TJ's 22nd Month

TJ had a fun month filled with some of his favorite things: family, friends, and the beach. He started off the month with a visit from Grandpa Gene, followed by a trip up to Jacksonville to see Stevie, Kame, and Papa, and lastly, a visit from Grandma Doodle. TJ may have to share the attention with his new sister, but with visits from all four grandparents, he certainly didn't get short-changed this month.

After picking up Gene from the Orlando Airport, we went to Downtown Disney where Gene took TJ for a ride on the train.

During his stay, we took Gene to our closest beach, Cedar Key, where TJ buried him in the sand.

Cedar Key might not be the prettiest beach, but it does have a pretty awesome playground right on the water.

 TJ had a blast climbing up,

yelling down,

and swinging.

But mostly he just liked to swing. I swear this boy could swing all day long if a person had the patience and strength to push him that long. It might have something to do with the fact that he lived in an infant swing for the first five months of his life. And you can bet Ayla is being raised the same way.

Of course you can't go to Cedar Key without picking up some of Tony's World Famous clam chowder. Despite the unsure look on his face, I do believe TJ enjoyed it as much as the rest of us.

Trent, TJ, and Gene took a boys weekend down to Sarasota to hit up the beautiful beaches of the Gulf Coast. Gene and TJ also took a few trips to the park. Gene played with TJ, and TJ likes to play hard. By the end of his two week visit, Gene was exhausted. Here he is sleeping mid-day while TJ desperately tried to get his attention.

TJ was invited to a one-of-a-kind, super-duper, St. Patrick's Day play group. By one-of-a-kind I mean the Kim-kind which means the decorations were through the roof, the food was the bomb, and the company was fantastic. Here TJ is enjoying some St. Patty's day snacks with some of his close friends.

And here TJ is enjoying a drink with his leprechaun 'stache.

We played at the Longleaf pool with some friends. TJ loves to splash in the water. 

He also loves to play with water toys.

Kim and Stace invited us over to their house to watch a session of General Conference and to eat dinner. These two bare-bummed boys crawled past me, pushing their cars, without their pants on. "Where's the camera, Trent?"

Next up: Trip to Jax Beach to visit Cousin Stevie. Kame and Papa were there babysitting while Andy and Dana were at a wedding. TJ was in heaven that weekend at "Stebies" house. Like TJ, Stevie also loves his Cars. He has lots of Cars toys. And he lives on the beach. Enough said. Now when we pull into our own neighborhood TJ whines, "No home! Stebie's home!" or while we are driving around town he will optimistically ask, "Stebie's house!?" "Sorry bud, not today."

Trent and his Junior at their favorite place on earth.

Trent wanted TJ to burry him in the sand. Trent called me to help. I was catching some much needed rays and declined the offer...

But this little lady perked up from a few yards away and accepted the offer. 

Favorite place on earth I tell ya.

To finish off the month, TJ's Grandma Judy aka "Doodle" came to visit. We first hit up Lake Wauburg, a lake owned by the University for student's and their families to enjoy. I say "enjoy" but of course that comes with the condition that you like playing in dirty water while baby alligators lurk from a distance. Judy was brave enough to sit with TJ on the shore and protect my baby from all those baby gators.

Grandma Doodle spent much of her time pushing TJ on the hammock in the back yard and also the swing at the park. TJ enjoyed every second of it.

Grandma Doodle took us to Daytona Beach for Easter Weekend. We hit up the local Easter Egg Hunt and searched for eggs beach-style with a sand bucket turned basket. 

We also visited the tallest light house in Florida- located on the Ponce Inlet in Daytona.

And we climbed to the top.

TJ climbed every step on his own. I am not usually afraid of heights, but boy did this make me nervous.

My little one year old, however, showed no signs of fear. Here he is taking in the view from the top.

After climbing down, we headed to the beach. The "tallest lighthouse in Florida" looks awfully tiny from here.

Ever since our trip to Jacksonville Beach we promised TJ we would buy him a kite. After looking high and low for one, the dollar store in Daytona finally pulled through for us. On the Ponce Inlet in Daytona, TJ flew his first kite.

TJ has officially graduated from the highchair and now sits comfortably in this booster seat at the table with us. He is a good eater, as usual. This month he has also become quite good at jumping, identifying colors, sharing, talking, counting, and making friends. At times he is a good brother to Ayla- giving her spontaneous kisses, gently patting her on the belly, and wanting to include her in our activities. Other times he is a not-so-good brother- stealing pacifiers, pulling her arms, and not-so-gently patting her on the belly. Maybe he is simply testing his limits with her, or perhaps becoming a bit jealous of all the attention she is receiving? Who knows?
Occasionally he's a stinker but overall he's a sweetie. That we do know.