Skate Board Mania!

Well, Holden has found yet another sport he is interested in. The best part is he seems to have a natural talent for picking up skills. From the first time we brought home the skate board, helmet and pads he has been obsessed! I can hardly keep the helmet and pads off, and Holden hops on his board at least 3 times a day! =) If the weather was nicer we would be outside constantly... Summer will be here before we know it tho and we will spend plenty of time outside. For now Holden is happy learning how to ride his board inside where it doesn't go as fast. He also has a neat little skate park toy. It is a van which unfolds into a skate park complete with ramps, garbage can bowling and a dance floor! Also on the back is a "porto potty" which has a monster inside that pops his head out when you push the button. Uncle Rick taught Holden that his play pen was called a porto potty, so Holden is well informed on subject. In fact, Holden informed me that it was Uncle Rick in the porto potty!

I think it worked this time...

Finally I got both the background and the text to show up at the same time! Wo0t!

Lets see if this worked...

I am working on a layout change, but none of the tabs are the same in the dashboard and the help page!

I messed up!

Somehow I messed up blogger and lost everything! So here goes another try!

How long has it been?

Time goes by so fast. I'd heard that phrase so many times when I was younger and at that time in my life it seemed like time took for-ev-er. I just didn't believe it. Now I think it takes children to show you the true passage of time. Nothing makes you believe its true more than watching your baby grow up. Holden has such a sweet nature and a kind little heart and it only gets better as he learns to express himself.
Now that I have a new computer that doesn't crash every 20 minutes I have decided to try and keep up with the blog. I keep track of a few other blogs so it shouldn't be too hard to remember. =)
Here are a few pictures of Holden, with his dad and with Lola. You will probably notice in future posts the lack of pants on Holden... Potty training, nuff said.

I'm still here...

Holden is of course still doing great. He has a new addition to his daily routine... He is now sitting on the potty and using it daily! He still wont tell me when he needs to use it, I have to catch him and "bribe" him to sit on the potty. He gets to watch his Airplane movie when he sits there. But I can tell he enjoys the fuss I make when he is successful... I see big boy undies in the near future! Since I am not allowed to drive anymore the idea of potty training by timing seems attainable. I may have some spots to clean up... but plenty of time on my hands to do so! I am not sure how long I won't be able to drive, I hope its not long. It's awful to all of a sudden lose your independence and have to rely on someone else for transport. I will learn more on October 9th when I meet with my cardiologist again for an update. Until then it's weekly blood draws to check my potassium and we are in a wait and see period. I see genetic testing in Holden's and my future.
Holden's other new addition are his glasses. He wears them all day every day and only takes them off to sleep. They will correct his lazy eye, which was due to poor vision. He is such a good boy, and he very rarely tries to take them off... and he is always happy to have them put back on so that makes me glad. He can actually see now!
Holden will be Tigger for Halloween... I just HAD to see if it fit him... hopefully he will wear it!

Its been a long long time... again

There is no way to catch up on the last year, so I will just post some pictures. For those of you that may not know all of Holden's new skills I will make a short list.

Holden can now:
Speak in small sentences using words most people can understand without me translating.
He loves all sports, baseball being his favorite. He can also hit a ball when pitched underhand, throw with amazing accuracy, almost catch with his mitt, kick a soccer ball with accuracy, golf both left handed and right, shoot baskets, and is interested in throwing a football and watching tennis. He would love it if I let him play the Wii, I think boxing is his favorite.
We are working on potty training and he loves his potty book movie and his potty books, its the actual sitting on the potty he's not interested in... too busy playing.
Holden can identify most of the letters in the alphabet, and can count to 3, in English and with help Spanish.
Holden loves loves loves school buses, his tractors and his musical instruments. His favorite thing to do with music is to jam. He puts a beat on the keyboard, then plays the keyboard while forcing you to play his guitar. Then he makes me switch and play the keyboard while he plays the guitar. He also loves to dance.
Holden is very loving, sometimes even stopping his play to give me a hug or a kiss... and this kid doesn't like to stop playing! He has so much stamina!
Holden also loves to play with his buddy Mark. Mark and Holden have a play date usually once or twice a week, and thanks to Mark, Holden is learning how to share. They are very smart and cute together, and have so much fun!
We grow and learn new things every day. And I am a very lucky mommy.

18 months +

Holden's last checkup was fairly uneventful. Aside from being overly tired and cranky, receiving shots and getting over his cold that is. Holden weighed in at a healthy 26 lbs, about the 60th percentile, and 34.5 inches tall which is about the 93rd percentile. Almost all 4 of his molars are in now, with the 4th starting to poke its way thru. His favorite word to say is baby, and he says a lot of me me me's as well. Still throwing, hitting and kicking a ball every chance he gets, he is now more controlled in his golf swing, and most often hits you in the face if he throws a ball to you. I am often warning strangers to watch out if he throws a ball to them, of course they usually think I am exaggerating, and underestimate his throwing arm. I never know when to say sorry or I told you so! =)
Wall Street has started construction! Of course this means Dave isn't at home with me all the time now, both Holden and I miss him a lot. We didn't get to go out to the beach house this year for our anniversary due to the storms, but I am glad we didn't go early and get stuck!
Our apartment is now decorated, I couldn't help getting into the spirit even tho we don't have a tree. I just hang garland over the windows and decorate with lights and ornaments. Most of the ornaments are from my childhood and those I have collected over the years so I just love to see them hanging there. And now Christmas is looming just around the corner, and there is so much to do!
Still, it's been great these past couple of months, Holden is blooming and it is so neat to watch.
He has become so cuddly, giving hugs and loves and just wants to be on a lap. Terrible two's are right around the corner, and already creeping up at times... of course our pediatrician says early terrible two tantrums are just a sign of intelligence. I could do without that one tho! I look forward to when reasoning and or reverse psychology works on him!

I can't believe it's been 6 months!

Since the last post, back on Holden's first birthday, so much has happened! Holden took his first steps on July 5th at our family's beach house, coincidently the same place I took my first steps. Now he is running and almost jumping all around the house. Holden is very into sports, he can shoot baskets, hit a golf ball, and hit a ball off a tee with his baseball bat. He is also very musical, we found out last night he is quite talented at playing the drums. As soon as we have a house I think Holden will be getting a drum set. Holden doesn't say a whole lot of words clearly yet, mostly just hi, bye bye, more, ball, roll roll roll, honk honk, puppy and his tried and true, I did it. He does however have quite the repertoire of animal sounds. He can tell you what a puppy, bear, lizard, kitty, bee, elephant, horse, goat, pig, lamb, cow, duck, and fish says. He loves his books, he prefers to turn the pages himself, and point out everything on the page. He also likes to be quizzed on where objects are on the page. Holden eats very well, pretty much everything we put in front of him, and he sleeps about 9-11 hours at night with an hour to two hour nap, sometimes more. At almost one and a half Holden seems to be getting into his terrible twos just a bit... he gets frustrated when told no and tends to throw little fits, so far nothing too awful tho.
We finally got down to Texas this last weekend where we saw Nanna Loranna, Great Grandma LuLu, Great Aunt Renee, and Auntie Katie. It was a whirlwind trip, but much needed and very much enjoyed! I could go on and on about how nice it was to get down there, and how much I am looking forward to our next trip. Holden did very well on his first airplane rides, both sharing a seat and using his car seat, it was pretty uneventful. It took us a few days to get used to the time change and the end of daylight savings, but everyone is back to normal now.
We also got the chance to visit with the newest member of the family, Willa. What a sweetheart and a beautiful little girl. I was also very impressed with Marty's energy, probably why she looks so great!
And that I think brings us up to date. Now to post some pictures!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLDEN!

Sorry this update is so over due, but to make it up here are pictures of Holden's first birthday cake eating! We had a nice little dinner at my folks house after I was done riding my horse last night. What a weekend we had! Thanks to Jacie and John, Amy and my dad for watching Holden so my mom and I could go to the horse auction. We are looking forward to Holden's party at John and Jacie's house this weekend!