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!