Happy Travels and Father's Day

Last week was my first trip traveling solo with a baby and Paul's first airplane ride. Paul handled the plane very well, and my biceps got a significant workout carrying him around.

We got to spend time with Grandparents, friends, cousins, aunties, uncles, and future girlfriends. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a few books worth on our trip:

I got Paul his first set of dress clothes, and I couldn't get enough of snapping shots of my little man in a bow tie. I especially like both baby and Grandpa in their Sunday best. I see a definite family resemblance!

 

Paul loved playing in the backyard with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Dave. They had a great moose swing and Grandpa took him down the slide!

We got to visit with friends as well! Paul and I dropped by to see our buddies Rachel and little Rosy. Despite a five month age gap, Paul and Rosy were pretty close to the same size.

Paul met his Uncle Garrett for the first time on this trip and we shared many adventures, including a visit to the ice cream parlor...

We did not ask Paul to help us eat this mega super sundae. We didn't need any extra help! I was so thrilled by the beautiful weather, I made sure we spent lots of time outside. Grandma Jamie's shady yard was the perfect play to swing and take a hundred photos.

We went downtown with Grandma Jamie and Uncle Garrett for a lovely walk and shop...

And had many more adventures that could not be captured by a camera. These adventures include, but are not limited to: riding along with newly licensed driver Jordan Burnett (not as scary as it sounds), celebrating the wedding of two wonderful people (congratulations Kelsha and Eric!),  enjoying a Baby-Q with mammas-to-be Michelle and Liz (can't wait to meet your little ones), and many other friends and families we were thrilled to be seeing again.

Paul and I are home safe and sound, Lee is relieved to have us back in time for Father's Day, and I'll wrap this whole thing up with our most recent family photo:

 

Happy Father's Day to one and all, from the Phillips Clan of Tucson!

Mount Lemmon Memoriaversary

Over Memorial Day weekend, we celebrated our 3rd anniversary. We went hiking at Mount Lemmon to celebrate. For those of you who live in colder climates, retreating to the 50 degree weather at the peak might not sound great, but it was a welcome relief to us. Here are some assorted photos of our hike as well as some cute footage of Paul.

We were the only hikers at the summit who didn't seem to think it was cold up there. We wrapped up Paul, he's an Arizonian after all, but we were fine in our shorts.

Now, here are the random cute things I promised:

Mother's Day and More!

I feel like I got two weeks worth of Mother's Day this year! Last weekend we got a visit from my mother. Paul was asleep when we picked Grandma Jamie up from the airport Friday night, but he was very excited to see her Saturday morning. We got to visit some new places around town and celebrate Cinco de Mayo in advance with some Mexican food.

First we visited the San Xavier Mission, a beautiful cathedral in the middle of nowhere. It was built around 200 years ago, and through some impressive restoration the interior artwork is vibrant and stunning.

San Xavier Mission Church

Lee and Mum inside the Cathedral.

We also visited Old Tucson Studios, a mining town turned movie set/theme park. There was fascinating film history (you John Wayne fans especially would appreciate it) and history of the early settlers of Arizona. If you aren't into history, there is a carousel, a train ride, and a "haunted" mine tour. There are also several shows performed throughout the day, we particularly enjoyed the stunt show.

Granny and little cowboy Paul

The Phillips clan at the gallows...

I told him once or twice to stop playin' cards and cheatin' dice, Lee's in the jailhouse now.

Paul loved the train, was confused by the carousel, and bored by the stunts. (They were impressive stunts, he just didn't care.)

Paul's favorite: the train ride!

My favorite: the carousel!

Sunday night, Lee babysat so Mom and I could go hear Renee Fleming in concert. The music was simply amazing. At the end of the evening we got CDs autographed, and I got to talk to one of my heroes. Best Mother's Day gift ever.

That's my name. Right there. Can you see it. Yeah, that's me.

Paul has learned that laptops are a very important toy that grown ups play with, good thing Auntie Lisa had a baby laptop to hand down! Paul loves it!

Like father, like son.

Lee made Paul giggle like mad, here is a video:

Easter Baby

Dear Auntie Lisa and Uncle Matt were kind enough to bring Paul a plethora of toys that their little rascals are too old to care about. (Thanks again, by the way!) If you've been keeping up on this blog, you've already seen how Paul feels about the baby rain stick they gave him. His reaction to the Jack-in-the-Box was, surprisingly, more positive.

In order to share with Paul the joys of Easter, we had to simplify the activities somewhat. Namely the egg hunt. Take a gander at the kind of Easter Egg Hunt you can do with a five month old baby:

Paul found one egg...because Dad put it on his tummy.

 Paul's first Easter is also, I presume, the last Easter he will be okay with getting unsweetened applesauce as a treat. Next year if he wants more sugary treats, I'll just make him share with me.

Of Toys and Clean Teeth.

I don't remember ever being one of those kids who hated the dentist. My parents and childhood dentists might tell it differently, but in my recollection I was never particularly troublesome about the whole business.
It had been at least a year, maybe two, since my last appointment. Time for a cleaning! I finally got around to scheduling one and promptly forgot about it. Not to worry! I was reminded in time (barely) to get Paul babysat and peddle myself to the torture chamb--I mean, dentist.

I have completely taken Dr. Huffaker for granted. I was used to 15 minute, timely, in-and-out appointments. Ford, if you ever read this, thank you for not making my visit a time of horror. Between my long hiatus from professional dental care and my hyper-sensitive, bleeding gums (compliments of pregnancy), it was excruciating. As if trying to add insult to injury, there was country music playing in the background of the entire visit. If Dante had known of such tortures, they surely would have found their way into his Inferno.
Advice for dental students: If your patient is bleeding profusely and requires a rinse every minute or so, you're doing it wrong.
I have joined the legions of people who hate dental visits. I found myself thinking, "you know what would make this more awkward? Eye contact." Think about it! Staring into the eyes of the person mere inches from your face as they maneuver around your unruly tongue. They are making you as uncomfortable as possible, might as well return the favor.

If any of my readers decide to try this, I ask that they share their experience with the rest of us. Please, entertain me.

And if you wanted more baby related stuff, I've got some of that too:

Paul has grown to love his bouncer. Not that he really bounces in it, but he twirls and tries to eat whatever he can reach. In other news, putting his play mat by the sliding door was a good idea. He spends half the time just looking out the window.

He's our cute little Jumperoo!

Milestones

We caught a few big moments on camera last week, hope you enjoy them. As promised, I got a video of Paul giggling. Ignore the TV on in the background at the beginning, I am way to lazy to edit this clip down so it's staying there.

And here is the oh so exciting new trick that Paul learned. Seriously, I have been making him practice everyday so he doesn't forget how:

Till we post again, adieu!

Our Baby Monster

Hopefully you aren't sick of all the pictures of baby and our desert surroundings, because we have more! So much more...

We've been trying to spend our weekends doing hikes and outdoorsy things as long as the weather is still good. These photos are from our hiking around the Tucson Mountain Park.

Paul is pretty indifferent to hiking. He just likes that he is up high and moving about. He would like walking around the apartment just as much.

Hummingbird!

 I just get camera happy when Paul is being this cute! He's our little monster!

Whilst putting groceries away, I noticed Paul was babbling and growling. I caught it on camera:

My next mission, as I have chosen to accept it, is to catch him laughing on camera.