daxy's day

i've been working so much lately that i decided i needed to take off one day a month to spend with my boys.  for july this came on tuesday this week.  will already has off one day a week since he works 4 - 10 hour days, so i've selected my dates based on the dates he already has off.  for daxton's first special day we decided we'd focus on everything that dax loves:

- live music
- dancing
- running free
- exploring
- eating
- napping

to start off our day we got dax out of his crib by singing an america house original - "it's going to be a great day".  he danced and ran around inside his crib while daddy and i danced around his room and clapped our hands.  he knew he was in for a treat.  after a quick diaper change we took him into our bed to watch an episode of mickey mouse clubhouse while will and i took turns getting showered and ready.  once we were all set to head out we went to a place we all love to get dax a GIANT bowl of yogurt and blueberries for breakfast.  about half way through he decided he would rather have my blueberry waffle (which he has never wanted any of before) and so we switched breakfasts. 

after breakfast we headed down town to the library to watch a performance of toddler story time where a musician sings and plays guitar for the kids.  we knew this would be right up daxy's alley since he loves live music and dance.  he was not sure about it at first, but quickly learned he could shake his groove thang and clap his hands and so after every song he would say "wahoo, yeah - thank you" before he clapped!  (we will definitely be doing these once a month once they start back up in the fall!)  daxton loved running all over the room and checking out the other kid's dance moves.  dax still resorts to his "peg leg" dance where he rocks back and forth from side to side without bending his knees.  maybe we need to still locate a dance class?

after story time we drove further into down town and went to a kids museum where dax could explore all sorts of things.  he got to crawl through logs, hide in tree houses, walk on wonky bridges, dress up like a baby deer, climb in a ship, play with a telescope, splash in vats of water, milk a fake cow, gather plastic eggs, drive a pretend boat, slide down a giant slide, pet on a stuffed dog, mow some fake grass, and drive a fire truck.  all the while mommy and daddy just watched, played along, and enjoyed his laughter and excitement.  at about 11:50 he was getting pretty tired so we headed over to the restaurant for lunch. 

unfortunately it was way too past his normal nap time for him to really consume anything other than bunny crackers and two bites of flat bread pizza, so after mommy and daddy ate we headed back home.  on the way out of down town will and i noticed no movement from the backseat and sure enough our little trooper was completely worn out.  when we got back home he did not even move when will took him out of his car seat.  we got him into bed and he went into prime sleeping position with his fanny up in the air, where he slept motionless until 4pm!

right after 4pm we heard some rustling in his room and will and i entered again singing and clapping.  daxton thought it was awesome and actually jumped so high that he was getting air!  we let him play for an hour or so with his new fire chief car (souvenir) before heading out to an early dinner.  we went to a mexican place where we could all sit out side on the patio and let dax be as messy and loud as he wished.  the joint has a train that runs on a track above the patio seating area and hanging lights that dax thinks are just awesome.  he enjoyed about half of his quesadilla before he was ready to go back to bed, so will and i finished our dinners and got our precious fella back home and into his bed before too late.

so many times on this day my heart was just so happy and overflowing with joy to be spending this precious time with our sweet baby.  he's growing up so quickly and its hard to realize that even though you are "here" you sometimes miss these treasured moments.  it was great to have an entire day to focus on dax and what he would like to do.  we had a great time planning this special day for him and cannot wait to do it again in august!  (yay, its august already!)