Huxley's Birthday Celebration

Huxley barely recovered from the activity of Christmas in time for another celebration, his birthday.  I was worried he would scream the moment his first guest arrived, but he did all right.  He got fussy after two hours but was a happy baby for most of the party.  Here are all the details from the party.  

Attendees:  The Grandparents, Uncle Derek, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Zach, Uncle Matthew, Great-Aunt Sandy, and Cousins Thadd, Austin, Eli, and Isaac. 

Gifts:  Ballhut from my mom, clothes and race cars from the Browns, piggy bank from Great-Aunt Sandy, legos from Jason's mom and step father, ball popper from Uncle Matthew, Monkey from Uncle Matt, books from Great Aunt Susie, bible from Great Aunt Caryn, and books from Uncle Zach. 

Notable moments:  

• Huxley got a pair of pants from Derek, Carrie, & the boys that we've dubbed Huxley's hot pants. They're really cute Khaki pants but a little too small for Huxley's legs.  They've been exchanged for a larger size. 
  
• Jason made the birthday cake - a dinosaur cake.  It took him over four hours to bake and shape the cake.  It was Huxley's first taste of sweets. We're lucky he didn't throw up after eating.  The cake had about five layers of green icing. 
• Thadd and Huxley rode together in Huxley's radio flyer and neither one was pushed out.  
• Huxley crawled inside the cave in his playroom to hide from the commotion but was greeted moments later by four heads peering in - Uncle Derek and the cousins. 

I think that's everything. Between Christmas and Huxley's birthday the little man got quite a haul.  Thank you everyone for all your gifts.  I think Huxley is set on toys for the next five years. Then, he'll probably start asking for an Ipod, cell, phone, and Nintendo Wii. 

Check out my (Christa) picture gallery for more pictures of Huxley's birthday and Christmas. The link to my gallery is at the bottom right corner of this page. 

Christmas Part 2 - Christmas Day

The festivities began at 8 a m. for us.  Huxley actually woke up at 6:30, but we couldn't drag daddy out of bed that early.   Before presents, Huxley and I played in his toy room 

and tried to steer clear of Kota.  We opened presents and stockings at home.  Huxley got blocks and cars from Mama and Papa. 

After presents, we spent some time with Kota.  Huxley

started to warm up to his dinosaur friend, a little.  At least he didn't cry at the sight of Kota, but he didn't stray far from Daddy.  In fact, I don't think he let go of Daddy.  

Huxley was so excited by the morning's festivities he couldn't sleep.  Morning naps are crucial, so I knew this would be an interesting day.  We packed up baby and the presents and headed to the Goldey's for Christmas # 2.   Huxley got a ridable dog from Great Aunt Caryn, books from Great Aunt Susie, a sleeping bag from Grandmother and Grandfather, and a rocking horse from Aunt Heather.  Despite missing is morning nap, he remained in good spirits for the duration of Christmas # 2.  

The final Christmas festivities were at the Brown household.  He had an hour nap on the car ride to the Brown's but probably could have slept for another two hours.  He was overwhelmed by being yet somewhere else and wouldn't stand to be put down.  Once we started to open presents he was distracted by wrapping paper and boxes.  Cousin Thadd and Huxley opened a present together. Well, Thadd did most of the opening.   He had to show Huxley how it was done.  Grandma got both  boys a stuffed animal. There were so many gifts I lost track of who they were from.  He got several toys with hammers, so those should be fun and destructive, especially since he likes to bang all of his toys on the wall. 

After the presents were opened Huxley's cousins (Austin, Isaac, and Eli) put together Rock Band with Jason as their lead singer.  I'm sure that was amusing for all in the room.   Huxley had nearly had it by this time and we packed up and headed for home.  Luckily he slept for the ride home.  When we got home, Huxley had a bath and then we all went to bed.  

Christmas with Huxley - at the Wendlings

Our Christmas celebrations started Christmas Eve at the Wendling's.   His big gift was a ridable dinosaur named Kota.  Kota responds to touch with roars and will eat your hand if you place it in Kota's mouth.  As you might expect, Huxley was deathly afraid of Kota.   The sight of Kota made Huxley cry.  After presents were opened, Uncle Zach read Huxley Curious George books.  

When we got home we put Kota in the loft outside Huxley's playroom.  Christmas morning, he kept crawling out of his playroom and crying when he saw Kota.  He loves Kota now and will pet Kota and put his hand in Kota's mouth to chew on.  

Huxley Update

It's been a busy week for us here. I've been weaning Huxley from the bottle, and it's gone well so far. He's given up one bottle feeding and replaced it with a sippy cup. So, he's down to three bottle feedings per day. I tried to take another bottle away from him, but he wasn't ready for that. We'll keep trying, but it might have to wait until after the holidays.

He started waving this week, and as with anything else, it's very cute. Some kids do the Hitler wave, others open and shut their hand, but Huxley just flaps his arm like a bird. He also started to give high fives, sort of. If you place your hand in front of his, he'll slap it repeatedly.

He's also discovered new ways to play in the bathtub. We always put him in the bathtub while it's still filling up, because he loves to try to grab the water as it's coming out of the faucet. He figured out how to start the shower, which means everyone gets wet. He also figured out how to drain the bathtub. He drained all of the water from the tub and still continued to play for another five minutes. He was completely happy even though he must have been cold.

Next week is going to be a very busy week with many family gatherings and Huxley's birthday party. His birthday party is scheduled for Sunday December 28th. We are definitely looking forward to it. It'll be great to see him tear into the presents. I'm sure he'll need little coaxing to start tearing off the wrapping paper.

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Here is the Christmas tree we put up. It's nothing special. It's small and bent up from spending the last two years in a box. With the arrival of Huxley last year, we opted not to put up the tree.


I decided to put few ornaments on the tree as most of the ornaments we have could probably poke Huxley's eyes out. Instead, I just put on lights, garland, and a few tiny stockings.

Jason put together a train around the Christmas tree that he got from his step-father Mike a few Christmases ago. All three of us sit down every night in front of the Christmas tree and run the train. Huxley loves it. He will sit quietly for ten minutes watching the train.

Thanksgiving Photos

I just uploaded the Thanksgiving photos to my picture gallery. Click here to see them.

Fun Facts - Month 11

A glance at Huxley at 11 months...

Sleep Patterns
Hours spent sleeping at night: 10-11
Naps: Preferrably 2
Length of naps: 1-3 hours depending on how tired he is.
Bedtime: 8:00pm
Waking time: 6:00-7:00am
Goes to sleep with: Winne the Pooh, Eyore, burp rag, and receiving blanket

Sizes
Shoe Size: 5 - he has big hobbit feet
Clothing Size: 18-24 Months
Diapers: Huggies size 4

Favorites
Favorite Stuffed Animal: This seal that is in his playroom, but we have no idea where it came from. He likes to hug the seal.
Favorite Foods: Waffles, blueberries, baked potatoes, and yogurt
Favorite Toy: Anything that's not actually one of his toys.
Favorite Dog: He doesn't have a favorite anymore. He'll terrorize them both.

Tricks

• Waving
• Throwing toys
• Clapping as hard as possible - he must have learned this from Daddy
• Giving hugs and head butts
• Pulling food out of his mouth
• Saying mama, dada, dugdug, and papa
  

Sippy Cup Breakthroughs

I introduced a sippy cup to Huxley at six months. I've tried about five different kinds of cup with mostly the same result. He takes two sips, bites down, and then throws the cup on the ground. I've been pushing the sippy cup hard this month to try to get him weaned off the bottle. I hope to have him weaned by the end of the month. Today he actually had a full sippy cup of milk instead of just taking two drinks and tossing it on the floor. The cup did end up on the floor many times, but he did drink out of it too.

Waving & Baby Signs

I think he might be finally starting to wave. I've been working on it with him for months and whenever it looks like he's going to wave, he starts to clap instead. He really gets into clapping and bangs his hands together really hard.

Today, he actually flapped one hand without banging it into the other hand - on multiple occasions too. I think we've made a breakthrough. We'll see.

Once he has waving down, we'll move onto other baby signs. Some common baby signs taught to babies are: all done, hungry, thirsty, and scared. Since Huxley's world revolves around food right now we'll start on these next. You are supposed to wait two weeks after your baby masters a sign before introducing another one. We'll let you know how he does.