and get it all out. We were both still staring at each other wide eyed.

He coughed and gagged a few more times as I held him close to me. Oh man, my little man, I am so sorry I wasn't paying more attention. Who cares about sippy cups, anyways!?

We survived and I learned a good lesson: Shopping lists are a choking hazard. That is true, but more than that Jude is exploring more, grabbing more, tumbling more and I need to be paying attention more. Long gone are the days of strolling through a store making googly goo faces at Little Man while he coos in his car seat. Way to up the ante, Jude. I love you, kid.

"Solids"

Ahhh...I am so behind on blogging that I have been putting it off, which really makes no sense. I love posting, but once I have a list of all the things I haven't posted it feels overwhelming. Boo stinkin' hoo. Get on with it, Jill.

This post is long overdue but back in mid-March, Jude started "solids". I don't know why they call it solid because in reality it is soupy. We started with rice cereal and breast milk. We thought we were videoing, but it turned out to be on the time lapse setting.

It took him a couple weeks to get the hang of it, but now he gets frantic if I don't feed him on time. He leans forward in his high chair and opens his mouth as big as he can. Once he gets the first few bites down, he starts smiling and laughing. He might not look that much like me, but sometimes he really acts like me (frantic when hungry).

Road Trip

Last week Jude and I ventured up to Santa Rosa to visit Grandpa and Nani. I realized that if we didn't take the opportunity to visit now, it would likely be five months by the time Jude and Grandpa got to hang out. The last time they cuddled was Christmas. It is important to both Tim and I that Jude know, love, and learn from his grandparents.

In an attempt to break up the drive time, I stopped and visited a vineyard manager I used to work with along the way as well as Big Lots in Salinas on my quest to find inexpensive outdoor cushions. Although, it was nice to catch up and I did find the cushions I was looking for, in the end it turned out that extending the total trip time was not a wise move. A combination of a late leave time, multiple stops, and hitting Novato, north of the SF Gate Bridge, at 4:30 pm created the perfect storm inside the Whitacre mobile. At precisely the moment, we hit stop and go traffic, Jude announced his absolute displeasure with my drive plan. He was done. The crying began and so did my search for an alternate route. I called my Dad and he instructed me to take an exit about 20 minutes from where we were. I almost pulled over on the freeway to play with Jude in the median just because neither of us could take it anymore - Jude, the car, and me, Jude's crying. We made it to our exit and instead of the median we played in the parking lot of Progressive insurance in Petaluma. There was a cool wind that felt lovely on Jude's hot cheeks. After about fifteen minutes of jumping, tossing, standing, and bouncing, I put Jude back in his car seat. He complained but refrained from breaking into a rage. Dad was right and the back way was much quicker. Within thirty minutes we were pulling up to my parent's house and Jude was free from the car - for now.

For the next day and a half, Jude got kissed, hugged, cuddled and played with by his wonderful grandparents and his Aunt Kristy. They fed him solids, helped him sit and play (with pillows all around just in case), went on walks and the most fun of all "swam" with Jude in the hot tub.



The trip south went much smoother than the trip north. We had a great time in Santa Rosa. I am so thankful for supportive, involved, and loving parents and grandparents. Since having Jude, I am coming to a better understanding of the benefits and joys of having family close. I wish there was a way for Nani and Grandpa to be a daily part of Jude's life, but in the meantime I am very thankful for the time he gets with them.

Time with Friends

Last Tuesday, Jude and I drove down to SLO to visit with Nikki and her four boys (and a girl on the way:)). We had a great time catching up. We took a nice walk with the older two (Isaac and Caleb) on their bikes and the younger two (Josh and Jude) in the strollers. Nikki is a very dear friend and confidant of mine. She has been a huge support and encouragement in my life and especially since Jude's arrival. We got a picture of all of us after the walk. Some of the most simple times in our lives are the moments I enjoy most.

Nani Visits

My mom, hereforth called Nani, visited us (read: Jude)last weekend. We had a fabulous time with her and Jude loved loved loved all the attention. We hauled him all over the place and he did a really great job. Nani got lots of smiles and laughs and got to see how much he's changed in just six weeks.

Nani arrived on Friday afternoon just as Jude was waking from his afternoon nap. He was a little shy at first, but I think it was more due to the fact that it takes him a few minutes to wake up sometimes. Once he realized that Nani had come to visit and shower attention on him, he was all over her with cuddles and smiles. We laid low that evening and Nani helped with Jude's bedtime routine including bath and story time. I have included a video below of her reading Jude his bedtime story - it is precious.

After Jude's nap on Saturday morning, we took Nani to our favorite Saturday morning coffee spot - Amsterdam Coffee House in downtown Paso. We met up with Aunt Linda, Tess, and Aiya (Tim's mom). We had a nice time loading up on caffeine and hanging out. Jude ended up taking a nap on my chest while we were there. He hasn't slept on me for weeks so this was a sweet time for me.

From coffee, we headed out to the wildflowers. They were just starting to come out and though the wildflower carpet was not in effect it was still beautiful. The blue flowers were really brilliant and my personal favorite. Jude enjoyed watching Kona play ball and we even had to build a stream crossing to get over to the meadow. It was a fun adventure.

Saturday evening, we went in separate directions taking advantage of an eager babysitter. I headed to the gym and Tim joined a friend to fly RC planes. Nani enjoyed her time taking Jude for a walk after he woke up from his nap.

On Sunday, we watched Tim play soccer in the city league. This was Jude's first soccer game and he loved it. Mostly he loved jumping on Nani's lap and people watching, but someday he'll come to love soccer too. From soccer, we went to lunch and then carved out time for the much needed Sunday afternoon nap. Ahhhhhh...I love sabbath Sundays.

Nani wasn't leaving until 7ish so we met up with Aunt Linda, Tess, and Rachael for a walk along the Salinas River. It was a really nice walk. Kona especially enjoyed playing fetch in the river. Jude wiggled his toes in sand for the first time and Nani enjoyed putting Jude's hat on sideways (see slideshow). I think one of Jude's favorite parts was that whenever he got tired of sitting in the stroller there was an eager fan ready to hold him instead of me who lets him know that he's okay and can sit it out. Hey, holding a sixteen pounder while pushing a stroller and heeling a seventy pound dog is not an easy task.

We had a wonderful time with Nani and were sad to see her go. I enjoy so much watching her love on Jude and get to know him. He loves his Nani so much and so do I.

Slideshow of our time together:



Video of Nani reading a bedtime story to Jude: