Grandma Kay

My dad gave me a lecture today about not adding pictures to the blog of family and important people to AJ. I admit that I am very guilty of this. Truth be told, I am used to thinking of the blog as a way of updating all my family and friends in one shot about how AJ is doing, so I tend to only put pics of him on. However, it is also going to be something AJ can look at one day and read about his growing up. It is true that we have photographs of all the grandparents and family in AJ's baby book, but I want to include pics of everyone on the blog too. From now on, I'll do a much better job of getting more pics of family along with AJ. So, for now, I'll post several random pics of family during various visits we have had, and in the future there will be more. Grandma Kay is very proud of both of her grandsons. And to the envy of my mother, Grandma Kay has a third grandchild on the way!

Mammaw

AJ's mammaw spoils him as bad as the rest of the grandparents. We will be visiting Arkansas this summer for a family reunion. Mammaw is flying us down. I feel bad that during her trip here for Spring Break, I did not get one picture of her. We'll do better this summer.

Uncle Sean and Aunt Paula

I can't believe I don't have a single pic of Aunt Paula in my digital library. I do have pictures of her in our photo albums. Next time we visit, I'll get pics of Aunt Paula. She is very pretty, we wouldn't want to miss having her included in the blog! Here is one of Uncle Sean. Other pics have already been included of those cute kids Ellie and Josh in other spots on the blog.

Uncle Barry

There will be new pics to add at the beginning of next month after our trip to visit Uncle Barry in Colorado!

Michelle and Grandpa Eric

We did have a visit from Michelle and Eric after Christmas, but the visit was so short, we didn't even think to break out our camera. So, these are older pics. We'll do better next time.

Grandma and Grandpa Cook

Everyone knows how much AJ loves his grandma and grandpa!

Aunt Tande

Funny, I have more pics of AJ's Aunt Tande in our photo albums, but this is the only one I found in our digital library! The same is true of other family members, so don't feel slighted Aunt Tande.

Aunt Becky and Uncle Jeramie

Here are some pics of Aunt Becky and Uncle Jeramie. Becky was great with both boys. She'll do great when she has her next baby! I'm sure Jeramie will too, I just didn't have a chance to see him juggle two kids on his lap.

AJ's Favorite Toy!

AJ really likes his wooden rocking horse. He even knows how to make it rock on his own, but nothing compares to the horsey ride that Daddy can give! Daddy has become the best toy AJ has. AJ loves to push him down and climb on daddy's back and go for a ride. Occassionally, mommy makes a decent substitute if daddy isn't home, but I guess I'm not that great at being a horse, because he much prefers daddy as the horse. Dave is such a great dad. It is fun to see him with AJ. I even love seeing how excited AJ gets when daddy comes home and hearing him say "Da da". I'm only mildly wounded when AJ points to a picture of me and Dave both, and says "dada." I'm in the picture too, but does he say "mama?" NO. Oh well, I know he loves us both.

He has been doing the funniest thing lately. Mamaw, grandma, and Aunt Becky got to see him doing this a few times. For whatever reason, he loves to see Dave and I kiss each other. Any time we kiss, he'll smile big and want us to keep kissing. If we kiss once and we are sitting so he can reach us both, he'll come over and push our heads together to make us kiss again and again and again while he makes a kissing noise. Dave and I think it is cute.

Nice Weather!

We have had the most beautiful weather this week. I wish our guests from last week could have been here this week. Though the weather was nice, it was chilly for Becky and Kay, especially since Becky informed us that she usually keeps her house set at 76 degrees. She was cold at our home. This week would have been much better for her. It has been great out. AJ and I have spent time outdoors a ton this week. On Monday, we had playgroup at our house and the kids all played in the back yard. AJ didn't even mind that the other kids played in his hot wheel cars. He was very good natured about sharing. The little girl in pink in the pictures is Ally. Though she is twice his age, I believe that AJ has a crush on her. Whenever she is around, AJ follows her all around. The little boy AJ is pouring sand on is Blake. He is the same age as AJ. Both born in October.

Yesterday we went to the zoo and met up with my friend Ann (mother of Ally and Brenden). We pulled Ally and AJ in a wagon through the zoo. AJ had a great time. All of the animal exhibits are now open and the animals were out enjoying the nice weather too. The petting zoo was open and AJ LOVED the goats. He really didn't want to leave the petting zoo, but when we showed him the train that was coming around and said we were going to go ride it, then he was ready to go with us. AJ loved the train ride, but did not like the carousel. It was big and it went kind of fast. I was holding onto AJ on the horse I put him on, but pure fear was in his eyes, then he almost cried and reached out for me. I just held him beside the horse until the ride stopped. He was braver in my arms, but it surprised me to see him so scared. He is usually such a fearless kid. Despite that, AJ had a great time at the zoo. Pretty soon the zoo will open up the boat rides and the pony rides. I'll take my camera next time I go so I can get a pic of him with the goats that he liked so much and see what he thinks of a real pony that doesn't go up and down and round and round like on the carousel. Today, we just played in our back yard for two hours until he was time to come in for lunch. It was so nice that I sat outside in shorts and a t-shirt. All this outdoor activity must be wearing AJ out. For the past three mornings in a row, he has slept 13 hours until 9 AM and still takes a 2 1/2 to 3 hour nap.

Spring Break Visitors

Last week we had a house full of family. My mom, Pam, came up from Arkansas during her spring break. Dave's mom, Kay also came along with our sister in law, Becky and her adorable 8 month old, Dean. We had lots of fun while everyone was here. AJ LOVED Dean. He wanted to play with Dean all the time. If AJ wanted in his little ball pit, then he wanted Dean in there too. If he wanted to ride in his Little Tykes car, then he wanted Dean in with him. My mom bought AJ this awesome wooden wagon and AJ thought it was the best when he and Dean could ride in it together. It was so much fun to have family here. AJ loved the added attention he got from his mammaw and grandma. He was not feeling well a couple of days and was extremely clingy to with mommy those days, but fortunately, he was happy and playful for most of their visit.

AJ's New Truck

I'm blaming this particular purchase on Grandpa Cook, though any excuse would really do in order to get rid of the ATV that I never wanted AJ to have. Okay, let me explain. Shortly after Dave purchased AJ the motorized Mini Cooper (when AJ was weeks old), Dave purchased AJ an ATV, like a four wheeler vehicle. I did not approve. It looked dangerous to me. I thought he could fall off of it too easily. Dave said that AJ needed a vehicle that he could drive on the grass since the Mini was stricly for side walk use. So, we've had two motorized vehicles for some time. Though Dave assembled the Mini and AJ has played with it a lot, the battery was never put in it. He has never played with the ATV because it was still in the box. Well, after our visit to Kansas, where AJ was thoroughly spoiled by his grandfather, AJ wanted to "drive" all the time. Grandpa Cook let him sit in Grandpa's truck and pretend to drive at the wheel. AJ thought this was great fun and kept wanting to "drive" the real cars even when we got back to Ohio. I was shopping one day and found this truck that I thought AJ might soon be able to manage if not already. It says for 2 to 6 year olds. Once we get the battery charged, we'll see what AJ can do with it. But, if nothing else, it has satisfied his desire to sit in a truck and pretend drive. He has played with this thing all morning, and it doesn't even go anywhere. The best part about it was that since Dave bought the ATV at WalMart, I was able to trade that thing for this truck that I believe will be much safer. So, AJ still has one vehicle for side walk use and one for the back yard (If and when he can manage the driving part.) AJ did briefly have a small ATV meant for one year olds, but he wouldn't keep his feet on the feet rest, and I was afraid he was going to get dragged off the thing with his legs dragging the ground. I do have some cute video of his driving it before I returned it. I'll make sure to get video of him driving the truck if he is able to figure it out.

Still Onery!!

AJ still looks onery even with the big boy hair cut! Oh, he was a little turkey while we were in Kansas. This was especially true while around Grandpa. Grandpa spoiled the kid ROTTEN!!! If AJ wanted to go up the stairs 20 times, Grandpa went up and down with him. If AJ wanted to go outside (which he did often), then Grandpa let him. They played with rocks and sticks and visited dogs and cats in the neighborhood. Grandpa even let AJ pet a cat then hit the poor cat with a stick, pet and hit, pet and hit until the poor cat had enough and went home. As a result of this spoiling, AJ became demanding and threw fits, and wanted very little to do with mommy because mommy tried to enforce discipline. AJ was so terrible, he was hitting me often and screaming at me. I was glad to have a reprieve while we were there from the terrible behavior by getting to visit Grandma Kay because AJ was much better behaved at her house. Grandpa believed it was because Grandma Kay has a dog and a cat in the house to entertain AJ. This may have been true because he did play with Jenga and Harley cat a lot. However, I suspect it may have to do with the fact that AJ did not sleep as well while we were in Kansas. Whenever we went to visit Grandma Kay, he would take a short morning nap on the way to her house and then would wake up in a good mood. I'm only suspecting the need for more sleep to be the case because since we've been home, he has been getting to bed at 8 PM as usual, and has gone back to sleeping until 8:30 AM. He has been in good moods at home and has not tried to hit me at all. He did hit daddy once, but he wasn't mad at the time, so I think he meant it in play, but we gave him a time out anyway just to let him know that it is not okay to hit regardless. He still throws little fits and pouts sometimes when he doesn't get his way, but nothing like when we were with Grandpa. It is also good to be the center of my child's world once again.

First Haircut

Here are some pictures of AJ's first hair cut. A final look at his long baby curls, the hair cut experience, and then no more curls. AJ did fairly well. He wiggled a lot, and fussed a little, but didn't really cry. It helped a lot that he sat on Grandpa Cook's lap while Grandma took pictures and I video taped the experience.