President "BaBaMa"

Today the 44th President of the United States of America was sworn into office. No mater your party, no matter your race, no matter your religion, Barack H. Obama is the God ordained leader of our country. You cast your vote but now it is time to stand behind, support and pray for our leader and our country.

Payton was very excited by all the fanfare on the TV today. He loves music, parades and action. It was the cutest thing to listen to him sing along with Aretha Franklin as she sang the National Anthem. In the picture below he was pointing and saying "BaBaMa".

Payton's Papa remembers a time when there where 2 separate water fountains, 2 laundry mats, one with a sign in the window that read "whites only", people of color in the balcony of the movie theater and whites in the lower level, the color of your skin determining your seat on the bus or your place in line. I thank God that Payton won't remember things like that! He can look back at these pictures and remember that the first African American President was elected in his lifetime and wonder why we all thought that was so amazing.

Poor guy couldn't stay awake for the after party. He did manage to catch the performance by Sting and Stevie Wonder, which he quite enjoyed!

OUTSIDE!!

OUT Mama! This child is obsessed with the outdoors. He always wants to be outside no matter the weather no matter the activity. He thinks that having either sunglasses or a hat on increases his odds of getting to go out. This day he refused to take his hat off even for dinner to hold onto that small chance he would be set free. With Payton's holiday money from his Nana and Aunt Jenn we set off to buy him a play set/slide for outside. We were out of luck because most kids don't play outside in the cold apparently. None of the stores have them in stock until the spring. The very next day we notice one of the neighbors had set this play set out at the curb with their garbage. One man's junk is another man's treasure! All is needed was a wash down and some duct tape. You can imagine Payton's surprise when he woke up from his nap and went outside (of course) to find his new toy! He loves to pretend with this steering wheel and throw stuff out the window. Of course, like any boy he climbs up the slide instead of the stairs.





His Granny and Papa gave him this wheelbarrow and tools. He really thinks he is doing some big time yard work hauling stuff around and digging with his shovel.

Holiday Update

Well, this was the picture that made the final cut for the Holiday card this year. There were no pickles, screaming, crazy faces, eyes closed or back of heads. Yay! I think he's pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. Definitely festive and who cares if there is drool on his shirt!

One of Payton's gifts from Granny and Papa was a tool set. This included a drill seen at the bottom of the picture above. Thankfully it also included safety goggles!

Payton is lucky enough to celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas. Every night about 8:00 his internal present opening alarm would go off. He would remind us that it was time for the "lights" and to open a present. He would help light the candles and would get to open one of his presents. After a few nights of this he was quite the pro at tearing into gifts.

Holiday photo shoot- take 1... take 2... take 3.......

O.K. people, Trying to get a decent picture of a toddler can be challenging under the best of circumstances.Taking them of a toddler with a cold and with a point and shoot camera with a delay is even worse. I won't even talk about trying to add the dogs into the picture. It has been our mission over here for the last several days to get just one good shot. I was just about ready to give up when even hours of editing and head swapping with photo shop could not produce a usable print. We decided to forgo the group shot and take individual pictures instead . That made it a little easier. After the 3rd try I think I finally got the shot. You'll have to wait to see that one though. Below I have included the "best of the worst". I know those of you with little ones will identify at the least. You should get a kick out of these.



This one above is my favorite!

Notice the pickle in the shot above. This day he would not sit still without a pickle.
I somehow thought the tie painted on his shirt and the silk scarves tied around the dogs would make these a bit more formal and sophisticated. How wrong I was. In the shot I took after this one he was picking his nose.

1st Dentist appointment

Today was Payton's first trip to the dentist. It just so happened that he was my (and my brother's) childhood dentist. I was very glad to find out that he was still practicing. They actually had to kick me out when I was 19 and did not fit in the chairs anymore.

We prepared him as much as possible and practiced saying "Ahhhhhhhh". Things go a lot smoother with Payton if he has adequate information and preparation.
I would say it went really well. I don't think you could expect any 1 year old to be thrilled with a dental exam but he did great. He got to sit in my lap while the Doc checked out his chompers. He cried but as soon as it was over he gave Dr. Doss a high five and clapped for himself. He has 6 teeth on the top and 2 teeth on the bottom. A little unusual but normal. The official report was "No cavities"! He is good about letting us brush his teeth and thinks it's really funny when we get to spit afterwards.
How do we celebrate having no cavities?...
Chocolate cupcakes of course!!! Which, by the way, Payton helped me make a few days earlier.

Bubbles & Giggles

We had the best time the other day blowing bubbles! Payton loves them but what he really loves the most about it is watching the dogs try to eat the bubbles. He will laugh and laugh until there is no more sound coming out. Of course when you hear a baby laugh like that it is impossible to keep from joining in yourself. Hope you all have fun watching this video clip of our bubble time.

"ALL ABOARD!" chuga chuga choo choo.......

We decided to take advantage of this beautiful day and go for a train ride with Payton!This was his first time on the Trinity Miniature Railroad. It is a 40 minute ride that runs along the Trinity river, through the park and around the duck pond.
Payton was ready to go wearing his uncle Wesley's train conductor cap that he wore as a little boy. He received several compliments on that hat today.
He loves to be outside so this activity was right up his alley. There were so many things to see... turtles, birds, squirrels, water falls, trees and ducks.
The train stops at a little depot to let you stretch your legs and get some snacks half way through the ride. He walked along the river with his dad and played in the leaves. He lost his shoe and we didn't realize it until the train was already leaving. We had to drive back to the park to search for it after the ride. Luckily it was laying right by a tree and not buried in the leaves.