11 months & counting!

Before the haircutting begins, my cousin Dylan & me!During my 1st real hair cut.  I was sitting in a chair like a big boy, but I got over it!

After the cut me & my cousin with our new short do's!

My favorite thing to organize in the house.  Truly I go straight to my "fun zone" after every nap & make sure the DVD's are just how I like 'em.  If my mom ever tries to put them away, I hurry over to "reorganize" them on the floor again for her . . . I'm such a big help!  Thanks dad for introducing me to this super "fun zone" when mom wasn't home!!

Being a silly cowboy, I must take after my uncles on the Ulrich side!!

Now what do I do with this hat?!?

Here's a half smile for ya ma!

Well Troy is growing & growing, though it may not seem like it as he's still our little short stack.  Actually he's just in the very average range which makes him seem smaller compared to other little ones his age or younger who pass him up.  He is a walking boy now, all over, down the hall, turning, stopping to get his balance . . . yes it has begun!  He has been taking steps for a few weeks now, but crawling was still faster for him.  Now he's gotten the hang of walking & seems to prefer it most of the time.  We love seeing him go, he just seems too little to be doing it already!  He also got a tooth on top last month (not a middle tooth but the one next to it . . . random) & now has another one to join it, the middle one next to it luckily!  I was worried he would get his next tooth on the other side next to where the middle one would be & look like a vampire! :)  We can't believe he is almost a big one year old.  He sleeps like a dream & still takes his 2 naps a day.  He is also still a hearty eater who gets praised regularly by other moms for his wide open mouth when you feed him.  He leaves plenty of room for the spoon & a mound of food to fit in his mouth, he's a crack up!  We sure love our handsome boy & can't picture a happier life than we have now!!

1st Disneyland Trip!

We got a call on Tuesday morning from some friends in the ward, the Duncan's, to see if we wanted to go to Disneyland with them.  They had a family member that could sign in 3 people to go for free & they only needed 1 person to get in, so they called us!  We were very excited to take our little man there for the first time, since we were planning on waiting until he was older to remember & enjoy it more if our $$ was spent.  But free??  Sign us up, we were there!  He did really good, with no "break down" moments (which was amazing considering the lack of quality napping for the day) & only one little scare on a ride.  

He loved the merry-go-round as do most kids!

Look at that sweet face!  Mark only took about 30 pictures on this ride alone, don't worry I've spared you the minute by minute!

He did need a little rest against the bar by the end, we were cracking up!

Father & son in line for Pirates of the Caribbean, though you can't see the decor in the background & it was daytime outside still.

After taking use of the baby care center to feed him dinner in a high chair he was pooped.  Yes we'd only been there about 3 hours or so & it was only 6:15!!  The 5 rides we went on really wore him out! :)  

So this was the "before" picture when I was trying to get a picture of him & he wasn't having it, as you can tell.  At which point daddy promptly told him if he didn't stop crying we weren't going to Disneyland anymore!  Gotta love the "parent" language kicking in already . . . even if he's only 10 1/2 months it's never too soon to start right?

P.S. One thing that kind of surprised us going to Disneyland through a child's eyes & not the normal adult view like in the past, was how scary & dark some of the little kids rides were!!  I'll just give one example, where you end up at the end of Mr. Toads Wild Ride after the judge pronounces you "Guilty".  (Let's just say it's very HOT there)  The "happiest place on earth" huh?!?  

Halloween & 10 months a little late!

Our little Nemo at the ward Harvest Festival!

His sweet face trying to crawl in all of that costume, notice one regular fin & one "little" fin!

Halloween night, how he really felt about his Nemo costume.  Not so fond of the fish head!!

Can you blame him?Our 10 month old!  Not a "staged" photo, but I thought very cute showing his basket of toys & what he chooses to play with first basically every time, his books!  Gotta love a reader!  We continue to love seeing our little guy growing into a little boy more & more each day.  He is taking lots of steps as he gets braver & more steady on his little feet.  The most in a row is probably 6-8, not exactly sure but he will take multiple steps in a row all day long, though crawling is still quicker & easier for him.  He is still a good sleeper who goes down very easily, even spoiling mom by sleeping in until 8 or 9 in the morning for a few weeks (thanks to the time change not so much any more).  He still has a healthy appetite & has little to no foods he absolutely won't eat, just some he prefers much more than others.  He makes lots of sounds including "da da", "ma ma", & "na na" to name a few.  We can't imagine a happier life than we have with our handsome, healthy, loving son!  We are a very blessed family, loving life!