Opening Presents

Christmas morning began with opening all the wonderful presents we received for Peyton's first Christmas. We are truly grateful to everyone who thought of us this holiday season! Here are the highlights from all the present opening fun.

Peyton had been eyeing the presents all week, and enjoyed touching the wrapping paper, so now he finally got to hold a present and rip, rip, rip away!



A wonderful outfit from his Aunt Tracey and Uncle Dave.



Our friends Mark and Trish sent a beautiful pewter personalized ornament and a super snuggly outfit.



Peyton enjoying his gift from his cousin Lisa (Matthew and Kathryn's daughter). He loves books!



A Wisconsin Badgers outfit from Angela and Tony!

Peyton really loved the personalized Christmas ornament from my friend Tracy and her daughter Ava.

We held off from opening the BIG box from Grandma Barb and Grandpa Jim. Peyton took his time playing with the ribbon, then ripping off the wrapping paper, and then we had to open the box for him.

Look at all the goodies from Grandma and Grandpa (including a very soft MONKEY for our little monkey).

But wait, there's more! The rest of the goodies from the big box!

And finally, we opened the gifts from Shirley and Patrick - including swimming pants (to cover his diaper).

Peyton loved all his presents so much, and James got to have some fun with OUR present - he stuck a little bow on Peyton's head. :-)

Our little cutie!

Christmas Decorations

Since we didn't get a tree this year, I opted for stockings instead! I purchased reindeer stockings to match Peyton's First Christmas reindeer stocking (I got him a football reindeer stocking for next year, considering his namesake). And, I found stocking holders that match the bronze finish of our fireplace!



I also put up the beautiful angel ornament that Peyton's godmother Heidi (my cousin) and "Grandma #3" Angela (my aunt who was always more of a second mother to me) sent him for Christmas. Thank you very much Heidi and Angela!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Peyton "found" the Presents!

Now that he can crawl, Peyton is really starting to explore his surroundings. Earlier this week, he "found" the presents. Since I decided against getting a Christmas tree this year (out of fear of Peyton tipping it over or attacking the lights), we didn't really have a place to put the presents. We decided to put them where they'd be if we had a tree - in the corner of the living room, by our front door.

Presents started arriving two weeks ago but Peyton didn't notice them until this week. And boy, was he curious! Here he is trying to get into one of my presents.



Ooooh tissue paper!



Tissue paper is so much fun!



Success! I got it out!



Hmmm, tissue paper isn't very tasty! (These days EVERYTHING goes in Peyton's mouth).



Before he could take a bite out of the tissue paper, I distracted him with one of his presents.

Ooooh, tag!

Let's see what it says!

Nevermind, I can't read! So, let's see how it tastes instead.

Merry Christmas!

Peyton with Santa(s)

Merry Christmas!

To commemorate Peyton's first Christmas, my Dad and I took him to see Santa Claus several weeks ago. Santa was so incredibly nice.

As much as we tried, we could not get Peyton to smile for the camera. But, I was still pleased with the way the pictures turned out.

This is the official picture with Santa (taken by Santa's Elf).

The following pictures were taken with my camera. We were allowed to take as many pictures as we wanted with our own camera as long as we purchased at least one professional package (I purchased two).



As you can see, Santa's seat was very elaborate!



We even tried to get Peyton to smile with his favorite rattle. No dice. :-(



A couple weeks ago, Genentech had their "Holiday Ho-Ho for Kids". Employees volunteered to dress as Santa for pictures with the kids. We chose to take a family photo with Santa.

AND, James got Peyton to smile with this Santa!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sitting Up

As mentioned in my last post, I've had a difficult time capturing Peyton's ability to sit up by himself on film. Well, I finally managed to get a video of it this week.

Enjoy!

Peyton is Crawling!!

We had a big weekend!

Peyton reached two milestones - he can sit up by himself AND he can crawl! It took a few days to figure out what would be best to tempt him with to get him to crawl for the camera (remote control, iPhone, etc), but the thing that got him to crawl the furthest was James' work badge. He loves to pull on it (and chew on it).

Enjoy!

It's been more difficult to get him to sit up for the camera. I'll keep trying!

Peyton is Seven Months Old!

It's hard to believe, but Peyton is seven months old today! Our next doctor's appointment isn't until he's nine months old, so I don't have updated stats for you, but we can easily tell you that he's growing like a weed!

He's gotten really good at sitting up. He likes to reach for things too.



Peyton really loves books. He loves to flip through them too!







He still loves "Mr. Brown can Moo, Can You?" too.





As well as other books and toys.



We've had some chilly nights and mornings this week (high 20s at night, mid-40s in the morning), so I've been bundling him up before taking him to my Mom's in the mornings. His traditional Bolivian hat is coming in handy!



With his sweater on, we're ready to go!



As you can see in this video, James is really trying to make Peyton's first word be "Daddy". Peyton is getting closer to talking. He can sound out some consonants (b, g, m, p) and has some made up words (Abu - which is what he calls my Dad, his "Abuelo").

Sleeping Angel

More Bath Fun

Recently, our friend Jack sent Peyton some fun bath toys that light up when they touch water. He loves them!



They make bath time a little more challenging in that all he wants to do is reach for and grab his toys, but I don't mind. I can wash around this.



It definitely gives me great access to his back!



The only issue is that he likes to grab as many as he can.



He's going to be a little hoarder. :-)

And, it wouldn't be bath time without those crazy legs!!

Thanks so much Jack!!

Peyton's Favorite "Toys"

Recently, Peyton has taken an interest in the strangest of things...our wooden coasters. He loves them. He plays with them, he "chews" on them (still no teeth), and he rolls them; he just loves them. How can we deny him this joy?

Peyton's Jumperoo

As I've mentioned before, Peyton loves jumping in his jumper at my Mom's house. But, that one is set up outside and as the weather is getting colder and the rainy season is upon us, we were trying to figure out other options.

My cousin Darlene was recently given a Fisher-Price Deluxe Jumperoo which her son loves, so I started looking for one for Peyton. I found one on Craigslist for the amazing price of just $20 (yes, just twenty) vs. $200 new. James and I drove down to Mountain View to pick it up while our neighbor Lynn watched Peyton.

Peyton loves his Aunt Lynn! And, she's such a pro with him. :-)



We let Peyton test out his new Jumperoo. I think the picture shows you how he likes it.

And here's a video of him jumping. It tired him out (you'll see the yawns), so he came out and promptly went down for a nap.