First Trip to Massachusetts and First Steps!

Last weekend Tommy flew to Massachusetts to visit his grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles. It was a great time and Tommy proved to be a great traveler, even in the face of Logan Airport's goofy T*S*A staff.
We visited the Atlantic Ocean, the local apple orchard, and Tommy had his first pizza with Pops, from the local favorite pizzeria.
While we were getting ready on Friday morning, I looked over to see what Tommy was doing, and I saw him take a few steps - all on his own! He did it a few more times on Saturday and is up to about 4 or 5 steps alone. It is hilarious! He's very proud of himself when he does it - it's pretty cute.
Enjoy some new pictures!

May and Pops and the Gray grandchildren

Tommy banging on May's glass top coffee table.....

Tommy with his one and only great grandmother!

Pumpkin birthday cake that cousin Teddy picked out!

Happy Boy!

Happy Birthday to Tommy

Tommy's second haircut, but first successful haircut - he did very well and now looks like a little man!










Chewing on the garage door opener in his sweet new wagon from Grandma Shermie - he knows that pushing the buttons on the opener makes the doors go up and down. It's a fun game.










Out for a walk with Daddy.














The morning of my first birthday!!













Yesterday we celebrated Tommy's first birthday with lots of family and friends! He had a great time playing with the other kids, and stayed awake long enough to enjoy some delicious frosting on his own little cake. As we celebrated Tommy's first birthday, we reminded ourselves just how thankful we are to his birth mother and the caretakers in Vietnam who loved him dearly. Without them, we would not be a family today.







Trying to get him to touch the cake....














After some help from Uncle Mark, he really liked the way the frosting felt!







Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

Almost One Year Old!

Tommy will turn one a week from today - we are preparing for his first birthday party and can't wait to watch him open gifts and eat cake!
He's started to walk while pushing his many wheeled toys around the house. He'll also take a step from one piece of furniture to another.
Last weekend we visited Grandma Sharon's new house and he liked to cruise around her basement and chase the dog. Last month we visited Aunt Tracey and cousin Henry (who is now a big brother to baby Charlie!) and Tommy loved all of Henry's cool toys, especially his ride-on train.
Enjoy some new pictures!

5 months together

September 3 was our 5 month adoption anniversary....look at how much Tommy has grown and changed!

Tommy's First Photo Shoot

Even though we have hundreds of pictures of Tommy, we had never had his picture taken professionally....Tommy wasn't very interested in the session, and it took a lot of coaxing from Mommy and Grandma Sharon to get him to look at the camera!

Here is a sampling of some of the many shots they took......

Long Overdue Post

This is long overdue.....Tommy has turned 10 months old, had his first haircut, and is standing while holding on with just one hand! He is growing taller and his weight gain has leveled off - just under 20 pounds last week at the doctor.
He has started daycare two days a week and is doing well. He started out in the infant room and is now in the "waddler" room, where the kids are all crawling and starting to walk. He doesn't nap well at daycare, but he does seem to like the women who work there.
His first haircut wasn't a success. Each time the girl would comb his hair, he turned to look and give her a smile. She trimmed the bangs a bit and also the back, but was scared to touch his sides....so we may have to try again in a month or so because it's still pretty long.
Tommy has enjoyed a lot of time with his cousin Megan this summer and he is sad that she started back to school today :( We have spent a lot of time at Grandma Sharon's house helping her pack, and we're going to visit cousin Henry in a couple of weeks.
Hope your summers have been great - enjoy the pics! Tara, Doug, and Tommy

9 Months Old

Tommy enjoyed his first venture into a pool last weekend - kiddie pool, that is. The weather was sweltering hot and so we filled up a kiddie pool in the front yard, slathered on the sunscreen, and let Tommy splash around. He loved it. We start swimming lessons at the end of the month, so he's getting a head start!























Here's Tommy on the morning of his 9 month birthday checking out the shadows on the wall....he loves it.













Enjoying a popsicle....he likes this much better than the plain old ice cube we give him to help with his teeth.











Here's Tommy just being adorable and trying to get the camera.....the weather cooled off later in the week so we spent some time outdoors playing. He loved feeling the grass, listening to the cars drive by, and the kids going by on their bikes.






















And finally, he has discovered the doors, and especially loves the screen door. He is crawling everywhere, into different rooms, down the hallway, and is starting to pull up on furniture. We have purchased our first baby gate to be installed at the top of the stairs today.

Tommy is such a great little guy, and we are reminded everyday of how lucky we are to have him!