First Boat Ride

Today, Bryce had his first boat ride! Andy went out to help our friend, Phil, pull his sailboat from the lake so he could do some maintenance on it. Since they had to motor from the dock to the boat ramp, we went with them. It may not have been a very long ride and we didn't get to put up the sails but at least Bryce got on his first boat today. Luckily, he liked it:) He was fascinated by the engine and liked steering the tiller. I was surprised that he wasn't scared at all. Maybe he's just too young to be scared. . . or maybe he just loves the water! We'll see what the future holds!

Emily's Visit

For Memorial Day weekend, my best friend, Emily, flew down from Dallas to visit us. It was the first time that Bryce got to meet his Aunt Em and he fell in love immediately. The whole time she was here, he was smitten by her.

Most of the weekend was spent hanging out with a 15-month old but we did get t do some fun things. We had dinner on the Riverwalk, went to a barbecue at one of Andy's co-workers and went swimming at the base pool for the first time. Sunday night, we got a sitter (thanks Mandi) and us three adults got to go out for dinner!

We went to the Liberty Bar which is a San Antonio landmark. It's been in operation since 1890 and the rackety-looking building is one of the world's "leaning" landmarks. Thanks to a flood in 1920, the Liberty Bar took on a westward tilt that remains today. It truly does having leaning walls and great food.

Overall, it was just a nice weekend to hang out with my best friend since 4th grade and let Bryce get to know his Aunt Em. Thanks Emily for coming!

Bryce Walking!!!

Officially, first steps were on Monday! Our nanny/friend, Mandi, and I were in the living room and Bryce wanted the phone on the end table. He let go of my hand and took about 3 steps all at one time to the table. Mandi and I just looked at each other in disbelief and excitement! We couldn't believe we just saw his first steps.

That's all he did on Monday but since then, he's been taking about 5-8 steps at a time. He is still gaining confidence but if he really wants something, he'll walk to it. Last night, Andy also got to see Bryce take some of his first steps.

So Bryce walked at 15 months and 2 days! I've already told his pediatrician so hopefully we won't have to go to physical therapy as long as Bryce keeps improving.

Here is video of Bryce walking this afternoon. You can hear the kids in the neighborhood encouraging him to walk. They were about as excited as I was!

Mud Soup

Despite the fact that Bryce has a sandbox to play in, he's really been wanting to play with dirt and mud! At the park the other day, he took the water bottle and poured it on dry dirt so he could play with mud (he then started to eat the mud but that's another story. . .). Last night when he was trying to play with the dirt in the grass, I decided to let him have fun with mud. Bryce loved it so much, he even had to put his legs in the mud soup. (He tried to eat the mud again but this time I was ready with the hose to let him have a drink of water instead!)


Bryce starting to play in the mud

He loves to stir the mud soup

Gotta let his feet feel too!

Bryce covered in mud!

Kids in the Neighborhood

Many afternoons at 330, we go outside and watch the school bus come home. Bryce loves the school buses and also all the kids in the neighborhood. They all come running over to say hi to Bryce and throw the stick for Brody. Many days we end up at the playground which is just a few houses away. The older kids (especially the girls) love to play with Bryce. . .they help him walk, go down the slide with him and push him on the swing. The older boys love to play with Brody which is great cause they wear him out.

Bryce's Girls!

The kids at our house playing.


Helping Bryce walk (dog belongs to a neighbor).

Swinging

Us at the playground (picture taken by a 4 year old)

Bryce's 15-Month Pediatric Visit

This morning,I took Bryce to his 15-month well child check. I look forward to these appointments because it gives us a chance to catch up with his pediatrician, Dr. Simone, who is an excellent doctor! These appointments are also the time that they make sure that the kids are developing normally.

Weight - Bryce is 26.5 lbs which is in the 75th percentile.
Height - Bryce is 31 inches which puts him at the 50th percentile.
Good news--Our chunky monkey's height is starting to catch up with his weight!

GI Doc conversation: Dr. Simone agreed that Bryce's current GI doctor, Dr. Noel, is not being very thorough at this point. Dr. Noel has still not given us any plan of action on what to do with Bryce after the probe. So, two things resulted: First, Dr. Simone is going to intervene and contact Dr. Noel to find out the latest plan of action. Second thing, Dr. Simone thinks it's time to refer us to Cincinnati Children's Hospital since they have an Eosinophilic Center for Bryce to be seen at and is a center of excellence for gut issues. (Yaaaaaaaah!!!)

In addition, Dr. Simone referred us to a case manager to help coordinate getting us to Cinci and helping us with other resources. Dr. Simone walked us over to see the case manager, Donna. In addition to talking about Cinci, Donna mentioned that once we fill out some paperwork, she can get us a referral for a feeding specialist--this person is very specialized, very few in the country and works in CA. The will pay for this feeding specialist to come HERE to San Antonio to see Bryce once we get everything approved! That would be great since right now, Bryce only eats his special formula, carrots and an occasional banana. (He wants to eat more but everything seems to affect his GI tract!)

On the Well Child Check, Bryce seems to be almost completely normal. It was reassuring to have him pass the autism checklist (although he's a super social guy but still good to have him pass it). The one thing she is worried about is that he's not walking completely on his own yet. Dr. Simone said that if toddlers aren't walking by 15 months, they send them to Physical Therapy and get x-rays. So, we just got x-rays and have a referral to Physical Therapy.

Personally, I'm not really worried, neither is Andy or our babysitter, Mandi, about his walking. Bryce walks great with one hand, loves his push walker and walks around stuff all the time. But he doesn't stand for long on his own and even with lots of encouragement, will not take a step on his own. Instead he falls down to his knees within about 5 seconds if you let go of his finger or isn't holding onto something. So, we'll go do the physical therapy and hopefully learn some new tricks to get him walking.

We also went to the lab and drew blood from Bryce today. Dr. Simone is going to check all kinds of things just to make sure we haven't overlooked anything.

As you can tell, it was a busy visit with mostly positive results. Andy couldn't go with me to the visit, but our wonderful babysitter, Mandi, helped entertain Bryce so I could talk to Dr. Simone. We are so lucky to have Mandi in our lives and a wonderful pediatrician.

As I get more updates, I'll let you know. Thanks to all of you for your positive thoughts and prayers.

Gospel Brunch at Gruene Hall

For Mother's Day, we went to Gospel Brunch at Gruene Hall. Our friends, Steph and Phil, introduced us to Gruene Hall when we first moved to San Antonio two years ago but we hadn't been back since. Grune Hall is the oldest dance hall in Texas (more about it below). The Gospel Brunch is held once a month on a Sunday morning where they serve a GREAT brunch and have gospel/country music.

Since Renee (my sister) was still in town, we took Renee and met Steph, Phil and Elle. It amazes me how much children love live music. Bryce was mesmorized by the music and Elle loved watching them too. Everyone had a great time and ate way too much:) I had a great Mother's Day!

GRUENE HALL
Gruene Hall is legendary. Not just because it's the oldest, continually operating dance hall in the state of Texas, but also because it has served as both a starting point and a warm limelight to some of the most prolific talent in American history. It has helped launched the careers of such musicians as George Strait, Lyle Lovett and Hal Ketchum, among others. This famous stage has also welcomed the likes of Bo Diddley, The Dixie Chicks, Jerry Lee Lewis, Garth Brooks and Willie Nelson. Gruene Hall has gone from hosting badger fights in the 1870s to being featured in such notable publications as Forbes, Newsweek and Women's Wear Daily. It has been the site of famous birthdays, such as baseball great Nolan Ryan's 50th, and the location of numerous music videos, commercials and movies. Of special note, the dance scene for the movie "Michael" starring John Travolta was filmed at the Hall.

Brunch at Gruene Hall



Renee and I

The Moms and our kiddo (Steph, Elle, Bryce and I)

Phil and Stephanie

Renee & Aveda

My sister, Renee, came for the weekend to check out San Antonio and to tour the Aveda Institute since she's interested in their esthetics program (skin care, facials, make-up, etc). I got to go with her on Saturday to tour the school and we had a great time! I was so impressed with the setting, the culture and their curriculum. The students were getting ready to do a fashion-show as one of their community fundraising projects. It was amazing to watch them do the hair and make-up on the girls. That evening, all of us went back to the school to watch the fashion show. Even Bryce enjoyed watching the show and dancing to the music!

The Aveda Institute of San Antonio



Bryce and I watching the Fashion Show

Sea World

It's been a busy weekend for us! Andy and Bryce gave me my Mother's Day gift on Saturday by letting me spend time with my sister, Renee. While I was with Renee, Andy took Bryce to Sea World where they met up with our friends Steph, Phil and Elle (adorable red-head in pic below). They played in the water park and then watched a show where Bryce got to take his picture with Shamu afterwards! Bryce and Elle were sooo excited and had a great time too!

New Sandbox

I've been dieing to get Bryce a sandbox because he loves playing in the dirt and mulch. So, we finally got a used one from Craiglist this week!

Before we could fill the box with sand, we needed to clean it and the rest of the porch furniture. As you can tell in the pictures, Bryce loves to help clean, especially when I give him the sponge. It's been in the 90s here this week so clothes really were optional while cleaning! As you can tell, he's mastered drinking from a hose!

Hawk's Nest

I can't believe living on base that we have a hawk's nest right around the corner from our house. They have a HUGE nest in a tall pine tree where there is a mommy, daddy and two babies. Although the babies look just as big as the parents to me!

My first experience with the hawks was when I drove around the corner and saw the huge wingspan of a bird taking off from the ground with something hanging from its mouth. I finally realized it was a hawk carrying a squirrel away. It was amazing.

We get to see the hawks almost daily when we go for a walk. They stand guard in a small tree that is right by the road. Sometimes, there are 2 or 3 in the tree and don't seem bothered by the cars or people. Although I don't have the right photo equipment to take a great picture of the hawk, I couldn't resist at least one.

First Kiss

Andy got Bryce's first kiss tonight! It was late and all of us were tired. Andy laid down with Bryce as he was drinking his bottle. Andy started asking Bryce for a hug. He would turn his head back and forth saying, "no, no" but then would fall into Andy for a hug. This happened a few times when Andy asked him for a kiss. Bryce did the same "no, no" head turn but then came down and gave Andy a great big open mouth kiss! It was adorable!

I asked for a hug and kiss. But he was done for tonight. Daddy got the first and only kiss so far!

As you can tell in the picture, Andy is tired!

Andy's NOT Deploying!

After many months of debate, the Air Force finally made a decision yesterday. Andy's squadron commander job in Kuwait is going away so he will NOT be deploying this summer. Of course, he's disappointed that he's not going to be a squadron commander but is happy to stay home with Bryce and I:) This means we'll ALL be staying in San Antonio for another year until summer 2009.

Fortunately, Andy already has a new job lined up here at Randolph. For the past two years, he's been working maintenance officer assignments at the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC). A two-star general is in charge AFPC and she's selected Andy to work on her staff--which is called the Commander's Action Group (CAG). The CAG is known as "the commander's brains." This 5-person team provides direct support to the general on time-sensitive, operational/planning projects, and researches/develops briefs for the general. Andy should be an expert at staff work by the end of this year (not normally his strength)!

For us as a family, it means that Andy's wonderful hours and flexible schedule may come to an end. He'll probably be working long hours in this next job. BUT, at least he'll come home at night and be a part of our lives on a daily basis.

Recipe: Baby Baker

Here is a little something we cooked up today.

Ingredients: baby, sink, water, bowel, spoon, flour, 2 eggs, vanilla, cocoa, brown sugar and regular sugar.

Directions: To make a baby baker, put baby in the sink to contain messiness. Next, give him a bowel and a spoon. Next add flour and water. For stickiness, add an egg. For a little color, add vanilla and cocoa. To add some texture, add brown and white sugar. Be sure to have the baby baker mix ingredients throughout with a spoon or fingers, whichever he prefers. Finally, add one more egg for the baby baker to have the total baking experience.

If there are food allergies, be sure baby baker does not eat any of the mixture. To clean, spray down the baby baker before removing him from the sink.

One Wonderful Moment

Do you ever have those moments where the world just seems perfect? Those moments where life is just full of possibilities and you experience a moment, just a moment, of pure joy?

I had one of those tonight. Bryce, Brody and I went for a walk about 7 PM because Brody needed exercise and Bryce was CRANKY. So, off we went with the stroller and leash. Within just a few minutes, I heard music coming from the Officer's Club. Since we live only a block from the club, I decided to go check it out. I knew a dog and baby may not be appropriate for the Officer's Club but I thought we could always just walk by. Sure enough there was a band playing on the porch with some people casually watching and kids playing. I tied Brody to a tree and decided to take Bryce on the porch to watch the band.

It was just one of those perfect moments. Bryce sat on my lap, transfixed by the band. Two of the men were playing guitar and one a harmonica. They played all cover songs but neither of us cared. Two couples danced to the music. A gorgeous summer evening with beautiful oak trees surrounding us, my son on my lap, content listening to live music. Just a moment where everything seemed perfect. . .