Denzil's 1st word??

Valentine's Day

For our Valentine's date Kris made this delicious pizza and we watched the olympics until we could barely keep our eyes open. Probably about 10:30.

Sleep time

Since Denzil was born I have swaddled him for naps and bedtime because he sleeps longer and better. Over the past couple of weeks he has been getting his arms out more and more. This is how I found him a few mornings in a row after waking up repeatedly in the night to put his arms back in.

So yesterday I went to the movies with my friend and Kris was babysitting. He decided to try a nap without the wrap and Denzil seemed to do okay so we tried it for the night too. He did great! He woke up when Kris and I were going to bed, he had turned himself sideways in bed, and then I didn't hear him again until 6:30 when the same thing happened. So, I guess Denzil won't be in the straight jacket anymore.
Denzil is such a great snuggler. After he wakes up from his naps and in the morning he likes to snuggle for a few minutes. What a sweetheart.

Play time

Denzil really likes to play in his exersaucer. Everyday he figures out how to play with something else on it. Today I tried to get a video of him hitting the lion on the round thing in the lower right corner of the picture with his head to make the noise but of course when I pulled out the camera he just wanted to look at the camera instead. Then he all of a sudden got grumpy so I bent over to pick him up and what do you know, code brown...big time. At least he goes sometimes I guess but it sure is a mess when he waits a few days in between. At least the kitchen sink was clean so we were able to spray him down instead of using 10+ wipes to clean him up.

So I bought this cute little workbench that plays songs and makes different noises and I think I like it more than Denzil at this point. But, he has figured out how to make lots of the noises and songs play with his feet. It's pretty cute. The other day while playing on the play mat we have an Elmo toy that plays songs hanging on there and Denzil was making it play with his feet too. He's pretty good with his toes.

We have been practicing sitting up. He does pretty good for a little bit but he's a leaner and he really likes to kick his feet out and straighten his body so he slides to his back on the floor.
A few weeks back he discovered his toes and he has been loving them. It makes diaper changes a challenge sometimes. He's got some strong legs too. He wraps them around my arm while I'm changing him.

Look alike??

So the other day I was going through some of our pictures and taking out the red eyes and when Kris and I saw this picture of Denzil we both thought that it looked a lot like my nephew Carver. What do you think?

I found my voice!

This is just a little taste of what Denzil sounds like these days. He can be very loud but oh so cute!

5 Months Old

Denzil is 5 months today....where has the time gone. He is such a cute kid! The things he has learned in his 4th months is rolling over from his tummy to his back over Christmas. He hasn't done that one since. He learned how to roll from his back to his tummy and is pretty good at it. I wish he would remember the tummy to back roll because he doesn't seem to like being on his tummy after he's rolled over. He has learned how to scream, not being fussy but just testing out his voice. He has also learned that being "regular" for him doesn't mean that he has to go every day, or even every week. He drools A LOT and loves to eat his hands. Maybe he's teething but nothing has come through yet. He loves to laugh but changes what makes him laugh so it keeps us on our toes to figure it out. He loves to stand and he's pretty good at the pelvic thrust when we try to put him in his car seat. He can now sleep about 10 hours at night but he still wakes himself up sometimes by getting one or both of his arms out of his "straight jacket" as my dad calls it. Denzil is such a fun kid and we are having fun watching him grow and be more interactive. We love having him around and are excited for all the new things he is learning.

Chimney Rock State Park

For MLK day we took a little trip down to Chimney Rock. It is a new state park in the last couple of years. For any of you who have seen The Last of the Mohicans, this is where the waterfall scene at the end was shot. So, we were pretty excited to go check it out since the weather warmed up a bit and Kris had the day off. Kris had done his homework of checking their website to make sure the trails were open etc. Well, after a 2.5 hrs drive there the lady at the ticket booth says that the waterfall trail and some other trail are closed for the day because of falling ice. So much for a warmer day. Of course we weren't going to turn back so we enjoyed the stuff we could do and we will just have to go back sometime in the spring or summer.

This is a profile shot of the Devil's Head.
Here we are in the subway. I read a sign that said something about these rocks not falling in this position but I didn't finish reading it.
Pulpit Rock - I make a good speaker, "and you will listen to every dang word I have to say!"

I wanted to see what it was like to be a turtle. Good thing they don't have to crawl into their shells.
"Everybody loves a nut, the whole world loves a weirdo. Brains are in a rut, but everybody loves a nut."

Sledding

Before we left to make our way back here to NC we did a little bit of sledding at Southwood park with my sister's family. Denzil had fun sledding again and I had fun riding on the saucer that some other family let us borrow for a minute. We love the snow and miss the mountains but we are glad to be back home. Thanks to our families for such a fun vacation.

New Year's Eve

We went to the Zoo Lights at Hogle Zoo. Denzil slept most of the time but he did get to check out the tiger as he was pacing back and forth and growling a little bit. It was great at night because all the cats were busy walking around and playing in the snow. We also got to see some of the inside animals but those building were really smelly.

After the zoo we went back to my parents and had chili & pizza and played games. Then to ring in the new year we got pots and pans and banged them in the front yard with spoons. Happy 2010!

Wii

So my parents got a Wii right before Christmas and a little foosball(sp) table to prepare for the holiday houseful. Carver is 6 and he is awesome at the drums for Beatles Rockband. I tried the drums and they are really hard but we had so much fun listening to great tunes and playing together. Even my dad and mom got in on a little guitar playing.

They also got a Cabelas Big Game hunting game which was a hit as well. Kate was great at getting the birds. It's probably a good thing I don't have this game here or I might just spend too much time trying to kill the African Leopards before they kill me.

Visiting with Friends

We visited some friends in Richfield and went for a little drive to eat at a place called Hoovers that is in an old gas station only to find out t is closed on Tuesdays during the winter so we went to The Big Rock Candy Mountain cafe instead. We had some delicious burgers. The mountain behind the restaurant is called the Big Rock Candy Mountain but with the snow you can't really see the reason it is called that. We had a fabulous time with our friends there and were able to visit a couple of my aunts and uncles on the way back up to Salt Lake.

We went to breakfast with some other friends that were in town from Houston at the Belgian Waffle. It was great. Denzil got a little tired. I love how he can sleep almost anywhere.
I also got together with some of my high school friends but I wasn't smart enough to take a picture with them even though my camera was in my bag. It was fun to catch up.

Cabin

"Dad is great, he feeds us Chocolate cake!"

This was Denzil's first sledding experience. Kate held onto him so well and I think he enjoyed himself, at least he didn't cry.

I was so proud of my niece and nephew for trying out the snowshoes. Kate wanted to go down and back up the little ditch behind the cabin. Well, she got stuck in the bottom of it and then she wasn't as big of a fan of the shoes but I still think she did awesome.
Jack was an animal on the snowshoes. He wanted to walk from the cabin to the solar panels near the cabin below. He made it all the way and most of the way back. I only gave him a little piggy back at the end when there were enough snowmobile trails for me to be able to stand on the snow. He fell a few times but didn't let that stop him from reaching his goal.

Christmas Eve

When we first got to Portland we went to Church and ran into one of Kris' friends from high school and said we should get together. So on Christmas Eve in the early afternoon we went bowling. It was great fun. I'm not the greatest bowler but it's always fun to throw a heavy ball around. I think I even got a strike or two.

Our Christmas Vacation

So our vacation was to start early Dec. 19 with a flight to Portland, OR at 6 am in Charlotte but it was foiled by this white stuff that fell from the sky. It turned out to be to our benefit because we were able to get the flight changed to the airport closer to us and we didn't have to pay the extra money we would have if we just bought tickets from Greensboro in the first place.

Denzil had tons of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house with all the love and attention he got there. Not that we don't give him a lot of that here but it's nice to have it from everyone. He did really well on all the flights and everyone commented on his big blue eyes.

Grandma just loved snuggling and napping with Denzil so she invited all to join in.
We had lots of fun with family and friends while we were there. Christmas Eve we got together with Kris' sister Javann and her family to exchange some gifts and then on Christmas day the whole family got together to open gifts and have some chow. It was fun being with everyone and we're glad we were able to enjoy some time away.