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.