New Thing #3

On Tuesday, Peter went to his 18th month appointment. Here are his stats:

24 lbs. 7 oz. - 35th percentile
33 1/2 inches - 50th percentile

This toy is Peter's reward for doing so well at doctors appointments ($4 at Goodwill!). It is unfortunate that his little lawn mower doesn't really work because the kid covers enough ground in the house to mow our entire lawn at least once a day!


The other doctor appointment we went to was for kid-o number two. I had an 11-week appointment on Tuesday that lasted for almost 2.5 hours! By the end of the appointment Peter had eaten 3 fruit snacks, a large bag of grapes, and my lip gloss. Thanks to Peter everything in my purse was slimmed with grape juice by the end, and during the ultrasound we were serenaded with loud music from my cell phone. Definitely a very memorable appointment. Here is kid-o #2, due on February 15th, 2010:

6 weeks - Looking at the dark area in the middle,
the baby is the small blob on the left and the yolk sac
is the larger blob on the right.

8 weeks - The baby's head is on the bottom,
then arm buds above that on either side.

11 weeks - The baby's head is to the right and the arms
are the two small spots in the middle (no longer buds).
During this ultrasound the baby was moving like crazy.

New Thing(s) #2

So just to make moving into a house that much more exciting, Peter decided to treat us to some newly found skills. Since moving, he has learned to:

1) take plug covers off and try plugging anything and everything into the outlets;
2) climb into the bath tub and turn on the water, along with flushing the toilet;
3) and OPEN DOORS!!

He is also very close to unlocking both our front and back doors. We now have to lock our deadbolts, which are thankfully keyed on the inside as well as the outside, so we don't have to worry about him unlocking those until he becomes proficient with the keys. We bought the child proof door knob covers, but so far he has been able to brake the one on the pantry door off twice! I've decided that most child proofing is really just postponing the inevitable.

Here are some cute pictures of the little stinker:

Talkin' on Daddy's cell. Love the hand position!

Concentrating on opening something.

Hanging out in his playhouse.

My Mom, Dad, and sister Marissa at the Battleship Texas with Peter.

Peter and Marissa at the pool.

Marissa, Peter, and Scott at the pool.

He is always snuggling with his bear.

Scott and Peter playing in the sprinklers.

New Thing #1

Things have been a little bit crazy lately, because we just bought a house a few weeks ago. Here it is:


We were suppose to close on the Friday, the 10th of July, but our bank messed something up. So, while I was grocery shopping on Monday (our birthday-July 13th), Scott called me at 11:30 am and said, "um, we are going to close today Rachel." "When?" I asked (actually, I really kind of yelled madly into the phone at Scott while people were staring at me in Walmart-my poor birthday boy). Scott told me he wouldn't know until he got a call from the title company. They called around noon and wanted us to close at 1 pm. Just a bit impossible because I had no one to watch Peter and that was his nap time as well; also, I needed to pick Scott up from work because he takes a vanpool. So, then we compromised for 3 pm.

We ended up having to bring Peter with us. By the end, he was wearing his fudge cookies; also, our wonderful real estate agent helped to keep him happy for the last half. I spent the rest of the day in a daze and apologizing to Scott for getting so angry and yelling at him on his birthday. It was a stressful day, but in the end things turned out. I can honestly say that this is the most expensive birthday present either of us have or will ever receive in our lives.

Well, here is a grand tour of the house:

DOWNSTAIRS

UPSTAIRS

First Haircut

Peter's hair was getting a little bit out of control, so I decided it was time for a haircut. We opted to try it ourselves. Well, that was interesting. I usually cut Scott's hair, but doing Peter's was much more challenging. The hard part was not getting him to hold still (he was actually paralyzed with fear by the clippers). The hard part was scaling down my thinking from a Scott-sized head to a Peter-sized head; it is so much smaller! It turned out okay, but don't look too closely. I was depressed the rest of Saturday and actually contemplated not taking him out in public again until his curls come back. I will never cut his curls off again unless it is at his request; just a trim next time. I actually cried after cutting his hair. I really did not think I would be this sentimental about a silly haircut.

BEFORE

DURING

Started with the shears, but it was taking way too long.


THE TERRIFYING CLIPPERS

This video brakes my heart and makes me
laugh at the same time. The poor kid!


THE DEPRESSED AFTER

THE HAPPY AFTER

Grandma Flamm's Visit & Swimming

We were really excited that we could go see Scott's Mom during her layover in Houston. We went to a Burger King to eat and got some really cute pictures of Kristine and Peter.





We also went swimming again the other day. It has been record hot temperatures here in Houston, so the pool is bathtub temperature. So far this summer we have had hardly any rain. From what I hear from family, I think Idaho and Utah stole it from us.

The Alligator Park

Last weekend we went the "alligator park" (it is really called the Brazos Bend State Park). One of my childhood friends, Seth, is here in Houston for job training, so we invited him to come along. We saw about five alligators very close-up! Seth must have been our good luck charm, because the previous five times we have been, we have never seen more than one and always from quite a distance.

I know it sounds very dangerous but the 25 years that the park has been opened, there have been no injuries or deaths. The park is the swampy floodplains of the Brazos Bend River which is a perfect place for alligators. They generally avoid and are scared of humans. The water is their territory where they feel more comfortable than land. Although, they will come out and sun themselves periodically when the weather is nice-no rain, not too warm or cold. So, as long as you don't swim in their swamps and keep your distance, you will be safe.

Enough of my ramblings, here are some pictures and videos we took.

This is called a Banana Spider. During the very wet part of the year, they build HUGE webs EVERYWHERE. It comes to the point where the trails are impassable because of their webs. They are not poisonous by the way. (This is for you Melissa!)

Peter slept for a good portion of our visit, so we did not have to worry about him trying to swim out to meet the alligators. I'm serious when I say this, he really would.

We were only one or two feet from this alligator--protected by a fenced-in wood platform. He just happened to swim underneath the platform while we were on it.

This is the largest alligator we have ever seen at the park. This alligator also provided more action than any other one we have seen. Generally you will just see them lazily swimming or sunning themselves. The people before us, saw him thrashing the deer back and forth in the air. SO COOL!

This alligator posed very well for us.

Two facts that I thought were interesting about alligators:
#1 Temperature of the eggs during incubation determines the gender of the alligator.
#2 I don't remember the exact stats, but only about 1 in 6 alligators survive from hatching to adulthood. Most get eaten by other alligators and creatures.

Family Resemblance

The past little while we have been getting things ready for hurricane season like our 72-hour kit and organizing computers files so we can back them up. As I was going through our pictures, I found some childhood pictures of Scott and the resemblance to Peter is amazing!

Scott's newborn picture.

Peter's newborn picture.

Three Brothers: Scott (the one with curly hair), Jason, & Stephen.

Doug, Kristine, Jason, Stephen, & Scott.
Scott was probably 3 in this picture.

My little boy.