Bouncing Birthday Boy

Even though Gus was up a couple of times last night (poor tired daddy!)from what I think was his tooth hurting him, he is in a great mood- he must know that it is his birthday today. He was such a happy boy this morning!

Happy Birthday Gus!

We came downstairs this morning for breakfast and forgot that daddy had put together Gus's presents last night, so I guess he got to see them early. When he saw the basketball hoop he started yelling and clapping his hands, he was so excited!

This is my first attempt at a frog shaped cake (I think it was my first cake ever, in fact!). It was good practice for the larger version I will be making for his party in Iowa next weekend. Surprisingly, it looks somewhat like a frog. I learned a lot about using the cake mold and icing tools over the last two days so hopefully the next one will look even better.

Gus this morning when we came down to the basement to blog. He loves this toy house because it makes so many different noises. He bounces to it. I have a video of him bouncing that I will try to post on here later today.

I can hardly believe that Gus is one year old today. He is such a little boy and not a baby anymore. Here is an update on what he can do... He loves watching Sesame Street (right now he is laughing and clapping at the TV to Sesame Street) and Super Readers, at least for 10 minutes or so, until he loses attention. He loves taking objects out of containers and putting objects back in containers. He can take a few steps, but usually just prefers to crawl. He can climb on short tables and onto couches and can get down from a bed by himself. He has one tooth halfway in and loves yogurt, bananas, hot dogs, bologna and cheese. He still doesn't have much hair. He is slimming down a lot and mostly in 18 month clothes now. He can say mamama and dadadada and lots of little words that start with the letter B. He 'talks' all the time though, but we don't know what he is saying yet. He claps, once in awhile sort of waves, loves hide and seek and loves to be chased around the room. His best friend (and archenemies at times) is his kitty Buster. He knows what many objects are (like if you say, "Go get the book," he goes right to it, even if lots of other toys are around, and plays, for example). He is a handful but we sure love him.

My Monkey

Here are some pictures of my little monkey crawling over just a few of the many things in the house he likes to try to climb over.

Today Gus got his 1st year pictures. He was so cute, it was hard to pick out which ones I wanted! We went a little overboard for his 6 month pictures, and had lots left over, so we only have two poses for this round. I actually went to two different places and had 7.99 coupons for both (Penney's and Target), but of course I did spend an extra ten for an additional sheet of another pose (that is how they get you!) and ended up spending about 27 bucks total for both sessions, and am very happy with the photos. We got 4 8x10s, 6 5x7s, 8 3.5x5s, and 32 wallets, so I think we got a great deal. Hopefully they will all be ready before we head back to Iowa for his party.

Today Gus and I put the computer downstairs and hung up a few more wall hangings. I baked his cake last night and hope to start decorating it tonight. I am hoping to make something that looks like a frog. This is my practice cake for his party over memorial day, when hopefully I will have enough practice to make a decent looking one. I guess we will see. If all else fails, there is always sheet cake from Walmart!

The Basement

We still need to bring the computer desk downstairs and hang up a few more pictures, but other than that, the basement is FINALLY done!

If you want to compare progess from last July (yes we have been slowly working on this for over a year!), here are some pics from a post in 2008.

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a great Mother's Day. Gus and Daddy got me a nice card, flowers and all my favorites for breakfast. I got to sleep in, and the best gift of all was that daddy watched Gus ALL DAY so that I could finish up all the little things in the basement, like hang pictures and touch up paint. Although this was my first Mother's Day officially, last year I was induced on Mother's Day; I must say that I enjoyed this year much more :)

First KC Royals Game

Super excited during the car ride to his very first Royals game. He talked most of the drive there.

Gus did such a good job at the game! Daddy held him most of the time while we sat, and I walked him around the entire ball park (to keep him in the shade) in his stroller. The "K" has been completely remodeled and if Gus's cousins come to KC this summer, the ballpark now has a ton of kid stuff. They will have a blast! Gus might be a little young for the pitch speed machine and merry-go-round, but the playground looked like fun! The "Little K" is still there as well, improved of course.

His first ballpark fry. I brought him a cut up hot dog too, but technically that didn't come from the ballpark :)

Since it was his first game, Gus got a cool certificate from the Royals, recognizing that now he is an official fan. Pretty lucky little dude!

The sun sure was bright, not a cloud in the sky for most of the game and 82 degrees. It was hard to keep Gus's hat on, as we kept pulling it off. But I put plenty of SPF 50 sunscreen on his shiny head to help prevent sun burn.

We had to get him a KC Royals hat (Buster got a new Royals collar too!).

Afterward, Gus fell asleep before we were even out of the parking lot!

Spaghetti Supper

Gus can't understand the alphabet yet, but he sure does like to chew on mommy's attempt to introduce him to letters. Maybe he'll learn through osmosis :)

Helping mommy make supper.

Aaawwwwww Daaaaaaaaad!!!!!

We had spaghetti last night for supper and Gus loved it (he didn't get any of the red sauce though- mommy is not that brave yet!). His semi-snaggle tooth still hasn't budged much, and remains just barely poking it's little head through. I think it bothers Gus quite a bit; he sure is a much better baby when he has some Tylenol to help alleviate the pain. I am also trying these dissolving teething tablets (my sister-in-law Trish used them with her girls), and although I am not certain they do much for the pain, they must be yummy cause Gus would eat them like candy if he could!

We are going to a Royals game this afternoon, Gus's first one. Daddy got some free tickets and free parking from his boss at the YMCA, since he has been working so hard lately. Daddy, mommy, Gus and a few of daddy's friends from the Y are all going. One of daddy's employees works the door at the VIP area too, so he told us to stop by to check it out. I am excited to see the 'K' (Kaufman Stadium for those of you not from the area) as they remodeled it since last season. I will try to get some good pics of the afternoon for you all to see. I do still have to teach a class tonight, so mommy can't have too much fun this afternoon, just dt. soda for her.

Getting Buster

Sorry I went a little video crazy today, but there were so many short little clips that I loved and wanted to share with you. In this one, you can hear Gus saying, "Buh" for Buster, and chase him around a little. They do this all day long every day; it is a chore some days just separating the two. Most of the time, I feel really bad for Buster!

Up the Stairs

4 Eyes