New camera

Not the greatest photo but the 1st one I took with my new digital camera-I finally have a digital! Its a Nikon Coolpix that's fairly compact but has a zoom lens. The criteria was it had to fit in my travel purse! So I thought I would test putting a photo on the blog. (And, yes, those are Trey's Christmas pajamas!) Looking forward to taking photos on the the trip with it. Trey says its Trey's new camera & had a crying, screaming fit when I wouldn't let him walk off with it. So I let him push buttons while I held it. He especially loves making the flash pop-up & putting it back down ("ooogghh" is his comment & "Trey push little buttons")

I packed Trey's clothes yesterday & some of his other stuff. I think he will be so excited when we get to Nana & Papa's house. Hope to go to the beach on Sunday but I know it will be super hot. We leave Monday from Pensacola at 3:40! Coming so quick now.

Trey has added "please" to his short sentences now & it is so cute. He is saying lots of sentences "Trey can't reach it" & also talking on the phone more. He will say "Hi Mommy" when Ruben puts the phone to his ear now instead of waiting for you to talk.

Okay, Ok, OK!!, OK?...

Ok-such a simple expression-that Trey has suddenly picked up on & says constantly! He says this now instead of his "awright" for allright. Now OK is said in 5 different ways & shortened sometimes to just Kay. It is hilarious to hear him say this! He sometimes draws it out & makes it about 3 syllables long sounding kinda like Forrest Gump. We've never gotten him to say "yes" but "no" flows like a river, of course. So now we have a yes in the form of OK!

And so, ok, I haven't kept up with posting lately-can I blame it on spring fever?! We've been to parks, a Strawberry festival, & to Florida since my last post. And Trey & Ruben are going "camping" this weekend in a hotel (now that's my kind of camping!) with our friends from Pensacola. They're going somewhere just above B'ham but the campgrouds don't have cabins & we're pretty sure Trey would escape from our little tent! We've been busy w/ all that plus adjusting to the brace & I've been sleeping instead of posting! Ah, ZZZZ are the best...certainly makes handling a energetic 2 year old easier!

Overall, Trey is doing well with his brace. He has worn it at night for over 2 weeks & amazed us by sleeping through the night still even the 1st few nights he wore it. That boy will not let anything come b/t him & his sleep! He will sometimes take it off in the morning before I go in to get him out of the crib. We call it his "fish suit" b/c the pattern on it is shades of blue fish. He will try to put it on by himself already! He breaks my heart though by telling me "hurts" almost each time we put it on him. He is wearing it the full 18 hours a day now so he doesn't get much of a break from it. The real pain for us is that each time we change his diaper it has to be taken off(potty training must come soon!). And putting it on is tricky-for me anyway-kinda like swaddling a wiggly newborn, the guys always seem better at it.

Trey seems to be growing taller after each of my work weekends when I don't see him as much. And he is talking so much more! He likes to say handsome & nice as in "Trey handsome" "Papa handsome", "Mama nice". Then he asks me "Mama help" when he is trying to do something. Yesterday he told me "Mama care" meaning carry for me. He also immediately repeats things we say even when he doesn't know what it means. His little voice is so sweet & cute!! Of course, I'm biased.

Trey had a great Easter & was spoiled rotten by the grandparents! Nana (my mother)had such a good time putting together Easter baskets for Trey (yes, baskets as in multiple ones!) & they dyed eggs together. Ruben & Nana played Easter bunny & hid the eggs. Trey had fun finding them. It was Trey's first time to dye & hunt eggs. He was so excited when he found an egg that he threw them in the basket hard enough that we could hear them cracking! He used my Easter basket from childhood since my search for the perfect basket for him proved fruitless(Pottery Barn for kids have the cutest liners/baskets & should NOT have run out days after I got their catalog!) I went to the store on Good Friday expecting them to be sold out too & they were but the sales lady had to rub salt in the wound by saying "that lady walking out just bought the last one". AAAGGGHHH-so close! But it was fine. We had a great time watching Trey & the basket didn't really matter as long as he could hunt the eggs.

We're trying to plan a weekend to the beach so Trey can play in the water & sand. He loves the water so much! And Ruben & I are planning a big trip for our 10th anniversary in July so Trey will get to stay at the grandparents for several days (I can't stand to think about it too much b/c I will miss him so much!) Nana & Papa can't wait & have all kind of plans for Trey.

Other big news that was a shocker last night-it sounds like Trey has a baby cousin on the way! Ruben's younger brother is expecting a baby with his girlfriend. Since I am an only child & we didn't expect Ruben's brothers to have any children, we thought Trey would not have cousins (just hopefully a baby brother or sister). So this was a huge surprise.

Our weekend visit

One of our oldest & dearest friends visited us from home this weekend. Shannon helped set Ruben & I up on a blind date...and the rest as they say is history! She came & stayed with us when Trey was about 6 weeks old & was a tremendous help/comfort. I will probably remember more from this visit since I wasn't sleep deprived! Although I do have a nasty stomach bug that did keep me up some both nights & of course, Trey caught it. But his seems much milder than mine (fingers crossed on that one) & I'm still not over it.

We watched James Bond movies, talked, went to Whole Foods, & watched Trey develop a big crush on "Shanna". He almost immediately began trying to say her name & got pretty close. He wanted her in the room he was in & kept waving to her & saying "Hi Shanna!". Saying good-bye was hard for all of us, but probably Trey the most-he gets attached quick!

Today he asked for Shanna several times & then realized it sounded a lot like Nana so he said them all in a row: Shanna, Nana, Papa. So we called the grandparents & he delighted them by screaming their names! Quite the little ham.

Other new words: "good taste" for some applesauce he tried from Whole Foods (we found single serving, squeeze container applesauce for on the go-who knew?!), Mama's clothes, Dada's clothes, orange, Mama's orange (he noticed when I changed clothes & also points to clothes in the laundry or hanging & identifies them).

He also put on his pants today by himself except for pulling them up in the back over his butt-he can't figure that one out yet. But I was surprised at him putting them on without any coaxing while I was looking for socks. Mama was very pleased!

Trey's name

I'm so excited! I just asked Trey "what is your name?" & he immediately said "Trey"!! I have been asking him this question for a couple of days this week & telling him "your name is Trey". Usually he will just say "name". This was the first time I asked him today so I was really surprised when he said Trey. Of course, I immediately repeated my question to see if it was a fluke but he gave me the same answer.

He also said his teacher's name, Miss Anna, a few days ago. When we turned onto 261 to go through Old Town he starting saying "Anna" several times. He tried the day before to say it & it sounded like he was speaking w/ an accent b/c he was sounding it out. I have been asking him "where are we going? We're going to daycare or school & Mommy is going to work" then I ask him "what do you do when you get to school?" He answers, begrudgingly, "night-night" b/c it is nap time when he gets there. So he knows, but still doesn't always do it!

Other new words of late...mess-as in look at the mess I've created! but says it w/ a Southern accent I guess as "mace" almost, school, hurts (as he is constantly doing something that causes him to hurt himself), "mote trol" for the remote control, & still his favorite "big truck". He also says "choo-choo, train" everyday when we go over the 1st set of tracks in Helena, then "water" for the dam at Buck Creek, then "choo-choo,train" again for the 2nd set of tracks. He also identifies things by sound, saying "dog" when he heard our neighbor's dog barking & just now "big truck" when a loud truck went by. Constantly amazed by his understanding & learning!

Happy 2nd Birthday Trey!!

Trey's Elmo Cake


Mama,Trey, & Daddy

Trey with Papa


Where's Trey?!

Trey being silly!


Trey is officially TWO now!!

We celebrated today with cake & ice cream & Elmo balloons. I cooked a special lunch of pot roast. Trey ate some pot roast & loved the cake with Elmo on it. Papa & Nana were here all weekend to celebrate with Trey. He misses them already. We sang "Happy Birthday" to him & he just stared at us like we were nuts.

We went to the McWane Center yesterday for Trey's first trip there. He loved it especially the water table where the kids wear waterproof aprons & get to splash around a table with running water. On a cold Saturday, the place was packed with energetic kids-what a madhouse!! I am so sad that we forgot the camera (@#*?&!) & have no photos of it. Nana made some with hers. We then got a quick bite at Newk's & went to Whole Foods Market-Trey & the grandparents first trip to both.

Trey got a wicker toy box(Pottery Barn for Kids) from the grandparents & a wooden puzzle from us. Plus some Elmo DVD's from us so he can watch "Mo-Mo" in the minivan & not just at home-as he recently requested when we were traveling!

In case you're wondering...Trey got a cute haircut for his "2 year old" look. Still my sweet doll-faced boy with the blue eyes!

New words this week: garage, "big truck", loud-he says this when commercials come on TV (but never about himself!), choo-choo train & "bye bye big train" when the train was going away (got caught a lot by the train this week), & NO alot. No is not a new word for him but his use of it has skyrocketed the last couple of weeks. He says "No cat", "No Mommy" & "no-no-no" to his toys & food when it falls. Hilarious!

He has sleeping until 9am(!!) most mornings the last few weeks & goes to bed by 7pm. But he has not napped all week at daycare! He will nap at home if we get him settled down for it. He actually has requested "night-night" several times the last few weeks! He goes to his pajama drawer, gets PJs out, then runs in the kitchen & asks for "bottle"! I still heat the milk so tonight he started pushing the buttons on the microwave. Unbelievable! I think he is ready to take care of us now!

We are so blessed & happy to have Trey & look forward to many more years with him.

We still can't believe he's two. We go Tuesday for his 2 year well-baby appt.

What a great day!! I hope he remembers some of it.

Trey's words...

door, key, light, juice, shoes...these are just a few of the words that have been flying out of little man's mouth the last few days. He seems to have a new one every couple of days & is really amazing us w/ them. He pronounces light as "ight" & points at the light in the ceiling.

He said door to Ruben Sunday when they were backing out of the driveway. He pointed to the garage door & said door, making Ruben realize he was leaving the garage door open. Ruben called me at work to tell me & I couldn't believe it!

Other words: thank you(he first said it as "tink you" just after a year old, now it has somehow evolved to "thanking ya".

He turned 21 months last Saturday & is quickly approaching that 2 year old milestone that seems impossible for me to fathom. That age is definitely not a b-a-b-y anymore-shh, don't let Trey know! I want all the time holding him & rocking him to sleep I can get. Before he's a little boy handling frogs or heaven forbid a sullen teenager!

I have been slacking(as one of my friends pointed out!) in keeping this blog up to date lately. Life has a nasty way of getting in the way sometimes. But lots of holidays are coming so I need to get back to it.