Fun Times!

Teddy was excited to go to his cousin Violet's first birthday party this weekend. Here is Teddy all dressed BEFORE the party: And here he is AFTER the party:Why was he so worn out? Partying with all of those other kids. Check out Violet's bedroom full of babies. There was a set of triplets, a set of twins, and at least three other babies all in one nursery! Not to mention all the mommies, daddies, and grandparents snapping pictures. Talk about chaos!!Cousin Maggie enjoys taking pictures and actually got a couple of really great shots:Teddy loves all of his cousins. But he and Maggie have a special bond. They are both apparently huge Twilight fans. I tried to get a picture of them together with their "vampire teeth," but getting a shot with both of their mouths opened at the same time was pretty difficult. Check out their matching smiles though in the next two pictures:

Here's the birthday girl. Happy Birthday Violet:

Teddy also had a fun time at playgroup this week. Teddy and the four other babies (who all live in our neighborhood) were all born within about 3 months of each other. Teddy is the youngest, but definitely not the smallest! We hosted at our house for the first time and he had a great time playing with the other children (and their older siblings). But after about thirty minutes, check out what Teddy was doing:Sleeping in the middle of a party???? Can't imagine where Teddy may get this from! (Around him were four babies and four older siblings loudly playing!)

Here are a couple more random pictures from this week. I received this dog from a good friend of mine at a baby shower before Teddy was born. Teddy absolutely LOVES this fun dog who sings and talks to him. (Although I have to admit that Shae and I are a little creeped out by the dog. Especially when he randomly starts talking to us. "Peek-a-boo, I see you!") Here Teddy is loving his dog:

And here's our clean little man. Shae put the diaper over his bottom so the picture would remain "tasteful!"

Teddy has enjoyed continuing to try new foods this week:

Have a great week everyone!

Busy Bees

Everyone has been busy at Teddy's house lately. First off, Teddy has been very busy playing. Sometimes he can't decide which toy to play with:

And sometimes he plays SO hard he just crashes:

He's also been busy continuing to try new foods. So far he has eaten avocado, bananas, squash, and zucchini. He seems to like everything except for the squash.

Teddy has also been busy continuing to grow new teeth. As you can see- his bottom two have gotten much taller:

And his vampire teeth continue to grow as well:

We are expecting the middle two teeth to break through the skin any day now- as they have gotten very tender and swollen.

I have been busy making a new shelf to go in Teddy's nursery. Here it is finally finished:

Teddy's Grandma Judy and Grandpa Bud finally came back from their very busy three week trip visiting the National Parks. Teddy was SO excited when they came home. Here he is posing with the new hat they brought him. It says "Who's your teddy?"

We were all excited to have Grandma and Grandpa home. They babysat Friday night so Shae and I could go out to celebrate a friend's birthday. It was only the third time since Teddy was born that we have gone out alone. We had a great time!!!

Those of you who know Teddy understand how much he loves his Sophie Giraffe. This week she has been busy healing from emergency surgery. Sophie was involved in a hit-and-run accident outside a local restaurant. Unfortunately there were no witnesses, but luckily a good Samaritan found her laying in the gravel after being run over. Here is Sophie before surgery:

The good news is doctors expect a full recovery.

Shae has been busy around the house. He enjoyed using his Man-grate to cook dinner several times. This was his father's day present (and a good choice I think.. since he uses it to cook dinner for us!)

Shae is also busy with baby-proofing tasks. Here he attaches our bookshelves to the walls:

We all had a good time visiting the Oldham's last weekend. Teddy loved playing with Cameron (and Cameron seemed to enjoy it as well).

There is one more thing Teddy has been busy with. You know that this blog is dedicated to him, but you may not realize what an active role Teddy takes on with our blog updates:

Summer Fun

Teddy has been having lots of fun this summer. Last week we met Aunt Miriam and cousins Caroline, Maggie, and Jack at a small water park right down the street. Teddy loved playing in the water!

Teddy is so cool with his Aunt Miriam! While Teddy has been getting teeth, his cousin Maggie has been losing hers! The day finally came for us to feed Teddy something besides milk. He did really well and seemed to enjoy the mashed up avocado we gave him. Teddy says, "Bring on the food!" Before: during: after: He liked it so much he licked the bowl:

So, what did we do with the leftovers?

Do you really need to ask?

What did we do with the left over avocado?

Again, do you need to ask?

Our friends the Fosters had people over to their lake house for the Fourth of July. We were excited to take Teddy in Lake Lanier for the first time. Being anxious new parents we decided Teddy should wear his life vest in addition to the float (especially since we couldn't touch the bottom). Teddy was less than thrilled with this, so he only stayed in the water a few minutes.

Teddy did have fun with all the pretty ladies though. Here he is hanging out with Wendy.

Even though my immediate family all skipped town this year for the Fourth, we decided to continue with the family tradition. Here is Teddy is his very first Old Navy shirt:

Here we are in our first matching outfits!!!

Teddy was all smiles at Wills Park:

He did really well, even during the fireworks. We had a great time!

Here's a quick video:

As you can tell, Teddy didn't let a few fireworks stop him from eating!!

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth!

Flashback

The fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. As a child, the holiday started by riding our decorated bikes in the Hollyberry "parade" and ending at the neighborhood pool where we swam and enjoyed games for hours. That night, my family always goes to the see the fireworks at Wills Park (wearing matching Old Navy t-shirts thanks to my mom). But in the past 3 years, the holiday has become even more significant to me. If you want join me in the time machine, read on. (You'll eventually see what it has to do with Teddy. Since this is, after all, Teddy's page).



Just three years ago, on July 4, 2007, Shae met most of my family and two of my closest friends for the first time. Not only did he join us for the fireworks at Wills Park, but he also wore a matching t-shirt. We all knew we loved him right away!
Just shy of a year later, on July 3, 2008, Shae took me on a romantic picnic near the river. At the end of the lovely meal he asked me to marry him, and I couldn't have been happier!

The next day we celebrated with family. Once again at Wills Park in matching t-shirts. Maggie and Caroline were SO excited they already wanted to call him Uncle Shae: The best, though, was last year on July 3, 2009. Shae and I went over to my parents' house to share with them the news we had been keeping secret for three months. We were very anxious to tell them we were expecting a baby. While I knew my mom would be excited, even I was a bit overwhelmed by her reaction. Here is the infamous video of my mom as we showed the pictures of my ultrasounds:

Of course, once again at Wills Park in matching t-shirts, Shae and I shared the news with the rest of the family. Aunt Jenn was only weeks away from delivering cousin Violet. Atlanta, in July, eight months into an uncomfortable pregnancy... needless to say, she did not have a lot of encouraging things to say about being pregnant!

As you can tell, we have had very exciting news to share on July 3 for the past two years. If you are reading this thinking we have another life changing announcement... here goes...

We are going to feed Teddy solid food today!!! And tonight he will get to put on his very own baby sized Old Navy t-shirt. I can't wait to continue the tradition with him!

You weren't expecting any other news were you? Sorry to disappoint if you were!! Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

Teddy is SIX months old!!

We can't believe another month has flown by!!! I think all of our traveling made this month pass extra quickly. I took Teddy for his 6 month well visit at the doctors office Monday and he is doing great. Here are his new stats:

Height 27 inches- 71 percentile

Weight 18 lbs 14 oz- 75 percentile

Cheeks- still in the 99th percentile

We are very proud of our little man. Over the past six months he has gotten many compliments has been called lots of different things ranging from: chunky, sweet cheeks, hefty, solid, and durrito (from my friend from Columbia). But our favorite of all is when a lady in the airport exclaimed, "He is JUICY!" We love our juicy boy:

Teddy is growing and changing SO quickly (while his bear appears to be shrinking)! Teddy now has four teeth through and two more on the way. His pediatrician said he is getting them "vampire style" because the top middle ones are a little behind the teeth on either side of the middle. He is sitting up pretty well now unassisted and he is great at grabbing everything. In fact, during the vision exam, the nurse was surprised by how quickly Teddy grabbed the sensory pad that was on his head and ripped it off. She said babies don't usually do that until the 12 month check up! But he "passed" the screening and seemed to even enjoy it. He is so much fun at this age- he really is a happy little boy. He is babbling a lot more and is very intrigued by his environment. We are gearing up to give Teddy his first "solid" (though pureed to liquid) food this week. Also in our plans this month- child/baby proof the house!! We know we had better do it now while we can!

Below is my attempt to capture a picture of Teddy's top teeth. Not the best picture but you can kind of see one of them:

Teddy has also started jumping more. Here's a quick video:

Have a great day!