I know I've posted pictures of "messy Garrett" before, but I had to share this one because of its back story...Garrett has recently decided he likes to "help" feed himself. It has been a struggle for us to feed him without him reaching out to grab the spoon...and then not let go. This weekend he and I struggled for the spoon, and as a result, we both ended up with carrots all over. Though I didn't think it was too funny at first...seeing him with his silly grin made me laugh & enjoy the moment.
I'm sharing the following pictures for the cute "Rasied on Rodeo" tee he's wearing (it says "Arena Dirt" on the rear - it's from the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas) as well as his most recent favorite thing to do: CLIMB! He seems to reach for anything he can get at that will possibly help him pull himself up. Whether it is a coffee table, couch, glider, our legs, etc.

Saturday at the Zoo

This past weekend was one of the first weekends when Steve was home both Saturday AND Sunday. This time of year is busy for track, so we all looked forward to spending some time together. On Saturday we ventured out to the local zoo. It is a free zoo and park that houses animals like goats, different types of deer, some llamas, water fowl, rare (and not so rare) birds, and some exotic creatures - such as the largest of the rodent breed found below (can't recall it's name, but it's a strange looking rodent!) Garrett seemed to enjoy the day. I think he was just happy to be out and about, and didn't pay much attention to the animals. Oh well...that time will come! After the zoo, we made a quick stop by DQ for a 25 cent blizzard!

Daycare Bully

Garrett has recently encountered his first daycare bully. OK...maybe the word bully is a bit harsh...but there is a "scratcher" at daycare who gave our little guy a nasty scratch above his right eye. Apparently there is also a paci-stealer in the room. The oldest girl in his room, who is walking pretty well, likes to sneak up to the babies while they sleep and steal their pacifiers! What a bunch of little hoodlums! Ha!

These pictures were taken while Garrett was strapped in to his high chair, eating lunch - which seems to be the best way to keep him still long enough to get a good close-up! It seems that the flash was a bit too bright in the following pic. Oops!

Bedhead Saturday

Last Saturday, Garrett & Mommy had a lazy day. We stayed in our jammies most of the morning, and didn't care about our crazy bedhead! We spent our time playing with Garrett's toys, which made me stop and question why I even buy toys from the store? Lately, his favorites include a Tupperware bowl (see posting below), empty sippy cups, and a soda bottle that contains a few dozen popcorn kernels! As you can see below, he loves to shake the soda bottle & make a racket!

Week of the Young Child

Through daycare we learned that April 11-17 is the Week of the Young Child. Every day there has been a theme and activity that the kids dress up for:

• Monday was favorite team day, so Garrett wore his favorite KU gear! (see his new shoes posting below)
  
• Tuesday was Rock & Roll day - parents were asked to volunteer to read a story to the class on this day. I read Moo, Baa, LaLaLa, by Sandra Boynton (what a fun book!).
  
• Wednesday was Prince & Princess Day. Garrett came home with a fun crown that he "helped" color and a small bag of cotton candy that they made at the center.They must have had lots of activities throughout the day on Wednesday because Garrett was wiped out and fell asleep while eating his dinner!

• Today is Hawaiian Day, so Garrett is dressed up in a surfer tee and his swim trunks! Parents were invited to join the classroom at snack time, so Steve and I got to spend some time with him in the classroom today. The parents were served fruit-kabobs, and the kids had mixed fruit...except for Garrett, who isn't quite ready for fruit and was perfectly happy with a cracker. :-)

• Friday is Hat Day. As much as I would like to send Garrett in his cowboy hat, I won't because I doubt that it would be in one piece by the end of the day! So he will wear his Iowa Central ball cap!

A week like this one makes me happy that we chose the daycare facility that we did. Garrett is learning every day through the activities and interactions with the children and adults at the center. It's been a very positive experience for our family...amongst the ups and downs that we have encountered in the past year!

Happy 8 Month-Day!

Our little buckaroo turned 8 months today at 7:30 a.m.!!

(Garrett's new favorite toy: a Tupperware bowl. It makes lots of noise when you bang on it...plus, you can wear it as a hat!)

New Shoes!

I've recently decided that Garrett can't live his life in socks. So I went shopping for a new pair of shoes. Aren't these fun? He doesn't seem to mind them at all...and now he looks like the "big kids" in his classroom!

MMM...Crackers!

After 1 week, Garrett has settled in to his new classroom at daycare. His teacher tells us that he is a VERY active little guy! We can definitely tell this since he was ready for bedtime about an hour earlier than usual all last week.
Along with the new classroom activities, larger play mats to scoot around on, and growling (he mimics a toy lion in the new room), Garrett has discovered that he really loves crackers! His favorite so far are cheese sandwich crackers. I happened to have some in the pantry, so I gave him one for a snack on Saturday...

It's amazing how much mess can be created by one little cracker and a cracker-eating newbie!

Cutest Cowboy

The following could end up being included in those photos that we will pull out 18 years from now and embarrass the heck out of Garrett with...but I think they are too precious not to share!

Garrett loves his Daddy's hat...

Don't mess with this Cowboy!

Yay!!!

Recently, any time that we clap our hands and exclaim, "Yay!", Garrett will get excited and start flapping his arms up/down (his way of showing his excitement). We will often take his hands and clap them together for him, which he also loves. Yesterday, Garrett (our little genius) was sitting on the floor while I was putting groceries away. I heard a new sound and looked up to see that he was clapping his hands together all on his own! I about tripped over a sack of groceries when I ran for the camcorder to record this new skill!
(Doesn't he look like a little Easter Egg in this outfit? Ha! Also - you can just barely see that he's starting to get curly hair around the back of his head! Too cute!)


We also found out yesterday that Garrett will be moving up to the Infant 2 classroom starting Monday, April 5. Not really sure if we are ready for this or not...it means that our little cowboy is growing up! The new classroom will give Garrett the opportunity to interact more with babies that are just a bit older than him. He's currently the oldest in his room, and most of the Infant 1 babies are only a few months old. They also do more activities and have a more structured curriculum (well, as structured as they can be for babies!). All of the babies in the Infant 2 room are crawling and/or learning to walk...so I'm sure he'll pick up on that very quickly. Time to shop for a baby gate! He's learning/growing so fast! Where did the past 7 1/2 months go???