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Scarf

This little scarf actually belongs to a teddy bear, but it fits Toby perfectly. He found it yesterday and put it around his neck by himself, he keeps wearing it around the house. Cute stuff!

Happy 1st Toby!

It finally happened--Toby turned one!! We actually survived (all three of us) the first 365 days of parenthood! We had a small family party and had fun celebrating our little guy.


daddy and mommy made the cakes.


Why are you making me wear this hat??


I like my little cow on wheels and my cowboy vest!


ohhh....sugar!!!

Countdown

Well, we can begin the countdown to Toby's first birthday--which is unbelievable to me! That's right, he'll be turning one in less than a month. I remember the first few weeks of being a new mom, feeling quite overwhelmed, and thinking it's going to take forever to get to his first birthday. But once the shock subsides, and you get into the groove of the whole parenting thing, time starts flying by!

Toby is on the move, and is walking very well. He walks all day long around the house, and seems to only rest for meals and nap times. Here's some recent pics of our little guy. We just love him to pieces!


Toby taking driving lessons--he was thrilled to be in the driver's seat.


Toby looking at his books. He actually brings us books to read to him now--very fun.


Helping mommy unload the grocery bags.


Wearing one of daddy's outfits from 1980. Andrew actually wore this outfit on his 1st b-day.

Visiting Bee

My mom, Toby, and I went to Phoenix last week to visit Toby's Aunt Christina and Cousin Bethany (Bee). It was pretty weird to experience Halloween in 85 degree weather, but that's Phoenix! It was good to finally meet little bee in person - she was so little compared to Toby, and so adorable. I'm happy to announce that Christina, Stephen and Bethany are moving back to Portland next month! Now we won't miss out on little Bee growing up! :-)

New Shoes and First Steps!

Maybe it was the new shoes we bought him yesterday, maybe it was the bite of sweedish meatball last night at Ikea....who knows, but he took his first steps today!!!

Soon after Andrew got home tonight, he stood Toby up in the living room and Toby took one step towards him! I was in the kitchen working on dinner, so I quickly grabbed my camera to try to get something on tape. The first video is technically of his second steps, and I went a little crazy (you might want to turn the volume down on your computer), as you'll see, Toby got a little scared from all our excitement.

I believe our world is about to change...

Fun at the Park

Toby is getting big enough to try out some of the playground equipment (with help from dad of course). I think he liked the swing best of all, but he sure looked cute on the little rocking whale.

Can you clap?

Couple of Goofballs!

The title says it all. Looks like they were a little bored on a Saturday morning.

Our Pumpkin

We found this little guy in the middle of the pumpkin patch and decided to take him home. :-) What a beautiful Fall weekend to take Toby on his first Pumpkin Patch outing. There were lots of farm animals to see, including the goat below, who jumped up to say hello to Toby. It'll be a lot of fun next year when he can walk around and pick out his own pumpkin.

Walker Toby Ranger

You don't need to be 88 to use this handy gadget! Here's Toby borrowing his Great-Grandma's walker, to practice, you know...walking!



Thanks for the video dad and mom--hilarious!

Squeaky Door

Who knew a squeaky door could be so entertaining! This went on for about five minutes straight. Where's the WD-40?

(sorry it's sideways)

Circa 1979

Toby took a trip back to the 70's today, and wore his dad's outfit from 1979. So cute...and it fits perfect! Also, if you can't tell, he's standing up by himself--for a few seconds--with no support. He just started doing this the last couple days.

T.P.

Today while doing odds and ends around the house, I realized that it was suddenly quiet. That means I should probably go find Toby. I found him in the bathroom (someone forgot to shut the door) where he discovered, for the first time, toilet paper. Being a first time mom I happen to find these moments adorable, so of course I had to grab the camera. It was all cute until he decided to eat it!

On another note, Toby is now 9 months old and had his 9 month check up yesterday. He weighed in at 19# 3oz and is 28 inches long. I actually thought he was closer to 25#! He's in the 25th-30th percentile for weight and the 40th percentile for height.

I am so happy it's September, that means Fall is right around the corner! Pumpkins and Apple Cider are coming soon!

Standing and Bruises

Toby is standing and discovering new things everyday. This has resulted in a lot of fun for him, but also some bumps and bruises. He's a little fearless, and will let go too soon, or try to grab something a little too far out of reach, and then there he goes....smack! Of course, baby's heads are heavy, so that's the first thing to hit the ground. He kept falling in the same spot, and got a lovely bruise on his forehead. I'm sure this is the first of many bruises to come his way.



Toby recently discovered the front door, which has a large glass window. He enjoys pulling himself up and looking out at the front yard. I often find him there just talking and laughing to himself. He also likes when daddy comes up and says hello.



A few days ago he found the washer machine. I had just put a load of laundry in and he stood up and watched it go round and round.



Another favorite spot is the fireplace. We don't use the fireplace, but hope to someday add a gas insert.



I didn't get a picture, but this morning he was standing up at the toilet playing with the handle. Oh joy. :-)

Homemade Pizza

Last week my parents gave us some fresh veggies from their garden--which included, tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, and onions. I've been wanting to try a pizza crust recipe I found on this blog, so I decided to put the two together and make a homemade veggie pizza. The crust was actually very easy to make, and the fresh veggie toppings were delicious! Andrew said this was a winner! :-)

Cousins

We visited Cousin Taylor recently and got a picture of them together. Toby is 6 months older and 10+ lbs. bigger! What a couple of cuties.

Eight Months...and Standing!!

Today Toby is eight months old and having more fun than ever. Toby is crawling everywhere and enjoys exploring the house...I on the other hand am constantly on the lookout for disasters. Why is it that he immediately found the outlet plugs and tried to pull them out?

Why is he attracted to any and all power cords? Why does he navigate towards our shoes and want to suck on them?? I can't turn my head for too long. He hasn't noticed drawers or cupboards yet...but I'd better get ready. His third tooth is popping in through his top gums, and he's babbling and laughing all the time. We are hearing mama and dada a lot more which is so sweet. :-)

He graduated out of the baby bathtub into the regular tub. He was trying to flip himself out of the baby tub and was really just too big for it. The newest milestone is that Toby is learning to pull himself up into the standing position!! Last weekend he crawled over to his toy box and pulled himself up, and yesterday I found him standing in his crib after nap time! Time to lower the matress! So many changes, so much fun, and so much joy!!


Toby taking a bath in the big tub.


Crawled right under the exersaucer. He got himself in, but didn't know how to get out!


This is how I found him after his nap yesterday. He stayed standing while I ran to get the camera. As you can see he was pretty proud of himself.


Standing to see what's in his toy box.

Trip to SoCal

Last week we took a trip to Southern California to visit Toby's Great Grandma (Mommy Mae), Aunt Karen, Uncle Dale, and Cousins Beth and Sam. We had a fantastic time and it was so good to see everyone. The three of us stayed at Beth and Sam's house and they were such wonderful hosts! They took very good care of us. :-)

This was Toby's first airplane trip and overall he did great. I think it was hard for him to have to stay in one place and play with the same toys over and over. But as is often the case, the toy that found his favor the most was an unassuming...plastic cup.



We took Toby to the pool for his first swim. He was okay as long as mom or dad were holding him. He looked adorable in his hat and swim trunks.


We went to Grauman's Chinese Theater with Beth and Sam to see Harry Potter in the D-Box. Our seats moved with the action in the movie--it was a lot of fun!

Toby and his Great Grandma-Mommy Mae.

Group Photo!

Toby fell asleep on the way home about 10 minutes before we landed. How precious.