Lions and Tigers and Bears.....OH MY!

Mom and Dady put these silly glasses on me. I'm not a fan!

Dorothy, the "10" man and ME!

Our cutie. Do all parents feel this way- he's just the cutest thing ever. It's hard for me to stop looking at him sometimes.

ROAR!!!

I know...not very scary, but certainly BRAVE!

Payton's First Haircut!

Before
Not sure what this lady is doing to me!

After: What a handsome boy!

Payton's 1st Birthday!

What was left of Payton's first ever "BA"nana Birthday Cake
Mommy and Payton at the party!
HAVE A BALL....Payton's Turning ONE!

My Beach BALL cake.
It was very large and a little overwhelming.

I don't like this....why is everyone watcing me. I'm just not too sure about all of this commotion.

OK...I'll try a little. It can't be that bad.

IT'S Terrible! AHhhh..... Do I have to eat this...Wait...Maybe it's not the cake I mind, but just all these kids watching me get messy.

Here comes daddy to help. No thanks!

Ok....maybe this could be fun. :) Did you get my eyes, Daddy?

MMMMM. I like the way that stuff tastes!

Payton after eating his SMASH cake.

He finally got into it, after everyone left him alone to just stuff his face.

The BALL pit! Woooo HOOOO!

Presents....wow! Overwhelming for the little guy.

Swimmin' in the ball pit with my friends.

Resting with Grandma!

Payton waved "bye-Bye" as everyone walked out the door. He was one TIRED little boy!

The Things I'm INTO- 10 months

Mommy is almost sure that I should have been born in the water, because it seems like my home away from home. It's true- I love ANYTHING that involves water. I love my bath, I love my pool, I love to SWIM, I even love the tiny pool they keep around for the dog to drink from...oh, isn't that a pool? This is when I went to a GINORMOUS sprinkler park at Indian Beach amusement park with the youth group. It was fantastic! I couldn't get enough. I expecially like it when i can stick my FACE in the water. It makes me laugh! Maybe I am a fish. I that case, I think I will go check out that big flushy thing in the bathroom. I'm almost certain it has water in it too!

Wrigley is my BEST Friend! She plays with me too. This is our favorite game. I call it the scream-bang game. Mommy calls it the slime the glass and be LOUD game. Either way it's fun and Wrigley likes it too.

My First carosel ride! (August)

The many faces of Payton after naptime.

Our new MINI-VAN

Look out. I'm getting my license any day now.

I am cruising around the furniture now. Walking is pretty cool, but just not FAST enough. I do like that I can reach a lot more things now. I think I want to learn to climb.....

...On second though, maybe not.

I feed myself so often now. I just learned something the other day. When I don't want my food anymore if I throw it over the edge of this tray the doggie will come visit me. She sometimes, will even like my toes a little. That tickles!

Come on Mom! Really!?!?!? (Hey the diaper rash went away)

Don't turn around!

I promise this couldn't have been more that 15 seconds of me (the mom) standing RIGHT beside him, but obviously not looking at him.

Step 1) Open door

Step 2) Ooooo lots of fun things in here...yellow box thingy...yes!

Step 3) Pull out the box

Step 4) Check to see if mommy is still stirring those veggies ( I hope those are for me).

Step 5) Nice, this box opens. AND it has something edible inside!

Step 6) I'm certain that the best place for this is on the floor. That way I can really tell what it feels like.

Step 7) Just as I suspected...wonderful!

Step 8) Tastes good too!

Step 9) UH-oh...here comes mommy.

Payton's List of things to do Today

(just to make mommy feel like she did something productive):

1. Poop my pants (always while in my high-chair).

2. Find the dog's water.

3. Throw those little magnet, singing, barn toys all over the kitchen. Mommy makes a great noise when she steps on them. :)

4. Practice walking- I'll use the piano bench to help me for now.

5. Hurry to dog's water while mommy is changing laundry. SPLASH! This water must be really fresh...it's good!

6. Visit Wrigley at the window while she is outside. I know Daddy likes to take pictures of me when I lick the glass.

7. Dump out lego bag. Help mommy take down that silly thing she is building.

8. Carry one lego block to every corner and cranny in the house.

9. Poop again. This time I'll see if mommy can change me while I'm crawling/diving/dashing off the changing table.

10. Dump dog water on my head.

11. Wear my breakfast...lunch....ok, dinner too.

12. Visit mommy in the bathroom. Suck on Toilet. Climb in bathtub.

13. Stare at doggie's water.

14. Make a sweet face and giggle a LOT!

15. Search for those rubber chew toys that Wrigley always plays with. YUMMY!

16. Practice kissing. I know they especially like that I have learned to use my tongue. :)

9 Months!

Payton has officially lived outside of the womb longer than he lived inside. He no longer longs to be curled up tightly, nestled close to my heart and close to my warm skin. I am no longer his only familiarity. He recognizes several others now. He knows Daddy and reaches out for him. I still like to claim that I am his favorite person, at least for a little while longer. He doesn't long for the closeness of mommy, though, as he once did. It is hard to believe that his body once fit inside my own. He is so big now compared to the tiny bundle I brought home 9 months ago. I suppose I am glad that he is no longer taking up residence, he's much more active now than he ever was in-utero. Now he pushes me away to seek comfort on his own, or to find something more interesting to play with on the floor. He often wants to fall asleep by himself, something I perpetuated. Every now and then, he just wants to be held, cuddled and sung to. I treasure the moments with him. He is into everything! He can crawl from one end of the house to the other in 10 seconds (granted...the house is small, but he's a speed little thing)! He loves to play in the water and splash! He pulls up on furniture and legs, looking for another new adventure. I am afraid that if I blink, he will be walking out the door for Kindergarten. There is a certain sadness to his growing up, but I LOVE ever change, every new discovery and every new adventure as much as the last. He is definitely growing up much to fast for mommy. I hope in a couple of years, he will still want my hugs and cuddles, because I certainly can't get enough of him. Right after nap-time is the best- when I pick him up and he takes his tiny (for the moment) little arms and wraps them around my neck, and rests his soft cheek on my shoulder, pressing his face into mine. He just lays there, hugging me, settling on the world again. Just a snippet of Mommy's familiarity before bouncing off to new discovery and exploration again. :)

My First SWIM! Sky Lodge

Swimming in my pool in the back yard.