Sunday, July 25, 2010

First Birthday

One of the reasons we stayed in the beach area was so that we could attend Knoxie's first birthday party which was 2 days after we dropped him off at his house. It worked out beautifully for us to get a short rest at the beach and then head home after the party.

Regan cleverly posted each month's picture of Knox's first year on a banner to decorate the place they rented for his party.
the cake was so cute with all Knox's colors!
Knox was a bit overwhelmed by ALL the cousins he had there to honor him but the adults had fun watching all the kids and of course seeing those little one year old hands dig into his first taste of cake
We got to see all of Regan's family at the party plus 2 little girls that are near and dear to my heart:)(and their mama and daddy too")
it would not be right not to include a few lollipop pictures would it? :)

Aunt Breezy gets a few moments with the birthday boy!
It tickles us to no end that Lily Kate is smitten with her Pops. She spent more time with him than anyone at the party :) I think she is his favorite redheaded girl!
the proud birthday boy's daddy with the 2 redheads!

Well, that is all the blogging from me for a week (I think 4 in one night is enough)! I have a fun week ahead again with more grandchildren, this time it will be 2 of the Downes granddaughters, the big girls as they call themselves! My summer is only half finished with grandchildren visits. When you have 11, it takes 3 months to see them all :) and include special times with each one. I would not trade it for the world.

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Beach time

After we dropped Knoxie off at his house we headed down the highway to the beach where we rested up from our babysitting and had such a nice time despite the oil spill and all. We found it not to be so bad and even though we did not get in the ocean it was still very relaxing just to sit there and soak up the ocean breeze and to watch the waves. There were lots of people who did get in the water even though there were 2 red flags out and the hotel clerk told everyone as they checked in that they strongly advised against it with the chemicals and all in there. I had fun taking a few pictures to show you that the beach is alive and well despite the news :)
at Sea N' Suds restaurant
surfers in front of our hotel on the day before the storm was to arrive (I am so glad Bonnie changed her mind)
Jack and I up there....(just kidding!)

some adults resolved to playing in the baby pool :( (view from our balcony)
I love the beach! If I can just go there to get a glimpse every now and then, life seems so much lovelier than I thought it was before!

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swimming in the neighborhood

Knox had a really fun time swimming with my neighbors, The Farmers, this past week. Their little girl, Robin, is 2 weeks older than him and they played sweetly together. He LOVED her water table which I would have gotten for his birthday had I not already gotten him something so mommy and daddy if you are reading this, that would be a great purchase considering you have another one on the way too! Knox is a confident water boy! He loves water no matter where it is.Robin's mama told me not to bring him over in anything cute, just a swim diaper, so he could get messy and roam the driveway as he pleased. After 3 boys of her own she knew that the driveway playing ruins the cute clothes so we put both babies in their swim diapers and they had a really fun afternoon together.
I love looking at his little chunky legs too:) and there were no scrapes or falls (whew!)




But he ended up being the only one in the pool at the Farmers and everyone enjoyed watching him!

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End of our week with Knox

Having Knoxie for a week was a special treat and what we all 3 enjoyed the most was our early morning walks. We stopped sometimes to speak to the neighborhood animals but mostly this boy liked moving at a good pace which suited Lolli and Pops fine in trying to keep our exercise schedule up at the same time.



There was no where we went that someone did not stop us to look at such a pretty baby!
Knox and I had a big time shopping in Publix and he was most impressed with the new grocery buggy and also his pre-birthday balloon I bought him!
One afternoon I dressed him up in one of his daddy's outfits that he wore at this same age and took him to see a few of my sweet friends in an assisted living home that I visit monthly. You can see in this picture he is just about ready to take off walking. I was kind of glad he did not while I had him since I know how important it is for the parents to see their baby walk for the first time.
This lady, Miss Ann Barr, served in World War II in the Womans's Army Corp helping decipher coded messages and relaying secret information for the Allied Forces in Italy and North Africa. She has had a most interesting life after the war working for the Alabama Extension Service and working in 4H programs wich now includes her being on the Alabama 4-H Wall of Fame. She was so excited for Knoxie to sit on her walker, which he loved!!! I knew she would get a kick out of his outfit too since the sailor look was a big deal back then and oh how she marveled at Knox's hair and smile as well :)
But he would have nothing to do with sitting in her lap or anyone elses on this visit and as you can see not even the lollipop she gave him would bribe him to her lap. My friend, Lisa, was also visiting Miss Barr and she was great interacting with Knox!
While he was with Lolli and Pops there was no problem going from lap to lap :)
And there you have it, Knox in a box!
Our week came to a halt sooner than we could count and the trip home was good with a few moments looking in Lolli's cosmetic mirror. I think he likes what he sees! I sure do :)
Knoxie boy we shall miss our time with you and look forward to future visits together! I am so thankful your mommy trusts me to have you and loans you out on occasion. And I am quite sure that during the next visit you will be walking all over the place :)

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Sunday, July 18, 2010

Knock Knock-whose there?

Knoxie is here and we have been so very busy for the last several days.
We have taken advantage of the weather in the early mornings and spent as much time outside as possible before the heat or rain comes which have been a lot of both lately.
we start out drinking coffee and formula together on the porch, crawl around getting a dirty face and body, then eat a little breakast and then we are off to a good morning walk.
He loves the walk. Never needs his paci during this time and notices every sound there is. He is definetly all boy :). His head turns to watch every car and truck go by and he follows them til they are out of site.
we get bathed and then nap our best nap in the morning and afterwards we go visiting or play around the house. We have even jumped on the neighborhood trampoline and played in a friend's sandbox but no time for pictures in those places. This guy is all over the place and there is no leaving him alone for even one second. He has only begun exploring his world and ...

..he is babbling all the while he is opening all my cabinets...
...so I told him we needed to do something productive and if he was going to carry his lovee stuffed hippo around on my floors we need to clean them and he said "say whatttt???"
I handed Knoxie a mop and said this is what you have to do at Lolli's to earn a lollipop.
He said "give me that thing NOW" and he went to town.

He loved the new chore and I think his very first licks at a grape lollipop and then he asked could we do some more mopping tomorrow!

We had one afternoon where the rain was gone and the heat was not too bad so we played in the yard pool and had a big time.

Sunday morning while everyone else went to church (did not want to risk this boy catching any diseases from the church nursery before his first birthday party next weekend), we headed to the neighborhood pool and got a quick swim in before the rain came in for the day. He is blowing bubbles with his face in the water every chance he gets. He seriously will be swimming at an early age. I think.
It has been a blast playing and caring for this little guy this weekend. We've been ending our days with a little clowning around before bedtime! He likes that almost as much as his first lollipop :)

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Friday, July 16, 2010

Babies, babies, babies

Yesterday I traveled again down I-65 in pouring rain (with Jack driving thankfully) to pick up Knox for a week so the kids can make a little run over to London. My son has a great job that allows him to fly all over the world, meet all kinds of folks and be flexible with his schedule. It was a good time for them to travel with Regan's sister and brother in law and a good time for us to keep "Mr. almost 1 year old" Knoxie!
On our way back to home we stopped in Montgomery to visit some precious babies. One was Barb's granddaughter who was not awake when we first arrived so Knox had the floor to himself enjoying cousin Jennifer and Aunt B.


Then Reese,the little peanut as she is called, woke up and the two 2nd cousins had a big time together.


The babies shared goldfish at the local diner and I am not sure one of them was aware they were sharing. Knox seemed rather full when he left his tip on the counter:)

There was one point when both Reese and Knox decided to play on me and they both wanted Lolli's lollipop necklace. I think Knox was quite surprised to see another baby in Lolli's arms and sooner than he thinks he will be seeing that more often with a sibling of his own on the way in January. But for this week, Knoxie has Lolli and Pops all to himself :) and we plan to make the most out of it.

After some fun play time with our relatives it was time to go see 3 of Sadler's grandchildren who are living with her right now before they get settled in Alabama. They have 3 little ones under the age of 21 months!
Here's Oliver with his 9 month old twins, Charlie and Rebecca. They were born in Budapest and their family has just recently come back to the States to live.
Sadler and I had a big time watching all 4 of these babies at one time. (that's Thomas the big brother in the background)
Knox was completely overwhelmed by them and I think he at first thought I was leaving him in the church nursery.

Thomas who is 21 months old was enjoying a time to himself eatting dinner and was not interested in playing with another baby. Don't blame him one bit :).
After I got Knox settled with seeing that we were not leaving him, he found something that captured his attention and never let go of it. There was a house full of toys but this was the only thing he wanted!
His Daddy would be so proud that it was a nerf play golf club. We had to totally distract him when it was time to leave because he really wanted that toy to go home with us. (I will be on the look out to get that this week for the birthday boy :)

And since there was no nap during all this activity with meeting new babies, look who konked out on the way home to Lolli and Pops house.

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