Court: A year in review

O.N.E.

Court turned one on Friday, August 24, 2012.  I can’t even begin to explain how quickly this year has passed for me.  Since I have to divide my time between Aiden and Court, the first year of Court’s life seems to have gone by so much more quickly than Aiden’s did.  But, I think that I have savored the little things more than I did with Aiden, thinking that this might be our last baby.  Court is just a terrific little man.  He is so happy, rarely cries, and laughs all the time.  He is ultra perceptive and tries to mimic anything you do.  Although he is crazy about balls, banging on drums, and all thing “boy,”, he also still likes to cuddle with his mama before bedtime which just melts my heart.

How bout some one year milestones? He can say a few little words:  “Hi,” “Yay,” and “Uh-oh” but we’re still waiting for that first “Mama” or “Dada.” He can drink from a regular cup but you have to be at the ready or else he’ll also pour it on top of his head.  He’s started  feeding himself with a spoon.  He can stand on his own and take a step or two but still prefers to walk holding onto your finger.  He can crawl faster than a speeding bullet and has the memory of an elephant.  If you put a musical toy somewhere and then don’t visit that room for 3 days, he’ll find that toy as soon as you go back.  He can throw a ball overhead and claps for himself when he thinks he’s impressed you!

We started off his birthday weekend celebration by having a little party for him at baby camp with balloons and muffins for the kids in his class.

The balloons were a huge hit!

Then we headed to Aiden’s favorite restaurant, “Bad Daddy’s,” where Court enjoyed a birthday black bean burger and tried his hand at blowing out a small candle in one of the leftover muffins.

We woke up Saturday morning and Court got to spend some time with Bubba and Pop while Scott and Aiden cheered me on in the Lake Norman Triathlon.  It was a goal of mine to complete a tri after having had both Aiden and Court.  And I made it -woohoo!  I was 6th in my age group and ran a 22 mile 5K at the end of it so I was pretty happy overall. Thanks to Chrisi and Addi Johnson and their friend, Patterson, for cheering me on as well!

Aiden congratulating me after the race.

Then it was time to get Court dressed in his party clothes.

The birthday banner with photos from various points in Court’s first year.

We had “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” theme to the party. Court is always hungry and his class at school is the caterpillars, so it was appropriate. This is just one of my silly decorations 🙂

We had lots of foods from the book – strawberries, pears, apples, cheese, etc.

But then it was time for the cupcakes!

Court didn’t hold back. He took both hands into the cupcake and stuffed them both into his mouth! What a rockstar!!

Then it was time to open his presents!

Lindsay, Ryan, Mark, Elena, and Aiden all helped Court open his wonderful gifts. Everyone was too generous!!

Court’s new tunnel from Mike,Cara,Lindsay, and Ryan seemed to be one of his favorites

Court made some happy music the whole rest of the day!

A quick photo of the Jones family prior to their departure back to Asheville

Thank you very much to all of our family who came to celebrate with us for Court’s big day.  It means the world to us that you came.  And thank you to everyone else who has been part of our “village” to raise Court his past year.  Although it started out a little rougher than I had hoped, Court has given me more love than I could have dreamed.  I truly cannot imagine my life without my Court-man. Happy birthday baby!

Utah

Because Scott works incredibly hard, his company rewarded him with an all expenses paid trip to Park City, Utah for four days.  And he invited me!  What a lucky girl I am since the non-profit hospital that I work for doesn’t exactly operate in that manner.  Our bonuses are more like an ice cream cone, but that is beside the point.  So, we extended our week off of work (since we took the week with the Frederick and Newton families) and headed to Utah.  Bub (along with help from Pop, Aunt Kimmie, and Daniel) came to stay with Aiden and Court while we were gone.  Scott and I both were amazed at how hard it was to leave our boys.  I was in tears all the way to the airport but once we got to Utah, there was no sense in being sad, so we focused on the fun activities that were planned for us.

Captain’s Log: Park City, Utah. August 2012

Friday night – landed in Utah around midnight.  It was dark.  Feel asleep as soon as we hit our pillows.

Saturday – Trip to Olympic Park where we got to try our hand at an alpine slide, two zip lines, ropes course, and the bobsled (that’s right, the actual bobsled that they rode during the Olympics)

1, 2, 3, ready, zip!

The view from the zip line

Alpine slide

…Still waiting for the Alpine slide start

Scott pushing the bobsled ahead of us

About to load the bobsled (the summer version of what they do on ice in the winter). We had a professional driver and went approximately 73 miles per hour with 4G forces around the turns. We literally thought that we might lose our stomachs! It is like riding the bumpiest, roughest old roller coaster that you can and then adding in all those G forces. It is the fastest bobsled run in the world. And it is all over in about 60 seconds.

Heading to the ropes course

We also were lucky enough to see some local kids training for the Nordic jump.  These kids are truly amazing and unbelievably talented.  Make sure to watch for the black specs to come out onto the grass at the end of the video to give you an idea of how high up they were jumping.  Incredible!

Saturday afternoon:  Nap due to a slight case of altitude sickness.  Lazed by the pool. Then evacuated the Hotel St. Regis due to a nearby forest fire which was out of control due to the drought and windy conditions. Got shuttled to an even nicer hotel, The Montage.  Dinner at Chimayo, a Southwestern foodie’s version of heaven.  Again, asleep when our heads hit the pillow.

A terrible photo, I know but it at least gives you an idea about all the smoke from the Forest Fire. On the bus during the evacuation.

Sunday:  Fly fishing for 4 hours with a very knowledgable and intense guide, Jeff.  I hit a bit of beginner’s luck and caught 5 fish.  Scott caught three and hooked an enormous brown trout who broke his line and got away from him.

With our guide, Jeff

 

Scott and his coworker, Jim heading towards the river

With the three of us, those fish didn’t stand a chance

Jeff kept saying that my form was impeccable…or completely incorrect, I can’t recall which.

 

Sunday afternoon:  Infamous trail run. I say “infamous” because a few of Scott’s coworkers saw us running the last part of our run which was completely uphill.  It felt like it was a 90 degree incline and we had no idea they watched us run up the hill a few times. Thankfully they were watching us from behind because at the looks of pure pain on our faces would have been a bit embarrassing.  However, they were all extremely impressed and we became known as the athletes of the group.  It was all hilariously inflated because we then went to laze by the pool.

 

Monday:  Breakfast in my PJ’s in bed while Scott went to a work breakfast. Sucker!!  Mountain biked from the hotel up the Deer Crest trail to the midway point on the mountain.  It was the hardest that I have ever breathed in my life not to mention a few thousand feet in elevation.  About 5 minutes in, I may have spoken a few obscenities but then rallied and we made the climb the rest of the way.  Once to the half way point, we caught the ski lift to the top and rode down a trail called the Naildriver which was awesome.  Had an enormous lunch and rode the lift back to the hotel from some quality R & R by the poolside (Scott’s favorite part of the vacation)

This is the view from about 20 minutes in to our ride…not even close to the top and still amazing.

At the top…thought we’d never make it!

Monday night:  Company sponsored dinner Southwestern style with fajitas and appetizers on the top of a mountain!  We were able to ride the ski lift up and down the mountain to two restaurant destinations. So beautiful!

View from the top

Thanks so much to Kimmie, Daniel, Pop and especially Bubba for keeping our boys safe and happy all weekend long!!!  This trip made me remember how much I really enjoy spending time with Scott.  It’s easy to take someone for granted when there are so many things in your daily routine that you have to do (bottles, diapers, bathtime, temper tantrums, etc). But when all of those things are not around, it was even easier for me to see why I married my crazy husband.  Happy 7 year Anniversary!

Tri-Family Beach trip

This past week, the Frederick and Newton families joined us in Isle of Palms for an entire week of beach fun.  Seven children and six adults made for lots of entertainment and lots of laughs!  And surprisingly, there was only one night when all kids (except Isley) were melting down at the same time.  We all laughed and got through it.  Overall, we had an amazing week with some of our very best friends in the world.  It warms my heart to see our kids becoming such good friends with our friends’ kids.

Some highlights of the week included:

The Pirate Teasure Hunt led by the Newton girls who are connoisseurs of all things pirate.

Brek, Isley, Aiden, and Maelle, our little pirates, found all the clues (with a little help because they were ridiculously difficult).

At the end of the hunt, there was lots of treasure!

Court helped direct his mateys

Sitting in the HUGE Wild Dunes chair.

Maelle, Aiden, Isley, and Brek

Isley being an amazing big sister to all of the kids. I feel certain that it was because of all of Isley’s help that Court took his first two steps by himself right in the middle of everyone at breakfast!

Hanging out at the pool

Isley learned some new pool skills

Stylish Carson in her pool accessories

Aiden and Ben, partners in crime

Tossing “Baby Toot”

Getting to see the Scerri family as well! 

Daily family walks and a triple family bike ride.

Aiden is a big fan of Jocelyn

A bunch of monkeys

Jocelyn, Carson, Brad, and Ben

Ben and Aiden loved the trailer ride!

Court liked his solo ride as well.

Taking a quick break to look at the wildlife on the island (alligators, herons, cranes, turtles, etc)

All three families took a trip to the South Carolina Aquarium.

At the very first tank that we came to, there was a diver cleaning the glass. The kids were amazed.

The lemur exhibit was a favorite of ours…

…especially because Aiden volunteered to help dress up like a lemur!

Court loved climbing up to watch the marine life too.

There are lots of hands on activities at the aquarium, all of which Aiden took full advantage!

Two scary sharks

Pretending to be baby bald eagles

Hanging out at the house with all of our friends

Bruno even made the trip and shockingly didn’t start a fight with any of the kids!

We gave this shovel to Court on our first day at the beach and he wanted to hold it for literally the entire rest of the week. Whenever we tried to take it away from him, he would cry. Who knew that all this kid wants in life is a $1 sand shovel?!

Court logged some monster naps. All those big kids wore him out!!

After bedtime when all the kids were seemingly in bed, all us parents were talking about how Ben sleeps with all the lights on in his room.  Jocelyn mentioned that it must be because he is scared.  Suddenly we hear from upstairs from Ben, “No, I am not scared.”

Bedtime stories from Bill, or as Aiden calls him “Uncle Mr. Bill”

Thanks to everyone for making the LONG trip down to spend time with us.  We hope to make this an annual trip!!! We miss you guys already!

Summer fun photos

Court’s favorite playground apparatus? The tunnel of course!

Aiden’s favorite ORANGE shoes

Watching the world go by out the window

A boy, his ball, and some underroos

Snaggletooth! Court has about a mile-sized gap between his two front teeth.

Reading a book prior to attacking the shoes in Big One’s closet

Aiden is always ready for a bike ride these days

These baby giggles are just the best

Now that Aiden is a “Doodlebug” at school, he gets to go to “gym” with Coach Sam every Tuesday. He loves it and is very attentive! Last week they learned to jump rope and this week they ran hurdles!

Court wants to do anything that Aiden does. So naturally, the instant Aiden takes his helmet off, Court puts it right on!

The side view gives a different perspective to the hilarity of this helmet

Uncle Charlie giving Aiden a riding lesson

 

 

 

Bachelor birds

For the past two summers, we have had a little bird living in one of the eves of our back deck.  He just comes to sleep at night.  He doesn’t give us any trouble and is very respectful generally.  We call him bachelor bird.  This year, bachelor bird told one of his buddies about his cool pad.  Now we have a bachelor bird duo.

The original bachelor bird

His freeloading little birdy friend

August 1

For Pop’s birthday, he and Bub drove to Charlotte to celebrate with Aiden and Court along with Kimmie, and Daniel, Scott, and me. We had a wonderful (albeit hot!) afternoon at the Uncle Charlie’s park and then came home for a home cooked meal.  Afterwards, Aiden got to stay up past his bedtime while he and Pop ate lots of birthday cake and ice cream.  What a treat!  Aiden had been pretending to sing to Pop all week – he was that excited! What a treat!  Happy Birthday Pop!

YUMMY!!!

All smiles after that meal!