The Big 0-1

And so it is, my little son is all growed up. Seems I can recall with ease, the day he threatened to make his appearance while I was at work...which some 31 hours later, turned out to be the happiest day of my life. Amazing how helpless tiny fingers and toes turn into curious fingers attached to loads of personality. There were times I wondered if he would make it to 1. Seriously...this parenting thing is hard work. Bridger is the light of our home and we love him so much! Happy birthday baby boy!! Thanks everyone for coming over and helping Bridger celebrate his big day.

In prep...

For birthday festivities, I made Bridger a race car cake comprised of chocolate cupcakes and other ooey gooey goodies. I also finished his tent, but note that the structure has been reinforced by someone with better engineering foresight than myself. Thus, the sides no longer sag. I also bought him a new/old toy box (not pictured here) which he very much enjoys scuffing the walls with and slamming his fingers in.

Heffalump

It is a friendship forged since the beginning of time. (At least a year ago) And now the boy and his heffalump are inseparable. Sure Heff has seen better days, but he has also seen Bridger though all his first happy, sad, sick and sleepy days. Heff is the first thing Bridger anxiously snugs when he goes to bed and the first thing to get thrown across the room early Sunday morning, to alert mom and dad that it's time to get out of bed. Although Heff will see more days in the washer than any heffalump should, he is a valued member of this household and this little boy's very best buddy.

Life After Tubes

All I know is, I'm kicking myself for not having done it 6 months ago. Same day, after some tears and long naps, Bridger was a different baby. Suddenly, he started acknowledging me when I spoke and enjoying the toys that talk and make noise. All those times I thought he was just being an obstinate poo, he probably just couldn't hear me through the raging infection in his ears. My only regret is that I can't sneak up behind him and scare the pants off him anymore. :) He's sick again, wouldn't you know it? But even sick, he's still happier than I've seen him when he was "well". It's all smiles all the time around here. Hoooorah!!!

It's baby boy's first birthday this Saturday. Last weekend he went shopping with mom to help pick out the materials to make his play tent.

So, this is a project in the making. I put it all together last night and was pleasantly surprised when he crawled in and out of the tent laughing and screaming. Just need to do some tweaking to reinforce the structure for this little monkey. Stay tuned for the final product....

Tubular!

We're going to the mattresses in defense against any and all future ear infections! If my calculations are correct, Bridger has had between 6 and 8 known ear infections in his short 11 month life, leaving ma and pa completely exhausted and begging to know what could be done. Alas, he is scheduled for tubes January 11th. The trick will be keeping him well long enough to get the procedure done, since we have only been lucky enough to witness one, MAYBE two consecutive weeks without illness. I can't think of a better way to kick off the new year, than with the hope of a brighter and healthier 2012. Keep your fingers crossed.

Festivus

We hosted the Gerber festivus this year at our house. Having a finished basement was such a benefit for fitting an additional 30 people.

Aunt Nae bought Bridger some new big boy jammies and this football, with which you can see, he was truly smitten. Unfortunately, said football is now a supervised toy, as Bridger has ingested nearly a quarter of it.

Santa left us all some loot this year under our 3/4 decorated Christmas tree. Silly little curious fingers.

Opening some gifts. Bridger didn't really care two shakes about any of his presents, because most of them weren't foamy and couldn't be eaten. He did love the packaging though, and mama scored big with some new books to read him.

Back when it was sunny

About four or five months ago, Kelly and Larry played a two man scramble at Wasatch Mountain State Park. Not entirely sure how they placed, but the picture made me yearn for a nice warm summer breeze.