First Haircut

Holden got his first haircut today at Little Locks in Birdrock (La Jolla). They have these cute little cars that the kids get to sit in to get their haircut; Holden felt like such a big boy. He got a cute little grin on his face a couple of times, and luckily no tears were shed (until we had to leave - they have a toy store in the front - Holden was playing trains with a big boy). He received a little certificate with a lock of his hair. It's official - he's a big kid.

11 Months Old

The biggest news of the month is that Holden is walking!!! He walked across the room for the first time on January 21st. Now, there's no stopping him. He walks around with his arms up by his head (for balance), holding an item, or clapping his hands. It's pretty cute to see him go.

Holden has eight teeth, but refuses to put them to good use with any chunky food. We (I) couldn't wait for the introduction of "real" food; we had no idea he would totally protest! I am really to blame because I continue to feed him baby food when he won't eat the chunky food. I've been told he'll eat what I offer when he's hungry enough, but I have a hard time letting my baby miss a meal so I bring in the back up (baby food). I'm getting to the point where I'm ready to play hardball though. Chicken cubes and green beans or Nothing! We'll see what happens, but Holden may be the only guy you know going to college still eating Earth's Best fruits and veggies.

Feeding him is more challenging, but dressing Holden has gotten a little easier this month. He'll pull an arm or leg through, instead of totally fighting the process. Diaper changes are a tad easier, but I still need like 5 arms most of the time to keep him down and get him closed back up.

Socially, Holden is a little ham. He LOVES to dance anytime music comes on. I've been told he's even rushed in from playing outside at Childcare to boogie to the beat. He enjoys all of his little friends, and has recently started stealing the little girl's pacifiers at Childcare. Even though he's never wanted a pacifier a day in his life, I had to bring one for him so that he wouldn't take the others. Guess what happened once I brought one in for him? Yep, you guessed it, he didn't want one anymore. He loves Childcare so much that he sometimes shakes his head No to me when I go to pick him up. He'll dive back into his teacher's arms, will point outside (to play), and will refuse to come back to me. I've taken him to the park for the past two days after school. See Holden, Mommy is fun too!

He's communicating a little more but not really saying any new words. I really can't explain it, but we know what he's trying to "say" most of the time.

The picture above was taken on Monday, January 22nd. When I picked him up from Childcare, they had gelled his hair into a cute little style. He looked so darling! You may notice his red lip and nose; he got an "Ouch Report" this same day. He was playing outside pushing a little car, got ahead of himself and fell. He recovered quickly and hasn't really seemed fazed by it at all.

Here he is walking along.....

The Cage Comes Down

It was finally time to take the cage down and baby-proof our house. Trey and I waited as long as we possibly could to baby-proof because the task seemed daunting and overwhelming, but Holden was becoming increasingly frustrated while "cooped up" in our little corraled living room area. We quickly learned that we needed him to stay out of the office (lots of cords), the fireplace, and away from our stereo equipment. We broke apart the big gate and were able to block both doorways to the office, the fireplace and the stereo equipment - it worked out perfectly. We also got magnetic locks for the kitchen cabinets. They are the adhesive type, so if we move we can take them with us (a good thing, because they were a pretty penny!). Luckily, they are super strong too. Trey and I are still getting used to having to unlock the cupboards with a magnetic key; you should have seen us getting ready this morning! Holden loves his expanded play area, and to our surprise he's started walking more. First, he walked the perimeter of the house, holding onto all the walls. By the afternoon, he was letting go more often to take steps on his own. He would take about 4 or 5 steps in a row. This afternoon after school (day 2 of no cage), he was walking all over. I would say he's walking about 50% of the time now. He falls a lot but he gets right back up and keeps trying. Toddle, toddle away Holden!

Time to baby-proof!

Wall Walking

Here he goes.....

The Last 2 Weeks in Pictures

Still on Christmas Break from school. We loved having the week after New Year's off. We stayed in our pajamas and played all morning long!

Creative play. Holden pulls all the baskets out and plays under the table.

It's the perfect spot....

...until he gets stuck. In this picture he's gotten himself into a pull-up (his legs are straight out in front of him, legs under that red toy on the table) and he can't let go or he'll fall. Thank goodness for Daddy!

Stroller protests have become more and more frequent. Family walks now include Holden getting out and walking (with help from Dad).

The drawback is it takes a looong time to get anywhere. Holden is distracted by every piece of gravel, leaf, etc.

He loves this bouncing zebra! It has music and makes horse noises. When he's not riding it, he's dancing to the music.

I've been trying for weeks to capture a picture of him taking steps, but it's difficult because our camera has a big delay from the time you push the button to when it actually takes the picture. Here is his one, two step. He just let go of the gate and he takes two steps to get to the couch.

We're back into the grind of working and daycare again. Holden had a fever on Thursday night, so Trey stayed home with him yesterday (1/12). He seems much better today and we are so happy to have a three day weekend. Tomorrow (1/14) is Trey's birthday, so we'll try to do something fun and festive for him.

Happy New Year!

We rang in the New Year at the Sammis home with Hillary & Shane, Michelle & Scott, Mark Wilkinson, Clay (& Steph for a little while), Maria & Mike, Laurie & Alan, and all of our kids. It was fun to hang out with everyone for a low key New Year celebration. Luckily, the house is huge so we all came with Pack-N-Plays to put our little ones down in different bedrooms. By about 8:00 most babies were asleep, and the older kids were running around having the time of their life. The kitchen area was strewn with baby monitors and each couple kept touching base with each other asking, "Have you checked on (insert baby name)?". Gavin (Michelle & Scott's son) woke up around 11:30, and Holden was right behind him waking at about 11:45 soaked from his chest to his knees. I changed his diaper and his clothes, and I knew there was no way I was going to be able to put him back to sleep. I brought him upstairs to ring in the New Year with everyone else. We've celebrated many a New Year at the Sammis'. There is a tradition that we all have to wear a hat; the pool table room upstairs is filled with hundreds of different kinds of hats that Mr. Sammis has collected over the years. We gave Holden a hat and counted down to 2007. We left soon after midnight, and Holden was back to sleep in his own crib before long.

First picture in 2007 - Happy New Year, Holden!

Gavin and Holden are looking to each for help while thinking, "What are we doing here?"

Happy New Year!