Tooth #2

Been a little under the weather this week. We're back to temperatures in the 30's and Coby's been working on pushing out tooth #2. The week started out all right...we met up with some friends at Westside Park for dinner and had a great time on the swings and slide. Robert was even able to sneak away from the courts for a minute to come over and say hi.

But by Wednesday afternoon when I got home from work, Coby was in a funk. By Thursday afternoon he had a temperature of 100.7. Both he and Robert spent the better part of Thursday and Friday in bed. And of course it would have to be a week where I had a million things going on. Grades were due, I was babysitting Thursday night, and my patrols had a fundraiser planned. Fortunately the fever was gone when he woke up Friday morning and it turned out to pretty much be a 24-hour case of the crud. Good thing too because our fundraiser was a blast!

By Saturday both Robert and Coby were feeling a little bit better, and today were back up and about. Here's the first shot of the new tooth:
In case you're wondering (and I just know you are!) that's broccoli on his chin. Mixed in with my personal favorite, macaroni and cheese with tuna. Yum!

A stroll along Paines Prairie Wildlife Preserve

I cannot believe that in the almost 10 years in Gainesville I had never visited Paines Prairie. Sure, I've driven through it on the interstate, but never actually stopped and walked along the trails. The weather has been warm this last week, back up in the 70's, and my friend Jennie and I decided to get together with our boys for a walk Saturday. I was looking forward to getting some sunshine and excercise, but had not idea how amazing the walk would be. This little guy was there to greet us as soon as we got on the trail...
I felt like such a tourist taking pictures of every gator we saw!
And it didn't help that I was wearing my Oregon State sweatshirt!
At some points on the trail gators were LITERALLY only a few feet away. Yikes! Luckily there were plenty of "snowbirds" on the trial and I'm sure we could have outrun them. :o)
Coby and Evan enoyed watching the gators too.
Almost as much as they enjoyed munching on rice cakes.
We can't wait for Grandma and Grandpa (or anyone else!) to come visit so we can take them down to the prairie. Bald eagles, whooping cranes, river otters, wild boars and buffalo also live on the preserve. This was better than a trip to the zoo. It was totally amazing.
Next week will be birthday party #2 - Sofia. We'll be taking notes and beginning to make plans for Coby's party in March.

Birthday Season!

I talk about the group of babies we've been getting together with since Jacoby was born all the time. Well, it's birthday season. All of the babies were born between the end of December and early March, which means our weekends are quickly filling up with party after party. It's a pretty rough life :o) This weekend was Linc's birthday. All eight of the babies were there crawling around (well, Jacoby and Addie were walking around!), eating chilli and tasting cake. It's so funny looking back to a year ago (I guess Coby wouldn't have even been here yet!) and remembering how small and still they all were. You could put them down someplace and they'd stay there - imagine that!Coby and Sofia got matching Puma sweatsuits last weekend at a big 75% off sale at Macy's. We both bought size 2T so they could wear them next year, but it was too hard to resist putting them in matching outfits for the party.Hopefully the cold weather is behind us - we had record lows of 19 degrees last week - and we can get back outside.

Walk it out...

Jacoby is on his way to ticking "learning to walk" off of his to-do list. He took his first steps a day before he turned 9 months, and since then has been becoming a more and more accomplished walker. Tonight he walked all the way from the living room to his bedroom where I was putting away his toys - okay, he had to stop and hold on to the wall for a few feet while in the hall, but walked ALMOST the entire way. Here he is walking from me over to Robert.

I don't know if you've been reading the news lately, but it is FREEZING here in Gainesville - literally! Last night we had a record low of 19 degrees. Being so cold out, its been hard for Coby to stay cooped up all day. When we were thinking of fun "indoor" activities, I remembered how much he enjoyed going to the Butterfly Museum when Grandma and Grandpa were visiting.
In addition to being nice and warm and cozy, apparently the paved walkway is also heated. Coby figured that out right away and took to stretching out and relaxing on it.
He was much more into watching the butterflies flit around the museum this time around. Can you see his eyes looking up?

In fact, he liked it so much, we decided to get annual family passes. It'll give us an excuse to go back. I had wanted to return anyway to purchase some additional plants to attract butterflies to our yard. BTW: Butterflies apparently are also fans of two of Jacoby's favorite foods - mango and bananna!

Yes Jacoby, there is a Toilet Squirrel...

If either Robert or I have talked to you at all this week, I'm sure you've already heard the story of the "unexpected guest" we found in our toilet this week. I realize that it was December, but it wasn’t my chimney. And it sure wasn’t Santa.

It all started Wednesday evening. Robert was out playing poker. Jacoby was asleep - dreaming of sugarplums I'm sure - and I, as I have hundreds of times before, walked into the bathroom to take care of some business. And what to my trembling eyes should appear? But...

Yes, that is what you think it is. At first I couldn't figure out what in the world it could be, and to be honest with you, first thought Robert must have forgotten to flush -sorry honey :o) But after a second look and a very quick slam of the bathroom door, I realized that yes, that is in fact, a Toilet Squirrel.

I of course immediately called Robert, who so graciously waited to finish his hand of cards before heading home, and then my parents. After first suggesting that we flush it (thanks Dad) the three of us agreed that fishing it out would be the best solution. And since Robert is the man of the house, this fell under his jurisdiction as far as chores go. Just one more reason why I love being married to him.

After Googling “How’d a squirrel get in my toilet?” and discussing the matter with a Home Depot housewares associate, we finally concurred that Toilet Squirrel had entered through an uncovered plumbing vent on the roof, found his way into a pipe and somehow made it through the closet bend and the S-trap. We think. Kind of like Santa Claus – no one actually saw it.

So anyway, back to why you all really read our blog, Jacoby had a fabulous first New Year's Eve. He partied with the best of 'em. I'm a sucker for any item on an end-cap at the grocery store and just so happend to see noisemakers at Publix. Totally worth the 99 cents!

Check out the slideshow of his New Year's Eve antics at:

http://s618.photobucket.com/albums/tt261/we3taylors/NewYearsEve/albumview=slideshow

The next day we had the best of intentions to go walking on Paines Prairie to check out the migrating sandhill cranes, but much like Christmas Day, it was pouring down rain. So instead we had sticky buns and mimosas (none for Jacoby) for breakfast and while Robert headed off to watch Bobby Bowden coach his final game for Florida State, I had a playdate with the other mamas.

We were sitting around chatting about upcoming first birthday parties - Does anyone plan on having a theme party? What will we serve guests? Will having red dye #5 in the icing end up keeping them out of Harvard? When Jennie walked over to the babies and poured an obscene amount of cheerios into the back of a train and we sat back and watched the following unfold...

...and there you have it. Straight from the mouths of babes. They don't want pony rides or bounce houses or even a petting zoo. All you need for a successful 1st birthday party is a giant box of Cheerios.