You're so vain...

...I bet you think this song is about you. Well H probably does. He is very into himself. Watching the computer's screen saver slide show of his pictures, staring at himself from every angle in the bathroom mirrors surrounding the tub, checking himself out in the tinted mirrors elevator doors...even looking at himself in the fireplace's glass doors. My son is definitely handsome and definitely knows it! The sight of himself will rid him of tears...that and the Hallmark musical Gingerbread house.

I recently saw a picture of my girlfriend, Crystal's son Luke licking the mirror and wondered what my self-absorbed son would do if we let him get that close. Well he loved it and we got lots of pictures of his make-out session with himself.

Love OBX

Much to our dismay, J's parents sold their beach house to their partners. We understand that it was costing way too much, but it is still a bummer not to have a retreat to call home. Ironically, we have been twice in the past two months to other places down there.

We are amazed how a short weekend trip has grown into such a chore. We used to pack both J's and my clothes in one suitcase, throw it in the car and hit the road. We would get up Sunday in time to be at church by 9:00. Those days are gone, there is nothing quick and easy about being a parent. Our one suitcase has multiplied to two, and a pack-n-play, and a doorway jumper, and a booster seat, and a food bag, and a cooler, and a diaper bag...and the list goes on. Who would have guessed that a 16 pound baby would need SO MUCH STUFF?! I must admit that we had even more the first trip and made mental note of what we didn't "need." I packed less and used it all this time around.

H enjoys rolling around on any floor and jumping in any doorway, so why not head someplace for J and I to relax? H is also super shopper and is by far the most well behaved baby during a day of shopping that I have even met. He had enjoyed several outlet mall and regular mall shopping trips. In the outer banks, we always head to the mall and get goodies. This time the new Gymboree outlet was open and H made out with some fall clothes from Gigi and shirt and shoes from mommy. We also like to hit up the indoor pools whenever possible. This time, however, the pool was FREEZING! I was not a fan and neither was H. He fussed until we got out and I stood in the hot tub, so he could feel the warm air. Gigi did get a couple pictures of a cold H and then when he was much happier. After a day filled with shopping and swimming, H relaxed on the floor and enjoyed his car seat strap.

A peek at our weekend:

Friday night we had dinner at nice local pizza place by the name of Pizza Hut. Here is H hanging out in the high chair. I'm sure he was laughing at all the things he pushed on the floor.

The great thing about using an inflatable tub, besides water conservation, is that it can go anywhere, H enjoyed his bath time routine just the same as at home.

J and H waited patiently for mommy to come swimming.

H was climbing up me to get out of the cold water.

He was much happier when we got above the hot tub and felt the warm air. I promise that I did not even let his toe touch the water.

Out of the water and bundled up.

Ready to head back across the street. It was cold out.

Even though there were doorways with trim to hang his bouncer, they were down the hall. H is social and would rather be in the middle of it all. J got his workout by providing a moving jumper.

H enjoys play peek-a-boo...or just chew on the blanket. He was rolling around, while we had lunch.

He found the strap to his car seat and it entertained him for a while.

He reminded me of a cat.

It was a great weekend! We enjoyed family time!

Sharing? No, not me!

The other day I was talking with Whitney about how H's day was. She mentioned that both him and Lily were not sharing well. She went on to explain that if Lily played with one of H's toys, he would fuss; if H played with one of Lily's toys, she would fuss; and if Lily played with one of her own toys that H had at some point played with during the day, he would fuss. Apparently if he plays with it, it is then his and the rightful owner has lost all playing rights. I find this humorous and just wonder if this is a preview of what things will be like in a few years when he has a younger sibling to share with.

H is so against sharing that he is careful not to be seen. A couple days later I caught him and Lily sharing her book before I headed out to work. I had to take a picture. Keep in mind that all 5 pictures are time stamped during the same minute!

Here they are playing nicely...H thinks no one is watching.

As soon as the flash from the first picture goes off, H looks up with a look on his face of "Oh NO! I'm been caught!" and quickly turns away to avoid another picture.

Then, once he is far enough away he stops and looks up for a picture by himself.

Lily is cracking up at H's fleeing moment and is glad that he didn't take HER book with him.

He decides to play with the wipes (Lily's wipes)...by himself!

More Beautiful Weather

On Wednesday, we had more beautiful weather. We took advantage of the nice weather and extended daylight (thanks to daylight saving), and take a family walk to the closest school to play. We walked up to Glenwood and took H down the slide for the 2nd time. He didn't really care one way or another, but I had fun. On our way home there were ducks at the lake/pond across the street. Whit grabbed some bread and we fed the ducks. There were even geese that came for some grub. They got out of the water and invaded our space so we had to get out fast. (Jonathan has been chased by geese while golfing.)

Here is H on the slide. Don't worry, I slid down with him!

Here he is asleep when we fed the ducks.

Spring is Coming

Today is was BEAUTIFUL outside. J is out of town (with Uncle Marky), so H and I have Aunt Whit for the weekend. First, Whitney, H and I went to the beach and walked along the boardwalk. H got to feel the sand and water for the first time. He enjoyed it and will be the perfect beach bum baby!

When got home, Whit and I ate lunch out back while H jumped around. He loves being outside so much, he was all smiles!Then we decided to have some relaxation on the hammock. H was a trip sitting in the middle of Whit and I, playing with his toys. I'm looking forward to the weather staying like this longer than a few days.I tried to get him to take his nap outside on the hammock but there was too much noise from birds, golfers and other animals to distract him.

He Shoots...He Scores!

For Christmas, H got a basketball hoop. We got it out today and he had a blast. He loved the cheers it makes when you press down the rim. He didn't have much interest in the two basketballs that came with it, but I'm sure that will come.

Here are a couple pictures of him enjoying his new toy.

After playing for a while, he fell backwards and pulled the hoop down on top of him. Here is an "after" picture. He wasn't a fan then.

SNOW

So today we had a day filled with snow falling. Not much of stayed long once it hit the ground because of temps in the 70s a couple days ago. However, it was fun to watch. H just kept looking back out the window this morning to see the strange white stuff falling all around. I didn't take him out in it since he hasn't been feeling well but took a couple pictures and a short video of him watching it. He was practically breaking his neck!