Thank Goodness for Babyproofing

A little over a year ago we spent hard-earned money to have our entire house baby-proofed by a local company that provides those services. I'll let you be the judge of whether that was money well spent.

Big boy bed!

Today we converted Trey's crib to a toddler bed! Well, more accurately, Daddy Tom converted Trey's bed for us. And, technically, it wasn't really for "us," it was for Mommy. Daddy thought it was too early, but Mommy thought Trey would enjoy the freedom and figured it was a good week to try it since it was a "holiday" week. And since Daddy was at work while Mommy was at home getting stuff done around the house... the crib was converted.

So far, Trey L-O-V-E-S his new bed. He stays in it for the most part, but he's happy to be able to get out to fetch a dropped toy or blanket. And every time he looks at his bed, he says "Tom!" It is precious.

Before (from Trey's first birthday):

After:

Busy Christmas

Trey had a very busy Christmas day!!!

Trey woke up around 9 in the morning, ready to see what this Santa thing was all about. Aunt Kacie (a.k.a. Santa's Elf) spent the night and was there ready for the festivities, and Mama C, Daddy Tom, and Mimmie came over to watch Trey tear into his loot from Santa.

Trey's big Santa gift was a tricycle, which he loved right away. The next thing he saw was a magnetic drawing board. Santa seriously could have stopped right there. Forget the "choo choo," "airplane," and "bus" Trey asked for, all he needed was a big toy and an art toy to keep his attention.

For the record, however, Trey did also love the airplane Santa brought him. And the choo choo was okay. Trey forgot all about asking for a bus, so I guess Santa got away with that one.

Mommy cooked a yummy breakfast for the family to enjoy . . .

we opened up gifts from the Edwards extended family, and then Trey enjoyed playing a little with his new tricycle.

After a late nap, we all headed to Mama C and Daddy Tom's house for Christmas dinner and more presents!

Trey's big present there was a plasma car, which Trey (and all the adults) had fun riding around the house. Trey was up until 11 on Christmas night! Luckily for us, he slept until noon the next day. :)

Excited for Christmas

Trey was so excited for Christmas on Christmas Eve! He always has a lot of energy, but for some reason today he decided to literally start running around in circles. He must know Santa is coming tomorrow.*




*You can see evidence of the asthma we're dealing with at the end of this. I would have said I thought things were getting better until I watched this video back. :(

Christmas Show

The week before Christmas, Trey had his annual holiday program at school. We had looked forward to this for a year because last year's program was so cute, but Trey was too young to really participate (they always find cute ways for even the babies to be in the show; last year Trey played, appropriately enough, a baby).

The shows are not always holiday-themed, but this year's was. Trey's class was Rudolph. It was supposed to be a surprise for the parents, but I found out about it by accident during a late drop-off one day at school (that and a teacher accidentally slipped, but we won't talk aobut that...). That was fine with me, because I'm not a huge fan of surprises anyway.

As Rudolph, Trey and his classmates were tasked with walking on stage and dancing to "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer." Not a huge task for Trey, the dancing machine, but I was curious to see whether Trey would be intimidated by the crowd of people.

He wasn't intimidated. In fact, he didn't care at all. We are going to have to work on his theater skills, because Trey faced stage left the entire time. He danced (or bounced), but his stage presence was quite off. But it was a pretty good effort for a 22-month-old.

This is not the greatest picture, but Trey is towards the right, in red antlers with a green headband.

Afterward, we went to eat dinner with Trey's friend Conner and his family. It was a fun night, all in all.

The next day, Trey's class had a special holiday lunch, complete with chicken nuggets, fruit, cheese cubes, cheetos, and juice. Trey of course went straight for the food he is not normally allowed to eat - cheetos - and gobbled them up until they were gone, leaving very little room in his tummy for anything of substance. Most of the other kids did this, too. Oh well; I guess it's the kiddo equivalent of indulging in eggnog and pecan pie at Christmas time.

Trey also doesn't normally drink juice, but we let him have it for special occasions (like class parties). He enjoyed the treat.

Family Christmas

Last weekend we got together with some extended family for an early Christmas dinner at Aunt Patricia/Pud and Uncle Johnny's house in San Antonio. This is our second annual extended family dinner, and we hope we can do it every year. Aunt Pud always outdoes herself with a fabulous spread of yummy Christmas deliciousness and a house full of gorgeous Christmas decorations.

Trey was fascinated with the Christmas trees, which he was careful not to "touch."

He had a lot of fun playing in the garden when Uncle Sparky took Trey out for some fun. Normally it's only little doggies that roam around down there, so Trey was charting new territory for little boys.

Trey also entertained himself with the usual opening and closing of doors...

...and walking up and down stairs (supervised, of course).

He also loved the family Christmas carol sing-along.

But most of all, Trey enjoyed watching and chasing after his two second cousin doggie friends, the "woofs," "Katie" and "Annie."

Rainforest Cafe

After visiting Santa last week, we decided to treat Trey to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in the Galleria. I'd never been there before, but Mama C had said Trey would love it, and I had browsed through it on a recent shopping trip (sans Trey, as most of my shopping trips are, which happens to be why I rarely go shopping these days, but that's another story...). Anyway, we thought Trey would love it, and we were right.

Trey was fascinated with the animals. I'm pretty sure he thought they were real at first. At the very least, they were life-sized versions of the animals he always sees in his books, and he thought they were pretty cool. At Rainforest Cafe, the animals come to "life" from time to time and move around with sound. This scared Trey a little (which is not saying much, since this is the boy who is scared of the dust buster, which might speak more to my housekeeping habits than to his temperment) but he soon realized the animals pretty much stayed in place and were not going to come out and grab him.

We sat by the elephants at dinner. Trey was also a little scared when a "thunderstorm" started in the restaurant; he insisted Mommy pick him up and hold him. But he may have just been tired; it was getting late, since we had spent so long visiting Santa and all. Trey loved his food there, even if Mommy and Daddy thought the food was simply okay (and overpriced -- we split one of the lower priced entrees since we were pretty sure the food was not the attraction at this place); Trey cleaned his plate and even requested extra applesauce!

Family Dinner

Daddy Tom is back in town from Nigeria (pretty much for good this time - yay!), and Mimmie is in town for Christmas, so we all got together for a casual family dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.

Trey loves Mexican food. And it seems that his love of the food is directly proportional to the mess he makes.

Trey was loud during dinner and not necessarily on his best behavior, but oh well, we had a good time. Here is a video of Trey shouting some phrase he came up with in his own langugae -- something like "na-ga-go." We had no idea what it means.

Yay for fun family get-togethers.

Visit with Santa

Mommy and Daddy took Trey to see Santa last week! Trey was pretty excited all the way to the mall, and when we would ask him who he was going to see, he would say "Santa!"

Trey had seen Santa the week before at a Christmas party, and he was intrigued but wary of him at the same time. Timid is probably the best word to describe Trey around Santa. At the party, Trey eventually sat on Santa's lap, although reluctantly, and he wasn't too happy about it. There were no tears, but there were some whines and several squirms.

The visit to see Santa in the mall wasn't much different, but fortunately for us Trey was comfortable enough to sit on Santa's lap for a brief moment -- enough time to snap a picture! Daddy helped by getting Santa to give Trey a few high 5s before the shoot. What you don't see is that immediately after this shot, Trey decided he wanted nothing more to do with this strange man, and off the lap he went. Trey didn't even have a chance to officially tell Santa he wants a "choo choo," "bus," and "airplane" for Christmas, which is what he has been telling Mommy and Daddy.*

We're pleased with the picture, and although it isn't quite as perfect as last year's shot, we'll take it!

After the visit with Santa, Trey had a really fun time riding the train around the Santa area. This was probably the highlight of the trip, as Trey kept talking about it, and when asked the next day what he had done the day before, he completely ignored Santa and instead focused on the "choo choo."

*Surely he means toys, right? Because if he's talking about the real thing, I guess all we can say is that it's good for Trey to have dreams and aspirations in life.

Second molar #3

Trey has his last top molar! We noticed it last night while brushing his teeth, but it was certainly not new, so it has probably been hanging out there for a while. Only one more to go...and it will be here any day now!

Christmas Cookies

This weekend, we made Christmas cookies with Trey. Mommy was inspired by the mom of one of Trey's friends who had done the same, as well as her long-time desire to try making some cut-out cookies of her own. The last time Mommy made cut-out cookies was probably in high school; needless to say, she is no expert. But it wasn't as hard as she thought it would be, even if it was just as messy!

After Mommy rolled out the dough, Trey had fun pressing down the cookie cutters. He seemed to understand what he was doing, but he didn't understand the concept of making one shape at a time. Trey kept trying to press the cookie cutter down as many times as possible without regard to whether they overlapped.


Picking up the cookies wasn't quite as easy for Trey. He kept just trying to eat the dough.

Mommy probably ended up rolling the dough a little too thin in the end, but as previously mentioned, she didn't really know what she was doing, and they turned out okay anyway.

Trey enjoyed watching the cookies bake in the oven.

And then it was time to eat -- I mean no! Time to decorate!!

Aunt Kacie was there to help and get in on the fun. Again, nobody really knew what they were doing, but they turned out pretty cute anyway (unfortunately no "final" pictures to prove it!). Trey was content just to eat the icing, and occasionally lent a hand by shaking the sprinkles over the cookies.

All in all, it was a pretty fun time. We took the finished cookies to a Christmas party that night! Trey probably ingested more sugar this day than in his entire life combined (thanks in part to the sips of a Chic-fil-A milkshake Daddy had given him earlier), but aren't these little indulgences what the holidays are all about?

First Haircut!

Trey got his first haircut today! Daddy was not completely on board for this trim, as he seems to have an aversion for haircuts, but this turned out to be the best day for the big event. Trey's hair was looking a little scruffy in places, and we took him in to get a little definition around the edges.

Trey was such a good little boy, and sat so still and patient as Ms. Debbie (Mommy's hairdresser) did her thing. The entire process was so fast - really only about 5 minutes!

Trey hardly made a peep the entire time; he was so focused on figuring out where we were and what was going on around him, he did not even think to fret about what was going on with his own head! Even when he had to stand for Ms. Debbie to trim up the back, he was a perfect angel.

We think Debbie did a great job and that Trey looks cuter than ever! His new haircut makes him look like such a handsome, big boy! Thanks Debbie!!!

Touch! Touch!

Trey is fascinated with all things Christmas this year. As soon as we put up the tree, he exclaimed "Christmas tree!" as if he'd always known what it is (of course, it comes out more like "tre-tra-tree!"). Last year, we hid the tree behind the baby gate for fear of the damage a crawling Trey might do. This year, he is capable of causing even more trouble, but he's also old enough to know better, so we took our chances and put the tree up in the living room.

Trey, of course, is mesmerized by the tree. With lights, and glitter, and colorful balls, who wouldn't be? We have told Trey he is allowed to look at the tree, and he is allowed to gently touch the branches, but he is not allowed to touch the ornaments. Trey has been pretty good about this so far, but sometimes temptation overtakes him and he can't help but touch an ornament or two. Daddy says that putting the tree up and telling him not to touch it is so cruel, it is akin to taking Mommy into a wedding dress boutique and telling her she is not allowed to open her eyes and look!

Trey knows he is not supposed to touch the ornaments on the Christmas tree. He will walk up to the tree and look at it, and then shake his finger in a scolding way and say "touch! touch!" (sort of like "no no, don't touch!"). Sometimes he will poke that cute little finger out just far enough to barely touch an ornament, as if he is trying to see just how far he can push it. But he is doing pretty well: Trey has taken only one ornament off the tree so far, and his curiosity has resulted in only one ornament casualty (and it was an ornament we weren't too fond of anyway!).

We have also been playing the "Elf on the Shelf" game this year, thanks to Aunt Dabney and Uncle P, who gave it to Trey as a gift. The game, in a nutshell is this: Santa sends a little elf to your house to watch the children and report back to Santa about whether they were good or bad. The elf sits on a shelf and watches things, and then moves to a different place each morning. You can't touch the elf, or else he will lose his magic.

We aren't sure Trey understands the "elf is watching you" part of the story, but he does enjoy looking for the elf each day, and he knows he is not supposed to touch the elf. Trey will look around and find the elf, and then point to him and say "touch! touch!", just as he does with the Christmas tree. We are having a lot of fun with this game, and with all things Christmas this year. As much as we have always loved the Christmas season, it is so much fun to discover everything again through the eyes of a child.

(And, in case you're wondering, the handkerchief in Trey's hand is the little toy blanket that is part of Mommy's play tea set Trey inherited. He doesn't really play tea, but he likes to take all the pieces out and put them back in the case - the "boy" way of playing tea!)