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.

Payton's First CUBS Game

Chug-a-chug, a-chug-a-chug, a- CHOO CHOO!

Ok, so this train did really go "Choo- Choo," but my first train ride was very exciting anyway. There was so much to see and lots of people to look at...mosty Cubs fans!

First Glance

My crazy parents took so many pictures of me. I know I'm pretty cute, but com'on guys. Maybe they should send this one to the Cubbies for advertisement...just in case. :)

We met Grandpa Alf's childhood hero, Ron Santo, color comentator for WGN. He thought I was something else. I asked him to sign my Louville Slugger. He's a lot older than me. Grandpa would have loved this!

I'm such a big boy in my seat (ok- it's not mine. It's mommy's. My seat was on mom's lap. Who are we kidding here? These seats cost money, you know...).

Wow! My mommy is as pretty as Wrigley Field! No wonder Daddy Married her.

Just chillin' in my seat. I think this looks like a nice place for a nap.

Check out the ball Daddy caught for me during batting practice. Whoa! My lucky day!


ALL Smiles!

Our little slugger. What a blessing!

Cubs WIN! Cubs WIN!

Payton had a great time at the game! He enjoyed watching and playing with all the people around him and hearing all the new sounds. He loved when everyone sang, "Take me Out to the Ballgame," and cried when the Cubs hit a home run. All that cheering was a little alarming! It sure doesn't sound like that in our living room when they knock one out of the park.

My Dad, World's biggest Cubs fan, and me...a likely hopeful.

I got a free Cubbie Bear for comming! So did 9,999 other kids. :)

After everyone left we took a little while to just enjoy Payton and the Ballpark.
He was such a good boy all day. He took a nap in the middle of the game and laughed and smiled the whole time he was awake. Even the crazy fans behind us thought he was such a good boy. We weren't surprised.

Just CHILLIN' at Wrigley

Go Cubs, Go! Go, Cubs, Go! Hey Chicago What do you say? Cubs are gonna WIN today!
It was quite a Day! I fell asleep
on mommy on the train ride home.
What a wonderful day! I can't wait to go back (before it costs money for me to get in). :)

Always new

SO will I always feel like I'm in uncharted territory, feeling like I don't have a clue what I'm doing? Somehow, though, I have an underlying feeling somewhere up around my heart, that I know what to do. It is hard- learning to trust yourself with someone elses needs.
Payton will be 7 months old soon. Hard for mommy to believe. I am still reveling in those first MINUTES he was in my arms- meeting him for the very first time. He is so different now. To think 10 years from now, I could be sending him of to face the perilous of JUNIOR HIGH?!?!?! uhg. Lord help me!

A five minute glimpse of PAYTON ALLEN ALF
Mommy puts me down on the floor because my back bend off of her lap is about to land me there anyway. I spend a good 30 seconds arching my back, pushing myself off the floor with my hands and giving mom that "O" look...."O, This is fun, mom. I'm thinking about going somewhere, but I just can't decide." After I have think for a bit I decide to go after Wrigley- always my first choice. Man if she would just let me get a hold of her tail. I follow her around the room and inch from side to side on my hands and belly trying to catch her in my "pinch-grip." She moves to fast, so I decide to get into something else....oh! I can roll...I think this gets me somewhere....maybe not. I'm frustrated. Mommy helps me roll back to my tummy and makes funny noises and faces (in extremely close proximity to my FACE!) She doesn't know I could have done that on my own, but she's funny so I humor her. I've been on the floor for about three minutes and I think I have discovered a new move. If i stick my leg out like this (laying face on floor, pushing one leg as far our to the side as possible) I can move quicker....uhg. Too hard. I'll try another way. Time for some push ups. I like to push up using only my toes- but I haven't found too much luck with traveling this way, so I will try again. I have bendable parts in my legs, but they don't hold me up very well. I think this may be something to work on later, but right now I am irritated. I think my best option is to bury my nose in the carpet and grunt. If I sound like I am pooping, mommy might think I am making a poo, and come get me out of this pickle. I'll try this again later...oh wait, I see a shinny thingy over there. Ok, just one more try.

New Territory

Payton is doing so much new these days. He squeals, giggles, writhes, holds his breath, thhhhpppppppphhhhhhhs, and grunts (mostly when he's trying to poop). He is more JOY everyday and Paul and I are amazed at how much more we love him every minute. We watch him sleep sometimes. Probably a funny sight to see two parents, huddled over their child's crib, just smiling...at him...at each other....at him. He sleeps just like me(pre-Payton, that is), hard as a ROCK. He purses his little lips together so sweetly and I wonder if he dreams.

We pray over him as he sleeps. How can we ever remember to pray it all? We won't. So we pray that God will take care of anything we forget in our millions of prayers for him.

He is "scootching" a little too. When we lay him on a blanket he will turn himself to get to a toy and try really hard for about 10 minutes. Then he gets really mad and grunts a lot, until someone comes to rescue him. He LOVES his doggie, Wrigley. It's easy to see, already, that they are going to be best buds! She loves him too. He likes to just watch her play on the floor, even when she is oblivious to him. She loves to like his face (yuck) and clean up his spit-up off of the floor (more yuck). Hey, we have a lot to do, so we don't mind. :) She takes good care of him.

He will be 6 months old soon. Where did that half of a year go? I am amazed. It seems like yesterday, I was packing my bags and worrying how my life was never going to be the same again. That's right, stupid girl...it won't. And, PRAISE THE LORD for THAT!

"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him." Psalm127:3

There is spit-up on my Bible...."Wrigley...."

These people are always smoochin' on me. They can't get enough of my sweet little cheekers! Daddy's wiskers tickle!
Am I a doll? Really? I know that winter-wear is necessary, but really, do you realize these mittens have no thumbs?

Payton- 4 Months

My Favorite time of the day is right before bedtime. Mommy thinks it's really funny to tickle me while she puts lotion in every little creavis. I am pretty much ticklish anywhere and everywhere. Now I squeal when I giggle and sometimes get so worked up that I pee a little. :) Look out mommy!

Spitting up...my favorite game. :) My mommy smells so GOOD!

Hello?

Payton loves his blocks...as you can see. He often falls asleep with them in his arms.

My First SOLID food!

I don't have to brown-nose...I have mommy and daddy wrapped around my sweet little finger.

Tasty Prunes! Hey- they do the trick!

Payton loved his first experience with solid food. He ate, and ate, and ate. I guess it's not hard to believe that our little porker likes to eat. He is such a big boy. It's a little hard for mommy to let him grow up so fast. I know God is working on teaching me to let HIM take control of my baby's life. Small steps.

Let it Snow! Fun at Christmas Time

Ready to go!

Payton's first adventure out into the blustery, cold, snowy day!

The Littlest Angel

Seriously mom...are you kidding me?

BRRRRRRRR!

Our first Christmas Morning Together

Forget the stocking....check out my cool jammies!

Sportin' my new cowboy boots from Grandpa and Grandma Rowe!

Yeehaw!

Whoa.....my doggie doesn't make cool noises like that!

Cantemos!

Mom and Dad don't realize that they could have given me a shinny, empty box and I would have been exstatic! Oh well...these may come in handy later anyway.

I wear my sunglasses at night....not really- I just poke myself in the eye with them, but I do look stylin' don't I?

Mommy made me a cool stocking. She sewed a special baby boy bear on it for my first year in the family. I think I want to suck on it. :)