First Tattoo and First Time in the Pool

One of the weekends in May, we were invited to a 3 yr old birthday party and BBQ. Here, Anderson got his first tattoo and got to go into the pool for the first time. Here are some pics.

Anderson showing off his fierce tattoo. Oscar the Grouch! Grrrr!!!


It was hot that day. 100! So dad decided to take him into the pool to cool them both off. He was hesitant at first. The water was actually a little chilly.

But he got used to it quickly and loved it. He even splashed around and tried to swim.

After some swimming, it was time to sit on the lawn and enjoy some delicious roast pig. Yup, you read that right. It was a pig roast! Did I mention that Anderson used to be afraid of grass? Couldn't even come close to it without screaming? Well, look at him now... He picks it up!

And then eats it for dinner

One last one of him looking tough in just his diaper and tattoo

10 Month Update

Oh my goodness. Where do I even start?! Things happen so fast these days and things change every single day. I guess the biggest news is that 2 days shy of his 10 month birthday, the little guy started crawling. He has a little car that he can ride on, or walk behind and he was trying to get to it. He was reaching for it when Wilson decided to move it just beyond his reach. And then....he just went for it! No struggle, just crawled! Now, he is everywhere. And I mean everywhere. He does not sit still. He is always on the move. Sometimes he crawls normally, meaning both knees on the ground. And sometimes he does this crawl/walk where he crawls with one knee and then walks with the other. Wilson calls it is Gollum crawl. (Gollum from Lord of the Rings)

Here are other observations/thoughts/developments:

• He can pull himself up to standing quite easily now. In fact, we've had to lower his crib down to the lowest standing because we found him standing up in his crib, peering over the edge one morning.
  
• He is so much happier now that he can move. He's always been a happy baby but he is just loving his new found freedom. One of his favorite things to do is to crawl over to the coffee table and take down all the magazines off the shelf.
  
• He's a clapper. He loves clapping. Seriously loves clapping. One time, I was helping him walk by holding his hands and wanted to get down on the ground. Why? To clap.
  
• He loves to laugh and smile. Even at strangers. He's quite the flirt.
• He's letting us spoon feed him again without a fight but still loves to feed himself. One of his new favorite snacks are Baby Goldfish. It's for him but I see dad sneak in a couple (okay, handfuls) at snack time too.
  
• Loves to throw balls (or anything) and then chase after them.
• Also loves to hold two objects (one in each hand) and knock them together. Each time he does it, he looks up at us for approval, which we gladly give him, and then laughs in delight.
  
• Now that he's crawling, he goes for Sammy quite a bit. Unfortunately, all he wants to do is pull on his tail which isn't the smartest thing to do. So far now, we've had to keep them apart. It used to be us yelling at Sammy to leave Anderson alone. Now, it's the opposite.
  
• He's starting to get quite ticklish
• Very vocal and talkative. He definitely says Mama and Dada, although he will babble dadadada throughout the day even when Dada isn't around. We also think he knows "dog" since sometimes when he's sees Sammy, he look at him and saw "daw".
  
• Loves trees and is completely fascinated by them, especially when the wind blows and they move.
• He's growing more hair!!
  
• And lastly, as I said before, he is on the go now. Constantly. Always on the move.

Here are a series of pictures for his 10 month update. It's getting really hard now to take a decent one of him on my own.

Mother's Day 2009

My First Mother's Day! For my first Mother's Day I got the best of both worlds. I got a little time to myself which I spent getting a pedicure. And I got to spend some quality time with my family painting some pottery. On Saturday, Wilson took the little guy out while I got some me time and decided to pamper myself with a pedicure. Sunday morning I got to sleep in!!!! A gift in itself! The boys made breakfast for me and presented me with my gift. One they had made together and one that Anderson made at school.

The boys made this mug for me and filled it with some wonderful chocolates. It says "Anderson's Mom"


And this is what Anderson made a school on Friday for me. Yup, that flower doubles as a pen!

I love them. I truly truly love them. I used to wrestle with what to get my own mother for mother's day (I still do) but after receiving these gifts, the ones made with thought and love, I really do appreciate them. And after being a mom for almost a year now, I realize that there is nothing I could do or say to tell my mom how thankful I am for everything she's done for me. Being a mom is by far the toughest thing that I have done and ever will do. Nobody gives them enough credit for all they do. I have learned so much about myself and grown so much over this past year. Your life really does change on a dime and I wouldn't have it any other way. It is the hardest job, the most thankless job, most selfless job but what you get in return is priceless. It really is. When your little child turns to you, gives you a big grin and a hug, you realize that there isn't anything that you wouldn't do for them.

Later, we met Aunt Sonja, Uncle Paul, Nai-Nai, and Paul's mom and aunt at a pottery painting place for more QT (quality time).

Headshots

Why do we have kids? For our own amusement of course! Kidding. But there is no doubt that a child provides endless hours of free entertainment. We are thoroughly entertained each and every evening watching Anderson play and figure things out. Just last night we were shocked when he decided he wanted to start learning how to stand on his own. He'd take a second to steady himself, and then all of a sudden let go! I think we all just stared at each other for the 5 seconds or so he was standing on his own. He started to wobble and grabbed onto his little car for support again. And it's also fun to take him to different things, even though he can't really participate, it's fun to see his expression and how big his eyes get when he sees something new. But, I admit that we do a few things at his expense for our own amusement.

A few weekends ago, I took Anderson to the UC Davis Picnic Day, which is more or less and open house for the school. All the clubs and departments come out and have fun events for the town. We went to a petting zoo (although Anderson was too timid to touch the goat) and watched dog races. We also went to a bug exhibit and took this picture:


Anderson as praying mantis!! Of course you can only do this when they are really young and don't know what's going on. Anderson even has that look on his face as if to say "I don't know what's going on but I'm pretty sure I don't like this!"

The next weekend, his daycare/school had a carnival for the kids. Again, there was another headshot opportunity and you better believe we grabbed it! Here is the series of pictures:

"What's going on? Why am I in this thing?"

"There's Daddy! Daddy help! Ms. Julie, Help!" (Ms. Julie is one of Anderson's teachers)

"Everyone's laughing! There must be something funny!"

Unfortunately he couldn't participate in much again. No face painting, no balloon animals, no sock puppets, and definitely no hot dogs and cotton candy. But he did get to make one of these fierce animal bracelets!

"ROAR!"