Family Pictures

Almost summer!

Damon
Bath time is one of mom and my favorite times of the day. Sometimes it even becomes Houston’s favorite part of the day because he can bath his baby too.

Here is an interesting sleeping position.

Here is a picture I forgot from when Cousin Ashton visited. He was so good at holding me and I loved it!

Take this, “tummy time”

Here is my passport photo. I’m sure I’ll took the same for the next 5 years.

This is a picture of our neighbor, Brinley holding me. Often mom will invite her over to hold me while she gets some cleaning or cooking done and it works out for everyone because I love being held and Brinley loves holding me and playing mommy. More often, however, Brinely rings our doorbell repeatedly to ask if she can hold me. Mom isn’t so crazy about this.

Mom is thrilled that the hair I lost soon after I was born is starting to grow back. I even have a little widows peek forming and it is so cute!
Check out my cuteness:

I have discovered my fist and it is very useful when mom is starving me.


Some other exciting news is that I take a bottle like a champ. This has been so nice for when mom is out and can’t feed me. I’m sure it won’t happen a ton because mom doesn’t like pumping but at least she knows that option is open.
Another reason mom might not be pumping for a while is because last week she actually got Mastitis which is a little unusual when your baby is 3 months old (mastitis is a breast infection that can develop after you have had a duct clogged with milk for too long). I won’t get into details about how she got it, but like all the stories she has heard, it is NOT fun. One night she was up for about 4 hours dealing with extreme body aches and very violent chills (she knew something was wrong when our place was 78 degrees and she was shivering uncontrolably). After a couple of days of these flu-like symptoms she called the doctor and they prescribed some antibiotics for her. They worked real fast and she is back to normal.

BTW I have now rolled over twice. Both times mom wasn’t looking but found me on my back when she had laid me on my tummy. She is not convinced that I am doing it purposefully, but that is still pretty impressive. I must be pretty strong!


Houston
Check out this sweet ramp dad built for me to ride down on my bike.


For some reason, I choose not to wear pants each Sunday afternoon. One Sunday this gave my parents a chance to notice my legs and how much my feet lean into my arches making my knees come close together. Given Dad’s history and the two hip surgeries he had as a preteen, they decided a doctor’s visit couldn’t hurt to check it out.

The doctor was a little concerned and referred us to a Pediatric Orthopedic surgeon. However, when mom called to make an appointment, the receptionist discouraged her from wasting our time and money because no procedure would likely be done until I was 4. Plus, being knocked kneed is very common for toddlers and there is a very good chance I will grow out of it. Again, given dad’s history, we are going to keep an eye on it.

Speaking of knees, I fell a couple weeks ago and got my first skinned knee. I cried a bit when it happened but was so tough I stayed outside to play until dinner was ready. Later, I wasn’t very cooperative for the cleaning and bandaging but it was worth it because it helped it heel real quick.

Now that I am 2 ½, mom decided it was time to go to the dentist for the first time. She prepped me as best she could and got me all excited but when it came down to it, I was pretty scared. One assistant tried to get ex rays but every time she tried to put the plastic piece between my teeth I would gag (it doesn’t take much for me to gag). So that didn’t work.

I laid down in the dentist’s chair and watched the movie Toy Story playing on the roof. That was awesome until the mean old Dentist came over. You could tell he was well versed in coercing young children to open their mouths. Plus he was able to work quite well through my sobs. Next another assistant painted something on my teeth to help prevent cavities and that was probably the worst. But I got a “cars” tooth brush and a toy out of the deal so I guess it was all worth it.

Check out our new double stroller. This stroller is truly a thing of beauty! A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Grandma Cari, Granddad, Auntie Anne and Uncle Dan for purchasing this for us. We use it most mornings for mom’s exercise and it has been such a blessing!

One night as a family we attended Circus Night at our local library. I had tons of fun and even got my face painted for the first time. I chose the heart for my cheek.

Finally, a couple of weekends ago our family was feeling spontaneous so we took a trip to Grand Junction, Colorado. Why, you ask? Well some of you may know that mom and dad love watching lacrosse and BYU was in a tournament to determine the conference champions. We were even able to get a nice hotel room for free using some credit card points. Damon and I were great travelers and I am even learning how to sleep better in a car seat. BYU lost in the finals but overall it was a really fun trip.

More Visitors

Houston Grandma and Papa Schlenker also participated in Damon’s celebration and arrived very early Sunday morning after driving most of the night. These two do a lot of driving and always have: they drive to Calgary and Ashley lake like its nothing and recently the traveled the roads to Utah and Edmonton. If all their vehicles could talk, I’m sure they would have some great stories. While they were here we enjoyed going out to eat, going to some near by parks and even painting Easter Eggs (even though we were late). We also got a little shopping done and they got me some great summer clothes and sandles.

We were all glad that Papa could make it down for Damon’s blessing. Can you believe that Grandma and Grandpa Schlenker have particiapted in each one of their grandchildren’s baby blessings? That is so special and we hope they can keep the streek going. Saying goodbye was sad after such a fun visit but we hope to see them again soon at Ashley Lake this summer. Our next visitors were Great Grandma and Grandpa Cooper. They were nice enough to come hang out with us for about 5 days and we had lots of fun with them.

We even did a Zupas run and everyone got their fill except me.

One fun filled day was spent at Utah Lake. Grandpa rented a quad so that he could do some riding with Daddy on his motor bike.

First Dad took Grandpa up West Mountain while Grandma snuggled with baby Damon and Mom took me on a nice long bike ride along the water. Then we had a picnic lunch before dad took mom out on a ride. It has been a long time since mom enjoyed a nice long quad ride. Dad showed her some pretty amazing views and it was quite romantic.

While they were riding, G&G took Damon and me on a nice ride to get a glimps of some huge, beautiful orchards. This allowed Damon and I to have a nice little nap too. We were sad to see them go but they were on their way across the country to attend Cousin Kati’s Graduation from Brown University.

April

Houston The first weekend in April was General conference and we were lucky enough to get a visit from Uncle Derek (mom’s younger brother). We got to spend lots of time with him at Smith’s in Draper and also at our house. We even got to see him surf.

The next weekend was really special; it was my brother’s blessing weekend. We were fortunate to have lots of family come visit and participate in his blessing. First Uncle Mark, Auntie Laurel and their boys, Ashton, Nick and Beckham arrived. It was a bit of a crazy house but us boys had so much fun playing! Ashton and Nick even got to sleep in my room with me. This arrangement worked out great as long as the night light held up to keep everyone feeling safe. The next day, Grandma Cari and Grandad came to play too. This was granddad’s first time meeting baby Damon and like everyone, he was smitten! The day after they arrived, I was able to show my cousins one of my favorite places: the Bean Animal Museum on BYU’s campus (I’m sure you remember me mentioning this before). They were pretty impressed esspecially with the big “daddy bear”.

The next day (day before Easter) we were able to participate in a huge Easter egg hunt in BYU’s football stadium. There were tons of kids there and we got tons of candy!

That night even though mom was exsausted, she stayed up late making preparations for the following day which was Easter and the day of Damon’s blessing. I’ll let Damon take it from here. Damon The morning of my blessing was a little crazy trying to get everyone ready in time for 9am church, but we all made it! Most of the Smith clan drove from Draper to attend also. We even had some other friends come and show their support: Daddy’s co-workers, Kevin, Jeff and Chelsea and other friends like Jessica, Shelly, Gary and Liz. Thanks everyone for coming! We are so grateful to your love and friendship! Of course my actual blessing was very special. I am so lucky to have a daddy that worthily holds the Priesthood and can exercise his faith to bless me now and throughout my life. I was such a good boy and slept through the whole thing.

After the first hour of church, we all met at our complex’s clubhouse for some brunch. Grandma Cari, Grandma Schlenker and Auntie Laurel helped make some yummy (and hopefully crispy) waffles for everyone. It was so nice to visit and celebrate me!

Houston Since it was Easter, the Easter bunny did come but he was accomodating enough to come after my brother’s festivities.