Joshua's 1st Rodeo

We went to the Austin Rodeo this past weekend and got some good pics of Joshua in the petting zoo.  He seemed to enjoy the deer, goats, sheep, and the lamb.  I was a little nervous that one of them would try to take a bite out of him especially after he would try to slap every animal that passed by us.  
We also had fun eating all the fair food like corndogs, fried catfish and taters, fried Oreos, and frozen yogurt.  And no we actually did not have stomach aches though I did feel like we should go the gym every day this week to work it all off.  Joshua did get his first taste of vanilla and chocolate swirl frozen yogurt and he loved it!

Here are some pics of the rodeo:

Betsy - this one's for you:

Joshua's 1st B-day party

We held Joshua's 1st B-day party at my parents house in Dallas on Sat. at 11:00.  We left for Dallas on Friday and were able to relax and visit with my parents and Sunil who flew in that day from Chicago.  We stayed up that evening and decorated for the party.  The theme was St. Patrick's so we had green and white streamers, shamrocks, multicolored balloons (rainbow).

About 50 friends and family were able to attend the party and it was great to catch up with everyone.  I was surprised how many people actually wore green.   Joshua stayed close to me most of the party and wasn't too receptive of being held by other people.  He did enjoy playing with the other kids in the game room. 

The fajitas we catered were pretty good and so were all the sides - salad, enchiladas, rice and beans, chips and salsa.  The dessert bars were to die for - so much so that not many people ate the cake :)
Joshua's cake was a rainbow with shamrocks around it.  Loved how colorful it was.  By the time we cut the cake, Joshua was getting a bit tired.  He finally took a nap after everyone left around 4:00 pm.  Pretty long day for my baby but well worth it.

Joshua is One!!

It's unimaginable that one year ago we were introduced to our little baby.  I can't believe he's gone from 6 pounds 13 oz to almost 21 pounds.  His height is now 29 inches from 17 when he was born. 
We started the day by singing "Happy B-day" which he seemed to enjoy.  I was able to take the day off so after breakfast we headed to the library for his first time at "Toddler Storytime"  Wow!  A toddler!
He jumped up and down for most of the stories and watched all the other kids.  Afterwards, he played with one of their big wooden puzzles.
Lena Auntie came to visit and brought him a Thomas the Train tricycle.  He liked banging on the box more than anything.  
Steve came home early and we took pictures and just had fun playing with his toys.  I got him a little slice of cake and we tried to create the perfect cake on face picture.  However, Joshua was not happy about frosting on his fingers which he tried to get rid of on his shirt and pants.  He then took his anger out on the cake and swiped it off the tray onto the floor. We ran some last minute errands for his party (Party City) and went to the mall and bought his St. Patrick's day shirt and socks. 
Since it doesn't get dark now till 8 he was able to go outside after dinner and play on the playground.
 What a great B-day!! 
The following pics are from his B-day party on Saturday in Dallas.

Fun times

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I've written anything on the blog.  Our lives are going way too fast :)
Joshua has had a lot of fun these past two weeks.  Last weekend we took him to his first storytime at the library - he was more fascinated at all the kids than the actual books that were being read - Ms. Kit did a great job reading and playing the guitar.  He also loved the bubbles she blew on him afterwards.  He then played with some puzzles at the cute little kids table.  If he could talk, he would have told us he didn't want to go home.

A couple of hours later, he was at his first Gymboree class.  This is where we realized how old we were by having to help him across "bridges", "tunnels", and other things that make your back hurt.  At the end of the class, we played parachute with all the kids underneath the parachute as we lifted it up and down.  Ironic, because we play parachute with the old people at my work.

Joshua is still crawling everywhere and following us around everywhere.  He loves to close doors and pull open and close drawers.  He will pull himself to stand wherever he can, including using my legs, in the fridge, the coffee table.  He's also been testing himself by letting go and trying to balance without holding on; that lasts about a second before he lands on his little bottom.

He's making lots more noises and understands certain words like "milk," "outside," and of course "Mommy and Daddy".  I've transitioned him to drink half milk and half formula in his bottle.  We're slowly working on sippy cups but aren't there yet.  He still doesn't have any teeth but he does a good job of gumming foods like Nutrigrain bars, cheese cubes, cookies, baby "Cheetos", bananas, and strawberries.

This past weekend Dave and Siji visited us and we had a great time catching up.  The last time they had seen Joshua was when he was three months old - last June.  Siji, Joshua, and I went shopping at the outlets for a good hour before Joshua needed to take a nap and was promptly taken to Grandma's.  Steve, Dave and Grandpa went golfing for 18 holes while we finished our shopping.  We then had a fabulous dinner at Fonda San Miguel and returned to pick Joshua up around 9. 

Sunday was filled with church, basketball, and wings.  Joshua still has a little stranger anxiety that he better get over by his B-day party next weekend.  Auntie Siji definitely got more love than Unca Dave!