This one is for Bob...

Sorry for the delay in my posts....I know you've all been eagerly awaiting the next Tommy update!! If you haven't heard, things here are a changing! Ryan's company is transferring us to Nashville, so we are moving yet again (just when we got all the boxes unpacked!) But now that means that Tommy will be able to grow up near his cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and will be closer to Gram and Grandpa in Atlanta. Ryan is already splitting time between Nashville and Jax, and Tommy and I will officially be moving up to Nashville around Thanksgiving. I sent our address in the email before this update. We'll be living at the Bauchiero B & B for a few months until we get settled and until I find another job and then we'll hopefully find a house near my new school.

As for Tommy, he is doing great. He has 4 teeth now and is a busy little guy. He is certainly showing some daddy characteristics...if he wants something, he figures out a way to get it. He is very happy and vocal, quite like his parents. It is amazing to watch him discover the world and how things work. He is a constant source of amusement and we'll pretty much do anything we have to do to get him to laugh. He enjoys our ridiculous antics on a regular basis.

Last week we made it through our first ear infection which is actually pretty good considering he has been in daycare since he was 4 months old and he is ten and a half now. He was a trooper as always and we are pretty much back on track now. He started a new daycare a few weeks ago and he loves it there. He is really into playing with other kids and now he is around a lot more babies his age so it is a wonderful environment for him.

The one big disappointment in Tommy's life right now is his Tennessee Volunteers. For his first football season, he is quite disillusioned by our pathetic performance this year. Luckily he is young enough that he will soon forget how his Big Orange was a Big Disaster this year. But it builds character and we are teaching him not to be a fair weather fan.

Here are some recent pics along with a couple videos for you to enjoy. One is an example of how he loves to imitate sounds we make and another is a tribute to all the Bobs in his life, and I think there is even a Rob in there for his uncle. Enjoy, and we'll be in touch with our updates!

Talkin' & Walkin'

Tommy is 9 months now and is doing so much fun stuff. He talks all the time (who does he get that from?). His favorites are da da & ba ba, and he is getting pa pa, too. He is weighing in at 23 pounds 3 ounces as of last week. Still only 2 bottom teeth but I think the top ones are not too far away. He is pulling up on anything possible. All in all, he is a busy little guy! He is still so happy and nothing puts a smile on our faces faster than him. Here is a little clip of bathtime, which seems to be his favorite time to talk. Of course I didn't get the full effect by the time I grabbed the camera, but you get the idea!




Ryan bought him a toy the other day, thinking he would eventually understand how to push it to help him walk, and within a minute, he was pushing it across the room! Pictures of course would not do it justice so we captured it on film to share.

Tommy goes to No Cal

On July 24, we flew from Jax to Northern Cal to visit with our friends who have been in Japan for the last 2 years, Jim & Julie. We were surprised at the airport by Aunt Mary, or as the kids lovingly call her, May May! She drove all the way to the airport just to get a few minutes to meet Tommy. You can see that Tommy was happy to meet her!





















Jim & Julie have a daughter who is only 5 days older than Tommy and we have the honor of being her godparents. So the trip was doubly special because we got to see their family and be there when Reagan was baptized. As you can see, she gives Tommy some good competition in the weight category! We had a great time with them: we got to spend a day in Sonoma while Julie's mom watched all 4 kids, we took a ride in Julie's dad's boat across the bay to have lunch at his yacht club and the baptism was very intimate and special. Tommy was a great traveler and adjusted to the 3 hour time change much easier than I though. I must admit I was dreading it but he was a trooper. The time spent with them could not have been better! We did get some really cute bathtub pictures but unfortunately we didn't get any where both of them were not exposed!

































































After our long weekend with them, we visited Tommy's godmother, Carissa, in Walnut Creek. Tommy & Darcy had lots of fun together, but it was tough to get a good picture of them at the same time. How is Tommy ever going to choose between all these girls!?

8 month photos

We took Tommy to get his 8 month pics taken almost 2 weeks ago. He is becoming much more tentative and aware of new surroundings, so it was a bit of a struggle to get him to smile just right, and to stay still for that matter since he is crawling all over now. But we did manage to capture a few adorable pictures so here they are! By the way, Tommy is mastering the army crawl although he is still not up on the hands and knees. Perhaps his proudest accomplishment is pulling up to standing, especially in his crib. He is quite pleased by this and thoroughly enjoys doing it instead of taking naps! My next post will be pics of our trip to Northern California....I'll put them up soon!

Tommy is on the move!

Here is my first experiment with loading video onto the blog. Tommy is starting to get the hang of crawling, although it is more the army crawl than actual crawling on his hands and knees. Anyway, enjoy!!

Another trip to Nashville!

We just got back last weekend from an awesome trip to Nashville. The 4th of July is always a big holiday for the Bauchieros so we went up there to spend it at the lakehouse. There were 10 adults and 5 kids all in the same house so it was busy but lots of fun! Unfortunately I never got Tommy into his "All American Baby" overalls for a picture. But I did manage to get a few pics of him with his cousins, and you can see this is baby Corinna's premiere on the blog! We also took Tommy on his first boat ride. You can see he wasn't a huge fan of the life jacket at first but he got used to it.








































The highlight of the trip was that Tommy finally got to meet his uncle Ryan!!! My Ryan surprised me for my 30th birthday with arranging for him, my brother Ryan and parents to come in town and he also put together an amazing surprise 30th birthday party for me the last Saturday we were there. He knew that the thing I wanted the most was for Tommy to meet his uncle and Tommy was a huge fan of him and especially his beard. The visit could not have been better!






























As soon as we returned home, we moved! It was a chaotic few days but thanks to all the hard work of our incredible friends here, we got everything moved and settled.


I am now a short 5 minute drive to work which means about 10 minutes in the car during the day for Tommy instead of an hour and a half. We are closer to almost all of our friends, and much closer to all the great places to go, including the beach. We couldn't be happier about our location and the house we found is fabulous!


Now we turn around on Thursday and head out to Northern California to see our friends that have been in Japan for 2 years. They have a daughter 5 days older than Tommy so we can't wait for the kids to meet! Then we are staying to see Tommy's godmother Carissa for a few days.

On a different note, Tommy has cut his front 2 bottom teeth at the same time. He is currently weighing in at 21 and a half pounds! He is also crawling now so that may help him slim down a little but who knows?! Time to babyproof the house I suppose.

Sorry for the delay on the update but as you can see we are staying pretty busy. I'm sure I'll have plenty more pictures to post once we get back from Cali!

Summertime fun!

We are having a blast so far this summer....I can't believe that a month is already gone. As soon as school ended, Tommy and I headed up to Nashville for 10 days to visit and for his baptism. He had so much fun with all of his cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, godparents, etc! The baptism went really well and our close family friend Father Mark Beckman performed the ceremony. Tommy continues to be a great traveler so everything was smooth sailing on our trip. Everyone was impressed with how easygoing and happy Tommy is. Makes me wonder what we are in for in the future....

Once we got back, Tommy got sick for the first time but just with a cold. It brought a few rough nights but he still smiled all day, even with virtually no sleep. Mommy did not have the same happy smile on her face. But he is on the mend and luckily it happened between trips.

As far as milestones, Tommy is sitting up easily on his own now. He can also move from sitting to his tummy although it isn't the most graceful move ever. He can roll over both ways and is starting to move a little but I wouldn't call it anywhere near crawling. He has started eating solids and has made it through all the veggies. Now we are moving on to the fruits and those are going over much better than the green stuff did! Still no teeth, but as you can see below, he puts everything in his mouth, including beer bottles. Don't worry, we only let him have them when they are empty, but he LOVES them. Yes, no paternity test needed on this baby.

Our big news here is that we are moving. Our house has been on the market for over a year and finally sold a few months after we listed it with a realtor. We'll be moving to the other side of the river in Jax which will cut my commute time down from 45 minutes to about 5. We will be a lot closer to all our friends and to the city, better shopping, church, etc. So with our travel and a move on July 14, we will have a busy summer!

That's about it from us, so here are some pics from our Nashville visit. I'll keep 'em coming as often as I can!

School's out for summer!

Yippeeee! I just had my last day of school yesterday and Tommy had his last day of daycare. Now it's time for lots of summer fun & travel for mommy & Tommy. Our daycare situation turned out to be better than we could have dreamed! The woman who takes care of him is outstanding...she loves Tommy & Tommy loves her. Plus I think it has been really good for him to be around other babies. He was the only boy in daycare, with 2 other girls (both named Ava) so he was lovin' it. He never even got sick in the 10 weeks he was there which just goes to show how clean she keeps her place. I thought for sure I would end up with a sick baby as soon as he went to daycare! We plan to take him back to the same home in the fall so Carmen can watch him again. He is only 3 minutes away from my school so that made returning to work much easier.

I can't believe it is summer already! We have 3 trips planned to Nashville, as well as trips to Atlanta and Northern California. We are entertaining the idea of a short cruise to celebrate my 30th birthday but we aren't sure if that will pan out. Our main focus is to make sure Tommy gets lots of time with his cousins and little friends in Nashville, as well as with his grandparents, aunts & uncles who don't get to see him much. Hopefully he will continue to be a great traveler like he has been so far.

Tommy is changing SO much these days. He is almost 6 months now which is so hard to believe. Just in the past couple weeks, he has discovered his feet and can put them in his mouth, he can sit up on his own, he can roll over both ways, hold his own bottle and yes, of course, he has discovered his "special part". As you can see from the pictures, he also had his first trip to the zoo! He is all smiles and charm and has become quite the flirt...the kid draws crowds when we are out in public now. He has finally gotten the hang of the bouncy swing which is providing him with some much needed calorie burning activity! Still no solid foods yet...we plan on starting that right at 6 months. He wasn't really in need of anything extra as far as calories go! But he has slowed down with the growth as you can probably tell from the pics. He is still rocking the double chin but at least he kind of has a neck now. Still no teeth, and still no hair, besides his little layer of peach fuzz. His eyes are still deep blue like both of his grandpa and pops. I am hoping they stay that way but they still could change.

Next weekend will be a big one for me because we are leaving Tommy to go to a family wedding in southern California. My mom is going to come to Jax to stay with the little guy so I know he'll be in good hands but I can't imagine leaving him for 4 days. I hope I can relax enough to enjoy myself!!

I'm sure we'll have pics galore with all our trips this summer so I'll keep them coming! Hope everyone is doing well...we love you!!!