Introducing...

Well, I guess I can't really say "introducing" just quite yet, but in about 7 1/2 months it will be the right term. That's right, another Kadish is on the way!

Victor and I went in for our first checkup yesterday since seeing the big plus sign on the pregnancy test. We got one solid strong heartbeat on the ultrasound and found out we are due on May 8th of 2008, making me about 8 weeks along. Since the baby is only about half an inch in size, there wasn't too much to see, but we were happy to see a heartbeat (notice I said "a hearbeat", not "heartbeats"). My Dad had been giving us a hard time by saying we were going to have twins, so now we can stop worrying about that!

I posted a few of the sonogram pics below. Our next appointment is at the end of October and I will hopefully have some facial sonogram pics!

It's always playtime!

As Tristan is approaching the big 1 (year, that is), he is becoming more and more active. From the minute he wakes up until the last fighting minutes before bed, he wants to play. In his mind, any and everything he sees is a "toy" to him, he is such a curious little boy. He is so enthralled in his toys, that he even gets mad if you try to stop to feed him. Sometimes I think he might go all day without eating if I didn't stop and make him sit down to eat. Now, don't get me wrong, he eats very well most of the time, but I think he would forget and keep playing if it wasn't for me!

During his playtime, which he gets plenty of, he is picking up a lot of new and clever tricks. He likes to hand the ball or whatever toy he has in his hand to us, roll balls back and forth with us, open and close the cabinets (this goes on all day) and his most clever is playing "hide and seek". Okay, so I have two versions of hide and seek. The first is he gets a toy stuck under a table or chair and then he will try to find it (or more than likely stubmbles upon it at some point). Once he realizes a toy is under a piece of furniture, then he gets on his stomach to get a clear view and tries with all his might to pull it back out.

The second version is a little closer to the real thing. Victor likes to get on the floor and crawl behind the couch and get Tristan to follow him. Once Victor is hidden behind the couch, then Tristan will peer around each side looking for him. Lately, he has figured out it would be easier to just look under the couch using the inch or two of space between the floor and the couch. He's so smart!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes. I truly had one of the best birthdays of my life. It's really amazing to think how things have changed in the past few years, a great birthday a few years back would have consisted of a night out on the town with a big group of friends.

Well, the idea of a great birthday is totally different now. This year I was awaken by Victor and Tristan who brought me my birthday gifts which I promptly opened in bed before Victor went to work. The rest of the day I spent hanging out with Tristan, who was a perfect angel that day, and chatting with friends and family who called and visited with well wishes. I went to lunch with my very pregnant friend Melanie who got me a great shirt from one of my favorite stores. But, my absolute favorite part of the day was reading the message that Tristan (aka Victor) left for me on this blog...it brought, and still brings, tears to my eyes. We topped off the night with dinner at PF Chang's and a to-go order of The Great Wall of Chocolate (I couldn't pass that up!).

Altogether, it was much more low-key than what I used to consider a "great birthday", but somehow it was the best because I got to spend it with the two people who mean the most to me.

Victor picked out a special shirt for Tristan to wear


It's my birthday!


Birthday kisses from Tristan


One last pic before we go


Thanks to these two for a great birthday

Happy Birthday To My Mommy!!!

This morning I asked Daddy to find out how Mommy posts on the blog so he could help me with a post for Mommy's birthday. I want everyone to know I am the luckiest little boy in the whole world to have such a great Mommy. Everyday Mommy is there for me, she is my best friend.

Sunday me and Daddy went to the mall trying to find her the "perfect gift." We went to all of her favorite stores and bought things but we still didn't feel like we found that "perfect gift." Then it dawned on us, the "perfect gift" could not be bought at the mall, so where could we possibly find it. I told Daddy that Mommy's "perfect gift" is in my heart, so here is your "perfect gift" Mommy:

Thank you! Thank you for loving me unconditionally, thank you for always protecting me, thank you for helping me do things I have never done before, thank you for all the hugs and kisses, thank you for feeding me even when I don't seem like I want to eat, thank you for changing my diapers that would make a nuclear waste technician sick, but above all thank you for being my Mommy. I am so proud to be your son there is no way I can truly put it into words. You are the best!!

I know today is your special day but it is also a special day for me because it is the first time I get to celebrate your birthday with you. Happy birthday, I love you Mommy!!

Tristan

Also, Daddy wanted me to mention that he loves you too.

Future MVP

Lately Tristan has developed a few new amazing "party tricks". Some of his new favorite toys require a ball be put in a hole or hoop in order for the toy to make sounds and light up, and he has become quite obsessed with making the toys come to life! He has three toys in particular that can keep his attention for quite some time, his dinosaur that has multiple openings for balls to be dropped in, his gumball machine that the balls have to be put in and the lever pulled to dispense them and his all-time favorite, his basketball hoop.

Victor bought him a Little Tikes basketball hoop a few weeks ago and once Tristan mastered putting the basketballs in, it was game over! Each time he puts a ball in the toy makes all kinds of sound and counts each point, up to 10. Tristan will put in 10 in a row, and then start over again...it so darn cute! Lately he has begun to put any ball that will go through the hoop, well, he actually trys to put ANYTHING that will drop through the hoop, like other small toys, sometimes they fit and sometimes they don't!

I can't believe how much he has developed in the last few months, even weeks. Some other new developments worth mentioning are, he's finally crawling like a "normal" baby, pulling up on any and everything, cruising on the furniture and starting to stand without holding on to anything.

So, the whole crawling thing...Tristan started "crawling" around 7 months, but he developed his own kind of crawl. We called it the snake crawl because he never used his knees, he would just drag himself around with his arms. For awhile I thought he would eventually get on his knees, but after he'd been doing it for about 2 months, I figured that was just going to be the way that he crawled and he was going to have the strongest arms of any baby ever. Then around 9 months he learned how to sit back up from being on his stomach, which required using his knees, and then I thought, now he'll get it, but again, nope, still the snake crawl. Even though the whole time from 7 months on he would get on his knees and rock and he knew to use his knees to sit back up, he just wouldn't use them to crawl. So, when I had finally given up hope that Tristan would stop reminding me how dirty our floor was (when he dragged himself he would pick up every piece of dirt), he surprised me! About 2 weeks ago he decided to finally start using his knees to crawl.

I think it had a lot to do with him wanting to stand up a lot more. In order for him to pull himself up he would get on his knees, grab up onto the couch or table and then pull up. Maybe after a month and half of trying to pull up from a laying stomach position he realized that it would be easier to start from his knees! Speaking of standing up, it's Tristan's favorite thing to do, other than basketball.

He has now figured out that he can use just about anything to get up on his feet, including the back of my legs when I'm standing! Each day he is getting a little braver and let's go to stand on his own more and more. I think the longest he's stood on his own is about 10 seconds, just long enough for me to take the first picture of him standing on his own. Before we know it he's going to be walking and I surely won't be able to keep up with him!

Here's a few pics of his new "party tricks", enjoy!

Children's Museum with Dad

On Sunday I kind of got a day to myself, if you can call it that! I was co-hosting a baby shower for my friend Melanie, so Victor watched Tristan most of the day while I ran errands, prepared for the shower and finally had the shower.

Since they had all day together, without me, they decided to go somewhere completely new...the New Braunfels Children's Museum. The museum was rebuilt a few years ago and based on what I have seen on their website and heard from other people it looks amazing! We actually had a our "prepared childbirth" class in that building and each week we peeked through the window to the museum area multiple times and envisioned when we would be able to take Tristan there.

Well, Victor got to take him on Sunday and they had a blast, at least until Tristan fell and bumped his head, putting an end to the trip! At least they had a good time for the first hour or so they were there!

Better Late Than Never!

This post is a little overdue, but you know how it goes with an active 10 month old! Last weekend Tristan and I took our first solo airplane ride to visit my college roomate, Courtney, her husband and their 6 month old son, Clinton. Since they live in Tennessee, the flight wasn't too long and overall, Tristan did pretty well.

Tristan is used to being around older babies and has always been the youngest one within our circle of friends, so it was nice for him to be the older baby for a change. He had a great time exploring Courtney's house and teaching Clinton new "tricks", like how to rollover when Mommy is changing his diaper...hehehehe!

Since it was pretty hot in Tennesse (I think it was hotter there than it has been here!), Courtney bought an inflatable pool for the boys to play in. Tristan was a little grouchy and had to wear his earplugs, which I don't think he can hear well when wearing them, so he didn't have quite the fun I'd imagined, but Clinton had a blast!

And of course there was no way two mothers of such precious little boys could resist getting them dressed up in their Halloween costumes (since we had them so conveniently on hand) and taking pictures. I posted a picture below...I would have posted more but I don't want to wear you guys out on Halloween when we still have 2 months to go! I don't have any pictures of both Clinton and Tristan, but you can visit Courtney's page at http://tennesseewilliams.blogspot.com/ to see one.

Splashin' in the pool


Tristan was more interested in his passifier


The stare-down


First he stares at me, now he kisses me?


Ready for Halloween