Thanksgiving In Colorado

This year we spent our Thanksgiving holiday in Colorado with our family and friends.  Jay's sister Wendy picked us up at the airport and took us to one of our favorite places in Denver for lunch.  The food was amazing and I'm not sure if it was because we were starving or if we were just so relieved to be off the plane.  I'll just say that the trip out wasn't too horrible but we were definitely counting down the minutes to landing.  After lunch we got to see the Ladner's new home which is gorgeous and in an amazing location in Denver.  Hopefully we'll get to spend some more time and get some pictures there on our next visit.  

Our next stop was my parent's house in Broomfield.  They were so excited to see John Henry since they hadn't seen him since his baptism.  He enjoyed every second with them, especially since they  stocked up on toys and his favorite foods!

John Henry also got to spend some quality time with his Uncles Josh and Joshua. 

I thought Thanksgiving would be the perfect time to get our Christmas card picture.  Not so much.  It was ridiculously bright and John Henry had no interest in looking at the camera. 

My sweet dad did his best to get some good shots but we weren't good subjects.  I do like this one of John Henry.  He looks so sweet sitting in the field.

By the time we finished up with our "formal" pictures, John Henry was ready to get home and play until it was time to eat.

This year my dad deep fried a turkey and Mary cooked another one in the oven.  Both were delicious!

This is our group shot before we chowed down.  

Unfortunately John Henry wanted nothing to do with solid food while we were in Colorado.  I'm not sure if it's because he had a stomach bug or what but this kid wanted no part of the Thanksgiving feast.  

Instead, he had baby food and goldfish.  Lots and lots of goldfish.  At least he was a good sport and ate outside with us.  This was the first Thanksgiving in Colorado that we've ever eaten outside.  It was 70 degrees and beautiful.

After the meal, Jay did his best to work off the turkey by pushing John Henry around on his truck that Grandma Schuler got him.  He loved that truck and played with it the entire trip.

Grandma and Grandpa spent a lot of time spoiling John Henry.  In return, John Henry did his best to show off his tricks.

I think Grandpa loves you John Henry!

So does Daddy!

Showing Grandpa and Grandma his lip trick.

Being silly with Uncle Joshua.

Grandma Schuler took John Henry for a walk and found one of Josh's old hats.  I don't know how John Henry feels about the Broncos but I think he looks pretty good. 

The trip home was easier for us.  Probably because it was shorter and they put us in the baby ghetto.  If you don't know what the baby ghetto is, it's the last rows of the plane where they put all the families with small children.  Sounds awful but really it's amazing.  Everyone around you understands your situation so when your baby screams (because he thinks it's funny) you don't have to worry about people giving you the "look".  The flight attendants were also great and spent a lot of time flirting with John Henry.



They even gave him a pair of wings! 

This trip happened to fall during the "I only want my Daddy" phase.  Good for me, rough for Jay.  John Henry refused to let me hold him on most of the flight there and back.  Jay was great and as you can see from the picture above, John Henry was perfectly content to be in daddy's arms.

Although our trip out was quick we had a great time.  I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of our lunch with Wendy and Steve, or of Jay hiking with John.  Thank you to everyone that shuttled us around and made the trip so easy for us.  We love you all and can't wait to come back!

Two of a kind

Just the other day Jay, John Henry and I were out having breakfast.  A woman came up and said, "He's the spitting image of you".  She was talking about John Henry being the mini version of Jay.  It's not uncommon that this happens.  It seems everywhere we go we get that reaction.  People that know us a little better think that John Henry is a good mix of both parents.  However, as I look through some of these pictures, I can't help but agree with the strangers.  They really are two of a kind. 

Sometimes they look more alike because they have on similar clothes (aka Falcons shirts and khaki shorts).

Sometimes it's because they are appeasing me even though they are sick of me taking pictures.

Sometimes they don't want to appease me and would prefer that I put the camera away.

But most times, it's because they just look like exactly like each other.

Biggest Fans

The other night Jay ran out to pick up dinner.  When I looked over at the door I saw Lady and John Henry anxiously awaiting his return.

It was pretty cute until I realized that they probably don't do this for me.  I guess we know who they love more!

11 Months

Believe it or not our baby is 11 months.  At 11 months he has 8 teeth, says several words, and does his best to walk around (with assistance).  He's still pretty happy, despite the numerous colds.  I think this last cold he had lasted most of the month.  We've also discovered he's allergic to Penicillin, which makes treating ear infections a little more difficult.  Thankfully he's a good sick baby and continues to smile throughout the day.

Look at that happy baby!

Little man in a big chair.

John Henry still loves to be outside.  I'm not sure that will ever change based on his genes.  Cold or hot he wants to be outside.  I guess that's a good thing.  Especially since his Daddy and Bebe have no problem spending long periods of time together outside.  He fits right in.

John Henry is starting to get shy around strangers and he's even a little scared of certain things.  He's really afraid of people in hats and sunglasses.  He wouldn't even look at his favorite babysitter when she was wearing both at the same time.  He just can't get over it so beware.  If you have on either he's going to keep his distance.  The only exceptions is Jay.  John Henry doesn't seem to have a problem with Jay in a hat - just the rest of the world. 

Every now and then he likes to try on Daddy's hats.  It never stays on long so I do my best to get the picture before it's ripped off.  I think he looks adorable in a hat!

I even think a backwards hat is cute on this kid.

As far as weather goes, November has been a decent month .  We've done our best to enjoy it before it gets too cold.  A new favorite for John Henry is the park swings.  He's spent time in the baby swings at daycare but he really enjoys going to the park.  So much to see and watch.  He loves to be pushed high and smiles the entire time.

Our curious little guy can't seem to take in new things fast enough.  Sometimes he's really quiet and it's because he's focusing so hard on what's going on.

Other times he screams and squeals with delight.  It's pretty easy to get him to smile.  Do a funny dance and he can't help but smile and laugh.  It works great for pictures and I could care less how silly or ridiculous that makes me look.   

Our little guy is really starting to eat more "big" people food.  He eats steak, fish, chicken, beans, pancakes, bananas, and cheese to name a few.  I'm pretty sure cheese is by far his favorite food. 

John Henry still enjoys bath time.  He's started standing up in the tub, which I'm not particularly fond of.  We try to keep him distracted by splashing and that works most of the time.  We're also working on finding some better bath toys.  I think that may help.  He still gets a bath every night and he's recently started getting his teeth brushed.  We do it in the morning and so far so good.  He seems to like it!

That's one clean baby!

John Henry continues to have irregular naps (despite our best efforts) and sometimes he conks out in the car.  We don't ever travel far so it's rare for him to really pass during a car ride.  When it does happen he doesn't even notice when you take him out of the car seat.  Since we rarely get to hold him when he's sleeping I relish every second. 

At this moment John Henry can say Mama, Dada, Dog, and Ball.  I swear I even heard him say patty cake the other day (but probably not since I haven't heard it since).  He's also started to take more of an interest in Lady.  He wants to pet her and if you ask him where Lady is, he'll look around until he finds her. 

John Henry really enjoys getting around the house.  He uses his push toys and cars to make his way to his destination.  He'll run over anything in his path so it's best to get out of the way.

I call this his DJ look.  He rarely keeps a hat/hoodie on and I think it's so cute.  When his hoodie is pulled up and he stands at his table it reminds me of a DJ spinning records.

Hey DJ, play that song!

I had to include this crawling shot of John Henry because it shows that his hair is growing.  I realize it's hard to see in the pictures but it really is starting to grow.  We've even had to cut a little that was growing over his ears.  I'm sure a professional haircut is still a ways off, but it was crazy to have to trim his hair when we thought it would never grow.

This next month will provide a lot of firsts for our little man  to take in.  We're travelling to Colorado for his first Thanksgiving, we'll be meeting Santa for the first time in early December and then it will be John Henry's first birthday.

I can only hope that he's as happy when he turns one as he is now . It should make for a great birthday!