Pipes and Pizza

A picture of the big pipe organ (the pipes are in an entire room behind the organ), and some pictures of Tommy playing with his Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Zalen.

Tommy's Birthday Evening

For TOmmy's big bithday dinner we went to Pipes and Pizza in Lansing. (It's now Beggar's Pizza). I used to LOVE to go here as a kid, and since TOmmy loves music so much it was the perfect place to take him. They have an old-fashioned pipe organ and it is played every so often. It just so happened that they played it on his birthday night. The whole restaurant lights up during some songs, there are all kinds of drums and other instruments on the wall that play along to the organ. It's a great place to take kids. And the Pizza was AMAZING! Yum! Tommy was joined by both sets of grandparents, his Great Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Jason, Uncle Brian and Aunt Jamie, and of course mommy and daddy! The organ played Happy Birthday for Tommy and everyone enjoyed seeing him smiling and clapping along!!

Tommy's Birthday Morning

These are pictures from Tommy's first birthday morning on Spetember 29, 2009. He was very happy when he woke up that morning (as usual) and Gammie soon brought over a whole carload of presents for the little guy's big day.

Tommy's Birthday Afternoon

Mommy took the day off for Tommy's birthday. I just couldn't handle being at work on the day my little guy tunred one!! So, we slept in, had a nice breakfast, then Gammie came over with presents, and we were off to Gymboree for our play class, and then to Tyler's Tender (a restaurant for kids with trains) for lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Krull and Auntie Julie. It was a relaxing, perfect afternoon for his big birthday! Tommy got to ride on the train ride, and Auntie Julie and Mommy rode on the "big" train with him.

More second haircut pics

Tommy's Second Haircut

Also on my last day of summer vacation, we took Tommy in for his second haircut. It was a disaster. The haircut was really cute, and looks great on him. But, he screamed through the whole entire cut. His first haircut was perfect. He had barely even whimpered, but the second time must have been pure terror for the poor little boy.

It started off just fine; he was quite happy...

Tommy's first pair of shoes

The day before I went back to work, we were off for a day of fun. Tommy needed to get his first pair of shoes since he has been standing up and taking a few steps for the past couple of weeks. He holds onto furniture and walks ever so slightly, but he's getting there and making big strides daily!!

My mom and I took him to Big 'N Little shoe store in Munster. It's been around forever, and it's a cute little store that's mostly for kids. He got his feet measured. He measured a 5 wide and $50 later, he had a brand new pair of shoes!!

Tommy's first car

So, this was an impromptu purchase. I figured this would be better for him to roam around the house in. When he's "driving his car" he can't open all the cabinets, stove, etc., so this gives me a bit of freedom too. The car actually beeps. I was standing in his way last night, and he beeped his horn (coincidentally, I think) and Rich said, "He wants you to move." It was too funny! I did move out of his way, and he went scooting right past me. He gets around the house pretty fast in this thing!

Tommy and the entertainment center

Here is a picture of Tommy and our entertainment center. He loves to slide open the side door that holds DVDs. He opens it and closes it, pulls out DVD cases to suck on, and ultimately closes his fingers in the door (it doesn't smash them luckily...still don't quite understand how it doesn't). Finally, he loves to suck on the hardware. This should get interesting.

Learning to Stand

My mom's dogs were staying with us while they were vacationing, and so the extra dog cage in the living room was just the perfect size for Tommy to learn how to stand up...so this is what he did. Later, he ate the sticker off the front of the cage. Never fear, supermom swooped in and scooped it out of his mouth.

Trying his best to get it...

Yeah, I think this little "knick-knack" stand is going to have to be moved...if he could have scaled it and gotten to the top; he would have done so!

Exploring around the house

A few pictures of Tommy moving into the living room and foyer. And, of course, a picture of Winnie watching all the madness from her favorite stair on the staircase.