Favorite Quotes...

Pop (my dad) talking to Dominic (my 5 yr. old nephew):

P: How old is Everett now?
D: He's still zero.

Watching a PBS fundraiser with 50's music, my dad says about one of the singers:

"Hmm, she used to be young!"

My Co-Worker, Jana, shopping with her six-year-old daughter, Peyton, looking at a rack, next to a large group of African-American women:

P: Mom, do you like black people?
J: WHAT?!?! Of course I do.
P: I don't.
J: WHAT?!? Honey, that's not nice to say, they're just like us, everyone is the same.
P: Well, are they Christian?
J: ***Thinking to herself*** RUN.

For the record, Peyton has black friends, and a black teacher, who she loves. Where do they come up with these things?

My friend Tara , tucking in her then 6-year-old Victoria, wearing a regular nightgown, instead of her normal sweats & t-shirt:

V: What's that?
T: What's what?
V: What are you wearing?
T: A nightgown.
V: Why?
T: Why do you care?
V: Is daddy going to do sex to you tonight?
T: WHAT?!? Victoria, how do you know that word? You're too young to talk about things like that.
V: From the cartoon, with a mommy and daddy and talking dog. (Family guy)
T: Where did you see that?
V: Cartoon Network (apparently comes on late at night) Don't worry mommy, I'm not going to have sex until I'm 20.

I don't think Victoria has a television in her room any more. Again, where do they come up with these things?

My niece, Eliza, probably about 4 at the time, while taking a bath and totally out of the blue, talking to my sister, Angie:

E: I used to think the thing that hangs from boys' bums was just for decoration, now I know it's where they go pee from

My mom called and told me this one. I lost ALL ability to speak, because I was laughing so hard. I had tears pouring from my eyes, and it took at least 45 minutes for me to tell Tony, because everytime I tried, the uncontrollable laugh showed up.

I have more...oh do I have more. I plan on writing a book with these things, I just though this would give me a nice start.

Dear Anthony,

Dear Anthony,
Happy First Birthday! I know I'll forget so many things about your first year as time goes on, so I want to share with you my favorite things about you. This has been with out a doubt the best year of my life. From the second you came into my life, I knew that I would never be without you. You bring so much light into my world and I am so thankful for you and for your place in our family. I love your giggle. I love your perfect tiny spaced 4 teeth. I love the way you make a motor boat sound when you are playing by yourself. I love that you figure things out for yourself. You climb and open and close and pull out and put back and tap and shake and stack and knock over all that you get your perfect little fingers on. You never shy away from something new. You are not afraid of anything. You love to be with the people that love you. I love the way you rub your little eyes with the backs of your hands when you're tired and you snuggle up to me and put your head on my shoulder when you feel you need safety. I love your scarce super blonde hair, making you look like a baldy. I love when I smell your feet and tell you "peeewwwww, stinky" you laugh. Hard. I love that you love the water; baths, sprinklers, pools, the dog's water dish, anything...you love to splash. I love the way you eat, opening your mouth as wide as a crocodile. I love the way you pick up one little cheerio with your thumb and your forefinger and if you miss your mouth, you chase the cheerio up your arm until it lands in your mouth. I love your serious face, I love your silly face. I love watching your face the first time you try a new food. I love how delighted with yourself you are when you're walking around.

It wasn't for about another hour that you came into this world, one year ago. You cried before you were all the way out and the one thing I will always remember is the doctor saying "You can't cry, you're not even born yet." You were so alert, and wide awake. I spend those first 48 hours staring at you. I couldn't take my eyes off you. And here we are, an entire year later. You're walking, and jibby-jabbering and feeding yourself cheerio's. I have loved every single second of it. Every day gets better and better.

You are such a sweet spirit and I love you much. I love your daddy and the rest of our family (which may not be here yet). I know you are a child of God and He love you. He will always be with you and guide you. Listen to Him, follow Him and trust Him. I have so many things I want to teach you and so many things I want you to learn about on your own. I promise to try to look at every situation as a learning and teaching experience.

At one year old you love your daddy and mommy, your dog Scout, your Nana and Pop, Grandma and Grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-grandparants. You love to feed yourself, although you're rarely given the opportunity because you shove ALL your food into your mouth at the same time, and have choked a few times, which has given me a few gray hairs, and heart attacks. You love to clap, wave goodbye, dance, watch Sesame Street and tease your dog. You smile at me when you first wake up, which makes my heart melt. You laugh at yourself when you burp, sneeze, toot, cough. Which has proven, you're never too young to think bodily functions are funny. You love ice-cream. To the point of a small melt-down when it's all gone. You love to get into anything you're not supposed to. Cupboards, tight spots, electical cords, up on the coffee table, end table, etc. You love to be chased and laugh and wait for me to catch up to you, then run, then stop and wait for me, then laugh...

I love you so much and I look foward to all the "firsts" you will have in your life. I love watching you learn and grow. You're the perfect you.

I love you.

Love,
Mommy

Vacuum Attachement

There are five hundred million things in our house for a baby to play with - safely. But does he want one single thing to do with ANY of them? 'Course not. What he DOES want is the plug to any appliance when it'splugged into the electrical outlet, while said appliance is running. Which I'm pretty sure turns out to be not so safe. So, we resort to vacuuming like this:

Dental Hygiene is KEY!

I'm really not one of those crazy-obsessed dental office worker, hygiene types, really. I like good dental hygiene as much as the next guy...but I'm not so crazy that I'd make my 10 month old child obsess over it. He just has a thing for a toothbrush! I gave him a little one to play with/get used to and everytime he sees Tony or I brushing, he wants in on the action!

Isn't my husband svelt? He's trimmed down (which is the only reason he let me put these photos up) and got himself a HOT farmer tan. I guess that's what happen when you spend most of your day in the desert sun, golfi-er, I mean working, yeah, that's it...working! (You should see his legs...calves are nice and dark, thighs and ankles...not so much!)

Just gettin' in a little back yard time!

Easter

This is the easter dump-truck/wagon. Basket, you ask? Baskets are for wussies. Ok, not really, we just didn't get photos of that. It was rather uneventful...the basket that is. Nurf football and basketball, that are already gone (dog) and a sand castle bucket and shovel. Easter Bunny was a little weak this year, maybe I'll send a letter of complaint and hope for a better one next year.

Anthony was pretty happy with the dump truck/wagon full of giant lego-type blocks (times 2). Auntie Tara and Grandma got the same one... Like mother/Like child.

If at first you don't succeed...

My favorite thing to do is watch this kid figure out the world. It's sometimes hard for me to just sit back and let him do what ever it is he wants to do without reaching in and showing him. The first couple attempts at the stairs head-first weren't really going his way, so I picked him up, took him down a couple and put him back down so show him to go down backwards, the way most tiny humans do, but he thought that meant go back up, since of course he was facing that direction, he'd proceed back up the few that I had carried him down. He'd get to the top, turn around and try the face-first route again. So I sat on my hands and tried to let him figure it out on his own. With mom and top and Nana right below, I let him go for it. He didn't do too shabby either!
A little carpet burn on the nose never killed anybody!
The next day, back up it was...for about 30 minutes, all we did was up, down, up, down, up, down...you get the picture, right? I didn't quite make it in time with the camara, but he went from the other side of the table to here, underneath, scaling over the foot-rests on the chairs. Quite the little climber.

First whipped cream beater...YUM!

Maybe laundry time?

Again, with the climbing. What gives?

Did I really say that?

Baseball has become the background noise at all times. Sports Center, front and center. Random BURSTS of yelling, swearing, cheering, etc. errupt frequently. Records, stats, numbers, percentages are all I hear. I'm rethinking my enthusiasm for baseball season, and we're only a week in. I have yet to learn, really learn what "3 and half games out" means, and please for the love of it, don't try to explain it...I stopped listening 5 minutes ago. HOW do you become "half" a game out??? Don't get it, don't really wanna get it. I am excited for our renezvous to Anaheim though. It's different BEING there, much different. I will endure another season, I WILL!