Happy Little Family of Three

Thought I would just take some time this morning to give an update of our lives right now (when T.J. is sleeping, I take advantage of it!).  Warning: This post will be full of "mommy bragginess", so if you don't want to have to hear all of that, please exit stage left.

T.J. is at such a cute stage right now.  He is talking up a storm, mimicking everything we say, pulling up like crazy, moving along furniture to get to things, still crawling like it is going out of style, and standing on his own for a few seconds at a time.  Will he be walking by his first birthday?  Who knows!  I believe I walked by my first birthday, but Travis was a later bloomer on that so T.J. could go either way.  The great thing is knowing that he is progressing beautifully and growing up well.  More than anything, T.J. is a social butterfly.  He waves on a visual cue or verbal cue ("bye-bye"), claps when told to and when he gets into the rhythm of the music, and occasionally will lift his hands in the air when we say, "Praise the Lord!"  =]  He smiles at people and sings with us and just generally brings joy to people all around him.  Everything about him is my "favorite", but I would like to point out a few that might bring a smile to your face:

1. He is obsessed with Travis.  Oh. my. goodness.  When Daddy walks through that door after work, I might as well be a dirty sock lying on the floor (...well... no, I take that back... he probably would be interested in a dirty sock- gross.).  He crawls over to Trav while he waits at the door.  But this isn't just any crawling- no no!!- he puts his head down so he achieves a better wind-stream as he plows toward the front door to get to his dad.  Daddy makes him laugh and smile, and... and... where is that noise coming from?  What is that higher pitch???  Who is here????  Ohhhh!  No worries, it was just the "keeper of the boobs" talking... IGNORE!

Don't worry, though.  I love every minute of being ignored when Daddy is home- I love to see their special bond.  =]

2. T.J. will now snuggle so hard!  Oh my goodness!  He will wrap his tiny arms around our necks and bury himself into us.  Of course, sometimes this involves biting.  But don't worry, after he has cried a few times, we realize we cannot bite him so hard.

Okay, okay, before you call child services, I will say that obviously he is the one biting- derrr.  We promptly stop him from that out of well... pain.

Just the other day "our song" came on Pandora- "You'll be in My Heart" by Phil Collins from Disney's Tarzan- and he just lit up and started kicking his legs.  Thus, I began dancing with him (as I often do- it is like a dance party up in here most of the time, FYI.  Yes, it is embarrassing... yes, I sense your judgement... stop... okay fine, just judge- it is kind of weird.).  When we started dancing, he just put his arms around my neck and squeezed tightly!  So. sweet.  My heart pretty much melted (which, if you consider, is actually terrifyingly gross sounding).

3. So you know how I said that T.J. will occasionally lift his hands when we say "Praise the Lord!"?  Why am I asking you?  You can't respond.

Anyway, so on Sunday, my mom, dad, and I all had him doing that throughout the day.  He got so used to it that it became second nature.  Well, at one point we were in the car and Mom was telling Lindsey about it.  T.J. was already asleep in his car seat by this point, but, I kid you not, when my mom told my sister about it on the phone and said, "We say, 'Praise the Lord!' and yadda yadda yadda...", T.J. (IN HIS SLEEP) raised his arms instantly!  I nearly died.  Too funny- we had the poor kid so trained that he literally could do it in his sleep.

All right, well I told you I would update you on "our lives", so I guess that involves Travis and me- the boring ones of the family.  I will make this short.  We are fine.

HA!  Just kidding!  I got more for ya!  We are doing very well.  Travis is still working at Morgan Stanley, and I am still a stay-at-home momma!  I just recently got back from Tennessee where I got to enjoy the lovely crisp, cool mountain air while helping my parents decorate for Christmas (and by helping them decorate, I mean keeping T.J. from eating the garland and wreaking havoc the whole time).  Travis is still singing in a barbershop quartet and chorus and has been performing in a few gigs recently.  It is so nice to know that he can still pursue his passion for singing despite being "grown up" and in the real world.  He sings beautifully, and I don't want that to go to waste!  =]  Although, as much as I love listening to him sing barbershop and Broadway songs, etc., I think the time his voice is most beautiful to me is when he is singing lullabies to our son.  Okay, okay, I know I am corny... blah blah... ::vom::, etc., but it is true!  And if you know Travis and me at all, you know that our whole life together has been extremely corny- theatrically corny.

Anywho, so things are going fine for us!  We still are a one car family as of now, and we are still living in a two bedroom condo as of now- both blessings from the Lord!  And we are still happy- a happy little family of three!  =] 

Erica J Grant Photography

--Update me, friend!  What is new with you and your family?  Please leave a comment giving me an update or just to tell me what you thought of this post!  It would be much appreciated!--