Happy Halloweenie!

Taji Baby wishes everyone a super fun and safe halloween! We can't wait to post pictures from our highly anticipated 1st annual baby costume party coming up this Halloween sunday :) xo

Taji turns 5 months old!

Holy moly, where is the time going?!! I can't believe our little munchkin is one month away from being 1/2 a year old! Well, the photos above pretty much depict the little rascal within. He grabs at everything, is a curious little kitty, and loves to taste and lick anything he can get his hands on! I weighed him yesterday on our baby scale at home, and get ready for this.... Taj came in at 15lbs and 12 ounces! Not sure how long he is now but that nightly rice cereal is turning him into a chunky monkey and we love every roll and dimple of his! And this week, in honor of his 5 month bday, Taji is transitioning to oatmeal! He is outgrowing his 6 month clothes, and now wears 9 month onesies, sleepers, pants, etc! I have also noticed how much he loves the water.... bathtime is his favorite part of the day and he gets super hyper splashing like crazy. Then again, because we use the ocean nature sound to wind him down for naps and bedtime, anytime we take him to the ocean he falls asleep within minutes of hearing the waves crash!

I think he is incredibly verbal for his developmental age too (thanks to his awesome home day-care and him wanting to copy the other babies!) As I mentioned before he says "mama" "nana" "da" "baba" and now his most recent version of "hi".... except it sounds more like "haaa" but he will say it everytime we say "hi" to him. SO cute! I love his little voice! His cries are changing too..... more like whines now.... and they can get pretty darn demanding. Did I mention he has a tooth?!! Yep, and another on the way! I'm trying to stay brave and continue nursing him, esp. after he bit me on saturday :/

Taj loves playing his piano and hitting the buttons on other musical toys......
can't get enough of his jumerooo....
rolls from place to place in order to touch things and grab his toys....
and enjoys watching football with daddy (but of course he has to represent mommy's school UCLA..... even though they are not good at football LOL) I forgot to mention that Taj is fascinated with the Baby Einstein Mozart & Neptune dvds, and gets excited when he watches their puppet shows.
my oh my, how our little one is blossoming! He keeps us entertained, and we treasure every moment we have with him! We love our beautiful blonde baby blue eyes to pieces!

First Pumpkin Patch!

Cold crisp air, cloudy skies, misty rain...... ahhh it's beginning to feel like Fall! Finally! And you know what that means..... my favorite holiday, Halloween! From pumpkin patches, pumpkin pies, to our first annual baby halloween costume party, we are getting into the spirit! Today, we went to our first ever pumpkin patch with our friends, the Brandt family. We met up at Tanaka Farms' Pumpkin Patch, where they had a huge field of pumpkins that we picked right off the vine. They had lots of fun things for the kids, reminded me of a fall carnival! We can't wait to come back here year after year as Taji gets older. I think he will especially love the AV cruising on the farm, the pumpkin cannon, the wagon rides, and the corn field maze. What a neat little place!

The boys took turns smiling..... but we couldn't catch them smiling on the same shot! :/

Love this picture of Jamie and Regan!
We spent practically half the day at the pumpkin patch, and had lots of fun picking pumpkins!

Taji our Teddy Bear

Taji's 4 1/2 month photo shoot at home..... do you like my home photo studio? Trying out a new camera lens :)

4 month goofiness

To say we are having a blast and are entertained by our very own Mr. Dimples is an under-statement! Here is Taji and his many talents:

He sucks on his toes!

He does the raspberry and spits all over himself (and us!)

He fakes cough and clears his throat to get our attention....

Can sit all on his own (with pillows around him in case he falls to the side) for a good 20-30 seconds!

And loves playing with the new musical toy daddy bought him yesterday!

He is also ticklish under his chin and neck!

MAJOR UPDATE: Taj is beginning to say "da" (Brad couldn't be happier!) and this week we noticed a teeny tiny white sharp thing beginning to protrude from his lower gumline..... Taji's first tooth! You better believe it! He is drooling like crazy... and keeping us up at night. Trying baby orajel to numb the pain, hope it works! (Photo of first tooth coming soon......)

Taj Mahals in the Sand

Last Sunday we attended CDM's annual Sandcastle Contest, and our friend Matty and his daughter Olivia joined us on our stroll down to the beach.

This was the winner! Reminds me of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ha ha!
My other favorites.......

We decided to coordinate with our hats! ;)

We are really looking forward to having Taji build his own "taj mahal" in the sand! Maybe one year, we will enter into the family division of the Sandcastle contest, how fun would that be!

The Love Is Not Lost

The holidays are upon us once again, thanksgiving around the corner.
Brings back so many unwanted memories of last year.
The drama, the conflict, the selfishness.
It was unfair to take sides.

Questions are still left unanswered.
Communication is still disconnected.
And egos are still at large.
Negativity and jealousy ends at our doorstep.
Our love is not conditional.

Life has continued despite relationships severed.
The effort was initiated yet the follow-through was lost.
The proximity reminds us of how great the distance is.

And the baby continues to grow, from a little peanut to a newborn, to a bouncy smiley infant.
The family and friendships that were there to support us during our pregnancy and our pre-term labor scare, were also there for the birth and now an integral part of his life.
The grandmother-grandson and mother-son relationship cannot co-exist without each other.
The future holds so much excitement and possibility.
Why can't the issues be resolved and the past be put behind us?

The choices we make today will inevitably affect tomorrow.
Life is fragile.
Life does not wait.
Our little family will keep growing....