I left my son on the cutting room floor.

This was supposed to be Park's big break, the moment he was going to be discovered—leading to a rocket ride career as a child film star and an extended stay in rehab for an addiction to lime-green gummy bears—but alas it was not meant to be. Park's (and his mom's) five seconds on film didn't survive the edit room. Nevertheless, here are my new commercials for the university which, in my opinion, lack a certain amount of cuteness.

Double click on the images below to see them uncropped.

Another one from OK Go

Cool video and dogs? How can you beat that?

Double click the video to watch it uncropped.

Crib Notes: Month 16 (and a half)

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but Park's 16th month was another one filled with lots of big firsts. For starters, he has built up enough strength over the last couple months to crawl on his hands and knees all by himself ... not that he will. While he's been giving his back and biceps a workout at therapy every week, he's also become a very fast and efficient scooter. It's his mobile method of choice. There is just no stopping him. But we're still thrilled with his progress and are now working on standing and getting his balance in check. It is definitely baby steps, but we are getting there. Slowly.

The other big news, at least from the parenting standpoint, is that we've found a new pediatrician that we absolutely love. We had been disappointed in our first doctor for some time but really liked the nurses in the office and were hoping it was just us and that things would get better. It didn't. So we finally left and found a new doctor based on some recommendations. I wanted to cry after the first appointment with her, she was just that good. Perhaps our other doctor was just that bad and made this new woman look better than she is. But to have someone sit down and listen was amazing.

On the teething front, Park's first year molars decided to all come in at once. To celebrate, we took the bottle away. I don't think he noticed one bit. Park hasn't yet accepted a cup of milk with a meal, but a cup while reading books is OK. Again, baby steps.

As for flirting with the ladies, Park has added blinking to his bag of tricks. Craig is trying his best to take the two-eyed blink up a notch by getting him to wink with one eye. Watch out.

Eating with Park continues to be messy and fun. He'll eat anything, but he prefers whatever we're eating. Even if it's the same thing on his plate. He's added veggie burgers, pancakes and chicken nuggets (not the "mc" variety just yet) to his list of favorite foods. He's finally figured out how the straw works and he continues to improve with the spoon (although using the fingers is so much faster - just like scooting).

And finally, this kid has been given the gift of gab. He went through a period this past month of squealing as loud as he could. In public. In the car. In close spaces. It appears we might be done with that phase, but are experiencing a whole new thing now ... more to come on that in the 17-month post. Park is also getting good at imitating animals. He just says "duck" for duck (and bird and anything else that flies), he pants for a dog, he oinks from his throat for a pig, he loves to mimic cows (especially in the cow-covered dairy aisle at the grocery store), he can neigh like a horse and he squeals for a monkey.

As always, we continue to look forward to all the new discoveries, challenges and adventures the next month will bring.

Rocky Mountain HighER

So, about that recap of our Colorado vacation that I never finished ...

After a few days in Estes Park with the Houston Lindemans, Craig, Park and I headed west and up a couple thousand feet to Summit County (the Dillon, Frisco, Breckenridge area). This is a special place for all of us. Craig spent many family vacations here as a kid at his aunt's condo on Buffalo Mountain. We've also been there a few times together over the years and got engaged in Frisco ... which just happens to be Park's middle name. Needless to say, we were excited to introduce the little guy to the area.

Many things had changed since our last visit, but one thing that had remained the same: we had a great mountain breakfast at The Sunshine Cafe. Park especially loved his first Mickey Mouse pancake (notice his hands signing "more").



Luckily, Frisco was a big hit with Park Frisco.







Breckenridge is always a great place for a little shopping, a big crepe and a fun stroller ride - especially after eating the best homemade salsa and big black bean burrito at the Breckenridge Brewery.



A bike ride around Dillon Lake sounded like a good idea at the time. Too bad we didn't check the forecast for late morning storms or take our rain coats. These two amateur parents totally deserved the frozen fingers and soaked clothing. Park wasn't about to share his warm and dry ride in the Burley. If only he had stayed awake for the last mile to see the deer.



And that concludes the Colorado Vacation 2010. Can't wait to go back next year!

What's in rotation

In case you're wondering, here's what has currently been playing on my iPod.

- Craig

"Hold On" Angus & Julia Stone
"Detlef Schrempf" Band of Horses (Actually, it seems like I'm listening to a lot of them right now.)
"40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet)" Bob Schneider
"Shampoo" Elvis Perkins
"Change of Time" Josh Ritter
"Some Gal Move" Mr. Anonymous (Download for free here.)
"This Too Shall Pass" OK Go
"Love Like a Sunset, Pt. II" Phoenix
"Pursuit of Happiness" Lissie

By the way, the videos for "This Too Shall Pass" are incredible, just like all of the other OK Go videos.

Love how this one was seemingly all done in one take.



And this is pretty cool too, plus I love the version of the song.

Sometimes it's hard to be a tree hugger (even when you're five minutes from a national park)

Whenever we travel, I'm conflicted on a couple of levels. On one hand, I love getting out and seeing new things, experiencing new experiences and getting a chance to introduce Park to the world and all of the places Carrie and I love. On the other hand, I'm a bit of a homebody, I hate leaving the dogs behind and I'm troubled by the environmental impact of traveling hundreds of miles from home.

However, in the end, my desire to explore always wins out—with a gentle push from Carrie. I set the dogs up with my parents where they feel completely at home and are loved, buy some carbon credits to cancel out my guilt and I'm usually good by the time the plane lands.

The last couple of trips have been different though.

During last month's trip to the Atlantis in the Bahama, I was shocked by the resort's unbridled use of plastic, especially water bottles, and the complete lack of recycling. Every lunch killed me. I tried taking my own water bottle, but there was just no way around all of the plastic that I was eventually forced to throw in the trash. When we got back home I e-mailed the resort's management to ask about their recycling policy and was told there simply wasn't a resource on the island, but they were working on figuring something out, which seemed like a logical response and completely understandable.

Then came our trip to Colorado. During the first half of the trip in Estes Park we accumulated a small pile of recyclables. Before we left, I went down to the office to find out where I could take them and was told that they too did not offer recycling, but it wasn't just the place we were staying, it was the entire city of Estes Park! Seriously. Estes Park, the "Gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park" does not have a recycling program! How in the hell is that possible? How is Wichita, Kansas more progressive than anywhere in Colorado? (That is the first and probably last time I will use the words "Wichita" and "progressive" in the same sentence.)

Luckily, during the last half of our trip, our faith in Colorado was restored, thanks to the Frisco community recycling center.

Once again, Frisco can do no wrong.

I took this photo as I was walking along the beach in the Bahamas. Oddly enough, just before I took it I was looking at the crystal-clear water and thinking about what was going on in the Gulf of Mexico.

Rocky Mountain High

It's been seven years since we last visited Colorado (way too long) and about a year since we started talking about doing a trip out there with Uncle Curt, Aunt Cheryl and Cousin Hagen. Finally, just a couple weeks ago, we got that whiff of country air, saw some wildlife and took some scenic hikes to last us another year or so.

We tried to extend our trip out there as long as possible, and ended up having two different Colorado vacations during one week. Each were lots of fun and came with plenty of adventures and down time.

Colorado - Part One
For the first half of the trip, we flew out to Denver and met up with Curt, Cheryl and Hagen from Houston. We then loaded up a suburban and were off to Estes Park. In order to make the most of our time together while the kids were awake but also napping, we rented a two-story cabin that had plenty of room for "playing" Jenga (a game left by the renters), cooking dinners, grilling smores, watching meteor showers on the deck, dancing (Hagen loves Lady Gaga and Park prefers the Black Eyed Peas ... or really, any good beat), jumping in piles of pillows, running little hands against (and hovering over) the air vents, coloring and running/scooting after each other. It was an ideal set up to say the least. The property was also just half a mile from a park that provided hours of fun (for both kids and adults).



When we weren't at the cabin, we enjoyed walking around the town of Estes Park. We also checked out two of the easier hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park. And we made a day-trip to Ft. Collins to see what all the talk was about. (We weren't impressed.)

Fun at the park




Fun at the cabin








Rocky Mountain National Park -- Hike around Nymph Lake and then off to Lily Pond for a picnic lunch












To be continued ...