Breakfast with my Baby

I have a great job.  There are lots of good things I can tell you about my job, but I want to tell you the best part.  Taking Fridays (and most Tuesdays) to hang with my baby.  By Friday most of the boys (and teachers) have mentally checked out which doesn't lend well to accomplishing college related tasks on Fridays, so I choose to spend this day with Edmund.  One of my favorite parts of any day is having breakfast with him.  He is so happy and easy to please in the morning and it is just flat out, no fail fun to have breakfast with the champ.

I love all three of these pictures because they are the same exact face and these pictures were taken at various times throughout breakfast.  I love this face.

This morning Edmund had blueberry yogurt waffles and a little bit of yogurt on the side while I enjoyed a wonderful glass of milk and some gooey rolls. 

Contrary to what this picture may make you think, he really did enjoy it.  I mean, check out that blueberry goatee.

We also did some painting which he thought was awesome, see two pictures above for proof.

Edmund has also mastered the art of straw drinking with his dinosaur camelbak bottle.  He loves that thing!

And he's a magician. 

White Elephants

One of the neat things about mine (and Cory's job) is that we are often given gifts of appreciation from families for the work we do with their sons.  We have been given some really nice things from gift cards to go out to eat, Cory was given an incredible silk tie from Thailand, I have been given a traditional muslim garment worn during special celebrations, and Edmund has even hit the jackpot a few times.  Gifts are extremely common coming from the families of our international students.  Several times this year a boy has come in and rather shyly said "um, Mrs. Woods, my mother wanted me to give this to you".  I have even had a father awkwardly say "my wife wanted me to give this to you".  I find they are generally very embarrassed and uncomfortable to be giving me whatever is under that wrapping paper.  I have also come to be very nervous for what I am to find inside.  Thus far I have been given cleansing creams, perfumes and other essential items that look very nice, but unfortunately I cannot read what is written on the boxes or bottles.  I have had a few students translate, but they were unsure of their own translations.  All of this is essentially my plea to PLEASE invite me to a white elephant/dirty santa, whatever you call it party next year.  I have the most amazing gifts, that you are guaranteed to enjoy (yes, better than an entire box filled with 50 copies of "More Than a Carpenter"). You can't tell me you don't want to know what is in these bags!

And since this is the real reason you are here, enjoy!

First Christmas

If you know me (and my family) you know we love Christmas.  For my family it has always been just an amazing time together.  Without a doubt some of my best childhood memories are from Christmas-and those memories have nothing to do with gifts given or received, but from the fun we have together.  Like this year, we rented a Party Bus.  This was not just a party bus for the adults either, we had the little kids, the littlest kid (Edmund, minus Jake), and the littlest kids of all, the grandma's on board.  We came on board with our coolers and snacks and toured around Wichita checking out the Christmas lights.  Not being from Wichita you may wonder if they are really that neat in Wichita, Kansas of all places.  Well let me tell you, they are!  For some reasons Wichitians love to decorate their houses two times a year, Halloween and Christmas and they are magical!

The downside of the party bus is that I think Edmund had too much fun and woke up very early the next morning throwing up.  It was the saddest thing, but he is something else, if only I could bounce back like him.  I kid you not, he would throw up one minute and then be smiling, splashing around playing the water the next.  Christmas Eve we spent giving him some extra love as he was on a strict diet of pedialyte until later that evening.  We though we were in the clear until we were getting ready to go upstairs to open presents Christmas morning and he managed to throw up one last time for good measure (as an added bonus he christened in my parents new carpet)!

This picture was taken Christmas Eve and I think at this point in the day he had only had applesauce to eat.  What a trooper.

While the Christmas wasn't filled with all the pictures I was planning on (truthfully none), the wrapping paper being torn up and thrown around it was still a magical time just to see his smiling face and the wonder that filled his eyes when he looked at the ornaments and lights on the trees.  Here are the best pictures I could scrounge up from Christmas (read: picture taking fail)

the closest thing to a Christmas Eve family picture we got...

Every year, *if we are good, the elves come and leave a little gift.  Edmund thought these dancing hats were pretty amazing and has spent countless _______ dancing to them.  They sing a Christmas song to the tune of "shout!"

 Even though he didn't have the same energy Christmas morning I was expecting I still think he found it as magical as an 11 month old can.

Edmund's first horse--we can't wait till it gets here--ponies take a long time to ride halfway across the country.

Baby's first Christmas has come and gone...now onto baby's first birthday!

The Rest of Thanksgiving

Because this is more for my memory than you (sorry) here is the rest of Thanksgiving.

So the first part was spent at the Magic Kingdom.  The second part was at the beach.  While the water was chilly the weather was virtually perfect.  Edmund took some wonderful naps on the beach, I think the sound of the waves aided his sleep.

One of the best parts of the entire trip was being able to introduce Edmund to his great-grandparents.  He loved getting to romp all around their house and play with them and it was so wonderful to get to spend time with them.

As always Edmund loved the pool and especially the turtle

 Bradenton is a neat area and this was out at a nature preserve with a big lookout over the bay.  Edmund climbed all 75+ stairs...needless to say our back hurt when we reached the top.

 He's so big and he uses my chin as a teether!

 One of his favorite things about the beach was playing in various tide pools.  He could take his small steps and splash around, throw sand and he loved it.  In one of the tide pools a four year old boy was willing to share his water with Edmund and it was so much fun to watch them play!  He was so great with Edmund, he let him climb all over him, put sand down his shirt (thanks to his mom for letting him play with Edmund too).

 He loved walking the beach, picking up sand and shells.

Another highlight was hanging with Uncle Jeremy

We also got to update the Woods family photo Thanksgiving night.  We all dressed to the nines in our jeans and white shirts and spent some time taking a myriad of family photos while the sun was setting.  It wasn't to bad of a background.

 With grandma and grandpa

 

Jeremy and Karen with Edmundo

 

Scott and Edmund

 I am afraid to cut his hair.  How could I, look at how awesome it is!

 The best family photo we could get.

'Cause I'm A Jayhawk

One of the parts of Christmas break that we were most excited about was getting to take Edmund to his first KU basketball game at Allen Field House (the GREATEST place to watch a basketball game in the world).   I was so excited all day and it was absolutely wonderful.  We made sure to get there early so that Edmund could get to meet the Jayhawk himself.   At first he wasn't too sure about the big bird and for a while anytime he saw the Jayhawk he wouldn't take his eyes off of them, but he warmed up to him and even gave him a high five!

They are good buds now...

Our seats were great, three rows off the court which didn't impress Edmund too much, but he LOVED being that close to the cheerleaders.  One cheerleader (who I couldn't get a picture of) he flirted with the entire night.  

I can't wait to take Edmund again when he is older and can really understand how cool a basketball game in Allen Field House is.  

Rock Chalk.

11 Months of Love

Edmund is simply spectacular.  Its so crazy to watch him change and grow each and everyday.  As we near his first birthday its just incredible to think about how he's grown and how life has changed for all of us.

Some of the highlights from this last month

• He officially loves to read--we can't go to bed without reading
• He started off loving to read "Pat the Bunny"
• He now loves to read "Pat the Cat" more
• He gives the best open mouth teeth first kisses I've ever had
• He can blow more kisses at you than you can catch (as long as he's in the mood)
• Whenever he hears music he loves to shake his groove thing
• He is pretty good at signing "more" and "all done" during meals
• His bodily composition is 1/4 cheerio and 1/4 sweet potato and I think becoming 1/4 goldfish
• He learned how to stand up without assistance (that was a funny progression to watch)
• Though he may not give too many hugs he gives awesome high fives
• When he does give a hug my heart absolutely melts