More Photos Posted

Parker loves the outdoors and the mornings. He gets the first from his dad and the later from his mom. Regardless, he is a ball of energy when it comes to his playtime.

Daddy also got a new camera. With the threat from mommy to continue to pay way too much for professional photos every 6 months, we figured its about time to up the quality.

New Photos Posted!

Yeah, sorry I haven't been posting lately. Lots going on.

Christmas in Texas

DIsneyland

Last night we took off early and drove down to Disneyland for the employee Christmas party they do every year. It's the one time of year they close down the park to cast members and family only. It's also the one time of year you realize how big The Walt Disney Company is. Because this is only one park in one city, you have to imagine the park still being full, and still standing in lines, but knowing that everyone in that park showed their ID and felt a small sense of entitlement to being there. A fun, big, crazy club we all belong to.

Parker is finally at the age where "It's A Small World" doesn't scare the living crap out of him. That's a relief. We have taken him on the ride four times, in which three of those times the whole thing came across as some demented acid trip of a baby nightmare. But, finally, at 16 months, It's A Small World is cool. Not sure if I think that is a good thing or not, but it gives you a good 20 minutes of sitting and singing :)

We are one week away from going to see family in Texas. It's cool to say that, seeing as both my family and Jaimie's will be there for the first time in about 6 years. I also love the fact that Parker will get to spend time with both sets of Grandparents, both sets of Aunts and Uncles and both sets of cousins. We are the little big family that my brother, sister and I didn't actually have. Should be fun to watch.

What a Weekend

There are many things about this year's holiday season that are hard to fathom. The DOW is below 9,000. LSU lost to Arkansas two years in a row. Texas got edged out for the Big 12 by OU, a team they beat. Black Friday brought $800 42" LCD TV's. And of course, the fact that Thanksgiving came and went and we are smack dab in the middle of Christmas Holiday Season.

In a few weeks we will be heading back to Texas to spend some Christmas family time with both families this year. We are excited to get back home for a few days and let Little Man soak up some big family love. I know his Aunt Jody is excited to get her hands on him. 

We took full advantage of it being a small family thanksgiving this year, just the three of us. Wednesday night we took Parker to Whole Foods and picked up a small turkey dinner while eating in the store. We learned that night, as Jaimie and I ate sushi, that Little Man likes Edamame. 

Our weekend included, a 6 mile run, a 3 mile run, some family biking, a hike, Black Friday shopping, BOLT and dinner with Lindsey and Sandro (hi L!) and LOTS of college football. Whew, I'm beat, but we had a great time.

As promised, here are a couple of photos of Parker's new bike seat on daddy's new bike. The dude loves it! Also, more photos have been added to the photo page, check em out.

Holiday's Begin

So, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and it's a rainy day in Los Angeles. Jaimie, Parker and I took a little dinner trip tonight to Whole Foods to eat, play and pick up a Thanksgiving feast for three. Too fun, having Little Man eat real food. Too bad he is so picky, he will probably throw his turkey, stuffing and potatoes on the floor instead of eating it. What a waste, he'll learn.

Christmas is just around the corner and the weather in L.A. finally feels like holiday weather. Although not as cold as the rest of the country, it's nice to finally put long sleeves on for work or a sweatshirt on while playing in the yard.

Jaimie and I decided that our "family gift" this year would be new bikes. We both have road bikes for races and exercise, but we are getting mountain bikes for family riding. I also found a baby seat that mounts to the support bar between the handlebar and the bike seat. I have been wanting to get one for some time but I don't like the trailers (too bulky for one child) and most seats mount behind the rider, which means Parker would be staring at my butt the whole time.

The bike seat came in today, very cool. I'll upload photos when I can, but it's pretty cool. The bikes will be coming in on Friday, so we are hoping to take a little family ride this weekend. With the rain, we will see.

Daddy Time

October has brought on a series of trips for Mommy. Last week Jaimie went to Washington DC to a conference. It was difficult being away from Little Man for four days, being the first time she had ever even conceived of living him for that long. But, as we get him used to milk from a sippy, it became evident it was tougher on mommy than on the little guy. Parker and daddy had a good time going it alone, with lots of quality blocks, Toy Story and jog time.

Now, here we are at the next Sunday, and mommy has gone again. This time to Albuquerque for work training. This time for five days, not four. This time, much tougher. This time mommy knows what its going to be like.

October Begins

We have college football (GEAUX TIGERS), fall weather, long sleeve clothing, family travel and a full fledged one year old. Welcome to the autumn of 2008.

I admit I have been bad these past months at keeping this blog up to date and current on the goings on around the Little Man and all his glory. Please do not misunderstand my inactivity as a lack of material or disinterest. On the contrary, it's the exact opposite. 

There comes a point in which talking about what's happening and actually living it can sometimes create conflict in scheduling. therefore the reporting had to be abandoned, while life had to be lived. And there you go, thats why after Parker turned one it seems I ran out of things to say. We've just been living it.

The three of us arrived in Austin today and are staying at Gramma and Papa's house for the weekend. My good friend, Ryan, is getting married tomorrow so we are here for the wedding and to spend time with family. There will be photos to upload, I am sure, but believe me when I tell you that Parker is doing great. He is a walker, a babbler, an emptier, an opener, a wiper, a smearer, a taster, a chewer, but most of all a cuddler. When he succeeds at the last item, it's very easy to forget the others.

No News = Lazy Daddy

OK, you all know I'm not that lazy, it's just been a crazy month and updating a blog hasn't been top of mind. This is a shame considering how much has happened in the past 5  weeks.

At Parker's birthday party, which I mentioned below, Parker walked for the first time. OK, so fast forward to today, where Parker is in full on baby sprint mode. You know how babies start walking but don't know how to bend their knees so it's got a frankenstein quality about each step? Or when they finally get the knee bend, but now realize that all they have to do to move faster is to lean into it with their giant melon head? Or when they finally learn how to step up to go over uneven surfaces, only to exaggerate the step so much it knocks them off balance? Yeah, that should just about cover Parker's past 5  weeks.

Throw in a trip to Disneyland, Daddy going to London for work and Mexico for play, and the kick off to another college football season (LSU #7, Texas #8), I'd say you got a good snapshot of August for us.

More to come, just wanted to give you something to chew on.

Little Man's First Birthday Party

Parker's birthday (if you've kept up from the beginning) is actually August 6th, but as I have been reminded, kid birthday parties are for weekends, so yesterday was Parker's first birthday party.

With trains as the theme, we had plenty of local friends join us for a little backyard BBQ and booze fest in honor of the Little Man. It was a nice warm Pasadena day, which started out with babies and adults hanging out in the backyard then slowly migrating to the air conditioning.

Gramma and Papa Osburn were here to celebrate, with Gramma making an amazing Thomas the Train birthday cake. It's funny, because our family loves the idea of placing a baby in his high chair for birthday #1 and allowing him or her to go to town on their birthday cake. What we learned from our Lake Tahoe vacation the week before (check out the photos) and confirmed at his party, Little Man does not like icing. It's funny to watch, but when he reaches out to help himself to a healthy chunk of Gramma's chocolate love, he recoils in horror as a layer of icing covers his little hand. We expected it, as Tahoe with the Davis clan taught us much, but wow, he HATES icing.

We all enjoyed a good laugh, then moved on to an activity he does enjoy, which was opening presents. The idea of tearing paper and not being told no must be a pretty appealing ideal to a child.

The highlight of the afternoon was actually as everyone was leaving. Left in the house was Mommy, Gramma, Papa, adopted aunt and uncle Andrew and Abby, and Daddy. Little Many REALLY began to walk. Not a step or two then fall, I mean a good 5 to 6 steps to take new toys out of mommy's hands. It was amazing to see/take photos of/video tape. I'm sure it's just the beginning of a new level of crazy in our household, but it was wonderful to have so many great people with us as we witnessed his next major milestone in life. Now that's a birthday present.

Birthday photos here!