Last Saturday was the first televised Aggie football game of the season. Miami at Kyle Field. The Ags lost pretty badly, but we looked cute in our new jerseys we bought in College Station last month.

Lawson has an Aggie football that he enjoyed throwing around the family room. He's totally into this whole thing. (yay!)

He's also developed a little strut. He's such a good walker now, sometimes he gets a little cocky and flings his arms around to show off. Too fun! Doesn't he look like a toddler? Yikes!

Lawson's Birthday Party

Lawson's party went well and we all had a good time. I spent hours and hours decorating the cake and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I am glad it's over, though. The 1 was a chocolate cake and it tasted so good! Pooh was yellow cake and judging by Lawson's expressions, it was yummy, too!

Lawson had the Pooh cake all to himself. He actually ate most of it and managed not to throw up from all the sugar. He did, however, have a major sugar buzz! He ran and ran all over the house for at least an hour after the cake. He slept good, though! lol... Oh, and my mom made his bib.

Even better than the cake was the Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. Lawson loved it so much, he cleaned my plate when I was done.

Lawson got some books and clothes, but his big present was this Radio Flyer wagon. We're going to take some great walks in this one!

Lawson is 1!

Today is Lawson's birthday. I can't believe my baby is a year old already. Where did the time go? He's changed so much since this time last year - it makes me excited to see what the coming year will bring for him. Most of you got this via email, but in case I missed anyone, here's the link to a "year in review" slideshow I made. There's a song attached, so be sure to turn up your volume. Enjoy!

Lawson's First Year

We're having a small party for him this evening. I'll post pictures of that soon.

The coolest toys...

My dad got this nifty light stick at a trade show a while back and Lawson has appropriated it. It looks like a light saber and he wields it like Luke Skywalker himself....

Also, you may have noticed Lawson is growing quite the head of hair lately. It's officially too thick to use those soft infant brushes so we graduated to a grown-up comb this week. He loves it! He liked his brush, too, but mostly it was for gnawing on. He likes actually using the comb. He's still a little awkward with it, but he loves to comb his (and other people's) hair.

I Didn't Do It......

I was framed!

Lawson's New Tricks

Lawson's up to some new tricks these days.

1. He clicks his tongue. It's so funny - especially because he thinks it's so hilarious when we all "communicate" with him like that.

2. He's imitating all the funny noises that Grandpa makes with him. My dad growls and is particularly skilled at the Donald Duck voice. Lawson thinks it's even funnier than tongue clucking. He's trying to do it, himself, too! He's actually not too bad. Few things in life are funnier than a baby walking around talking like Donald Duck. Still waiting on English words, but whatever...

3. He does the silliest thing with his mouth. I can't totally explain it in words, so I'll just let you watch. And yes, my yelping in the video is because the little dude bit me! Be sure you turn your volume up - you'll want to hear him do his thing. I actually shot this video a couple of weeks ago, but had trouble with formatting and so didn't get it up earlier. Lawson is much steadier on his feet these days...

Lawson's Lips

4. Oh, and he cut tooth #7 today. Ouch!

Update Time

Time for another random update of Lawson's adventures. The picture below is of Lawson's very first balloon. We went to Blue Mesa for dinner the other night and the staff just fawned all over my little guy. He colored on the menu for the first time (he thought that was awesome!) and he loved his balloon.

Unfortunately, he loved his balloon too much. It popped, right next to his right ear. It was loud. The entire restaurant shut up for just a second, as I'm sure everyone thought there was a lunatic loose with a gun.... Lawson shrieked about 3 seconds later. And shrieked. And shrieked. Poor kid - it scared the hell out of him!

We couldn't get him back in the high chair for the rest of dinner. Guess it brought on PTSD flashbacks or something. Everyone took turns walking him around the restaurant and he finally ate some dinner, while sitting on laps. I think we'll hold off on balloons for a little while longer....

In other news, I just had to show off this adorable onesie I picked up at Target this week. Isn't it fun?

I'm very jealous of people who have kids who pose for pictures. I took a dozen shots just to get that one. I'm also including what most of the rest of them look like. Lawson is not a stay-put kind of kid... And yes, if you can't tell from the picture, Lawson has learned to run...

Lawson in Aggieland

We spent last weekend in College Station for Lawson's second trip to Aggieland. He and I went back in February, but he was able to appreciate what he saw this time.

We spent part of the day at Research Park with some friends. Lawson ran around like crazy and it's truly a miracle that child didn't wind up in the lake. It wasn't for lack of trying....

The next day, we took a tour of campus. Lawson thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the sights. Here he is, paying his respects to the original 12th Man, E. King Gill - his statue is just outside Kyle Field.

We stopped at my favorite store to load up on all the Aggie propaganda I could find. And we did buy a lot - thanks to Grandma and Grandpa! Outside the store is this statue of Bevo, the mascot for the University of Texas. He got his name b/c several decades ago, some rambunctous Aggies branded the score of the football game on the new UT mascot, 13-0. The Longhorns made the best of it, and converted the score into the name, Bevo. We Aggies still picture Bevo w/ his marks. No, it's not very nice, but it's tradition.... Anyway, the statue made Lawson cry. Good boy! He's got good taste - he was born to be an Aggie.

We bought a book for Lawson, called Aggie 101. He loves it and read it for a huge chunk of the drive home.

We also stopped in the small town of Wortham on the way home so Lawson could explore this tiny model oil pump. He thought it was a fun jungle gym.

Hooray for Texas road trips! This kid sure gets around!

Random Moments in Lawson's Week....

The music lessons have increased in intensity...

He's not Mozart yet, but he's sure trying. If you don't mind the sound of a pounding piano, check out this video of Lawson discovering his love for music... Sorry it's so dark.

Lawson's piano concert

In other news, Lawson certainly loves his toys!

Check out how curly Lawson's hair has gotten recently! It usually lays straight, but when it gets just a little wet, usually from sweat, the curls just sproing! Brad's hair was like this when he was a baby. I wonder if Lawson's hair will stay blonde, or if it'll turn darker like his daddy's?

The Carousel

After our adventure at the Aquarium, we headed out to the Frisco mall to walk around a while. I thought it would be a great chance to let Lawson ride the indoor carousel they have. Oh, he was so excited. We picked out a stout looking horse with armor and got strapped in. He was so excited about going. The picture sequence below shows just how the adventure unfolded....

Oh, yay, Mommy! Giddy 'up!

Whoa! This thing moves! Holy crap! Why didn't you tell me??!! Note the iron grip he had on my shirt. Awesome as the horse went up in the air....

Traitor!!!!

Let's never do this again, Mommy....

Poor kid! I probably should have let him watch it go around once before we got on. He watched it afterwards and thought the whole thing was a hoot. The good news is that it's in the mall and the mall's not far away. We can try again someday.

The Dallas World Aquarium

I just realized that I've had this blog for almost 3 years, and I've never used a title. Guess there's no time like the present....

We were planning a trip to College Station for the weekend, but cancelled at the last minute because of Hurricane Gustav. We didn't want to get caught up in all the traffic of people evacuating - seemed like a wise idea. Since we were in the mood for an adventure, we headed down to the Dallas World Aquarium. I was raised here and I never knew this even existed, but it was actually really cool. Lawson LOVED seeing all the birds, fish and reptiles. Unfortunately, with his overstimulated little self turning every which way to take it all in, we have about 250 shots of the back of his head. Oh, well. We'll just remember the fun we had.

Ooh - a really big river fish.....

This bird was too funny. It kept pecking his beak against the glass at us and it freaked Lawson out. Lawson didn't want to walk away, but every time the bird pecked, Lawson drew his arm away and twisted into me. It was funny to watch.

He loved the sea turtles. He giggled up a storm whenever they swam by. Of course, not the time we took a picture.... sigh....

Ooh, a manatee....

He loved these penguins. They're some sort of African variety and so they can withstand the heat of an outdoor exhibit in Texas.

Part of the exhibit was called Mundo Maya and they had these Mayan dancers play music and, well, dance for all of us. Lawson was totally enthralled. Yet again, our attempts at a postcard-type picture failed. He thought it was much more fun to look at the Mayan people than at the camera.

Finally, a face shot! He wore this expression most of the day, but we just couldn't capture it often. I swear, he had a really great time!

With all the excitement of the day, though, our little guy tuckered out pretty easily. He usually takes a mid-morning nap lasting about 2 hours and he missed it b/c we were having so much fun. But by the time we stopped for a late lunch, the morning had caught up with him. Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you "Sleep Eating...." You might want to turn down the volume on your computer. We were in an awfully noisy cafe.

Sleep Eating