Part 3:

Lawson had such a wonderful time visiting with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Mary Beth. He basks in the glow of the spotlight and is fiercely aware of how much he is loved. Doesn't he look like my dad?

He's getting to be such a big boy!

Part 2:
We took Lawson outside in my parents' backyard to enjoy the spring-like temperatures. Lawson is a Kansas winter baby, so we've not spent a lot of time outside and he's never put his feet in the grass before. He was already a little cranky when we went outside and so he did not have a good time! I'm putting up these pics though because he's so stinkin' cute when he's mad! He's got the greatest little pouty lower lip thing going on when he's upset. You'll probably need to click on the picture to enlarge it in order to see his face.

*Disclaimer* Obviously, I don't take pleasure in my child's distress, but as long as he's not in genuine pain and is just being a little fussy, I find his face hilarious!


He did calm down when we gave him a dandelion to play with. He was fascinated by it. This is not the most flattering picture of Lawson, but it shows his "tongue-thinking" that he does. Whenever he's really concentrating hard on something, he sticks out his tongue like this. What a goofball.... Oh, and 3 seconds after we took this picture, he shoved the flower into his left eye! There was yellow pollen all over his eye and face! Grandma washed out his eye and saved the day.

Okay, I'm back! Lawson and I had a wonderful two weeks in Texas visiting lots of friends and spending time with family. I'm going to do this in installments since I have oh so many pictures.

We arrived in Dallas on Thursday and left for College Station Friday morning. It was very important to dress Lawson up like the baby Aggie he is to parade him around town. The next most important thing was to introduce him to the glories of Freebird's burritos. Maybe the next time we visit, he can actually eat one....

We also got to meet one of my internet buddies. Last winter, I joined a message board for mommies expecting in September. A group of about 20 of us chatted all the way through our pregnancies and continue to share info now that we all have babies. One of the girls lives in College Station and we got to meet while we were there. Lawson and Kaden loved playing together!

So.... yeah, it's been a little while. Sorry.... I'm in Texas right now visiting my folks. The days leading up to my departure were pretty action-packed and we've been so busy here. Lawson and I flew in on Thursday and we took off for College Station Friday morning. I had a wonderful time introducing him around to friends for two days. We're back in Allen now and having a great time. Too bad Brad had to work....

To continue with stories about Lawson wanting a grown up drink (like the Dr. Pepper one below)... he's been grabbing at my water glass and taking a sip like a big boy. It's cute and scary all at once. At church on Sunday, my dad took Lawson up with him to communion and when Dad grabbed the goblet of wine...so did Lawson. He got a death grip on the stem and sloshed wine on himself. Some quick intervention from the pastor kept the wine from flying all over the church!

I bought a new camera. I got a Canon Powershot and so far I love it! It seems to be taking much better pictures. I haven't actually seen them on a computer yet, though. When I get home next week, I'll upload my pics to my machine and share them with y'all.

And now for another installment of "my weirdo kid"....

So, Lawson is paying very close attention to our eating and drinking habits here lately. He's mastered the art of eating off a spoon and is intrigued by the drinking out of a glass thing that big people do. He's taken to grabbing my glass and trying to drink out of it (I obviously won't let him...), which is pretty funny. Today, he grabbed at my Dr.Pepper can and wanted a sip. I think he was drawn to the red and shiny surface. He molested this can like you wouldn't believe! Well, actually, you can see it. We took another short video with the nearest camera, which happend to be my regular camera, so there's that clicking noise again. If you listen closely, though, you can hear him "num, numming" on the can! Poor kid's face was numb when he was done!

Dr. Pepper Kiss

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Lawson is still having a fit when I go to work at night twice a week. Poor Brad tries his hardest to keep the little guy happy, but almost every night becomes a battle of wills. This week, both Brad and I are battling colds and so it's particularly hard for Brad to deal with a cranky baby. I came home Tuesday night to find Lawson finally asleep in his crib and Brad passed out in bed as well. However, Brad's sense of humor always shines through the tough times.....

I just wanted to provide more evidence of how much Lawson loves his food! We're still just giving him rice cereal once a day, but it's basically the highlight of his day. He makes such a mess because he loves to stick his fingers in his mouth while he's "chewing"! My mom says I used to do that, too....

Here's a link to a video I shot of mealtime. I just used my digital camera and there's a weird clicking noise in the background. Ignore the silly baby-talk.... :)

Lawson Eating Video

I got some shots of Lawson in his bouncy chair yesterday. He loves this thing! I had to enhance these pictures because they were so dark. I'm not sure why - I took the picture when there was plenty of natural light and the flash went off. I'm not liking my camera these days.... At least I managed to capture Lawson with a cute expression.

This is a big week for Lawson. He got to try out a new high chair with new food (he ate yesterday, too, and it was fun!) and he got some new toys. We put him in a bouncy chair that hangs from an open doorway - wow! He loved that! I didn't take any photos, but we got some video I'll try to post later. I put together another new toy for him - an exersaucer. Ooohh - he really loves that, too. Here are some pics of his first experience with it. Next week is going to seem boring compared to all the new adventures this week!

What a momentus occasion! Lawson had his first taste of solid food tonight. We got him set up in his new highchair and got out the baby bowls and spoons (and camera) and sat down to have him try to eat some rice cereal. It was really runny, so the transition wouldn't be too hard for him, but there were still some small lumps to give him the new experience of texture.

He didn't seem to like the taste - boy he made some strange faces! But, he seemed to like the process. He didn't thrust it back out with his tongue (babies often do), and he kept opening his mouth up in anticipation of the spoon. He's been watching me like a hawk when I eat, so I knew he was ready for food. This is a huge milestone - my baby is growing up....

It's been a busy week here - mostly dealing with family crises on Brad's side. We're hoping things settle down soon. His mom has been sick again and we're all trying to figure out what's best for both her and those of us who need to take care of her. Ugh...

But, that busyness meant that I still hadn't posted pictures from my friend, Jenny's, visit last weekend. Her baby, Ashley, was born 3 weeks before Lawson. Jenny and her hubby (also Brad) just moved to Iowa, so they're much closer than when they lived in Texas. She and her girls stopped by last weekend on their way back home to Texas to see her new nephew. It was a short visit, but we had a good time.

Unfortnately, the babies didn't cooperate well for a picture. She got in Saturday evening and Lawson was fussy. Sunday morning as they were leaving, Lawson was fine, but Ashley was fussy. When they swing back through on their way back to Iowa, we're hoping to get better pictures. For now, we have this great shot of the babies engaging in "sympathy crying" and poor Lexie's (Ashley's big sister) reaction to all the rucus.

Lawson had his 4 month appointment today. He weighs 15 pounds and is 25 inches long. He's in the 50th percentile for both, which means he's completely average in that respect. His head is in the 75th - it's huge! It's why he always looks so big in his pictures. He got 4 shots today, so he's feeling icky. He just whimpers and wants to be hugged. I've been snuggling with my poor baby for most of the day. Here's just a random picture I took the other day that I thought was cute.

Lawson LOVES his mobile! I didn't think babies' attention spans were that long, but this kid will stare at his forever. I just go in every few minutes and crank it up again and he's a happy boy. He kicks his legs, flaps his arms and squeals in delight - it's so darned cute.

Brad took Lawson out by himself for the first time last night. I had class, so my boys went by themselves to a banquet for the international officers and their sponsors. Lawson got a little fussy, but overall the evening went well. Here are my handsome fellas:

Here are more pictures of Lawson just hanging out, being cute. Such a hard life....

It's hard to tell from the angle, but the red arms are me. I'm laying flat on the bed and Lawson is standing up on my tummy as I hold his arms. He loves standing! He even walked up my tummy one day - yikes!

He's still not sure about "tummy time".....

Lawson helped me read the newspaper this morning. I was clipping coupons from the Sunday paper - I do this with Lawson on my lap all the time and he usually just stares at the colors. Today, he got a little more into it:

Time for more Lawson pics. These are just some fun shots I took of him playing around this morning. He loves the stuffed caterpillar his Aunt Mary Beth gave him. He wrestles with it all the time - sometimes he even wins.... He also likes his new mirror from Grandma. It's helping him like tummy time more since he loves to smile at the other baby. And finally, he loves his daddy so much. It's so cute to watch them together! Enjoy!

Sorry I've been away. It's been a busy week. I got my hair cut on Saturday. I love it! It's actually very similar to my hairstyle in grad school and thus when I first met Brad. He was really happy to see my hair when I got home. He took some pictures, but they didn't turn out - we'll try again soon and I'll post one.

Sunday, we left Lawson with a friend and went to dinner and a movie. We saw Juno. It was really cute. It was so nice to be in a movie theater again - it's been since September! We were very proud of ourselves that we did fine without the baby and he did alright without us. He started melting down about 20 min before we got back, but other than that everything went fine. It was good preparation for yesterday - my first day back to work.

I started my night class last night - it felt weird to be back on campus again. But, I've got a good class. They laughed in all the right places and seemed enthusiastic, so we're off to a good start. We had snow as we were leaving and it actually got pretty nasty for my drive home. I lost control of my car on the interstate and wound up doing a 360 spin across 3 lanes before I was able to right myself! It scared the crap out of me!!!! The driver's ed teachers are right, though - turn in the direction of the spin and pump the brake - it worked. Fortunately, I was only going about 40 mph so it didn't take long to slow down. And, all the other drivers were going slowly, too, and were spaced out enough that I was never in danger of hitting anyone or being hit myself. I still don't know what caused the car to slide - the road didn't look any different, I wasn't reaching for anything, I didn't lose concentration, I just started sliding. Yikes! I like the job, I just hate the drive.

My friend, Katie, and her son, Jack, came over yesterday for another play date. It was so much fun! We've gotten together two other times, but this was the first time the boys were really aware of each other. It was so cute! Jack is super laid-back and Lawson is pretty active. When I see Lawson compared to another baby the same age (they were born 11 days apart), I realize just how active he is and how I'm really going to have my hands full when this little guy gets mobile! Here are the boys just hanging out on the quilt:

This link will take you to a video Katie shot of the boys playing around:

http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w146/ktdid9/?action=view&current=digitals057.flv

There's not a whole lot going on right now. We've had a busy week of taking down Christmas decorations and cleaning the house. Not exciting, but it kept us occupied. We'd gone a week now with no new pictures of Lawson, so we figured it was time for some more.

By the end of the day, Lawson was pooped. So was his Daddy... The cats were passed out on the bed, too - they just didn't fit in the frame!

Happy New Year! Time has also managed to roll around to bring me another birthday today. 32. Birthdays just aren't as exciting as they used to be. ha ha...

So, this is kinda gross, but we howled all the way through Lawson's bath last night - it was so funny! We put an extremely groggy baby into his bathtub. Within minutes, he not only peed (typical) but he also let go of an explosive, runny poop right into the water! We knew this would happen some day, but it still caught us off guard. Brad pulled Lawson out of the tub while I cleaned and disinfected it. Restarted the water and bubbles. Once in, Lawson turns his head to the side and gets bubbles all over his face, in his eyes and in his mouth. Quick cleanup - thank goodness for "no tears" formulas! Then, he takes his soapy fist and rubs his eyes because he's tired. Cleanup again. Then, the same soapy fist (after a re-dip in the bubbles) goes into his mouth for a good sucking because he's hungry. Cleanup again. Brad and I are laughing like crazy through the whole thing! We got the little bugger rinsed off and called it quits. Just another day in the life....

Round 3.... Christmas was a blast, but we continued the fun into the 26th when a sizeable chunk of my extended family convened at my house. Aunts, uncles, cousins, children, etc made for a fun day. We had a ton of food and everyone had a good time. At least, I assume. Brad and I spent most of the evening in Lawson's room since the little bugger didn't like having company. The revelry got to him (the house was pretty loud) and he started screaming. And screaming. And screaming. I have never heard this child scream so intensely. We eventually got him calmed down and he went to sleep for a while. When he woke up, he was in a considerably better mood and was able to mingle a bit. He was back to his usual sweet self for my cousin's wife's baby shower the next day.

The gang at my house:

It was fun seeing all the family. Despite his spot of crankiness, Lawson got to spend some quality time with old and new faces.

Lawson with my Aunt Nita:

With Nita's husband, Jim:

With Grandpa:

Round 2.... After all the presents were opened, we took advantage of our first ever White Christmas. Yes, the snow was still on the ground! It was so exciting. We dressed Lawson up in his snow suit and hat and took him out to play in the white stuff. He really liked it! He looked a bit like Maggie Simpson in her snow suit, so he was stiff and easy to "walk" through the backyard. He also made his first snow angel (with a little help from Mommy....). Lawson giggled through the whole thing. The final picture is of the Mommy and Baby angels. We had so much fun making memories.

Whew! What a whirlwind week! I might have to do this in a couple of installments...

We had a wonderful first Christmas with our sweet boy. My parents and sister came up to visit, as well as my aunt and uncle from Florida. Uncle Jim spoiled us by taking us out to a very swanky steak house at the Plaza one night - yum! Good wine, good food, good company. Christmas day went very well. Everyone spoiled Lawson like you wouldn't believe...okay, well, maybe you would.... Lawson made out like a bandit and it was so special to have a child for Christmas even if he didn't really know what was going on. He got lots of books and some toys he can play with right now. For some, he'll have to wait a little while. He really loved his toys - we got some great pictures of his little face....

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...... Every year I sing that song wistfully, never expecting it to happen. I think I may get my wish this year. The snow has been coming down in buckets today! The wind is blowing and so the air is just white all over. Mom and I have been baking Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music and watching the snow fall outside the windows. It's not supposed to get above freezing for several days so we'll probably have this snow around for Christmas day. Yippeee! Even if it melts before Tuesday, at least we had a winter wonderland during our ramp-up preparations. How lucky for Lawson that he'll get such a lovely first Christmas!

It's perfect, except for my Dad has to go out in it here very soon to pick up my aunt and uncle from the airport. Not good driving weather, but they seem to be landing planes just fine. This would be better if no one had to be out and about in this!

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. Lawson and I went out for one last big push today. I just have a couple more small things to take care of and I'm finished! The highlight of the day, though, was Lawson's first visit with Santa. He was good and didn't cry, but he does look a little bewildered in his picture. The little bugger grinned as soon as I picked him up off Santa's lap....

Horray for electricity! I stopped by the house Thursday afternoon and was thrilled to discover the power had come back on. Fortunately, the pipes didn't burst and the sump pump kicked on to drain the basement. I had to throw away a lot of food, but I'd rather waste the food/money than have us get food poisoning... Despite the hassle, the ice was really beautiful. I took a couple of pictures, but they just don't do it justice. Each tree branch was coated in ice, which looked cool up close but was even more amazing when you looked at many trees together - so white! The power lines look cool, too.

These trees are in our backyard:

Here's the view from our 2nd story deck, looking out at the ridge at the end of the street. Click on the pic to get a bigger and more detailed view.

Our over-the-range microwave didn't make it through the storm. It got fried and never came back on. I never realized how much I rely on that thing until I didn't have it anymore. Not really what I wanted to spend money on this week, but I can't live without it. Especially not with family coming for Christmas....

Brrr..... Well, the new winter storm turned out to be a b*tch. We lost power Tuesday morning at 7 and it still hasn't come back on! Fortunately, we have amazing friends who took us in after their power returned Tuesday afternoon. They even let us bring our poor kitty cats! They live across the river on the Missouri side - the Kansas side is screwed. They said on the news last night that it could be 7-10 days before they get power to everyone. Oh, and our basement is ankle-deep in water since the sump pump operates on electricity, so that's awesome....

Anyway, just thought I'd let y'all know what's happening here. I'm at the public library so I can get caught up on email and stuff. Despite the crappiness of the situation, it's beautiful outside. The roads are clear so driving isn't an issue, but there's still a lot of ice on power lines and trees. All those ice-covered trees are gorgeous! I took a bunch of pictures and will post them on here when I get my own computer back. I'll be back in touch - please keep us in your thoughts....

Brad's in Virginia again for another staff ride (basically a grown-up field trip - he's showing the Army officers around the Civil War Wilderness battlefield). It's just the kitties, Lawson and me for a long weekend - oh, and thanks to the latest storms, it's too icy for me to go anywhere... So, due to a little boredom, I decided to dress Lawson up and subject him to another round of pictures. I can't help myself - he's just so dang cute!

Susan did this last year and I thought it would be fun to try. Click on the link for some silliness. Merry Christmas from the Winemans!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1231815521

Snow!!!!!!! We had our first snowfall today. I didn't think it would amount to much, but not only did it stick, we got about two inches. Not bad for the first one. My friend, Katie, and her baby came over and we enjoyed a hot bowl of chili sitting by the lit Christmas tree with snow falling just outside the window. What a nice day... After she left, I took Lawson outside for his first exposure to snow. I even managed to capture his oh-so-cute smile on camera for the first time!

Here's a fun video I was able to "create" on the Pampers website. There are four images of Lawson interspersed with other cute babies. Early Christmas wishes!

I think it's officially safe to announce this to the world: Lawson is sleeping through the night! Hooray!!!!! Turns out that night two weeks ago wasn't a fluke. Even in Boston, he slept all night. It was wonderful to be so well-rested around the family - it made the trip much more fun. However, we stayed up pretty late, so "through the night" meant midnight to 7am. Awesome, but we weren't sure what would happen when we came home and started going to bed earlier. Yep, like clockwork - we put him down about 10:30 and he gets up anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30. I love having a full night's sleep. I feel like a new woman!!!! We loved our Lawson will all our hearts before this, but we love him even more now that all three of us are getting some rest!