More Pictures of Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008

Well, Christmas of 2008 has come and gone. This year was a whirlwind. Now that Thomas can walk, kind of talk, and kind of understands what gifts are, this year's version of Christmas was a little more hectic. First off, Thomas was recovering from his 2ND double ear infection in the last 3 weeks, so we were just hoping he would make it to dinner time without too many issues. As it turns out, that wasn't as much trouble as we thought it would be. Once he saw the gifts and his cousin Francie, it was on! The two of them were having a great time tearing the wrapping paper and playing with their toys. Francie, truly understands the idea behind presents. She squeals with delight after she opens a gift, then it is on to the next one. Thomas still seems a little confused as to what the big deal is. He takes his time opening each gift, takes a look at it, seems interested, then gets distracted by a light turning on or a new song on the radio. I think next year will be when he really gets into the opening and playing. This year, after the first few gifts, Emily and I did most of the opening. Then I did most of the playing. Tom, however, did figure out how to destroy one gift in particular. But that was o.k., the gift was meant to be knocked down. Click here to see the video of Tom the Tornado do his stuff.

Overall, we had a great (and busy) day. Morning with the Anderson family, afternoon with the Moores, then dinner at the extended Anderson family. Thomas was sacked out by 8 and really surprised both Emily and I with how well he handled all the excitement going on around him. Here are a few pictures from the morning portion at my parent's house:

Look out the window, that is the sun, just coming up. 7:30 AM my friends!
Tom and Francie getting ready to rip it up.

Francie is trying to get Tom to start the madness, but he is a little hesitant.

This is my cousin Jodie, recreating a picture from a few years back. This was X-Mas Eve, after a few cocktails, I believe.

My "Babysitting" Skills Have Improved

I was told it's not called "babysitting" when it is your own child, but whatever, that is what I am calling watching Tom while Emily is out, it is just easier to say. Anyway, a year ago, when I would babysit, I would be a little nervous. I didn't know if I could handle Tom's crying, noises, diapers, feedings, etc. I would consider it a successful evening if he drank his bottle and went to bed by 7:30. What a difference a year makes.

Now, I look forward to the "guys night in" evenings. We get to hang out and play. I'm just a big kid, so having a little kid around allows me to act like an idiot and no one questions it. We have a lot of toys now for Tom to play with, but as this video shows, he usually picks the one thing you wouldn't expect. This video is only 2 minutes long, but after I stopped filming, he kept at it for another 20 minutes.

Not the most exciting video, but it gives you an idea about how determined Tom is. If he wants to wear Daddy's shoe, he is going to keep trying until he gets it on his foot.

This next video was one I wanted to post a few weeks back, but never actually had my camera ready. It was kind of like Bigfoot. Sure, we knew Tom could say vacuum, but where is the proof?

The Family Tree Adds Some Branches

I am a little behind on the announcement front. My older sister, Kristy, is expecting her second child this April. I've known about that for awhile and just kept forgetting to put it on the blog. They tried to find out the sex a few weeks back, but little Goff was shy, so the doctor could not tell if they need blue clothes or pink.

Over Thanksgiving, Emily's older sister Kate had some big news as well. She and Jeff are expecting their first child in May. They just recently found out they are having a boy. So congrats all around, it's going to be a busy Spring.

Kate and Jeff (Baby Miller not pictured, yet)

Follow The Leader

I am back from my unintentional two week break from the blog. We actually had a pretty normal few weeks, no calls to 911 or ambulance rides, hence the lack of posts about Thomas. Some fun things have happened since my last post.

Tom has become quite the talker in the last few weeks. He has always been good with the "Da Da's" but he called everything "Da Da" so that really didn't count as a first word. Well he officially said his first word that made sense to us. Unbelievably the word is Vacuum. He LOVES vacuums. In fact, one night when he woke up and was scared and crying, he actually was yelling for vacuum. It's like the vacuum is his security blanket. The other word he is really good at saying and he knows what it means is "hot". He will point at the oven and say "hot hot hot hot" for a solid minute. It's amazing how fast he picked up on that one. He is also pretty close to saying "Ball, Shoes, and Mommy", but not there yet. He does say Daddy, but we are not sure he knows that means me.

The other fun thing we noticed about Thomas is that he understands what certain things are and how they relate to him. The one video I posted shows him going to "Bear", so he knows that. He also knows that "Bye Bye" means we are leaving. But the best one so far is in the following video, where I set the record for most times saying the word "Bath" in a minute. Enjoy:

I Knew A Guy In High School That Did Flip Throw Ins

But this never happened.

Better Late Than Never

Thomas finally got to open his birthday presents. He loved all of them. We are so fortunate to have such great friends and family. Thanks to everyone!

Happy Birthday, Coley!!!

My little sister turns the big 3-0 today. Yea adulthood!

Not 100% There Yet

Well, Tom is still not out of the woods yet. He has had a horrible cough the last few days that has just not gotten much better. So, today I took him to see his doctor. She checked everything out (ear, chest, mouth, throat) and it was all good. No bronchitis, no croup, no strep. She thinks he has a sinus infection and we are back on Amoxicillan. The poor little guy is just having a rough time of it. That cough sounds so bad too. I really hope the medicine knocks it out of him.

I am now, officially, sick of putting bad news up on here. So, lets end with a quick, but entertaining video I took of Tom the other night. He has developed a very close connection with any and all stuffed bears. This little routine happens a lot in our house. If Tom starts crying, we send in "Bear". Also, feel free to make fun of my overly enthusiastic "dad" voice. I cringe when I hear myself:

One More Part of the Story

I left this portion out of the first post (I think I wanted to block it from my memory). So, after we got discharged from the hospital, we headed straight to Walgreens to get Tom's medicine. While we were there, we decided to get a Humidifier for his room. The doctor recommended one since he seems to always have a runny nose and is a mouth breather. Anyway, we buy the Humidifier and some Vick's Vapor Mist to put in it to help him breathe. We also got some Walgreen's Benadryl. After 20 minutes at the drug store, we had everything we needed, so we head home.

Emily went in to the kitchen give Tom his medicine as I was getting all of our stuff out of the car and in to the house. I walked into the kitchen just as she was giving Tom his medicine. It was 1/2 Teaspoon of Benadryl. As soon as she put the dispenser in his mouth, he started spitting and crying. He did really well with the medicine at the hospital, so we were kind of shocked that he would refuse it so vehemently. Well, it didn't smell like medicine to me so Emily turned to look at the Benadryl Bottle and that is when we realized we were trying to give him Vick's Vapor Mist!!! Well we freaked out. We tried to make him throw up, we flushed his mouth with water and then we ran to the car and drove straight back to Children's Hospital, this time to see if we had poisoned our little boy. Well, long story short, he was totally fine, the doctors called poison control who said they would have advised us to stay home and wait for an hour to see what happens.

I guess the reason I am posting this part of the evening is just a warning to pay attention. We were so tired and out of it, we just saw two boxes from Walgreens and didn't really bother to read which one we were giving to him. It was just the perfect ending to a really long weekend. We have since put a HUGE "X" on that bottle so we never make that mistake again. I think Tom has had just about enough of us.

I Guess We Will Always Remember His 1st Birthday

Well, Tom's first birthday did not go exactly as planned, but we will always remember it. The day started off normal. Lots of running around and getting things ready for his party. Even the first hour of the party was great. All the kids were having fun, the parents were enjoying some food and adult beverages. Then we got to dinner time.

Just as we were pulling the lasagna out of the oven, I noticed Tom's lips looked weird. Within 2 minutes of that observation, his face had swelled up to twice it's regular size and he had hives all around his eyes. Let the freaking out begin! He blew up so fast, we didn't have time to do anything. We called 911, the ambulance came and took me and Tom to Children's Hospital. He was given an Epi, Steroids, and Benadryl. Tom was a champ through this whole thing. He cried a little bit, but for the most part he was just hanging on to my shoulders and trying to itch his face. The swelling was so bad, by the time we got to the hospital, I didn't even recognize my own son. It was very upsetting. After a few nervous hours in the admitting room the swelling went down on his face, but not his lips. So, we spent the night at the hospital. It was a loooong night. Emily and I really couldn't sleep, even though Tom was out. Any parent who has been through anything like this knows the feeling. Helpless, scared, nervous, sick to your stomach.

Well the next morning he was pretty much back to normal, other than the rash all over his body. The doctors said they needed to observe him for a full 24 hours, since it was a severe allergic reaction. That meant we were going to be in the hospital until 6 that evening. I don't think anyone was happy about that. A whole day in that room was brutal. On the upside, Tom really did a 180 and was looking and feeling great. He ate 3 whole pancakes for breakfast, and entire chicken breast and plate of veggies for lunch and 2 chicken strips and half a baked potato for dinner. He was pretty much back to his old self by the time we left.

So he is home now and doing well. We have a follow up doctors appointment today at 10. Then we have to take him to an Allergist at some point soon so they can find out exactly what he is allergic to so we can avoid this in the future. Just for the record, the hospital thinks it was Sesame Oil. Tom tried two new things at his birthday party, Pumpkin Seeds and Humus. The Humus has the Sesame Oil in it. Also, for the record, the staff at Children's was amazing. They were all extremely nice and very attentive. We were very happy with the way they took care of us..

That was Tom's first birthday, exciting, scary, and memorable. Here are a few pictures of our tough little guy:

The BIG day is here! Happy (1st) Birthday Thomas!

We now have an official 1 year old in the house. Tom couldn't wait to start his big day, so he was up and ready to go at 5 this morning. Emily and I thought it appropriate, since last year we were checking in to the hospital around 5 am.

We don't have anything major planned for his birthday. Just a party later this afternoon with some friends and family. Hopefully Tom gets some good naps in today so he is ready to be the center of attention tonight. I will have some more pictures from the party and a video of the World's longest birthday song to keep everyone entertained.

Last night, Tom was ready for some Trick or Treater's

This morning he got his first birthday present from Dad. At first he wasn't quite sure what this toy was. A few minutes later, he was dunking the ball. Could Tom be the next Keith Gregor? (UC fans will get that joke)

Out of Action

I apologize that the blog has not been updated as much this month. I think it is safe to say that this last month has been one Emily, Tom and I would like to forget. Sick baby, sick mom, sick dad, a lying/stealing contractor, no Bengals' wins, and a few other things have made October '08 one for the books.

Hopefully tomorrow makes it all worth while. Our little guy will be celebrating his first birthday and we are excited. There are still a ton of things we have to get together, but we are ready. Tom seems to be feeling better (he literally was sick all last week), I'm sure some birthday cake will make him even happier.

So, my first post in November promises to be more entertaining and (I'm guessing) a lot more upbeat than this one. Watch for the pictures and maybe a video from Tom's party. (It's like the coming attractions at the movies)

Dancing Machine

So far it looks like Tom, unfortunately, got his dad's dancing ability. (By that I mean, bounce up and down, wave your hand up and down or side to side.....that is about it) Of course, he is only 1 year old and he and I dance the same, so that could be a positive thing.
He was doing this all morning, and we were only able to video this little bit. Also, this was the only song on my Ipod that he liked. People who have heard my playlists might understand that.

Enjoy:

Use the Brake!

I have nothing to say but WOW! The fact that whomever was taking this video kept it rolling, just blows my mind.

Finger Food

Tom has decided that he no longer wants to be fed by us. The only meal that he will eat that involves a spoon and us feeding him is breakfast. And that is only because he gets an Oatmeal/Apple Sauce/Yogurt mix that he really likes.

At first we fought this change for three reasons.
1) It is a lot easier to tell how much he ate when it is all in a jar.
2) It was messy, but most of the mess was on Tom, and easy to clean up.
3) We have a TON of baby food still in our pantry.

Now, we have accepted it and are trying to come up with good, healthy things that are easy to cut up so Tom can grab them himself. So far, his menu is limited to Chicken Nuggets/Cheese/Pita Bread/Peas.

Anyone out there have any other suggestions?

Baptism

This weekend was a BIG one for Tom. He was baptised (about 8 months late, but still) at Covenant First Presbyterian Church. Emily's family have been members there for a long time. I started attending Service while we were dating and officially joined the church this year. We have met a lot of good friends thru the church and were honored to have Tom baptised there. Here are some pictures of the day:

I Pity the Fool!

I Don't Even Use E-Trade

I was watching TV the other day when this commercial came on and shocked me. Honestly, I have heard I look like Moby and the guy from Mythbusters, but this guy is the new winner. I stopped what I was doing when I saw this and for a minute really thought I was on TV.
Just for a reference, here is a picture of me with the beard and the glasses. Seriously, the guy in the commercial could be my stunt double.

We Aren't In Kansas Anymore

Yesterday we had an interesting weather occurrence in Cincinnati...a Wind Storm. Now, on the surface, it doesn't sound very scary or damaging. I mean wind, by itself, has never really done much here in Ohio. There were no tornadoes, no rain...just wind. Here are the results of our first Wind Storm:

That is Emily's car there are on the right. Busted windshield and dented hood.

Our house on the left was pretty lucky, only missing some shingles. Our neighbor's front porch is gone.

The view from the top of our street. It is almost 6 PM a day later and it still looks like this.

Walk Like a Man!

Big doings at the Anderson household:

Impressive, I know. Can you believe I grew my beard back? Seriously though, we were shocked to see Tom going back and forth in his room last night. The most he had walked on his own before this was around 3 steps. I would say he is officially walking now.

Who Dey? Apparently everybody.

I almost feel guilty raising Tom as a Bengal fan. Do I really want to subject him to a lifetime of embarrassment, pain, misery, anger and frustration? I feel like Mike Brown (owner of the Bengals) is like C. Montgomery Burns from The Simpsons. He sits in his mansion and says things like "exxxxcelent" as the Bengals lose and lose and lose. Meanwhile, all us Bengal fans just take it over and over. In case you couldn't tell, I'm not too optimistic about this season after the egg we laid yesterday. We may have lost the game, but I have to say, Tom was looking good in his Bengal's onesie:

After the game, the real entertainment started. Tom's cousin Francie (Pinky Tuskadarow) challenged him to a Steel Cage (pack and play) Wrestling Match for the Inter-Baby Belt. Tom, known as "The Diaper Genie" in the Baby Wrestling League (BWL), accepted the challenge. It was a good match, Pinky used her patented diaper removal move on The Diaper Genie several times to counter his biting and ultimately won the match to remain the BWL Inter-Baby Champion. Here is some footage from the event:

Happy Birthday Sarah! 9/4 (Blog Inspiration)

Tom's favorite Show?....Tom

Last night while trying to get Tom to finish his dinner, we discovered that he likes watching the videos of himself on the blog. So, here is another video of Tom watching video of Tom. (Get that?)

Tom's Week (weak)

Our little guy had a rough week. It started out pretty normal, he seemed to know the new routine and accepted it. The drop offs at daycare were not as heart wrenching. Around Wednesday we noticed he had a running nose, no big deal, right? Well, by Friday he was just spewing boogers and completely stuffed up and congested. We had a wedding this Saturday, so he went to stay with Gramma and Grandpa (with a special visit from Aunt Kate and Uncle Jeff) at the farm in Russellville. Here is Thomas in his "Russellville Tuxedo".

We thought after a few nights in the country, that his cold would clear right up. Instead it went the other way and by Sunday night Thomas was in full on melt down mode. His eyes were all red and he was just not doing well. After a nice bath, he seemed ready to go, which was a good thing since we were having MaryAnn, Brian and their son Jackson over for the WEBN fireworks Here are a couple pictures from Sunday:

Tom is looking at Brian trying to figure out when dad grew hair?

So everything went pretty well on Sunday night. We thought we were out of the woods. Then, last night we had one of those nights that you hear parents talk about for years. Thomas did not want to sleep at all. He was not happy if he was with us, not happy in his crib, not happy with his toys...just miserable. Around 6 am, he finally fell asleep on my chest on the couch. Obviously, something was up. Emily got him in to the doctor's this morning and Tom has now officially had his first ear infection...HOORAY! The only good thing about that is he got some antibiotics, so he should be feeling better soon, but man, what a weekend!

Tom and the Stairs

Check me out. I like to scare mom and dad on the steps!

The video on top shows our attempt to prevent Tom from going up the stairs. On the bottom shows what happens without the baby gate. The kid is a climber!

Happy Birthday...EMILY!

Emily's birthday always falls either right before or right after school starts. This year it is right after, so she really needs a reason to celebrate.

Tom's Ready for Some WHO DEY!!!

Last night the Bengal's played their first preseason game of the 2008-2009 season. Even though Tom is under the weather, he was still able to get fired up for the upcoming season. Here are some pictures of Tom tailgating. (or as we call it at home, "getting ready for bed")

He is so fired up, snot is running down of his nose.

Tom wanted to check out the playbook before the big game.

His "Who Dey" PJ's. I like the "Dream Big" message shown here. Super Bowl Champs?

Day Care Delight

We have been fortunate to have a very healthy baby. Tom made it thru his first winter with hardly any health issues. He had the occasional runny nose or little cough, but no ear infections, no flu, no big time cold. Well, after 3 days in daycare (12 total hours since he was doing half days) Tom has a horrible cold. He sounds like a life long smoker and his nose is just constantly full of snot. Since he does not know how to blow his nose, it is up to Emily and I to "clear" it. For those without kids this might be hard to describe. We have this little suction things, they look like turkey basters, that we have to stick in his nose and suction out the good stuff. Believe me, this is the hardest thing to do. Tom hates it, so he is squirming and fighting us the whole time. I literally have to pin his arms down, then hold his head while Emily does the suctioning. It is a hard process for us because he really screams and really fights. We finally got a battery powered device, but we still have to hold him down to use it. Not fun at all. Add on top of all this the fact that he is getting yet another tooth and it has been an interesting week for us. The poor kid doesn't know if he is coming or going.
The good news is he is sleeping really well and he LOVES his daycare. Emily said he gets really excited when she drops him off at the center. There are so many kids to play with (and get/give germs from/to) and Tom is fascinated by other kids now. So, the transition to daycare seems to be going pretty smooth. Hopefully this cold helps Tom build up some immunity before this Winter.

Experiment

Tom turned 9 months old on the 1st. The funny thing is, he really does not fit in the 9 month old clothes. Last night we busted out his first 12 month old pj's. Here are some photos of that special moment.

I also discovered that my camera has a "movie" feature on it. So this is my first attempt at filming Tom:

Not the most interesting video, but he does smile a couple times and shows how "Scholarly" he is now. Hope you enjoy it. Try not to hold my baby voice against me, ok?

A Long Blog Post

This may be my longest post to date. I have a lot of stuff I want to talk about, so let's get started.
First, this past weekend, Emily's sister, Kate, got married. It was a very nice event, held at the Nature Center. The weather was perfect, the food outstanding, and the band was amazing. We had a great time and are so happy to have Jeff as a part of the family. The happy couple are on their way to Japan for their honeymoon.

In other less exciting news, the blog is 1 year old today. That is right, you all have been coming here and reading my thoughts for exactly a year now. I remember when the blog was just a few posts old, man does time fly! I started this as a way to let you all know all the funny stuff I thought about becoming a dad. I think by the 3rd or 4th post I was already off that path. Hopefully, thru all the goofy links and talk about my fantasy football, I did get across how happy/nervous/excited/apprehensive/confident/confused I was about my parenting skills. There will be more to come as Tom grows up.

Speaking of the little man. Today was another big moment for him (and us). We dropped Thomas off at daycare for the first time this morning. I have to say, I was very proud of both him and Emily. Thomas saw some other kids and completely locked in on them. He didn't even see us walk out. Emily was very business like thru the whole thing. She had Tom's schedule and worked with his "teacher" on any issues that may come up. (He is not the best napper). I think out of the three of us, I am the one having the hardest time. I just feel like we should be more in charge of his day to day stuff. I think I am a bit of a control freak, so it is really hard giving up control of his daily routine. The daycare center (Abby's) looks like a great place. Thomas loves other kids, so this should be a good thing for him. It is just hard for me because I feel like we are paying other people to help raise our child. I think this is a normal feeling, and I'm sure I will get past it soon enough, but today has been hard for me.

So, let's end on a lighter note. Here is a video of Tom from Sunday morning playing with his new friend Noah. This was at a brunch for Jeff and Kate. Noah is a little over a year old. Enjoy.

The Evolution of Tom

Tom has hit some big time milestones the last 6 weeks. The following pictures try to capture those moments. (I took all these pictures last night after dinner, you may be able to see some of Tom's green beans on his shirt.)

This had been Tom's favorite position for the first 6 months. On his back.

Around 6 months or so, he started crawling.

at 7 months he started pulling himself up on stuff.

a few weeks ago he was in full "I can stand" mode.

With that mastered, he decided that going up stairs would be the next fun thing to do. So far, he has done pretty well with that too.