Tony says...

18 months is coming up and there are so many things Anthony can say and do now. So this week I am going to be blogging about all these things that I will want to remember about him when he was 18 months. I will keep adding to this list all week, so hopefully by the time he is actually 18 months (June 7), I will have it all down for later when my memory fails me years from now.

Words he can say

• Rabbit

• Cookie - Imagine that, the first food my son can ask for. I am certainly not surprised, although I thought it would be chocolate.

• Car - first word other than mama and dada
  

• mama
  

• dada
  

• baby

• bucket

• I love you - which sounds like "iovou" but I know what he means.

• uh-oh

• ga-ga (we have no idea what this means, but he says it a lot)

Sounds he can make

• sheep - baa

• pig - hga hga
  

• monkey - ee ee

• tractor - brm brm

• cow - moooooo

Chores - yes I am starting him early with these

• phone fetcher - Whenever my phone starts ringing he starts looking for it, and brings it to me.

• diaper thrower-awayer - he used to do this when I would ask him too, now he does it without being asked, if he sees one laying around he will throw it in the trash. He is turning into a great little helper.

This, that and some pictures

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. Turned out to be a really nice and relaxing day. The kids were extra good and took really long naps. I guess they aren't too young to give me a gift after all.

We had a lot of family over for a cookout and made burgers (real and veggie). Rachael made strawberry pie for me instead of a cake at my request. It was so good. My mom was here for the occasion, she was stopping by for a day on her way home from OKC.

They good news in OKC is my Grandma Annie is doing so much better. She got transferred to rehab today where they will work her 3 hours a day to get back her strength. I am really hoping she does well. She has a big church family and they have made a sign up sheet so that people can take turns sitting at the hospital with her so she isn't alone all day which I am so thankful for. Tony being patriotic on Memorial Day.

Grandma making Bella smile. Yes she can smile now, started doing that around 6-7 weeks old. I am already slacking on the baby book. I don't even have one, I really need to get one before she grows up and I forget all this stuff. This is how Bella sleeps, all swaddled up. You may laugh, as most of my family did when they saw her like this, but she sleeps through the night so it's not that funny. Last night was her record sleep of 10 hours straight! 10pm till 8am.

Tony doesn't like to eat with bibs on anymore so this is the type of mess I get to deal with 3 times a day.

Bella sleeping in the stroller while Tony plays at the park.

Getting dizzy with daddy at the park.

More fun at the park.

Watching for "da-da"

Trying to wear "da-da's" shoes.

Bella having a bad hair day.

2 months old

Anthony is into everything these days.

Bella and Da-da.

Update on Grandma Annie

She had the surgery yesterday and the doctor said there was a little more swelling and bruising of the brain than he expected, and her recovery in the hospital is expected to be a couple weeks followed by Rehab. He condition is still serious, but we are hopeful that she will pull through this.
initially after surgery and during the night she was confused, but seems to be getting more oriented which is definitely a good thing. My mom is down there with her, and she has been given strict instructions to give us regular updates on Grandma's condition. Since there are so many of us and she can't keep calling all of us, so she is updating us via her blog. I wont keep updating here, but if you want to see how things are going, just check my mom's blog.

Grandma Annie

My Grandma Annie is in the hospital right now, she had a car accident yesterday and now has a subdural hematoma which is causing pressure in her brain. Thankfully she is still neurologically intact, but that could change at any time. The neurosurgeon is recommending surgery to evacuate the blood, but my grandma is scared and doesn't want the surgery. She wants to take the wait and see approach, which is rather risky. At anytime her condition could rapidly deteriorate and then make what was considered a simple surgery, a much more serious one. They are going to repeat the CT scan in the morning and if there is no improvement then we are really going to push her to do the surgery. The problem is, with my grandma you can't push too hard or she will get mad, and you definitely don't want to make my Grandma mad, cause she is so stubborn and that will make her do the exact opposite of what you want her to do. That's just the way she is, her mom was like that too, and my mom will probably be the same way too, I think it's a hereditary trait. I wonder if I have it too and just don't know it yet.


We hadn't seen our Grandma in many years, I guess you could say we are bad grandkids for not making the effort to go see her more often. Last summer Rachael and I decided it had been long enough, and we took a vacation down there with our kids to see her. We had such a good visit with her that this summer all 6 of us kids and my mom are planning on going back for a week in July. I hope she can pull through this so we all get to go and spend more time with her. I know my grandma can't live forever, and I just don't want to have any regrets for not making time to visit her. So please keep her in your prayers.

Here are a few pictures from last summer.

Ridding the trolly at Frontier City with Kristen and Jack

At the zoo we rented a W/C so she wouldn't have to walk so much. It worked out well cause she could hold Tony on her lap too.

Planting Dandelions

If you drive by my house and see an abundance of dandelions growing, this is why.



Francie came over the other night and got this on video. She put it on her blog, but I wanted it on mine too, so I can go back and watch it over and over.

Bath in a Bucket

I saw it on TV and I just had to have one. The one I saw on The Today Show was the TummyTub, and this is the EuroSpa tub, but essentially the same thing only half the price. Who'd a thought that putting a baby in a bucket would make bath time so much more enjoyable. Bella really likes it, she totally relaxes in it and practically falls asleep. The old way of bathing her made her cry the whole time. She is a little small for it so I have to be careful with her.

The following pictures of Bella were taken after her Euro-Spa bath, doesn't she look totally relaxed and happy?


Then I decided to let Tony give it a try. He loves it too, he was so funny in it. I had a hard time getting him in it initially, but once he was in, he didn't want out. I think he sat in there for 45 minutes before I made him get out kicking and screaming.



The other bonus to this bath is it fits in my kitchen sink so it's easy on my back.

Francie and Natalie came over today and wanted to see the tub in action, so we put Tony in and got him on video saying some of his famous words.


P.S. Yes I do realize this is just a glorified bucket.

life in pictures...

Life in pictures... I'm thinking about making that the new title to my blog. Not really, but the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking that's all I have time for these days, if that.

Anyhow, Today is Todd's 30th birthday, and what better way to spend your birthday than with your baby boy on the tractor? (That is if you have to work anyway, I did try to talk him into calling in sick this morning, but he wouldn't do it.) Tony was so excited too when I was driving him over to Todd, as soon as he spotted the tractor he got all giddy and started saying "da-da"

He even has is own little seat in the tractor.
Todd and I figured Anthony would like tractor rides some day, but we didn't realize it would start this early, we thought maybe next year or the year after. He has actually gone on several already, and is content for a couple hours just riding. (which is good for me)


Tony enjoying a little cool whip. Last night we had angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream for Todd and Jason's (francie's boyfriend) birthday. Normally Tony would eat all the cake and then want seconds, but he wasn't so fond of angel food cake. He did however eat the cool whip face first!

Here they are being sweet, happy, and content not being held by me, a real rarity these days.



After eating cake with no hands last night, he decided to eat his snack the same way today. I hope he doesn't make a habit of this, it's rather messy. I guess as long as he's eating though, I'm happy.Baby Bella
This was Todd's tractor when he was a little boy. He gave it to Tony last week and he loves it, we can't keep him off of it. He's a little too small for it, he can't sit on the seat or reach the pedals and he can only go backwards in it, but he is so happy to have it. Maybe next winter the two of them can fix it up a bit with some John Deere paint.



Here is Bella in the Bumbo chair for the first time. She isn't quite strong enough to hold her head up all the way and her hair is still wild as ever.

Breakfast?

Anyone want to have breakfast at Sophia's on Sunday?
How can I deprive a boy of such joy?
Plus he never gets that excited about my cooking. (Todd or Anthony)