AJ's 2nd Christmas

AJ here. Christmas this year was at my Grandma & Grandpa Thomasson's house. I was so excited for Christmas that I kept Mommy & Daddy up from 12 midnight to 2:30am on Christmas Eve! Santa brought me a lawn mower and play house thingy...I'll know more about it once Mommy & Daddy take it out of the box. Plus, I had animal crackers, gloves, children's hand sanitizer, and cinnamon goldfish snacks in my stocking! I got so many nice things from my grandparents, my three uncles, Aunt Katie, Great Uncle Danny & Great Aunt Rosie, Great Aunt Joyce and Great Uncle Duane, and Miss Kimberly. I'll be stylin' in some cool clothes once I get into 24 months/2T, I have magnets to play with on the fridge, doodling to do with crayons, and one cool leather rocker of my very own! AWESOME!

It's been awhile!

Sorry it's been so long since we posted. It's been a busy, busy month for AJ, Andy, and Jill. AJ now says "Uh oh", "Dada", "Daddy", and "Da". We know he can say "Mama" but that only slips out from time to time. He also just set a new record for his temper tantrums--45 minutes! All because we wouldn't let him play on the computer. We sense there will be a lot of fun days ahead for us.

AJ LOVES Christmas lights! Each night when we get home he runs over to the lights and says "Da!" until we turn them on. Then he proceeds to the next light and the next, until all of the lights have been turned on.

He had his 15 month appointment a couple of weeks ago. He's jumped to the 75th to 90th percentile for height (32 1/2 inches tall I believe), remained in the 50th percentile for his head, and dropped to the 25th percentile for his weight (22 pounds 14 ounces). The doctor was not concerned about his drop in weight, mainly because he's so active now. Andy on the other hand wants to feed him milkshakes!

We had our annual Christmas Party and Charitable Event in memory of Catherine on the 15th. So far we've raised about $1600 to go towards more memory boxes--enough for another year! We are so thankful for all of our friends and family who contributed and supported us and our cause. It means so much to keep Catherine's memory alive and in a positive light. Thank you!

Happy Turkey Day!

AJ here. I LOVE turkey!! YUM! I ate tons of turkey and green peas for my second Thanksgiving. Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa Czajkowski, Beastie, and Uncle Steve ate with me. I had a good time!

Mommy, Daddy, and Grandpa Czajkowski all put up Christmas decorations yesterday and today. I helped them out a lot! I don't think they put the ornaments in the correct places on the tree, so I've been taking them off and handing them to them one at a time so they can fix it. When I'm not redecorating, I'm playing these noisy singing things that Grandpa Czajkowski gave me over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Mommy & Daddy just love it!

Da Da

AJ here. I helped Daddy clean up his office this weekend--I took CDs off of his bookshelf and threw them in the trashcan! Mommy & Daddy have a video of me doing this service that they'll share sometime. Anyways, I decided to give my parents some hope that I'd communicate eventually by saying "Da Da" last night. My Daddy was so proud! I now say "Da Da" all the time when I'm not saying "Uh Oh" or shaking my head no or screaming.

School Costume Day

AJ here. I got to wear my tiger costume all day in school on the Friday after Halloween. All of my teachers loved me all dressed up! I was so cute running all around with my little tiger tail flapping behind me!

My First Time Trick-or-Treating

AJ here. I went Trick-or-Treating for the first time this Halloween! I dressed up as a tiger and roared down the driveway ready to get some candy. After I walked to the first house though, I was pooped! So, Mommy & Daddy just took me to a couple of houses before I went home, got out of my monkey suit, er tiger costume and ate dinner. Unfortunately for Daddy, most of the candy I got had peanuts or peanut butter in it. He mumbled something about me not helping him out...

Mommy & Daddy have been so busy!

AJ here. Mommy & Daddy have been so busy! So, I've been trying to help them do things like take out the trash, unload the dishwasher, turn on and off water, inspect the laundry room, clean out trashcans and the refridgerator, re-organize my closet, and feed the Beastie (his food is yummy!).

Been a long time!

AJ here. It's been such a busy month! For a quick recap I've:

• Visited Virginia Tech for the first time!! -- Uncle Alex & Miss Kimberly were great babysitters, too!
• Been promoted from the Infant Room to the Young Toddler's room -- it was hard to say goodbye to my ladies in the Infant room, but I'm having a blast in Young Toddlers!!
• Gotten a big fat black eye -- I took a plunge into a bookcase at school. The bookcase won.
• Eaten cat food -- tastes like chicken!
• Gotten used to wearing shoes -- my feet feel so heavy!
• Watched Mommy make lots of cakes -- she's a busy lady!
• Boogied to the Monster Mash -- I love that song!
• Discovered the chocolate syrup in the fridge -- it looks great on the floor!
• Said "Uh-oh!"

I will be going Trick or Treating for the first time next week! I'll be a Tiger!!

13 months old, Halloween Cake, & Computers

AJ here. I turned 13 months old yesterday!! Such a big boy now! So big in fact, that I now "work" on Uncle Todd's laptop. I'm fascinated by it! Mommy's been busy making cakes too. Attached are some pictures for viewing. Have a happy Columbus Day...whoever Columbus was....

Ravioli!

AJ here. I LOVE ravioli! Especially the whole wheat kind with tomatoes and basil. Mommy and Daddy have had so much fun cleaning me up after meals. Tonight I reached over and showed Mommy that I could touch her shirt with my hands. She had a funny reaction! After dinner I went outside and walked in the grass for the first time. Grass feels so funny under my feet. Plus, I saw this large thing flying in the sky. Crazy! It was good to get out and not think about the teething pain I have. I now have two teeth, and I'm working on my third one. I still hide them from everyone with my tongue though. Mommy & Daddy cannot wait until they get to get start brushing my teeth....

First Haircut and First Tooth!

AJ here. Today while Daddy was at a work meeting, Mommy took me to this place where they show cartoons. This lady picked up scissors and started cutting my hair! I did ok, but when she got the electric clipper near my ear, I swatted at it like King Kong swatting at those pesky airplanes! Also, I have a tooth now. You will not see it for awhile because I won't show it...plus I'm working on getting two more. Whenever Mommy and Daddy can catch a quick picture, they'll post it here!

One Year Old!

AJ here. Today is my birthday!!!! I'm one year old now--such a big boy!! I started my birthday by sleeping in until 8am, then I took some pictures with Mommy and Daddy outside. Mommy put some silly party hat on my head. After breakfast, Mommy took me to school and I walked in wearing my party hat. All of the ladies signed a birthday card for me and made a framed picture of me for Mommy and Daddy to look at. The ladies also gave me a balloon and sang Happy Birthday! It was such a good day!

Then Mommy arrived to pick me up from school early. I thought that was so nice, but then she took me to the doctor for what they call a "well visit". Anyways, I got stuck FOUR times! But in the end they gave me a happy birthday sticker and monkey sticker so I guess it wasn't so bad. Here are my stats:

Head - 18 1/2 inches - 50th Percentile

Weight - 22 pounds, 2 ounces - 25th-50th Percentile

Height - 30 3/4 inches - 75th Percentile

Oh, and one more thing: the doctor found three teeth in my mouth! They've barely broken through but Mommy was able to feel them. My gummy smile will be going away very soon!

After dinner Mommy and Daddy took me for a walk in my new red wagon that Grandpa Czajkowski and Ms. Dean gave me. I loved it!

Birthday Party!

AJ here. My friend Noah and I had a BIG birthday party! We had train stuff everywhere, even train sounds on Daddy's playlist. Mommy and Mrs. Heidi made us a train cake and all of these train signs and kid food. We also had a tiger moon bounce which was so cool to crawl around in. Even the big kids liked it! Lots of people came to celebrate with us. I have so many little friends and there are big people that are friends with Mommy, Daddy, Mrs. Heidi, and Mr. Schuyler. Plus, Grandpa Czajkowski, Ms. Dean, Grandma Thomasson, Grandpa Thomasson, Uncle Jason, Aunt Katie, Great Uncle Larry, and Uncle Todd were there too! We had a house full!