CJ Gets Teeth

CJ got his first tooth at the beginning of November, we have just failed to let it be known to the world. As of now he has five teeth and we're excited to see them coming in. Luckily we have been fortunate not to experience too much of the fussy-baby-syndrome that sometimes accompanies a teething kid.

CJ also started walking about a week and a half ago. We know that we'll be kicking ourselves later for being so excited about him walking, but for now it's pretty exciting watching the little guy shuffle around the place. But one things for sure, nobody is as excited for CJ to be walking than CJ. His eyes light up with every step.

CJ Makes New Friends

On 23 December CJ became quite the social bug when he personally invited over about four armed officers from the local Milton police department. Early in the evening he had gotten hold of the phone and started pushing numbers, which means mommy had to keep pushing the 'hang-up' button since the operator kept coming on. But obviously one of his calls went through to someone besides the operator because a few minutes later we got a call from 911 dispatch asking if everybody in the household was all right. Mom apologetically explained the situation to the dispatch who understood and informed us that she would call off the police officers en route to the house. So we didn't think anything of it and went across the street to tend to our neighbors dogs (the neighbors were out of town). When we left their house we were quite startled to see at least three cop cars parked in front of our house and about four cops peering through our windows. Quite embarrased we stated that we were 'over here' and that CJ had been the one who had made the call. Luckily they were completely understanding.

Santa Clause Did Come!!!

Well, Christmas certainly came in the Ward house. He was quite generous, especially when it came to CJ and his newly acquired mountain of loot. He got all kinds of toys, from learning-games, to squishy blowfish, to a toddler-sized dump truck (every little boy needs to have a dump truck, along with airplanes and cars, all of which CJ got this Christmas). We're sure that he didn't need that much stuff, but what can you do. Clay was also excited to see that CJ didn't receive any girly dolls or anything of that sort.

CJ Meets Santa

Since it's CJ's first Christmas, it's also his first holiday to meet the big, scary guy in the red suit, which were CJ's thoughts judging by the tone in his screams. Oh well. I'm sure he won't be as frightened when he meets the REAL Santa Clause. We tried twice to get a good picture of CJ with Santa, once at Wal-Mart and once at the ward party, with no luck. Maybe next year.

Beware of hot stovetops!!!

Of course it was inevitable, since just about every kid has to touch a hot stove top at least once. But we were hoping that CJ would have at least waited until he was old enough to understand the lesson a little better. Last Saturday (17Dec) he found just that while mom & dad weren't looking. Naturally, it look a good while before there was peace and quiet in the Ward house again.

Where Have We Been For a Month?

November was a busy month. Mom and Dad Ward took a trip to church sites at the beginning of November, and showed up here in Florida on the 9th. While down here we went to the Blue Angels Airshow, went to Eglin AFB, and just explored a bit around the area.
A few days before they were about to head back to Idaho, we found out that we weren't going to start primary flight training until 12 December, so at the last minute we took leave for three weeks and hitched a ride back west with them (yes, they drove). We were in the car, four adults and one CJ, for four days of driving. It wasn't too bad actually, CJ did really well throughout the trip. We did stop at Liberty jail in Independence , Missouri, as well as Adam-Ondi-Ahman which was really neat. We arrived in Utah on Thursday, 17 Nov, and surprised the Smith Family (who were planning on spending Thanksgiving in American Fork). We spent about a week with them, and then we headed to Idaho for about another week with the Ward Family. Clay spent a few days up in the mountains hunting in the snow for ellusive elk. There was a lot of snow and cold temperatures in Dietrich which made Clay really appreciate the beauty of the changing seasons, while it made Laura really appreciate Florida. We returned to Milton on 7 Dec and threw up our Christmas decorations. We them found out on Friday, 9 Dec that Clay's class-up date was pushed back once again to 17 Jan (another month of waiting). It's frustrating not getting into flight training yet, but the time for all three of us to be together is great, and we're really excited to start our own family traditions as we spend this Christmas with just....... us.