Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We didn't get a Christmas letter out this year- but we're still hoping to make a "Happy New Year, 2007 in review type letter."

Happy Birthday!

Because Tobin's birthday fell exactly on Thanksgiving this year, we had his Dino party a little early, on November 17th. He had two friends over: Eli, who is 6 weeks younger than Tobin, and Josh, who is 5 months older! Of course, Eli's parents, Dave and Ginny and Josh's parents, Matt and Katie were in attendance too. Naturally, with three toddlers in motion, we didn't get all the pictures we wanted, but we are lucky because Matt took great pictures- Thanks Matt!

Here is of Tobin's first birthday cake (it's supposed to be a dino egg).
Just like his Daddy, he seemed to prefer savory/salty to sweet. He especially didn't like the sticky frosting on his hands. But the dino-chicken-nuggets were a big hit!

There were toddler sized inflatable dinosaurs, a tyrannosaurus balloon that Daddy taught Tobin WWF dino wrestling, and dino bowling from the Learning center. We padded the glass top of and legs of the coffee table, and turned it into a dinosaur to reduce the sharp corners.

We had a great time playing in the land before time-and no one got hurt!

Tobin had so much fun that he pretty much collapsed with exhaustion near the end of the party, which left Mommy and Daddy time to talk to our guests and clean up (so considerate!). We left the decorations out until his actual birthday, though.

Growling Good Halloween

At Daddy's work there is a Halloween party. We were really excited to go!

He doesn't know how to say "trick-or-treat" yet, but he does understand chocolate. In order to get the message across he growls and smiles (get it? "growls-or-smiles")in his lion costume. So far no one has been able to resist him.

Theravance also had inflatable bouncy rooms. He tried that out too!

11 months!

Hi All-

Sorry for the lack of writing. We've reached the winter months, when the colds/flu/sickness come in waves every-other week since September. We've already had the wet cough scourge, the crusty eye disease, thrush, stomach flu, the frighteningly high fevers of Roseola, and the green slug mucus ailment. Did you know that kids get up to 14 colds/flu per year in their first 4 years of life?

We have managed some fun, though. We bought Tobin up to the mountains again for the apple harvest. He found pumpkins too- we were so excited! We rented a tent trailer to try (before we buy). It was great for the heater that kept us cozy at night and that he could have some independent floor time, to play with toys and move around.

He is also walking 5-10 steps now, very controlled. Mommy and Daddy are really very grateful for the reprieve. We were worried that he was going to be an early walker- super mobile without the cognition to understand cause and effect. That would have been so dangerous. Now, he is always wanting to go walking, but wants to hold a hand for stability. So sweet!

We have also started rejoin the social scene- we had a Harvest party at his preschool, Halloween Party at Daddy's work, and today a first Birthday party! Currently, he's fast asleep after the birthday party (why Mommy can get to work!). Speaking of sleeping- most night's he's sleeping all the way through- Yipee! Mommy's finally catching up on sleep, well almost.

We hope to post some Halloween mischief soon, until then: "Bye, bye!!"

Eight months and cruising!!

So far we've sprouted three more teeth- the top two eyeteeth and a front tooth (the other is a few days behind). Yup, he is teething out of order- blame it on his novice parents, not knowing the right way... "How unusual," said our friend Katie, who is a real Dentist!! Actually, he's taking after his mommy, who also cut her fangs before her front chompers. At day care they call him the smiling Jack-o-Lantern!

Eight months old today!! Tobin is cruising!!



He's been holding our hands and marching along for the last week, but now he's doing it independently. Daddy is so proud!!



Our best to you!!

Seven months old

Hi all- Time flies so fast! Tobin is already seven months old!! He's a man in motion.. well, baby in motion anyway... He's always working hard to get to the next level- He's speed crawling now, and pulling himself up, so keeping us very busy.

So busy, in fact, that we had our first call to poison control last week. Toby crawled to my beloved dieffenbachia and broke off a cane and popped it in his mouth before I knew what was going on!! It turns out the dieffenbachia is also known as "dumb cane" because it can cause swelling in the mouth that renders the victim unable to speak. We rinsed his mouth and called poison control, but luckly the toxin is more prevalent in the leaves than the stem, so we were ok. Now the plant is out of Tobin's reach- and we're always looking for a good home for it...

It turns out that he was looking for something to chew on due to rapid dental onset- he's cut four teeth in 2 1/2 weeks!! Here's his two pearly white (razors) bottom teeth and his two eyeteeth have just cut through the gums on the top (not visible in this picture:


Here's footage of his improving crawling from two weeks ago:


Sorry, no footage of him crawling now (my old camera can hardly keep up!!).

Our best to you!!

Getting Started

Hi Friends and Family-

We've been looking for a way to do this easily for a while. This is a trial of the Google suite- hopefully this one will stick.

Here are links to TobinCinema:

First crawl (6/7/07)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lkhdAzU0wI

Rockin' out in the Kitchen (5/17/07)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXrlXAKsOFE

Enjoy!

6-months

Hi All-

Can you believe it? Today was Tobin's 6-month check-up!

Overall, our peditrican is very pleased with Tobin's development. He kept saying, "He's doing really well!" He very impressed at Tobin's activity level- Tobin showed him how he can sit up by himself, roll over from front to back and reverse, and how he's in the ready to crawl position- he kicks, but hasn't figured out how to put it all together.

Tobin weighs 16 lbs 4.5 oz (33% percentile) and is a whopping 28.5 inches long (97% percentile). He's a big boy! In length, he's the same size as an average 10 month old! Although Mama was a little worried that his weight-for-height ratio is low, the Dr reassured us that Tobin is fit and thriving. He's eating two solid meals and drinking 45-60 oz of baby milk a day.

Here's a picture of him- he's in his PJ's and we are hoping he's going to feel sleepy soon! Oh, that's the other great news- he's sucessfully transitioned from his bassinet by our bed to his crib in his own room- and also, 5 out of 7 nights has slept all the way through! Hoorah!

Love to all,
Nate, Erika, and Tobin

PS- I wasn't impressed with the Mac.com website, so let the free trial lapse. I am investigating other options, and will keep you informed.

Happy Easter!

Tobin's first Easter Egg hunt- you can see he's very excited about it- "Look there's one over there- let's go, Dad!! Quit taking pictures, Mom!!"

Nate is back from Taiwan, and we are really enjoying family time together again. Everything went well with his job. While Nate was away, Erika moved back to Ken and Marion's house during the work week and they helped out tremendously with taking care of Tobin when Erika was at work.

We hope this finds you all well and happy this Easter Sunday.

Love,
Erika, Nate, and Tobin

Hi Family-

We have very exciting news: Tobin rolled over for the very first time this evening! Footage can be seen here:
(links removed, will be fixed later)

Sorry for the grainy, dark quality of the video- my digital camera is ancient. Nate travels to Taiwan for business on Saturday, and I'm hoping he can find a deal on a shiny, new one!!

Otherwise, all is well here. I have returned to work 4 days a week (Friday I get to be a stay at home Mom (but actually, I'm running around doing errands all day)). Tobin thriving on a hybrid of daycare and grandparent care, for which we are so grateful. He's also cooing- reported to have talked up a storm with his new "girlfriend" at daycare today. Everyday a new discovery- we are so enjoying our little miracle.

Love to you,
Erika