3 Months and a New Year:Memoirs from Mommy

Dearest Peyton,

It's me, Mommy - I'm commandeering your blog for this one post.

New Year's Day is on Thursday, and with 2009 we will be ringing in your three month birthday along with the new year. You will be exactly 13 weeks and one day old - incredible.

The past three months have been glorious. I honestly can not find words that capture the beauty, humor, love and amazement you have brought to your Daddy and I since you arrived. The days since your birthday have taken on a new intensity, and every second with you is precious. You are such a gift to us, Peyton...you have granted us a new perspective on life, and life with you in it, sweetheart, is joyful beyond our wildest dreams. Thank you for being our little angel, for being you, and for choosing us as parents. You are incredibly loved, without judgement, condition or hesitation, and that's how it will always be.

Now that you are three months old, you:

• are getting so strong! You hold your head up all by yourself, and turn this way + that to look in whatever direction you want. You do 'baby-ups' - little push ups with your arms during tummy time. You can even roll over, with a little help! And you try to push your legs into a standing position when you are held over a lap or the floor.
  
• smile big, goofy, toothless grins with your whole face - they light up the room, and your Daddy and I would pay a fortune or move heaven and earth to win one from you (lucky us, you give them away for free, and with reckless abandon!). Also, you just started laughing little gasp-y, quack-like laughs when you are pleased - sooooo cute.
  
• LOVE bath time, true to your 'Peyton Fish' ways. You splish-splash with your legs and coo like crazy over the sensation of warm water being poured on you. You get rinsed off in the shower, and you are the only baby I have ever known to adore a shower!
  
• take it aalllllllll in, you are VERY observant. You notice, watch, and show a preference for people and toys. You even have favorite books that you love to 'read'.
  
• are are true conversationalist, and each day will have have several long and involved 'discussions' with Mommy and Daddy, and whoever else will engage the social side of you - especially Gramma Brackenridge and Aunt Amy!
  
• make Mommy's heart melt in the morning when we wake up together and you stretch, stretch, STRETTTTCCCHHH your way into each day with a big, beautiful grin. You usually have a lot to say, I think you are telling me about your dreams.
  
• are Daddy's 'tiny dancer'. The two of you spend endless hours spinning around our house, you cuddled up in his arms, rocking to the rythmns of Bob Marley, Jack Johnson, Counting Crows, and Steve Miller Band. I have never seen Daddy so happy, ever, as when you are his dance partner.

Peyton, we love you so very much. We savor each and every moment of your delicious, buttery baby-ness, and at the same time we can't wait to see where the next three months land us. Here are some recent photos of you: (to you blog followers - don't worry, Peyton's 1st Christmas pictures are coming soon!)

Quit the mumbo-jumbo...bring on THE BUMBO!

Hooray - the day is finally here that I can sit in my Bumbo chair! For those of you unfamiliar with a Bumbo, it is a baby chair made of soft, rubbery plastic foam that helps me sit up, even though I'm months away from sitting up in a regular chair by myself. I couldn't sit in my Bumbo until my neck muscles were stong enough to really hold my head up, but I am getting stronger every day and my parents thought it was time.

My Bumbo chair was one of my Mom's favorite baby shower gifts from the people she works with, and she has been waiting since way before I was born to sit me in it. As previously mentioned, that day has arrived! Oh, annnddddddd....I look FABULOUS in it, to boot!

Mom and Dad think the Bumbo is awesome and hilarious at once - actually, they have both confided to me that they wish they had adult size Bumbo chairs for themselves. Sorry, suckers - this Bumbo is for babies only!

From the desk of PQB

I bet that some of you are wondering how, exactly, I update this blog. Granted, it's hard to believe that a baby only 10 weeks old like myself is laptop proficient, but haven't you seen that e-trade baby on TV making stock trades online? It's a little known fact that babies are quite computer literate! Anyway, I could keep explaining all day long, but as we both know a picture is worth a thousand words, so here ya go, in your face, skeptics.

On to other topics. This weekend I got to hang out with 2 of my best baby friends, Addison + Denali. Mom, Dad + I went over to Denali's house and we had a mini-reunion with 2 of the couples Mom + Dad met in their birthing class. Boy did we have a good time! I love catching up with my baby friends (plus they are awfully cute), and my folks really like to get out + be social with the other parents. And, Denali's Mommy, Katie, made a yummy lasagna and Addison's Mommy, Jill, made delicious toffee....SOOO good! This photo shows the other Dads (Kailas + Scott) with my baby buddies.

Well that's enough outta me for now - my fingers are getting tired from all this typing!

PS - Here are a few more photos of me from just this morning. I know all of you blog followers are just dying to pinch these hefty cheeks, so my Mom snapped a shot of a big cheek pinch, especially for all of you :)

Work it, work it -you're beau-tee-ful, dahhhling!

Go ahead and add 'supermodel' to the list of my future career options - turns out I'm a natural in front of the camera! This morning, my folks + I went to the photography studio of Melissa Brott to get some professional pictures of me while I'm still a little peanut. Also we wanted to get some family shots of the three of us that aren't 'whoever has the longest arm' photos (usually it's Dad, + he holds the camera out with his long arm & attempts to capture the three of us, usually resulting in a nice photo of our chests or foreheads). Melissa's studio was AMAZING and the photo shoot was fun. I really hammed it up for the camera, and Melissa knew just what to do to get me to smile. She'll be sending us a disc of all of our photographs, but for now, here's a little teaser:

Trimming the tree + sounding the holiday trumpets

What a FUN weekend I had - I mean it, it was filled with new experiences + it was a blast! First, on Friday night Mom + Dad took a HUGE step as new parents. They went to Mom's company's Christmas party + dropped me off at our neighbors, the Oggs, who watched me until they got home. I had such a good time, I spit up on 3 outfits while they were out. Mom + Dad missed me a lot but I was so busy making messes and playing with Kevin, Hillary & Elliot Ogg that I barely even noticed they were gone. Man, we have good neighbors.

Then on Saturday, we went out and bought a tree, and put it INSIDE THE HOUSE! I think my parents have really lost it, because in all of my 9 weeks I have NEVER seen trees inside the house, only outside. Elliot, Kevin + Hillary came over and we put lights and ornaments all over it. Even though the 'tree inside the house' idea seems a little crazy to me, I must admit it looks beautiful + I loved decorating it.

Last night, we topped our weekend off by going to church - it was my very first time, but Mom is also a novice so we both considered ourselves guests. We went to see Elliot get baptized. The weather was terrible + even though the church was only about a mile away, Mom freaked out about the roads the whole way there. We made it though, and I was so well behaved throughout the entire service. I especially loved all the music, and Elliot's baptism ceremony was beautiful! I got a little gassy during one of the passages about the return of Jesus, though - the lady who was preaching said "And the trumpets will SOUND!" and right on cue - I sounded my own trumpet, right out of my butt. Mom + Dad were a little embarassed, but I thought it was hilarious. Hey, if you can't chuckle about church, can you realy claim a sense of humor? I think not.

Terrible Towel

You know how at football games, fans swing those towels around over their heads to show their team loyalty? My mom + dad told me those towels are called 'terrible towels', and well - I just had to get me some of that! After my bath I decided it was time for my very own terrible towel. I grabbed onto the wash cloth that mom was drying me off with, and held it tight, swung it around a couple times, and waved it over my head for good measure. In case your wondering what team I'm cheering for...isn't it obvious? Team MOM AND DAD!