The holiday travels began with a trip to Weatherford to see the Lepard side of the family. We spent a lovely day with all the family opening presents and visiting. We left Weatherford for a nightmare of a journey to Big Springs. As soon as we pulled out of the drive and realized one of the dogs had attacked a carcass. So the first of multiple stops was to pick up air freshener, brushes, coat cleaner. This pitstop was quickly followed by: a gas stop; a quick check of Shawn’s oil level; a pull-off to let Krysten know that seatbelts are not an option; another pitstop to deal with Tom’s overindulgence in fruitloops and mayonaisse fruit salad. The four hour trip was over six hours after it began. Tis the season….
Tom is crazy about: balls; Trish; waffles; the local park; and dancing. His favorite words are: waffle (or gaffle); Night Night; milk; more; no, no, no; dog; woof woof; juice; ball; and mofo (don’t even ask..if it’s good enough for Governor Perry, it’s good enough for Tom). Here you go, a few of Tom’s favorite things:
The hardest part of 2008 was watching Chris’ dad struggle with cancer. It was difficult to comprehend how quickly his illness progressed. We were fortunate to get to visit him in March and again in August. As soon as Chris got back from England, he flew back and forth from Arizona to spend time with his dad. He was there with his dad, Lisa, and his grandfather on October 2, 2008 when his dad passed away. Tom and I flew out to join the family for the funeral. Although it was obviously a very emotional time, we enjoyed getting to spend time with Great Grandparents Lepard—and Tom got his first proper haircut alongside his dad.
In September, we headed back to England so Tom could visit with his British side of the family. It was a busy two weeks and Tom was a real trooper. He was a star on the journey home and during all our visiting with friends and family. Here are some photos:
So Chris get’s to celebrate his first Father’s Day today–after he opened Tom’s gifts (a tie, a knife, a blender/chopper, and a new coffee carafe), we made coffee and went and sat in Trish and Sandy’s ‘cold-tub’. A perfect Father’s Day morning. Chris liked all his pressies–Tom went a bit overboard as he felt bad that Chris only get’s to celebrate once a year whereas I get to celebrate both British Mother’s Day and American Mother’s Day. After coffee in the cool-tub it was back to reality. Chris has just finished mowing the lawn and cleaning the kitchen.
I haven’t posted for a long time so I’m trying to think of all the things that have been going on in the past couple of months. Tom has started to cruise around the house like a pro. He’s pulling himself up on everything: the sofa, the coffee table, Jack and Mickey. He’s also blabbering a lot more but the only words he consistently says are ‘dog’ and ‘Jack’. Anything with four legs is a dog or “Dack”. He attempts to mimic words so Chris and I are trying to cut down on the naughty language–I don’t know why we bother as a certain relative (on Chris’ side, of course) gets great pleasure in trying to get Tom to say bizarre stuff. I really don’t want to have to report on this website that his first words were “numb nuts”.
On the minor accident front, he’s had his first big bruise falling from the window seat in his room and head-butting the floor before I could grab him. We put him in the England Rugby shirt that Katie and Dale brought back from their trip home and he looked like a right bruiser. The photo I sent to Grandma to thank her for a shirt was received with a mildly panicked reaction. When I talked to her on the phone she admitted that her first thought of seeing the photo was “Oh God, I’ve got a cock-eyed Great Grandson”. She was rather relieved when she read the note that told of me dropping him on his head.
Tom’s also become quite the regular at our local bar, Nomads. It’s a nice little neighborhood place that reminds me a bit of the atmosphere in a pub–local neighbors and friends hanging out without the express intention of getting drunk (not to say that it doesn’t happen unintentionally).
Tom is still having a blast at his daycare. His best friend is Mark and he’s really into his teachers, Deanna and Donna. They are down to earth and really easy-going. The only time they complain is when Tom eats all the fries in their Happy Meals. Talking of food, we have yet to find anything that Tom does not like to eat. He has tried Mexican, Thai, and Indian curries and doesn’t even flinch. We’re going to try him on black pudding and luncheon tongue when we go to England in September–surely he won’t like that.
This was my birthday… We were at South Padre Island with our friends Debbie, Carl and their two little girls. We had an absolute blast, eating, drinking, swimming, and sleeping!
I’ve long thought (well, for at least the last 11 months) that Tom and Sally share the same profile. While not exactly the same, it is nice to look at. I think Tommy and Sally like each other.
Tom’s been working at this for sometime, but now he has finally gotten the hang of it and is moving fast towards crawling, walking and running. First thing we realized was that the most interesting thing he could find was the dog bowls. Oh, and if you have your speakers on, you can hear what has happened to this old marine as he has turned from a salty-leatherneck to a dorky-dad.
There is lots of Tommy news to share with you all since the last post. Here is a quick wrap up of his last 4 months…
• Holiday in sunny San Diego, California + bonus trip to the zoo!
• A total of 5 baby teeth
• Holiday in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Long weekend at Granddaddy Lepard’s in Scottsdale, Arizona
• First accident report from school ;-(
• Marine crawl across the living room
• 2 mullet trims
• 2 ear infections + 3 visits to the Doctor
• First Easter egg hunt
• Visit from Grandma & Grandpa Johnson
• Hanging out with Uncle Shawn
• Trip to Houston to see Katie & Dale
• Becoming a regular at the new local pub, Nomad
• Eating real, human food
• Drinking from a sippy cup & the dog bowl
• Told ‘No’ for the first time
Seems as thought we have enough to write a novel, but since I only pay my writer only a warm home cooked meal every now and then, I guess I get what I pay for. Well, it’s a new month and now that I have started to cook again I am hoping I can get the writer back at it! There are lots of pictures, videos, and funny stories to come. In a few weeks, my lovely cousins from Albuquerque are coming to Austin to pay a visit. Come May, us Partard’s are heading down to the beaches of Padre with Trominski crew. July it’s wedding time in Albuquerque for my little sister Brittany, and loads of birthday parties!
For now, all I can give you is this little rant, and few photos… until next time!
The night before we took Tom on his first flight I discovered his first tooth. The next morning there were two of them. I’m excited to announce that they are growing in crooked-nothing wrong with wearing your British heritage with pride!!
For your enjoyment: British smug Tom and British Boarding School Tom:
This was my birthday… We were at South Padre Island with our friends Debbie, Carl and their two little girls. We had an absolute blast, eating, drinking, swimming, and sleeping!
I’ve long thought (well, for at least the last 11 months) that Tom and Sally share the same profile. While not exactly the same, it is nice to look at. I think Tommy and Sally like each other.
