Laughing in Lieu of Sleeping

I know it has been a little while since I have posted anything new, but our son decided he doesn't need to sleep anymore. He is trying to do away with his naps during the day, and he's still waking up a few times a night. It's exhausting. Furthermore, I cannot blog if he's awake because he LOVES the computer and if he sees it out, he goes straight for it and starts banging on the keys with his signature genteel touch, lol. However, he is taking a cat nap at the moment (thank you!) and I wanted to post a video of him laughing. He likes to pick up his little ball and throw it for the cat, but after watching him do this over and over again without any interest from the cat (sometimes she just doesn't feel like playing) I felt so bad for Topher that I pretended to be the cat instead. Whenever he would throw the ball I'd jump on it and bat it around and throw it back to him, and he just found it hilarious. If there is one thing Topher was born with, it is a great sense of humor.




I'll try to get some new pictures and videos up as I have time. Topher is getting very close to taking his first step so I hope we'll be able to get that on camera. Last night he stood up by himself without holding on to anything and stood for a few seconds before falling back down, so we know he's learning to balance and walking shouldn't be far behind.

We are looking forward to a visit from Lindsay and Jo this weekend, the Clark Family Christmas next weekend, and a visit to KC the weekend after that. It is definitely the beginning of the holiday season, and we are so excited about it. We still have not even started shopping, though, so we need to get started soon! TJ is staying busy at work and I'm busy at home. There's not really anything else to report except that we still love it here--SO much--and memories of the flood house are thankfully fading away.

Sounds like someone is waking up. Back to work. :)

--KC

So Much To Say

I literally never know what the day will bring. Today brought me a son who suddenly learned how to "talk." Topher has babbled before, but nothing like this. Today he talked incessantly. It really seems like he knows exactly what he's saying, even if it's not at all in English. It's pretty entertaining to say the least. The problem is, whenever I grab the camera and start recording, he goes mute. So after a few failed attempts at capturing him on film, I waited until he was distracted and I took this video of him through the legs of the coffee table. He's sitting in an enormous pile of his books that he has scattered around, and he is "reading" to himself. (Either that, or offering up detailed reviews on all his baby books, how are we to know?)

As you can see, as soon as he spots the camera, he stops talking. I have no idea what he is saying, but I think that's one of the puzzles you get to solve as a parent, the deciphering of a primitive language that is spoken mainly in squeals. I can't tell you how much we love hearing his voice. Even though we're still learning his language, it's music to our ears.

--KC

Clapping and Catching Up

So much happens every day and I take so many pictures, it's hard to know what to post and what to skip, so this post is a little random, just some pics and a video that were too cute to keep to myself. First, I wanted Terry and Kathy to see Topher modeling the shirt they got him for his birthday. He looks so cute in everything.



Then yesterday Topher was being such a little rock star. Mat & Angie, the sunglasses still fit and Topher totally rocks them. Can't you just imagine a guitar in those little hands??



Then this morning Topher was figuring out the camera. He really gets it now. As soon as I take his picture, he'll grab the camera, turn it around, and start pointing at himself on the screen. They learn so young! We had fun taking pictures of his dog and cat, too. Is that a great smile or what???



And for his big achievement as of late: clapping. I know some other kids have been clapping for half a year already by his age, but he just got it this week and it's adorable.

Hopefully this will satisfy my mom's "Topher fix" for the day. She calls me all the time begging for more Topher. We're so lucky that so many people love this little boy of ours, but even if TJ and I were his only family in the whole world, we would never let him go a second without feeling loved. It's a tall order, being a parent, but it turns out that it's pretty great, too.

--KC

Playgroup at the Mall

Topher and I have been invited to a playgroup a few times by a woman at church, and this week we decided to check it out. So we made our way to Merle Hay Mall and I think it was great for Topher to get out and to see a playground he wasn't familiar with. I think the real appeal is for all the women to be able to socialize, but unfortunately Topher is at that age that doesn't allow me to do that. He's too old to sit still but too young to play safely by himself. So for an hour and a half, I crawled around on the rubbery floor with him and tried to keep him from hitting the other kids. (He doesn't do it out of cruelty, but he likes to "pat" other kids the way he "pats" the cat.) The crazy thing was that every single woman there--I think 5 in all other than myself--had a toddler that was a girl and a new baby that was a boy. It's definitely a trend in this particular playgroup.

Topher playing on the assorted foam animals

Spinning these cubes around and around...he kept pointing to a picture of a raccoon and saying "bup" meaning "puppy"

Climbing the "castle" slide...all this equipment is very slippery so he didn't stand a chance in his little socks

Standing up using the fish

"Pulling" the foam boat through the water

Topher played hard, and was pretty well behaved. It's fun to see him around other kids, but he was at that in-between age (too young for the toddler girls and too old for the newborn boys) so this might not be his ideal playgroup. Luckily, later in the day our neighbor brought over her tiny little daughter Emi, who is about 6 months old, and Topher had fun patting her on the head. (Is he around animals too much and now thinks that everyone loves a pat on the head???)

Trying to love on Emi

Marianne taking on the full-time task of watching Topher's hands

It was a very social, very busy day for him. Unfortunately, it did not equal a solid night's sleep like I was hoping, but at least he had fun.

--KC

Tigger Treat

This was Topher's first real Halloween, considering last year he was only a week old and we weren't about to dress him up (he used to scream bloody murder if you tried to dress/undress/bathe him, etc. so we thought it best to just let him be. Plus we were brand new parents and just trying to survive the bomb of bringing our new baby home. Trust me, a costume was the furthest thing from our minds.) But this year he's a big boy and his costume was Tigger, from my mom. She said it was the closest thing to a Mizzou tiger she could find. My mom is awesome.

Because beggar's night turned out to be a cold, windy, and rainy night here, Topher had to sport his long john underwear under his costume.


Topher, in his long john's...I could have died it was so cute


Posing with the puppy

Posing with daddy

We went over to Aimee and Dale's house (my sis and bro-in-law) because they only live about 5 minutes away and we were having dinner with them anyway. We went to 5 houses before Topher lost his patience and wanted to get the costume off.

Topher's very first trick-or-treat house

My little tiger

Daddy and Tigger

Carrying the little one back in out of the yucky weather

One last picture before the costume came off

Topher's spoils

Aside from the weather, it was a good time. Next year we'll aim to hit a few more houses, but I'm not sure that Topher could ever look cuter than he did this night. Happy Halloween!

--KC

Birthday Bash Continued

On Sunday afternoon, Topher went over to Grandma & Grandpa Clark's house to continue his birthday celebration. There, he was spoiled (in a good way!) with lots of toys and clothes.

He received a wealth of toys, a puzzle he loves, and some really cute outfits. He loves spending time with his grandma and grandpa. Grandma even made him birthday cupcakes! He didn't eat much of the cupcake, but he had fun smearing the icing around.

Thank you, grandma and grandpa, for the wonderful party and all the fun toys!! On the way home, Sassy was in the back and Topher kept trying to turn around to see his "bup," whose nose is just visible over the back of Topher's seat in this picture.

Eventually, he just fell asleep that way.

By the time we got home, he was thoroughly exhausted from his weekend of partying.

This morning, he was having fun playing in his "birthday suit," even though we explained that his birthday was over. :)

We are convinced that he becomes more beautiful every single day. He just had his one-year checkup yesterday and he was so brave! He only cried for about 5 seconds, just until they let go of his legs after giving him his shots. He weighed 24.5 lbs (80th percentile), he was 31" long (75th %), and his head was 18 5/8" in circumference (75th %). It seems like he is turning into a very well proportioned little guy. He got a clean bill of health and we realized that in his whole first year he never had an ear infection or a single illness that required a medication. We have been incredibly lucky and we count it as one of our greatest blessings to have such a healthy little baby. What a great weekend we all had, and we can't wait to see what surprises this next year will bring.

--KC

A Kansas City Birthday Bash

We headed to KC to celebrate Topher's first birthday with my family. My sister and brother-in-law, Regina and Justin, graciously offered to throw us a party for the little man. We started Topher's birthday off by making a trip to the pet store, one of our favorite spots to visit. He fell asleep in the car on the way there, but quickly woke up to see all the animals.

From there, we went to a fancy little toy store to see if Topher needed any more birthday presents (ha!) He played a baby grand and chose a little maraca for his birthday toy, which he wouldn't let go of, even while taking a bottle in the car.

Then it was back to Regina and Justin's house to get ready for the party. Topher helped clean up and then had fun with the balloons. It was a sports themed party and Topher was voted Rookie of the Year, MVP, and Overall #1.

When the party was set up, Topher went outside to play for awhile.

Party time! As soon as everyone arrived, Topher fell asleep. We let him nap for about 30 minutes, but then people were asking to see the birthday boy so we woke him up. The food was build-your-own-pizza and turned out great.

Birthday loves from uncle Jon, cousin Audree, aunt Katie, Mar-Mar, cousin Aubrey, and Grandpa.

Cake time! It was the CUTEST ice-cream cake I have ever seen. Unfortunately, because Topher had just woken up and everyone exploded into noise singing "Happy Birthday," this part of the day didn't go so well. We tried singing softer, but the damage had been done. Classic first birthday moment. Poor little sweetheart.

Luckily, there were plenty of presents to help cheer Topher up. He literally got buried in a pile of presents! He loved it, and I don't blame him! He got so many presents that we came home and immediately boxed up most of his "baby" toys to give away.

The next morning, it is finally time to go home. At a rest stop, Topher gets a new diaper and tries out the driver's seat. We're happy to say that Topher did really well in the car! It's not easy to take him long distances but it is possible now, and that's huge. He really didn't cry at all, so it was a tear-free trip! He even slept the last hour or more.

We're home! We love coming home to this house. Topher found his kitty and was entertained for a LONG time. She was a good sport, even though he kept tackling her to the ground and squealing in delight. He LOVES that cat. In this video, you can hear him saying "dat, dat" which means cat.

Like all our trips to KC, it went way too fast. We're so thankful for everyone who took the time to come celebrate Topher's first birthday with us, and for all the fun presents. Regina and Justin, thank you SO much for throwing that amazing party for Topher. It was perfect. It brings us so much joy to watch Topher be surrounded by people who love him. Stay tuned for details on Topher's second first birthday party at TJ's parent's house! Is this a lucky boy or what??? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOPHER!!!!

--KC