Fun times and Holidays

I am super behind on posts, so this is going to be one big one with lots of random pictures. I started this one way back when, and only finishing it now in 2009!

The day after your birthday we went hiking to Stone peak mountain near Cuyamaca Lake. We tried out your backpack for the 2nd time. You liked it in there for the most part. You especially enjoy it when you get bounced up and down... when daddy is running, a bit hard to run to the top of the mountain though. We also went to your first IMAX movie at Balboa Park with baby Kingston. This month has definitely been the busiest of all. I have a feeling it's going to be the case every December considering all of our birthdays are this month and the holidays.

Ready to go!

All the way at the top

Really pretty views

a stroll through Balboa park

Holding hands with Kingston at the movies? Gotta keep an eye on you two!

Cousin Sarah came to visit from Florida for daddy's surprise 30th birthday party which we were able to pull off brilliantly. Jeromey had no idea, and I was able to surprise him at Rock Bottom in La Jolla with a bunch of our friends waiting for us to arrive. He thought we were going to a friends Xmas party. :) It was definitely a night to remember. Here is your Birthday Slide Show.

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Hanging out with Sarah

Enjoying a La Jolla Sunset together

Enjoying a Bike Ride along the Coronado sidewalk

You seem content, although there was some fussing for some reason, may be it was the cold wind or the sun in your face...

Christmas Eve, grandpa Dave came over to spend some time with us. Christmas day was spent with Jeromey's mom, Amber & Zac. We went downstairs to open gifts and we helped you open yours. The one gift I was excited about that I got for you was a Ball Popper. The reason I thought you'd like it is because you were playing with another toy that required you to pick up balls and put them in the hole and then watch them fall through little obstacles and come out. Once you pushed the ball in, you were so proud of yourself you would rock back and forth and sometimes almost try to clap. So I thought Ball Popper would be a lot of fun. Well I was wrong. We put in the batteries and turned it on, and you started crying immediately... it was really sad. You got so scared of it, as soon as you heard the noise (may be it was too loud) and then music came on, it was over, you were screaming, turned all red. So we put the toy in the corner and left it alone. Another time we tried to pull it out and just at the sign of it, your face would change.
Then a few days later we tried the toy again, but this time we sat you further away, you made a few wining noises, but you didn't really get as upset as before. Then the next time we sat you down in our lap and turned it on again, slowly but surely you warmed up to the toy and started to get interested in it, even trying to grab the balls as they were coming out. Now you turn the toy on yourself. Go figure, you like the toy after all... it just took a while for you to warm up to it.

opening gifts

the only box you were actually interested in opening

Not the reaction we expected to the Ball Popper toy... poor baby got so scared of it!
Huge tears came rolling down your face, I promise we turned it right off!

The other super cute thing you're doing now is dancing, and pushing buttons. You love buttons in general, you always notice them on our clothes, but you also love toys with buttons and most of them start playing a song once pushed and if you're sitting down you start to rock and do a little dance, and if you're standing up then your little bum starts moving back and forth with a huge smile on your face... it is the cutest little thing! Also We got you this Lion toy that starts playing music when it's touched and at first you had such a funny reaction to it. You smile super big, let out a squeal and then you start dancing to it. I hope I caught it on video. Ok I am sure I have forgotten a few other things, but I better wrap up this post.