14 Months (part 1)

It's almost the end of month 15 and I haven't put up pictures from last month yet.  I get so many cute pictures of our little photogenic boy that it's hard to choose (and it takes a really long time to go through them all).  Here's a partial collection.  Part 1, because I know they won't all fit in one blog post.  :)

As I was working through these pictures, I found a few leftovers from the Odessa trip.  In these pictures, Brian is playing on the tractor at Grammy's - the same one Cory used to play on. 

In these two, he was pushing himself backwards on the tractor.  My cell phone doesn't do well with motion, but you can see the smile through the blur.  He was having a blast!

 

 A few with Grammy.

 And one pointing out the decorations at Grammy's house.

 At Thanksgiving time, Cory's parents came out to El Paso to see us.  We took Brian to the zoo, and he had a great experience.  All of the animals were playing for him.  The giraffes were wrestling, the meerkats ran up by him, the sealion was showing off.  He definitely loves the zoo.  It was cold and windy, so I didn't get many great pictures.

With Nana Brenda and Papa Dell at the elephants. 
(Brian was more interested in the water than the elephants!)

Riding the tiger at the zoo with Daddy. 

Here's a comparison from the first time we took him to the zoo. (May 2011)

Sea Lions with Daddy - they both love to watch them swim by!

All bundled up!

 The lioness was pacing by the window where Nana Brenda was standing with Brian - if you look closely, it looks like she is eye to eye with him!

Enjoying the meerkats!

 At breakfast - Daddy was shooting straw wrappers across the table at Brian.  The anticipation was great.  In the second picture, the white blur at the bottom middle of the picture is the wrapper.

Thanksgiving family picture.

Brian carrying the cooler around like he was taking his lunch to work!

Building his new toy.  Brian and Papa Dell are supervising Cory.

 

And playing ...

 Nana and Papa Dell took Brian to Toys 'R Us to see what toys he liked for Christmas.  He started picking up these little animals and was just stacking them in his lap, like he hoped we wouldn't notice how many he had.  He eventually ended up with just the lion and turtle ... which are now on our living room floor.  :)

My favorite

I love Christmastime, especially the music!  I have fond memories of setting up the nativity scene and decorating the Christmas tree with music playing in the background.  I wanted to share one of my favorite albums with you.  You can't get it just anywhere, but I was able to find it on tape a few years back and a friend put it on CD, so now I have it again!  Enjoy! 

Haven of Rest Quartet

Month 13 - Part V

OK, this is the last of it.  I promise.  No really, the last pictures ... from month 13 at least!  Our boy has been 1 for more than a month now.  He's sleeping consistently 12 hours a night (and 2 1-3 hour naps), walking (and running) like crazy, and starting to say lots of things.  He has been saying Mama and Daddy (actually Dada) for a while now.  He's perfected Papa and Nana recently, and he has a word for light, truck, black, clap, bump (as in fist bump) and bye.  I have a feeling we're going to have an explosion of words here soon!  He sure wants to communicate.

Random shot with Daddy

Playing with his new "dirt toys" from Grandpa Bob for the first time.  These are a favorite both inside and out.  Thanks again!

 Looking like a big boy in the carseat.  Compare this to when we first got the carseat in week 20.

I packed up a box of Brian's younger toys to put in storage, but before I got it there he discovered the box.  He climbed in while I was making breakfast and discovered all sorts of fun things that he'd forgotten about!

We attended a local marching band competition with Gram and Papa Chuck.  Brian loved the loud music and sun flashing off the instruments as they marched.  He found his own seat, sitting on the concrete of the row in front of us using the seat as a table to drum on.

Brian sure loves to drive the car!

Brian loves to sit in his rocking chair.  And he sits down just like his Mama, always with one foot tucked under him somehow!

Random low-light shot of him napping one day.  Notice the stuffed animals strewn around him.  He likes to keep his friends close!

Sitting with Gram, watching "meet the colors."  Notice that they both have their feet crossed!

Brian, telling us that he's 1!  If you ask him, he'll show you, too.

A closing shot of our little man, being as adorable as ever (and looking way too grown up).