Communication

The most exciting thing for us in recent weeks is that Thompson is beginning to sign. YEAH! All the signing we have been doing since he was born is paying off! He seems to master a new sign about once every couple of days. So far, he can sign milk, sleepy, dog, airplane, hot and cat...and I think I saw a resemblance of hat and water last night!

21 Lbs 5 Ozs and 29" Tall

Thompson had his 12-month appointment today and got the pediatrician's two thumbs up. YEAH! He is trying to walk, taking a few steps on his own before falling into our legs. Needless to say, the next few weeks will be interesting and exciting ones. We are continually reminded how our lives have been blessed with the addition of Thompson to our family. Children truly are one of the Lord's greatest gift, and we praise and thank Him daily.

It's Santa Claus!

This past Sunday, we enjoyed a special Christmas Brunch at Biltmore Forest Country Club with our parents and Bobby's Aunt "Sister" and Uncle Sam. The festivities were complete with a petting zoo and a visit by Santa Claus. While Thompson enjoyed touching the sheep, billy goats, rabbits, duck and pig, he appeared to be most fascinated with Santa's white beard!

Turning One Has Never Been More Fun!

Family and friends joined me this afternoon in celebrating my first birthday! I heard mommy and daddy say that they had a house full, but I say, the more the merrier! Among the guests were my "old" friends Mary Rose, Ansley and Walker as well as "new" friend Elly who helped me celebrate.

The most memorable moment of the party was the cake. Mommy made me a very special mini red velvet cake. Mommy and daddy have been teaching me "hot", so when I saw the candle, I knew "no touch". Once the candle was out, I wanted to touch the cake, but thought I couldn't because it was hot. After a few frustrating moments, daddy was able to slip a bit of icing on my tongue, and as you say, that's all she wrote. Needless to say, I love red velvet cake!

Farewell Mullet

Yesterday afternoon, mommy and daddy took me for my first haircut. With a "party" in the back and hair touching my nose in the front, I'd say it was time. (Not to mention that this past weekend I was mistaken three times for a girl!) Of course, daddy was ready for me to lose my locks months ago, but mommy wanted me to hang onto them as long as possible. She knew once my hair was cut, I'd not longer look like her baby boy, but rather her little boy.
They took me to De Legge European Salon and let their friend Tina do the honors. As you can see, she did a great job and I think she had the most fun of us all. (Hats off to mommy and daddy as well. They did an outstanding job of finding interesting ways to keep me occupied while Tina cut and trimmed away.)



 

Thompson's First Birthday Experience

When we lived in California, I knew a family who had an interesting birthday tradition for their children: one set of grandparents would give each grandchild an "experience" for his/her birthday in lieu of gifts. The experience was their gift. Since then, I've recalled this tradition often and shared it with others. To our pleasant surprise, Ma-mere and Pa-pere (Avery's parents) started this family tradition with Thompson, their first grandchild.

Thompson's first birthday "experience" came a few weeks early when he spent the first weekend in December in Greensboro with Ma-mere and Pa-pere. The festivities included attending the Grand Opening of Greensboro's Center City Park, enjoying the Festival of Lights and watching the Christmas Parade.

Inspiration

I'm stepping out a bit into the unknown with the creation and launch of this blogspot. After a year of monthly photo albums capturing Thompson's first year, I decided that to continue on would be asking a lot of myself. (But don't get me wrong, we'll still be taking lots of pictures and have them ready to send at your request.)

This blogspot will replace the monthly photo albums and provide you with a more frequent "snapshot" (be it pictures, news or both) of what's going on with the entire Jones family. On behalf of us all, I hope you are better able to "keep up with the Joneses".

I also want to take this moment to acknowledge and thank two friends whose blogspots were the inspiration for me to undertake this endeavor. Julia Mook and Angie Austin, thank you.

Enjoy!