No pictures, please!

Last week to celebrate Holton's cousins being in town we thought it would be a great idea to get their picture together.

















I love taking pictures of Holton because he's just the cutest thing around (I'm not biased at all). But set him down for an official photo shoot and he's not having it! He does not pose, does not laugh, he does not like the big camera and certainly doesn't enjoy the goofy noises the photographers make in a desperate attempt to get one smile out of him. Oh no. He cried and cried and we tried all the tricks. We even put these lame Easter Eggs on the ladder, but no luck. Here are the pictures that don't include tears. He's still darn cute to me!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd post some pictures of the recent Irish Festival. My brother Patrick, his wonderful fiancé Amanda, Holton and I all attended the outdoor event. The weather was perfect and we had a really good time.

Holton wasn't sure about the crowd at first.

Patrick, Amanda & a squirmy Holton

This guy was great. He was really interested in these outfits....eeewww.....

Our crazy week!

Last Tuesday night after serving my civic duties by voting AND going back to caucus (such a weird word), Holton started to get sick. He threw up and had a fever so off we went to the doctor on Wednesday. She said he had the dreaded stomach virus and that is simply had to run its course. Poor Holton was so sick and couldn’t keep anything down. It was just pitiful.

To make matters worse, Adam and I were supposed to head out for Vegas on Thursday night. Pa Pa and Na Na came down to watch Holton so that we could enjoy or weekend getaway, but that was not meant to be.

Did you know that it could snow in Dallas.....in March.....and that this would start massive chaos on the road and at DFW airport? Well it can and it did. They cancelled our flight to Vegas and they were all booked up through Saturday. So, we stayed home which turned out to be a very good thing. Thursday night Adam and I both woke up with that lovely virus. It was terrible!! No wonder poor Holton was so sick! Thankfully we had Pa Pa and Na Na there to take care of our little boy. But, poor Pa Pa (Adam’s dad) ended up catching the vicious virus! I felt like our entire house needed to be quarantined.

So, no exciting get away to Vegas. The snow is now long gone in Dallas and we're all still trying to recover from this dang virus. The good news is that Holton turned 16 months on Friday and has added a new word to his vocabulary. More on that later!

He did it!

I just want to give some "props" to Holton for sleeping through the night in his own bed. (To all the folks with no kids yet, trust me, you take pride in these small little victories!) It was such a delightful treat on Saturday morning when I woke up at 7:10 and realized Holton made it through one whole night in his own crib! No 3 AM wake up and walk down stairs to the fridge for some milk. Maybe as he's getting older he's getting better about the whole sleep thing. Whatever the reason, I love it! Oh yea, he even slept until 5 AM this morning in his own bed. I sure hope this is a trend.

Tantrum Time

Now that Holton is almost 16 months old we’ve entered in to scary, new territory………tantrums! Just this week he started having crying screaming fits if he loses a toy, if we take away a potentially dangerous item like a straw or fork, or sometimes when we put him in the car seat he does the limp move while kicking and screaming and don’t even think about changing his diaper! That last one is the worst ever. Here you are changing his diaper as quick as you can while trying to keep him calm and happy and he’s not having any of it. He flails his arms and legs all the while you are risking the “contents” of the diaper going everywhere. It’s awesome!

We try signing to him, we try calmly talking to him, we try silly faces when he’s throwing these tantrums. But, nothing has been fool proof. I’ve done research that says toddlers tantrums are pretty common between the age of 1 and 3. I’m probably getting ahead of myself because these little crying fits just started this week and I don’t think that overnight he’s going to turn into some horrible toddler. But, we just don’t want Holton to be “that kid” at the restaurant or store.

He really is a sweet little baby, but look out when he’s tired and is forced to do something he doesn’t want to do (I wonder where he gets that from?). Ya’ll let me know if you have any words of wisdom for us.

The Call

It was bound to happen. Yesterday I experienced Holton’s first real “boo boo”. My mom dropped Holton off at daycare for one hour so that she could go hang with my little bro and his fiancé. So I’m at work finishing up my day when the school calls to tell me that Holton was outside, fell, hit the back of his head on the concrete and had a bump on his head. They wanted me to come get him to see whether or not he should go to the doctor.

You should have seen me at work. My first real Holton emergency and I was cool, calm and collected. Then on the way over to the school I became the typical frantic mom. I called the pediatrician and they told me what to watch for and this got me a little nervous. So, I picked up the pace and sped over there. And when I arrived at school, I couldn’t get out of my car fast enough. I looked like the biggest dork ever running in the parking lot, in my heels, in front of all these parents. But, all was just fine. Holton was outside playing and I was so relieved to see that he was ok.

He was his normal self last night. Here he is in the bath.

Holton's Valentine's Day Party

Holton's school has a party for each and every holiday. Yesterday was no different. Cookies and cupcakes for all the 12 - 18 month olds. I'm quite confident Holton will never look back when he's older and remember this little party, but I guess it's the thought that counts.

Holton wasn't that impressed with all the hoopla.













That was until he could break free of the high chair and run around!













Then he really got into the Valentine spirit. He held hands with this little girl throught the door....like he was visiting her in prison or something.













But you know, Holton can't be tied down to just one girl. So, he moved on to another young lady. Maybe he does like this holiday after all.