Tony vs. Afton

It will come as no surprise that Afton won.

On Saturday, I was getting ready upstairs while Tony was entertaining Afton in his man-cave downstairs. I heard a blood-curdling scream from Tony. I knew he was watching sports, but it was golf, so I was perplexed. I mean, maybe the mighty cougs during football season could prompt such noise, or even a double loss of BYU and Duke within minutes of each other during March Madness. But Tiger Woods missing a putt?... Loving wife that I am, I finished getting ready and then meandered downstairs to see what had happened.

Enter Afton.

Turns out Afton decided to re-enact some scenes from Twilight. She went in for what appeared to be a kiss but came out with a chunk of Tony's shoulder. No exaggeration here. She drew blood. She tried to do it twice, but Tony was able to fend her off the second time. (Her six teeth may seem innocent enough, but don't be deceived...)

We shouldn't be so surprised. After all, when we tell her to give her stuffed animals a kiss, she opens wide, clamps down, and shakes them vigorously while only holding them by her mouth.... We now encourage [read with frantic voice] "love kisses!!!"    

For Grandma Debbie

Not only did I get a surprise visit from my handsome brother this past weekend, but my sister-in-law came with my niece and nephew.  After our whirlwind Saturday evening of playtime, dinner, playtime, bath-time, story-time, bottles, and bedtime, Uncle Jonah commented, "I'm just glad I never had to be alone with all three of them at the same time..."  Tony thinks I'm nuts because I have a certain fondness for the craziness.  Family = borderline mass pandemonium -- and that's just fine with me.  

Afton liked the extra attention (and staying up past bedtime).    

The strangest part was how they just swarmed.  They'd start out in one room...

and eventually spread their mess, I mean way, to another room.  

But tender is toddler love.  Whatever squabbles may arise are soothed through the sharing of banana-flavored puffs.  

Communication Refined

They have their own secret language.

It was an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny

Yellow polka-dot bikini!
First of all, I didn't pick this out for Afton.  It was a gift.  But we did go swimming at a nearby pool for the first time on Saturday.

If only my panzita looked half as cute.... Sorry, but we don't have pictures of our natural-born fish in the water given that Tony graciously stayed behind to do glamorous stuff like yard work.  

Our little 18.5 lb-er is a floater and a kicker.  (I had her "jump" (e.g. lean) to me a couple times, but her six teeth chattered a bit when she was out of the water, so we stayed well-submerged.)  Summertime, here we come!

Where Zac Efron Danced

Although Tony and I have not seen High School Musical (1,2, or 3), Tony made good on a birthday promise to me to take a swing dancing class and the class ended up being at the high school where the movie was filmed.  Each week I'd try to inspire Tony by telling him, "We'll dance where Zac Efron danced!"  We pretty much looked like this:

More or less :).

Highlights from the four-session class included:

(1) (Well, this was before the class) -- the fact that Tony could not look me in the eye as he explained he would take a community swing dancing class as his birthday gift to me in 2007. (We got a little busy...hence '09.)

(2)  The look of sheer terror on Tony's face at session #2 when the instructor called out a move from the week before and Tony realized he could not remember the move at all.

(3)  The many times that Tony's signal to spin me out of closed position and into a twirl was a titch stronger than the "nudge" our instructor had talked about. 

(4) My kicking Tony in the shin the first few times we practiced the across-the-leg kicks.  (So sorry!)

(5) Tony's dissertation on the "octopus" move, which had nothing to do with the fact that this 12-step move blew his mind but everything to do with the "arbitrary" and "absurd" nature of it.  (Don't let him fool you, he had it down by the end of class.)

It was a treat.  Now we just need a place to practice!

Strangers No More

Although I occasionally lament living in a city, I have at times appreciated the relative anonymity that can come with it.  It seems, however, that our very own sweet baby Afton has put the kibosh on that.  Case in point...

Afton and I went grocery shopping last week at our usual store just a few blocks from our house.  As we went to the self-check-out area, the cashier (a total stranger) came up and started talking to Afton.  A little off that day, Afton refused to smile.  The cashier said, "Oh I know you can smile.  I've seen you smile so many times."  I thought, really?  Then she continued, "Except that one time you were pretty mad."   I cringed -- could it be the time that she tried to climb out of the cart and on to the check-out conveyor belt and got pretty peeved when I kept pulling her back?  Determined to get Afton to smile, the cashier went over to the floral department and returned with a big yellow balloon.  Afton was in HEAVEN.  We said thank you and goodbye to our new friend.  

Once at home, Afton trapsed around with the ballon for quite a while.   

In fact, she went everywhere with that balloon for the rest of the night. 

She found it (half-deflated) first thing the next morning. 

And held on to it as long as she could.  (Doesn't Tony look nice with short hair?)

I'm all for people liking my kid, but it has given me pause about my no-longer anonymous Saturday morning trips to the grocery store.  Should I do my hair more? think about wearing a little make up? avoid a jaunt there in my "exercise" clothes (meaning, random sweats that may make it look like my disheveled appearance is due to some sort of athletic endeavor rather than my laziness about getting dressed and lingering attachment to the elastic waistbands I came to love while pregnant)?  In all reality, I probably won't change much, but I'll feel guilty more.  Tony's going to love that.  :)

At any rate, here's to our little people magnet!  Despite the added attention, she's a good little shopping buddy.  (And a big fan of the meat isle -- it has mirrors and she can see herself.)  I love her. 

You've Come A Long Way Baby!

Here's a tribute to our sweet baby Afton who recently celebrated her first birthday.  It feels like yesterday and forever ago...

A couple hours old.

One month old.  (Was she really this small?)

Two months old.  (We couldn't wait for her to start smiling.)

Three months old.  (Still squeezable!)

Four months old.  (and starting to feel a little less breakable.)

Five months old.  (She still usually "chills" by slouching to one side - high chair, grocery cart, etc.)

Six months old.  (Discovering her love of paper)

Seven months old.  (Merry Christmas everyone!)

Eight months old.  (Not a mystery why a few of the girls at church started calling her "Fuzzy Wuzzy.")

Nine months old.  (She only slammed the drawers on her hands a couple times.)

Ten months old.  (Tony told me last night that Afton is "ruining" his 

"remote control placement system")

Eleven months old.  (We gave up on control of our phones a long time ago.)

1-YEAR OLD!!! (She enjoyed her birthday cake, hence the green frosting.)

At the risk of being overly sentimental, we must admit that we can't imagine life with out her.   Happy Birthday, Afton!