Monday, July 26, 2010

A Ball of Fun

One of Dayton's daycare friends, Chloe, turned 2 years old this week. While the adults had as much fun as the kids at this soirée, Dayton could not get enough of the Tumblebee bus.

Little does Dayton know that he will soon be able to visit the Tumblebee bus (http://tumblebeesbus.com/) regularly. This fun-mobile visits his daycare once a week and he'll be able to partake when he is a few months older.

Thanks to Carly and Mark for including us in Chloe's celebration.




Forward-Facing is Life Changing

A new milestone of excitement for Dayton. His parents have graduated him from the infant car seat to a forward facing car seat. His friend Faith taught him the ropes the first time he took his throne (see pics).

I cannot recognize this milestone and retire the infant car seat without thanking it for taking care of our most precious possession. Not only did it put up with Dayton's crying, all bodily fluids, crumbs and more - - - but it encased him in safety when a tow-truck ran a stop sign on Halloween night and t-boned our car. Our car was totalled but we're all thankful that is all that was lost on that scary night.

Dayton has never been a fan of the infant car seat. I still have flashbacks of screaming little D as I drove from point A to B. Ugh...the drive from NYC to my parents house when he was around 3 months old. Ugh...the 90 minute drive back from Brenham to Houston when we took pictures with the wildflowers. I would sing any song I could think of/make-up to him. For example:

"I'm sorry you are crying
But your Mommy is a-driving
And she cannot help you"


Now, Dayton sits in his forward-facing throne and looks out the window with content. I love being able to glance in my rear-view mirror and see his face. We make googly eyes at one another and he breaks out in a smile.

May this seat protect Dayton with as much care as the infant-seat. Cheers.



Friday, July 16, 2010

Rocky Mountain National Park

Dayton's birthday vacation continued in Rocky Mountain National Park. We stayed at Boulder Brook on Fall River just outside Estes Park (http://www.boulderbrook.com/). Upper 60s/low 70s during the day, 40s at night, snow-capped mountains within view. What else could this Houston-hot-humid-flat landscape based family ask for?!

We borrowed a wonderful hiking baby carrier from Laura and Craig. Dayton LOVED it. I mean...LOVED IT. He squealed and sung while we were carrying him. He was sort of like the maharajah and Mom and Dad took turns being the elephant. You will have to check out the videos (see at the bottom of this blog post).

The kid never lost his smile the entire time. Well, the one time he cried on this vacation was when Mike refused to let him throttle himself into Fall River that was steps from our Boulder Brook room. Sorry, kid.

We saw moose, elk and chipmunks galore. You can see from some of these pics how tame the chipmunks were. One literally scurried under Dayton's belly while he was crawling and on
another occasion, Dayton almost caught one - - see pic below.

What an amazing way to celebrate Dayton's first birthday. It will be a vacation that Mike and I will never forget. As for Dayton, we have over 400 pictures and videos to show him when he is older and asks, "What did we do to celebrate my first birthday?” We'll answer, "Trust me, Day Day, you had a great time."






Dayton's First Birthday

Dayton's first birthday was spent flying to Colorado to celebrate with Uncle Craig, Aunt Laura and cuz Cooper (four-legged cuz Rocco too). Craig and Laura are not family by blood but they may as well be. Laura and I go back to 2003 (I think) when we were both single gals looking to have a good time. Happily I say, "look at us now"!

Laura surprised us by having a home-made pistachio cake ready for Dayton to dig into for his birthday. We sang him happy birthday, his parents blew out the candle, and he dug in. Yummy!
Cooper and Dayton had a great time together. As always, Dayton fell in love with doggy Rocco and they played on the floor together as you will see from the pics.

We went to Boulder and enjoyed the wonderful community of Louisville - - an amazing playground and community pool all in walking distance from Laura and Craig's house.

This Houston-based family also truly enjoyed the cool weather. Dayton experienced what it feels like to be cold for the first time. After swimming, he started to panic as cold set when we carried him from the pool to the towel. Poor little guy - - - Mom and Dad will be more prepared next time. Check out his worried face in pic #1.

Don't overlook the video at the bottom of this post. Dayton is getting funnier and funnier by the day. The video does not capture the best moment but Dayton loved the air vent on the floor and even broke into some break dancing. We were able to catch a bit on video.

I can't believe we left Louisville without a picture of Laura, Cooper, Me and Dayton. Ugh. We'll have to come back soon. Thanks to Laura, Craig, Cooper and Rocco for being such welcoming hosts.