Dancing and Throwing

John is 11 months old now! It feels like every day he is discovering something new. Here are his latest discoveries:

-First steps!!! He can take a few steps on his own, but he still prefers one hand support or crawling. I LOVE the caution and am so excited to see him figuring out walking!

-Dancing (3 variations: seated and bouncing [see below], on his knees, or standing and holding on to the table)

-Throwing a ball up in the air

-Open mouth kisses...

-First Haircut (just back of the neck and above the ears. His hair keeps getting lighter... still closer to Matt's baby shade.)

We have been busy! Beyond the usual, we have been starting Matt's oral surgery residency applications, bidding farewell to great Vegas friends that are moving on to grad school elsewhere, and trying to manage my lower back pain. Matt just received a new calling, Elder's Quorum President, so he has been trying to learn the ropes. He has great counselors and I think this will be a great learning, service, and leadership experience for him. Also, I was able to spend some time with some of my best friends from college who were here in Vegas for Heather's bachelorette weekend! I joined the group for hiking, lounging at the pool, bagel brunch (and introducing John!), dinner, and the main celebration. It was so convenient to have the party here in Vegas!

Congratulations, Heather!!

Also, I enjoyed a very relaxing 26th birthday, with so many thoughtful calls, messages, and cards. Matt let me sleep in until 7 :) then spoiled me with a surprise pastry breakfast, came home early during John's nap so I could meet up with the bachelorette crew for some pool time, and took me out to an AMAZING dinner at Lawry's. I've been regretting the decision to attend a Master's class rather than join Matt's parents and Matt for a dinner there 2 years ago for Matt's White Coat Ceremony, so I was very excited to indulge in such a nice dinner. Several friends also stopped by with treats, and John was adorable, so overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable day! Thank you to everyone for all the love and kind birthday wishes!

Now I'm starting to plan John's ONE YEAR birthday! Any favorite traditions??? I love the separate cake idea, letting him get messy in his own cake. I also have a birthday diary, which I will bring out on every birthday and have all celebrators sign. I'm thinking about making a digital scrapbook and a DVD compilation of favorite clips. My goal is to exert energy in doing things that are meaningful and fun, and also feasible with future children :) Can't believe John is turning one already!

Utah Visit

Following our visit to Maryland, I joined my mom and Grandma in their trip to Utah for Women's Conference. It was awesome to share a flight with two enthusiastic helpers! Flying with John was no problem with so much help.

In Utah, we visited a lot of family. I was able to meet baby Darla Jane, Mauri's beautiful little girl who was born one month ago. She was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, and she has been fighting through invasive operations and is truly a little miracle baby. I have been inspired by my cousin Mauri and her family's faith and strength in embracing with joy their adorable baby girl.

In Provo, we were able to spend a lot of time with my brother Scott and his awesome wife Brittany. Brittany had just completed her Master's degree, so she was free to party with us the rest of the weekend! We met up with Susie and Baby Claire, joined my mom and Grandma for a mother-daughter lunch on the BYU campus, played tennis, and viewed the incredible Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU's Museum of Art. Thursday night, we drove up to Park City with Jane and we enjoyed a thoroughly relaxing get-away involving planning grad school futures, great girly food, catching up on the latest Harry Potter movie, and indulging in my Vegas friends Lincoln and Mimi's amazing frozen yogurt line, Yodipity.

Friday night, Brittany dropped John and I off at Matt's parents' condo in Murray. It was such a treat to overlap with Kori and her two girls, Emma and Lizzy. John enjoyed center stage with his cute cousins, adoring aunt, and grandparents.

John actually repeated "Emma" immediately after meeting her! In efforts to encourage him to say everyone's names, we tried adapting a few names to make them more baby-friendly. John thinks the "zzz" sound is hilarious, and frequently attempts it, so we tried "Zizzy" as a substitute for Lizzy.

The girls were so good with their little cousin!

John LOVED his Aunt Kori (now also known as "Aunt Coco"... 'r' is a hard sound, and 'cocoa' is all too fitting!) She truly has a way with babies. He just lit up around her!

Matt's dad did a great job catching pictures while we were there. I loved this slow shutter release shutter shot of John climbing on the suitcase while I tried to zip it. Such an accurate depiction of my life as a mother. Me moving as quickly as possible to keep John safe in his avid explorations. John loves climbing things now, but many things are too tall for him. This suitcase was an exciting find for him.

We are now back home, and we are so appreciative of all the efforts from friends and family to make our trip so enjoyable!

Happy Mothers' Day to all the incredible women in my life!

Maryland Visit

During Matt's semester break, Matt completed two oral surgery externships. An externship is essentially a formal shadowing experience at a residency program. He did one week at Minnesota's program in Minneapolis and one week at Gunderson Lutheran, in La Crosse, WI. He learned a lot about the inner workings of both programs, built some connections with students and staff, and, most importantly, he confirmed that he loves oral surgery.

While Matt was traveling and working hard, John and I visited family. We spent 11 days in Maryland then 3 days in Utah. The marriage of working online and my mom's abundant Southwest frequent flyer miles results in a glorious flexibility in occasional travel. We were extremely grateful for this flexibility for this break. We missed Matt, and Skyped him every night (John would light up and speed crawl over to the laptop every time Matt signed on, so cute), and we really enjoyed seeing friends and family.

John absolutely loved the mass of adoring faces constantly admiring his every move. He quickly mastered "papa" for Grandpa and "cough cough" to identify my mom. He loved climbing stairs, practicing walking on a little walking stroller, and exploring new rooms. We also had a lot of fun visiting the National Zoo. For a 10 month old, he was very attentive! He loved the fish, tiger, turtles, and orangutans (anything that moved). The weather was quite varied from day-to-day, but we enjoyed many beautiful spring days.

We were spoiled with getting a lot of time with Thomas and Jane. It was T's spring break, so John enjoyed lots of Uncle Thomas time. Thomas showed him all sorts of important skills like how to shake your head, play lacrosse, and mow the lawn.

Jane was in between semesters, so she joined us for 4 days. I tried out hot yoga with her. Wow, great workout. And, wow, I haven't used some muscles in a realllly long time! We also joined my mom, Grandma, and Aunt for a girls' outing to the movies to see Jane Eyre. Loved the acting! I do love a good British romance. And I do love anytime I get to see my Jane!

John had a great first Easter, with a visit from the Easter bunny. His basket contained a few little toys and plastic eggs filled with rice puffs! Lucky guy.

I also loved being able to catch up with friends from high school, college, TFA, and tutoring. I have the honor of being a part of two DC weddings this year, and I was conveniently able to celebrate bridal showers for both friends during my MD visit. Heather's best friends from high school pulled off a really fun friends shower. My mom helped me throw a shower for my best friend from high school, Genevieve. There was a mix of family and friends from many different states, so we kept it traditional. We themed the food after Gen's Tuscan favorites, with Margherita pizza, proscuitto wrapped melon, and tiramisu. It was delicious! Gen's sisters and Betsy, another great high school friend, also helped with decor, party favors, and the trivia game, so it really was a fun shower to put together.

Amazing tiramisu

Genevieve and sisters Emily and Caroline opening gifts

Whitman girls!

My mom, Gen, Emily, Caroline, me, Elise (Gen's mom)

It was also fun to talk wedding details, try on bridesmaid dresses, and get excited for their big days. It's been so fun having great friends getting married and some even having babies now!

Overall, it was a wonderful trip!

10-month-old Videos

John has several new, fun tricks. We have caught a few of these on video; they are too funny! Here are the latest new skills:

*Successfully waving for hello/goodbye

*Cruising around furniture (sometimes with only one hand!)

*Adding "Mama", "Papa" (Grandpa), and "Emma" (his older cousin) to his list of words

*Approximating "da" for dog and "ba" for ball, and declaring "na" when he wants something

*Speed walking with help of adult hands or strollers

*Shaking his head back and forth. He thinks this is hysterical. My brother, Thomas, showed him how to shake his head back and forth, and John was fascinated by Thomas's waving flow.

By the end of that day, John had figured out his new favorite trick.

*Imitating facial expressions and gestures. He enjoys rhythm, so we often play drumming imitation games. He was really intrigued by my Grandma's drumming after Easter dinner, so he put his all into his drumming efforts.

It's always fun to see what skills he learns from family and friends! John and I had a great trip visiting family in MD and UT (post coming soon). Right now John is fighting through his first cold, poor guy! Thanks to all friends and family for the various tips. Vick's VapoRub and steaming up the bathroom have been lifesavers in helping him beat this. Despite his cold, he is still having a lot of fun with these newfound skills!