Happy Thanksgiving

So I am the busiest kid I know.  I just got back from visiting my aunt and uncle in Boulder Colorado for Thanksgiving.  It was the most fun!  I got to eat a lot of mashed potatoes and see a lot of my family.  My aunt and uncle are having a baby soon and i think that I may have scared them just a little bit.  I can be a little bit of a handful.  My energy level is off the charts so I didn't sit still the entire trip!  I even came home with several more bruises than I left with.  Now, we are onto Christmas!  Judging from my first Christmas which was awesome this day seems kind of awesome.  My mom and dad told me all about Santa and we are going to visit him at Weaver's soon.  My mom made my list since my words consist of dog, leo, bye, and uhoh.  I want Santa to know what I am wanting for Christmas though so my mom has my back. 
Today my mom went to workout at the Lawrence High Track.  She took me with her to meet some friends and I got to play on the football field.  It was so much fun!  I crawled everywhere and played with my friend for a long time.  Best afternoon ever.  Now for a long nap and then I get to play with my cousin Liam which is one of my favorite things to do!

I am a handful!

Just like the title of this post states I am a handful.  I turned one year old and have become a bit crazy.  I have decided that when mom goes to work my main job is to trash the entire house.  I am aiming to wear my dad down completely so he has no more energy ever again.  Then, mom comes home to a messy house, a worn out dad, and she takes over.  The other day I took all the money out of my dad's wallet and spread it all over the house.  I even found a 100 dollar bill and was holding it threatening to rip it up.  I have been doing this all with a smile on my face! 
Last week I got my one year shots and things have gone pretty downhill from there.  My two front teeth are trying to come in and it hurts a lot.  My parents are trying to help me but I still feel the need to get up a couple of times a night. 
I have been saying "mama"  a lot more and that makes her feel good!  I have been able to say dada for a while now and mom felt a bit ignored.  I love both my parents because they are the greatest.  My dad takes great care of me during the day and he even gave me pesto sauce to eat the other day.  It was an accident because dad thought it was frozen pureed peas but it was actually pesto.  I smelled like garlic for days and boy did I have some tummy troubles. I don't think he will make that mistake again. 

Birthday Week

This has been the craziest and funnest week of my life!  First, I got to ride on an airplane and spend a week with my parents on vacation which was amazing.  Then, the day after we got back I got to go to the Stepping Stones Halloween carnival where I dressed up as a Ketchup Packet.  I was so cute!  Then, Tuesday it was my birthday.  I wasn't really sure what all the fuss was about but my parents were sure excited.  Everyone kept saying that they couldn't believe I was one.  I can believe it.  I have grown a lot this year.  I went from 7.5 pounds to 20 pounds and I have grown about ten inches.  I am huge!  My mom made a funfetti cake and my dad took me to lunch just the two of us.  I got to eat my cake with my friends at Stepping Stones.  They were really excited that they got to eat cake too.  One of my friends wolfed his cake down.  I was a little slower about realizing that it was food but once I got going I really enjoyed it.  Thursday was Halloween and that was such a fun day.  My grandparents came to Lawrence and we went to Mass St. to trick or treat.  I was a leprechaun and I got to say I was super cute.  My dad wore a clown outfit that you could blow up.  He was dancing all over Mass St. like a street performer.  My grandpa kept saying that now he knows where I get my hambone personality from.  It is definitely my dad.  My mom would rather no one look at her but dad loves attention.  So do I!  The more people to talk to the better.  It blows my mom's mind that I have never really had separation or stranger anxiety.  She said that she just keeps waiting for the day that I freak out when she leaves me but that day hasn't come yet. Saturday was the best day of all though.  My parents gave me a wonderful first birthday party!  I had so many friends and family come to see me and watch me eat cake.  My mom's friend Sarah made an awesome Frankenstein cake and then she made me my own pumpkin shaped and flavored cake that I could smash all over the place.  I had such a fun time.  I was so worn out when I got home that I had to wait til I took a nap to even look at all of my presents.  People were so nice to bring me things.  My parents joke that they will need to move now because of all the toys! 
So many people too fun pictures of me at my party that I will share.  It has been a great week and I can't wait for this next year.  I am sure that I am going to learn so much.

My birthday!

I want to tell you more about my vacation but I have more important news.  Yesterday was my first birthday.  My mom and dad took good care of me.  I went out for lunch with my dad and ate steak and mashed potatoes.  Then, my mom made me a cake and I got to eat it with my friends at Stepping Stones.  We all sat in our high chairs and chowed down on funfetti cake.  I was a little unsure about the cake since I ate so much at lunch but I still managed several bites and i even smeared the icing all over my face and arms.  My mom got me a t-shirt for my birthday that said "Today I eat cake!"  So true.
Saturday my parents are having a big birthday party for me.  It is a costume party and we are going to have food and games.  I am so excited to see my friends and play.  I even get to eat more cake that my mom's friend Sarah is making for me!  She is making a frankenstein cake for everyone else and I get a pumpkin cake just for me.  It is going to be awesome!!
Now that I am a year old I am really going to start doing some new things.  I am starting to let go when I stand at furniture.  I have fallen a few times but overall I can do just fine when I let go.  Soon I hope to be walking and I know you will hear all about that when that happens.  I know there will be tons of pictures taken over the next year so be on the lookout.
My birthday wasn't the only exciting thing to happen yesterday.  KU basketball started back up again.  My parents wised up this year about parking.  They usually sell their driveway to people who are going to the game.  It can be tough to stand outside in bad weather so my dad made up a schedule where people can prepay for the whole season.  We had four cars commit to a whole season parking pass last night so now those four cars will park in our driveway and my mom and dad don't have to go outside!  My dad is a genius!  The game was really good but we can't watch the next several games at our house because you can only watch them on time warner and we have dish network.  It was pretty stupid because I really wanted to watch the Jayhawks play.  My dad went to see it at a restaurant with grandpa.  KU was winning by so much that he left at halftime!!
Well, it is time to get up and get some breakfast so I will let you go for now but tomorrow is Halloween and I have a cute little costume planned so be on the lookout for pictures!

I have returned from vacation!

I am back!!!  I had the best week ever with my mom and dad in North and South Carolina.  I also have to brag that I am an awesome flier and strangers told me what a good boy I was on the airplane.  On the way home I slept the entire 2.5 hr last flight from Charlotte to Kansas City.
Our first stop was Raleigh, North Carolina.  We got of the plane and my parents took me to see Duke University's campus. Our friend Julie went to school there and we wanted to see where she went to school.  The thning is that my mom has never liked Duke.  Mostly, because of a rivalry in basketball that dates back to Christian Laettner a long time ago.  Anyway, even she admitted that the campus was beautiful.  We had so much fun walking around and I wore my Jayhawks t-shirt just to get people excited.
When we left Duke we drove to a smaller town called Holly Springs and we got to see so many friends at our hotel.  The wedding that we went to was on Sunday so we had a few days to see people and mingle.
I had so much fun at the wedding.  My favorite part was when my dad put me on his shoulders and we danced to "Shout!"  I was laughing so hard  I was crying.  All night people stole me to dance with me and the caterer made me my own little plate of yummy food like strawberries so I didn't have to eat salmon like everyone else.  Here are some pictures from the wedding.  I will write more soon to tell you about the beach!

One week til my first plane ride

So next Friday my parents are taking me on my first airplane ride!  I am scared, excited, I just don't know what to think.  I have heard from my mom that my dad isn't the world's greatest traveler so I am going to turn on the charm and keep him busy on the plane so he can't complain about anything until we get there.  My mom can handle a lot but dealing with a baby and dad on a plane may be enough to make her a bit nuts. 
We are going to Raleigh, North Carolina to see some friends of my parents get married!  My dad is a groomsman and I have been to one wedding before and I loved everything about it.  I have my outfit picked out and I am ready to dance at the party.  I have been working on my moves with dad and I gotta say that I am looking good!
After the wedding my parents and I are going to drive five hours to Hilton Head, South Carolina for a family vacation.  I am going to see the ocean and play in the sand.  My mom said all she wants to do is stuff her face full of crab and my dad wants to relax and play with me.  Wish me luck on the plane and on my vacation.

Late Night Fiasco

We live in Lawrence, Kansas and that means that basketball is everything!  So on the first day that the team is allowed to practice together for the season there is an event called Late Night at Allen Fieldhouse.  My mom wouldn't let me go because it was going to be too loud but I hear it is super fun.  The basketball players do skits and there is a scrimmage and they always play a really cool video that gets you pumped up for the season.  There was going to be a ton of people so my mom and dad and a few friends who were in town headed up to the fieldhouse at 3:45 and doors opened at 5:30.  The show started at 6:00.  When they got there the people were everywhere.  Lines going in all sorts of directions and about thirty minutes before the doors were going to open my dad found out that his friend and his backpacks were not going to be allowed in.  They decided to run home to drop them off.  While they were gone they opened the doors early!!  People forgot all about the lines and it was madness.  People just turned and started running towards the fieldhouse.  Mom was worried because dad wasn't back yet but she didn't know that he got in a side door and was already inside.  Mom kept her eyes on her friends in front of her and one friend behind her.  She inched closer to the door and it was wall to wall people.  She got about three rows away from the door and all of a sudden the doors shut.  All of her friends except one got in and she was left outside.  So after about 30 minutes of waiting in a swarm of very angry people mom decided it wasn't worth it and she went home by herself.  Dad kept calling to apologize but she just picked me up early and loved on me instead of watching basketball players do silly skits.  So it was definitely a crazy evening but I got lots of snuggles so I am happy!
Saturday was the KU homecoming football game so we went to tailgate super early.  I love to tailgate because I love to be near people and my mom let me eat all kinds of food that probably wasn't very good for me.  I got passed around and watched some kiddos play football which I thought looked awesome.  That night I got to go to dinner with three out of four of my grandparents and that was super fun.  I love to spend time with them.  Here are some pictures from our crazy week.  Tomorrow I will tell you all about the photo shoot for my one year pictures and how I ate at Strouds for the first time.  The last time I went I was still too little to eat anything but today I chowed and it was unforgettable.