Progress of a Yard

Yard prepped: raked, rolled, ready for curbing.

Curbing.

Sod laid. Still looking a little bit like patchwork.

3 weeks later. The lawn's first haircut.

A little bit of perspective on the layout of the yard now. And Matt jumped right into the pool after mowing the lawn. It's pretty hot here now. I think our temps for the week will average 111. Because of that, it looks like we'll be waiting until October to put in the plants and rock around the outside.

Driving the fire engine. He was very interested in the firefighters who were standing off to the side.


When the clown asked him what balloon shape he wanted, Christopher immediately said he wanted an elephant. Then she asked the color and without hesitation he said "Blue!" And there's Grandma Nell. :)


Waiting in line with Grandpa to get on the train. He was being tickled, but still was maintaining the "you can't make me smile" line of thinking.


Ah ha! Grandpa won the prize! Maybe Christopher just didn't want to smile at the camera, but Grandpa still managed to get him to laugh for the profile shot on Grandma's lap.


We are working on the "waif" look. How do you think it's coming along?

Trip to Thomas

Last weekend we went to Flagstaff with Grandma & Grandpa Truitt & Grandma Nell to see Thomas the Tank Engine. Here is a slight glimpse of Thomas. Christopher did enjoy seeing that. We couldn't really get much closer since people were waiting to board the train.

Christopher was slightly overwhelmed. We couldn't get a single smiling picture, but he wasn't crying! Here is the hay maze.


He got a temporary "tattoo" of Thomas on his hand, which Grandpa helped him display for the camera. Still no smile.

There was an ambulance that he got to climb around in. You must look stoic when on an ambulance.

He also liked climbing up onto the fire engine. Really. He did.

Don't these two good-looking guys look cool? Christopher was helping Daddy back his truck out on his way to work and just had to have sunglasses on too.


Christopher is getting pretty good at the act of sharing. These are toy Easter eggs. The cat wanted them on his back and Christopher obliged. Then Christopher actually asked me to take a picture of it. He was so proud of himself. The cat is currently working on his application for sainthood.

Just some cute stuff

Christopher got a "fire engine hat" a couple of weeks ago. He was trying to convince me that it looked so cute on him that he should get to wear it to bed.

Even a 2-year old has got to earn his keep somehow! Actually, he seriously wanted to vacuum. I had pulled it out and he managed to turn it on and start working. Good kid.

This was simply a cute smile. He was showing his Big Bird and Cookie Monster dolls to the cat (the tip of whose tail is visible right at the bottom center of the picture - it's grey, hard to see).

At the Renaissance Festival with our little friend Hannah. As we walked in we passed a chocolate shop offering free popsicle sticks dipped in melted chocolate.....

Christopher just had to stop and visit "Mother Goose" at the festival. He walked right up to the bench, sat down and let the goose sit on his lap. He was giving it hugs and the whole scene was so cute that people behind us were taking pictures of him.

A Typical Day

When Daddy gets home, it's time to head to the bed for play time! First, Christopher needs to warm up by flexing his muscles.

Then a little bit of upside down time to stretch those legs.

Then it's Daddy's turn for a workout by doing a few "boy lifts" and some mind-to-mind connecting with his son.

Then we hand Christopher over to his mama for some tickle time.

The next day Christopher decides that Pooter was left out of all the fun and needs to play with the newspaper ads - just for a change of pace.

Taking it easy...

There is nothing quite as relaxing as "reading" the Sunday comics after church while waiting for your lunch to be prepared.

On the go

These are not the "smiliest" pictures of Christopher we've ever been able to get, but he's at the stage where he doesn't like to hold still for long - or follow directions like "smile!" But they capture the essence of what we've been up to in the past week or so.

Christopher loves to bring a couple of stuffed animals with him when we go for walks. He likes to make sure they are safely buckled in on the other seat of the wagon.


He likes to help Dad get ready to leave for work. Christopher does the "quality control checks" and makes sure that the engine revs just right and that the horn button still works on Dad's motorcycle.


Last week we met up with Mema and cousin Austin at the zoo. We couldn't get any pictures of him in front of any of the animals, but he & Austin had a great time climbing up on things. This is a bench just inside the entrance of the zoo.


This is a huge stone frog by the jungle part of the zoo. Christopher didn't really feel like looking at the camera, but Austin was still trying to get him to smile.


Christopher loved the playground section of the zoo. This is a slide that is shaped like a huge saguaro. He enjoys slides and had to go down this one several times before he was satisfied.

Christopher's year so far

Christopher got a new friend, whom we very creatively named "Monkey." This picture was taken the day Monkey came home and Christopher wanted Daddy to see him right away, so we were emailing pictures to Daddy.


Practicing his budding skills as a photographer. He likes to hold the camera, facing whichever way is most comfortable at the moment, and says "Smile! Click!"


Ready to read before nap time. I told Christopher to go get on the bed and get ready to read while I finished something else and when I walked in he had gathered all of the stuffed animal friends that are in the "reading room" up onto the bed with him. They were all quite interested in reading. They make comments, point at pictures, the whole nine yards. Christopher's toys are very interactive!

Christmas with the Truitts

These pictures are so not in chronological order, but the important thing is that I'm finally getting them posted! This Christmas we got to meet Christopher's newest cousin, Amelia for the first time. Here she is with her dad, Joshua. Her mom is Matt's younger sister, Melisa.


Christopher had a great time playing with the other cousins on the Truitt side, Dara's kids: Adam, Angie, Austin, Aaron and Arch (left to right). He didn't participate in the snowman building, though, because he was busy napping.


Christopher was fascinated by all of the fun ornaments on Grandma Shirley's tree. This was the Saturday before Christmas.


Christmas morning at our house: Christopher was a little more into unwrapping presents than he was last year, but after about 2 gifts he just wanted to play and couldn't be interested in unwrapping any more gifts. He got several fun trucks this year and that is perfect for him.


He got a really cool wagon with seat backs, cupholders, all the bells and whistles. We're going to use it on our next zoo trip!


Christopher decorated gingerbread men for the first time this year. This involved his mama squeezing on some icing, Christopher putting on the candy, and then Christopher removing and eating the candy. It's a good process.


We went up to Flagstaff the Wednesday after Christmas and got snow that same night. Two minutes after being out in the snow for the first time, Christopher declared "I love snow!" And then Mema showed him how to eat it - right when he thought things couldn't get any better.
We had it all this Christmas: sun, snow, and lots of family!

Thanksgiving amendment

The family picture is missing two people: Jimmy - he was taking the picture, and Jimmy's daughter, Ellie. She was already back at her mom's house for the day. Here is a picture of Ellie with Christopher. It's a little dark, but you can still see the gap where her front teeth used to be!

Thanksgiving - Only a month late!

My goal is to have Christmas pictures up around the New Year - okay, maybe Valentine's Day, but I'm trying to be optimistic!
We went to Utah for Thanksgiving to see Emily's family.

Christopher shared some of the music from Daddy's iPod with his uncle Jimmy.


Cold weather was a new thing for him, so he had to get all decked out in his long pants, sweatshirt, jacket, hat and closed-toe shoes. We don't use those things much in Arizona!

Here's the whole family, use your magnifying glass: From the left, Jennifer and Ben, Scott & Kathleen, Stephanie, Sergio, Jimmy's wife Daisy, Emily, Christopher in front of part of Synthia's face, and Matt with Emma and Dana sitting in the chairs in front.

Christopher with his cousin Dana. Aren't those precious smiles?

We went to see our friends Todd & Beth at the end of the week. It had been a long week for Christopher, so he and his Bear took a nice 3-hour nap.

Christopher's 2nd birthday party

Our baby suddenly (or so it seems to us) is not a baby anymore, but a walking, talking, funny, happy little boy! We had his second birthday party just a little over a week ago. He got a little overwhelmed and spent the last part of the evening playing cars with Mema in the back room, but here are some shots of his more social moments.


Mesmerized by the flames.


The frosting was his favorite part. He took a couple of bites of the cupcake and then decided to concentrate on the good stuff. At one point he just leaned over and started licking the frosting off the top of the cupcake.

Elmo is a new obsession. He likes to watch the "Elmo's World" part of Sesame Street in the morning. This toy has buttons and snaps and zippers and all that good stuff for him to learn to do.

One of the other favorites of the evening was this huge dump truck. He promptly dubbed it "Big Truck" and plays with it constantly. We had to explain to him that Big Truck doesn't get to go to bed with him.

We love this smile! Our friend Jenny made some really yummy #2-shaped sugar cookies for Christopher's birthday. They had frosting and different colors of sprinkles and M&Ms on top. Christopher especially liked the "candy." He also enjoyed naming the colors. He's getting pretty good at that!