Another New Toy

Grandma gave Perryn this "ride and stride" lion. It can be configured as something to hang on to and walk with or to ride on. Here he's checking out the lion's face with Grandma. It makes noise when you push it's nose. (I'm not sure why we want to teach the baby to hit a lion on it's nose, but whatever - lol).

From Perryn - December 2008

A picture of him riding it with Uncle Mike's help:

From Perryn - December 2008

Playing in the Exersaucer

Here's a photo of Perryn playing in his exersaucer, which he still enjoys, but is quickly outgrowing.

From Perryn - December 2008

Picture of the Day

From Perryn - December 2008

Perryn and Grandma C

Grandma C and Uncle Mike were visiting from Christmas to New Year's. Here's a pic of Grandma and Perryn.

From Perryn - December 2008

New Toys

As you might guess Perryn had just a few gifts under the tree this year. This is a picture of him playing with one of the new toys that is keeping him entertained these days. It's an activity table that he can stand up at and play with various buttons and things on top of it.

From Perryn - December 2008

January - wow

Well, made it through the holidays and can't believe it's January already. I managed to get quite a few things knocked off my to do list while I was on vacation. I'm back to work today since it's now January and I didn't want to use any 2009 vacation quite yet. It's a little bit of a slow day though since there are lots of people on vacation. So, I've found myself surfing the web for information on our upcoming cruise. We leave next Sunday (1/11) and I'm getting so excited. I've been looking up information on the ports of call today - we're going to Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Costa Maya, Mexico.

The good news is the weather forecasts are looking good so far. It should be around 60 when we depart Galveston on Sunday and although the forecasts aren't far enough out to look at the details for the ports, it appears that they are hovering around 80 degrees most days.

Costa Maya was hit by hurricane Dean in 2007 and just recently opened back up to cruise passengers (November I think), so I'm not sure what to expect there. I've seen some mixed information on the boards I've been combing through. They seem to have been hit very hard and since they were 13-14 months without tourism revenue, things are not ideal. This is a port that was specifically built for cruise passengers, so this has been quite devastating. The good news for them is the cruise lines are forking over a lot of money to rebuild. However, I've read prices have gone up considerably in the closest town to the pier and the locals are so desperate to start making money again they are relentless with their selling tactics. Gary and I are not ones to just walk around and "shop" though so I don't think that will be a problem for us. We have an excursion booked in the morning to "discover scuba diving". We'll have the afternoon to explore if we want, but it could be just as nice to stay on the ship when everyone else is off exploring. We'll see.

I'm also excited to finally get to go on the Voyager of the Seas. I've wanted to cruise on it since I took my first cruise. At that time it was sailing out of Florida and has just recently relocated to Galveston (for part of the year). So, I'm excited about that as well. There are certainly bigger ships these days, but she's pretty big and has some things that older ships don't have. It should be fun.

9 Month Photos

This seems to be one of the favorite photos from the 9 month session (of the people who have seen them). Perryn wasn't very smiley again this time, but he managed a small one in this photo. This was taken on 12/22. I had a heck of a time getting those shoes on his feet. They didn't seem like they were too small, but just really hard to get on with a baby that doesn't know what a shoe even is. I almost gave up, but got them on just in the knick of time. Suffice it to say, they will only be worn this one time.

From Perryn Studio Photos

Picture of the Day

From Perryn - December 2008

Merry Christmas

Here's a few photos from our Christmas

From Perryn - December 2008

From Perryn - December 2008

From Perryn - December 2008

From Perryn - December 2008

Perryn and Santa

Merry Christmas everyone!

This is a photo we snapped last weekend at a restaurant. Santa and Mrs. Claus were walking around visiting the kids.

From Perryn - December 2008

A Little Smirk

From Perryn - December 2008

"I'd like out please"

From Perryn - December 2008

Grandma B and Perryn

From Perryn - December 2008

Busy, Busy

Well, it has been crazy busy both at work and at home lately. Getting ready for Christmas is always a busy time and we've also been doing some projects like baby proofing. We now have gates up to close in the living room and keep the little guy out of danger (or at least narrow down the possibilities).

We had some stonework done around flower beds outside a couple weeks ago and although they pretty much look *nothing* like what we requested, I do kind of like them. I'll have to take a photo and post it. It was also less expensive than I expected, so I guess overall I'm happy.

We knocked one big "to do" item off of our list last night. We booked a cruise a while back and have been meaning to get on the website and choose some shore excursions for the ports. We did that last night and I'm pleased to say that we are going to be doing some snorkeling, ATV riding, kayaking and even doing a "discover scuba" excursion. Can't wait!

Now, if I can just finish my xmas shopping...

New Cars

Perryn playing with some new cars. Forgive his "bad hair day" LOL.

From Perryn - November 2008

Brrrr

So, I get to work today and as soon as I login to our instant message system one of my co-workers IM's me that it is -12 degrees in Fargo and -39 wind chill.

I'm sorry for all you folks up there. :-) BRRRRR.

It's cold here today also. It was 74 yesterday with a strong wind coming from the south (bringing in the warm air) and today is 29. How about that temperature change? Wasn't expecting that when I got dressed this morning - lol.

Picture of the Day

From Perryn - November 2008

"I Want the Remote"

Perryn and Grandpa play with the remote, er... watch TV.

From Perryn - November 2008

And the Next Milestone to Report...

We're pretty excited about this one... he holds his own bottle. Very convenient at breakfast when we are busy trying to get to work. :-)

From Perryn - November 2008

Standing Up

I guess I'm a little behind posting photos. Perryn is now pulling up on the furniture, but hasn't figured out walking (even if we're holding his hands). Here's a pic of Perryn standing at the cofee table with Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa arrived the weekend before Thanksgiving.

From Perryn - November 2008

First Tooth

Yep, that little white speck in Perryn's mouth is his first tooth emerging.

From Perryn - November 2008

Playing with Mommy and Daddy

Some photos of us playing from the weekend.

From Perryn - October 2008

From Perryn - October 2008

Another Fond Memory

Believe it or not, this is another moment that I wanted to capture. We have plenty of pictures of our little guy smiling and happy, but who thinks to take pictures of the whiny moments.

And doesn't Gary look thrilled? :-)

From Perryn - October 2008

Ahhhh

Perryn frequently falls asleep during his last bottle and it's just oh so precious. I wanted to capture the moment because I know it is just one of those things I will miss when he's older.

From Perryn - October 2008

Here's another shot as we were going upstairs to bed

From Perryn - October 2008

Fall Carnival

We took Perryn to the Fall Carnival that the daycare sponsored. Roberta joined us also. This is Perryn and me in the "balloon room". They had different themes/games in each room and a big bounce house outside. We knew there wouldn't be much for babies, (geared towards older kids), but I got the opportunity to use Perryn's costume, so I was happy.

From Perryn - October 2008

Roberta and Perryn

From Perryn - October 2008

The Big Tub

I guess I haven't been very good about posting pictures this month, so I'll try to catch up over the next couple days.

This is a photo we took from Perryn's first bath in the "big" tub. The rubber ducky was a gift from Grandma C. It quacks when you squeeze it's beak. In hindsight, I'd have to say that it does seem like a little bit of a poor design since Perryn can neither see nor squeeze the beak while sitting in it. (I registered for this, so I'm certainly not complaining about Grandma's choice of a gift - LOL). I do still think it's cute and it is handy to have a smaller area than the entire tub, as well as a soft landing when he falls over.

From Perryn - October 2008

Progress with Crawling

Here's a very short video showing the progress Perryn has made at learning to crawl.

Happy Halloween!!

From Perryn - October 2008

Perryn "Creeping"

Here's some video of Perryn creeping. He'll be crawling soon.

This is in 2 parts:

Perryn Playing in Exersaucer

Here's some video of Perryn playing in his exersaucer

Perryn in a "tie"

Here's Perryn in his "dress" onesie that Grandma C gave him. :-)

Picture of the Day

This is Perryn in an outfit that one of my cousins sent (Sharon & Joe).

Playing with Pepere

I'm just a little slow copying some photos from my camera to my PC. Here's one from Pepere's visit.

6 Month Photos

We took Perryn for pictures last Monday and this time we decided to go all out and do family photos. I had fun shopping for coordinating outfits. :-)

This is *my* favorite:

Here's the one of Perryn and me:

You can click on either of the photos to take you to all of the others.

Sitting Up

Here's some video of Perryn sitting up and playing with his puppy rattle.

Picture of the Day

Just a cute photo

Go Patriots

We did a little photo shoot this weekend of Perryn in the outfit that Pepere brought for him. I think this was the best photo of many attempts. :-)

Sitting Up

Perryn is in the process of learning to sit up unassisted. He's getting pretty good at it. This is a photo from the first time that he sat on his own for several minutes at one time. Usually he topples over pretty quickly.

Watching TV

One of the things that surprises me about babies is that a 6 month old can be soooo interested in the TV. It actually started much earlier than 6 months, although I don't recall exactly when. In this photo he's on the play area in the living room which happens to be under the TV. He's trying to lean back far enough to see the TV.

A Trip to the Zoo

Pepere (Gary's dad) visited this weekend and we were lucky enough to have a beautiful day on Sunday, so we decided to take Perryn to the zoo. We really got lucky because Hurricane Ike passed through the area on Saturday and it rained in the afternoon and evening. We originally expected to get rain all weekend, but it came in later than expected and cleared up earlier.

I can say that Perryn enjoyed the zoo, in that it was a nice day to be out and walk around, etc. However, I can't say for sure whether he actually noticed *any* of the animals. It was still fun and we got some nice photos of the experience. Here's a couple shots:

How many monkeys do you see?



Family Photo:



Cute place to pose:

House Photos

I finally took photos of the house now that we've moved in and gotten settled. The only things missing are the exterior and the study. The study is still full of boxes and temporary furniture. :-)

Here's a link

Picture of the Day

Hello, Foot

Perryn has recently discovered his feet. He'll often grab one or both of them and yes, even suck on his toes.

Good Morning

This is a typical "I'm so happy to see you" look that we get when we go get Perryn up in the morning. It just makes my heart melt. :-)

Labor Day

Roberta came over for Labor Day and Gary grilled up some goodies for us. This was the first time Roberta has gotten to swim in the pool. Here's a pic of her with Perryn.

Teething

Perryn has been putting everything he grabs in his month since he figured out how to do so. In this picture he's playing with a rattle by exploring it with his mouth.



I think he might be starting to teethe though because lately he starts crying when he's doing this. I suspect the hard plastic is actually hurting his sore gums. I took this toy away after this photo and gave him something softer to chew on. Of course, he didn't really appreciate my taking it away either, but he quickly forgot about it.