Roman's Life

Day 1 in Breckenridge

2009-05-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

Boarding in Phx at 7a and waiting to take off for Denver.

Roman and I slept thru most of the flight- this was right before landing in Denver.

Playing in the park en route to Breckenridge

Tyson never misses a vacation!

Walking from the hotel to explore and have dinner at Kenosha Steak House.

The snow on the mountains, there are mounds of snow all around.

Hot cocoa after a long day in the mountain air.

Diamondbacks vs. Rockies

2009-05-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

What an amazing time we had- we had dinner at the Fridays at the ballpark and Roman got to watch warm-ups, we were 18 rows from the third base line- go sitting on the home team side! And tata caught a promo ball and shared it with Roman. Roman had fun walking around the entire ball park and playing in the sandlot (a playground at the ballpark) mama even let him have ice cream-mmmm yummy!

Roman and nana go golfing

2009-05-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

Roman had so much fun at the castle we decided to take nana- like we do for most things that Roman enjoys with mom and dad, we do a second trip with nana :) I'm a stinker!

Roman goes golfing

2009-05-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

We recently took a trip to Golfland- before it got too hot, and because every Wednesday evening is family night. Roman thought the castle was sooooo cool. He even shot a hole in one as you can see in the video. Turns out he's quite a good golfer and practices all the time. I think daddy may have a new golf buddy in just a few short years.

Holy ridiculous cuteness

2009-05-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Roman and his loveys- Buddy (L), Tyson (R)

Showing off his cookie monster underoos

Striking a pose (totally asleep mind you) this kid is so cute he even poses in his sleep. Its a good thing cuteness doesn't have calories or we'd be as big as the house with this little guy running around

Roman and mommy's day trip

2009-05-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

During peak season mommy tends to disappear for days at a time, so to make up for it she does daytrips with Roman. Our most recent involved taking the light rail to the Phoenix Childrens Museum- which if you've never been, you HAVE to check it out!

After our train trip we played for a while and then had lunch at a deli by the ballpark, got back on the train and headed to the car for the quick jaunt home. Below are some of the highlights of the day- and Roman's favorite parts of the museum.

Roman loves his Gigi

2009-05-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

Recently we made the trip out to see Gigi, thankfully the portable dvd player makes the trip easier on everyone. While at Gigi's Roman got to chase rabbits out of her garden, read stories, ride in her "cart"- golf cart and go have lunch at the resturaunt. Then feed the koi fish the leftover bread from the cheeseburgers. What a day!
Gigi loves walking hand and hand with her littlest man.

"Look Gigi" Roman got so excited pointing out fish and ducks, the fountain and the golfers.

Gigi loves reading to Roman even if he can't sit thru the book. Mommy just reads faster (mostly because she's memorized every book by heart)

Easter Sunday at the Zoo

2009-05-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

I ended up having to work on Easter Sunday, but fortunately I was less than 10 min from the zoo and was able to catch up with the boys for a morning of fun!
Getting wild on the merry-go-round

Yay another self-timer photo w/the camera balanced on a shoe

This kid loves to drive, even his airplane and mommy's keys

Roman insisted on petting every single goat there.

The new baby orangutang- he's 2 like Roman. The family dynamic was very interesting (scary enough it looked alot like ours in the morning)

Two handsomest boys at the zoo

Faux Fried Bananas

2009-05-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

At daddy and tata's birthday dinner we learned Roman has a fondness for fried bananas. Well I was certainly not going to indulge him in this tasty treat- there's no nutritional value. I did however come up with a wonderful solution that allows him to have something very similar without the fat and even more nutrition. By smashing up graham crackers and pressing them onto the banana it has the same appearance and the cinnamon from the crackers makes it even more tasty.

He's quite merticulous!

Appreciating Things

2009-05-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I can look beyond the early wake up calls, dirty diapers and groud up goldfish inmy car to see just how wonderful and amazing my son is. So for your enjoyment here is my son sitting among the wildflowers (weeds actually) along our street. He was fascintated by them, which in turn made me more fascinated in him. I love you Roman with all my heart!

Roman and the office supplies

2009-05-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I make printing errors- well actually I blame Microsoft, but thats another topic.

I let Roman have the goof ups so he can do business like mommy, without wasting mommy's supplies. Here's the result of me leaving the room

and coming back to find him in the office with the labels. Thank goodness he wasn't naked!

Painting the bench with dada

2009-05-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

Daddy and tata's b-day dinner

2009-05-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

Roman singing Happy Birthday to tata and daddy at Fogo e Braso

Playing in Oma's lap

Roman made the rounds around the table with everyone at the birthday dinner.

Perfect Husband in Training

2009-05-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Best seen with the volume off

He's good looking, hard working and he knows how to please the ladies: cleaning house with his shirt off! Sorry girls he's not available for another 16 years :)

Roman and the supermodels

2009-05-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

Roman got to spend some quality time with Miss Hillary during one of mommy's photo shoots- turns out Roman is particularly fond of blondes and had no problem spending time with Hillary while at the AZ Historical Society Museum. Turns out they had a kid friendly play area and driving a grown-up truck was super exciting!

Roman and Gigi at the zoo

2009-05-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

We took a big long drive to the Wildlife world zoo and aquarium- the only aquairum in AZ and quite a good one. This is so much better than the Phoenix Zoo, you get much closer to the animals and you can feed a good number of them. Roman loved watching Dave feed the giraffes, chasing the ducks and pulling Gigi around to show her all the "aminals"

Roman's Garden

2009-05-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

Roman and mommy have built a garden for the summer, we're growing peppers for daddy, herbs for nana and mama and wildflowers for the butterflies. Roman loved being a big helper and putting the soil and seeds in the pots

Roman waters his garden every morning so his plants will grow big and strong! Now he even has a fancy watering can.

Roman even talks to his plants, after watering them he cheers them on to "grow grow grow" and tells mama about the bright sun and plants grow

Currently the jalepenos are doing better than the poblanos and the chives and taller than the oregano, but the tomatoes are the tallest of all.

We can't wait to eat our yummy vegetables!

Helping with yard work

2009-05-06T11:44:00.001-07:00

Roman loves to be daddy's big helper and do big boy things. Yard work has become one of Roman's favorite activities to do with daddy because he can participate. Now if I could just get him to clean up after the dog- between the two of them I'd never had to work in the yard again!

He is certainly all boy and loves playing in the dirt.

Roman at Age 2

2009-01-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

Roman is doing all sorts of amazing and wonderful things now that he's 2

He's 30lbs and 33", his hair grows ridculously fast and is lighter than mom's, it's more dad's color. He still has a very lean build, and after a good meal get a big round tummy. He's fascinated with his outie belly button and is very very ticklish. He bruises easily like mom and is perpetually dirty.

His "lovey" is still Tyson- who now accompanies us on long drives, trips and long visits away from home. Ocassionbally he sneaks into mommy and daddy's bed when Roman does early in the morning. His stuffed Curious George is also a close favorite-but George gets to ride in the bus and airplane when he's playing.

Roman's favorite foods include: spaghetti, red beans and rice, cheese (all kinds), strawberries, gold fish, raisins and salmon. He's great at eating, and when he's hungry he comes to you and says "eat" the more he repeats it the hungrier he is. Right now he's in a bit of a picky phase- he wants just a few bites of everything- which is mildly challenging. But in no time he'll be living off air like most toddlers do at time.

Around the house Roman is a "big helper" and loves how excited everyone gets when he does a good job helping. He routinely takes the recycling out, picks up his toys every night before bed, , puts silverware and a few dishes away from the clean dishwasher, he picks up his room, sorts laundry, put his clothes away, and gives Lucy her dental chews.

Roman has always had a strong eagerness for reading. He is phenomenal at remembering stories and will occassionally read along with you on parts he has memorized. And when he's feeling independent, he will sit down and read to himself- highlighting the parts of the story he knows. Right now his favorite bedtime book is "If you give a pig a party" that his friend Abby gave him. Me, I more fond of Llama Llama Red Pajama- that Celyn and Geoff gave to him. So we compromise and read 2 bedtime stories.

Potty training has hit a roadblock- he's much more interested in play and has lost interest in the potty.

Roman is always surprising us with new words, he's also begun saying phrases- "see you later" "your welcome" apple juice, octopus, George (Curious George is his favorite cartoon/book), today, okay okay okay, choo choo, "oocey" which is Lucy and super cute "up and down" which means he wants to be picked up, and lots more. He can count from 1-10 although not always in the correct order. He's also able to identify all the letters in the alphabet- his favorite run of letters is "xyz" and he says them often.

Still affectionate and loving as always. Very curious and eager to test the limits. He desperately wants to be a grown up/big boy. He's fond of watching the older kids and tries to do what mommy and daddy do- which is why you can hear him clomp down the stairs in daddy's shoes. Or ask for the keys to open the door or drive the car.

Roman and his favorite birthday present

2009-01-22T20:28:00.000-08:00

Turns out Roman LOOOOOVES trains, riding them, watching them, and playing with them. Nana got him a wooden Thomas train set and he was instantly hooked. It's fantastic, he can assemble the track by himself, the trains are connected magnetically and it's silent- excpet for the random "choo choo" from Roman.

Roman's 2nd Birthday

2009-01-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

Roman and a handful of friends celebrated his second birthday last Saturday at Freestone Park. It was a really low key affair, mostly because his birthday is so soon after Christmas. But between the balloon, train rides and cupcakes- a good time was had by all. And since Nana and Roman practically share a birthday- they blew out the unlit candles together- darn wind

I can't believe he's already 2. Some days it feels like he's still my little baby and then he feeds himself dinner and I realize he's becoming a big boy.

Filling some mighty big shoes

2009-01-20T21:34:00.000-08:00

Already trying to fill his daddy's shoes. You can often hear clompling feet coming down the hall, Roman loves stepping into his daddy's shoes

Backyard shenanigans

2009-01-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

Roman all dressed up

2009-01-20T20:57:00.000-08:00

Last week I was attending Imaging USA and decided, since I was going to be spending 3 days in downtown Phoenix, why not get little man dressed up in his outfit from the vow renewal one last time before he out grows it- well he'd pretty much outgrown it- but regardless, here he is strutting his stuff downtown

Roman and his new tricycle

2008-12-26T21:52:00.001-08:00

Roman loves his new tricycle, even if he can't exactly pedal it by himself. He's especially adorable because he tends to clap after ringing the bell.

Roman's band

2008-12-26T21:42:00.001-08:00

Give it up for little man!

Roman on Christmas morning

2008-12-26T21:35:00.000-08:00

Roman checking out the presents

2008-12-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

Santa's haul

roman enjoying santa's haul

Mama playing like a kid again

2008-12-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

Visiting Encanto Park

2008-12-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

Enchanted Island at Encanto Park does a hoiday themed weekend every year where they bring in snow, they decorate the train and surprisingly it's not crowded on Sunday mmorning. Last weekend, I took the boys and Romanwas able to go tubing down a snow slope, ride the choo choo to his hearts delight and rode amusement park rides fearlessly and all by himself. Poor kid, he played so hard, by the time we were exiting the freeway he was zombified-
No, for all of those of you who are bound to ask, we did not see Santa this year. Mostly he didn't seem interested- believe me Roman had the opportunity early one morning to have Santa all to himself and showed no interest in the guy with the red suit. Also, he might have been freaked out, and that's just not worth spending 30+ min in line. Maybe next year if he shows more interest.

Roman on the steam roller

2008-12-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

Quite often Roman gets preferential treatment. Here's a great example of all of us going out to see the construction at Oma and Opa's. Roman is fascinated with contstruction vehicles, and the gentlemen working on the street gave Roman not only a front row seat, but their seat and drove him up and down a good patch of road

Here are some pics from it

Roman playing Rock Band with daddy

2008-12-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

So I believe that my child is gifted, here's my best example, he picked up drumsticks for the very first time and this was the result

Roman's choo choo

2008-12-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

After much prodding and his apparent love for trains, Mommy broke down and got hin his very own train. To my surprise, daddy and Roman played for 2hrs non stop. Here you can see Roman adding to the tunnel

Roman practicing his reading

2008-12-19T20:22:00.000-08:00

Trimming the Tree with Roman

2008-12-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

Roman had lots of fun being a big boy this year and helping to decorate the tree and play under the mistletoe. He's had as much fun removing ornaments as he did trying to figure out how to put them on the tree.

His favorite was putting candy canes on- seeing as how they were the easiest. But from stretching out bundled lights, untangling garland to ornaments and listening to holiday music, he is loving every minute of the season.

baking with nana

2008-12-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

Roman loves making holiday treats with nana, adding ingredients and stirring and mixing. He also likes the eating part

movie phone 3

2008-12-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH

more daddy phone films

2008-12-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

Digging in the dirt

Movies found on daddy's phone

2008-12-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

Say Hi Roman

Reading with Oma

2008-12-17T15:53:00.000-08:00

Oma is also a fan of children's books and was delighted that Roman took it upon himself to cozy up in her lap and share a story

Fishing thru Daddy's phone

2008-12-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

We were going thru Dave's collection of photos on his phone so...in no particular order or age- get ready to smile

Thanksgiving in NC- Part 1

2008-12-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

We made the trek out to NC for Thanksgiving- we normally go around Christmas, but mom keeps booking weddings.

Anyway, it was the BEST trip evr! Roman was well behaved and everyone left happier than they arrived. We spent time visiting Oma and Opa, where Roman got to read stores, play blocks and ride on a steam roller- by himself (video and pics to come)

Thanksgiving morning we visited with Roman's God Parents, Geoff and Celyn at Marcine's house, where Roman inhaled Marcine's apple pancakes and made everyone say "aww". Thanksgiving was spent with Gram, Grandpa Charlie, the Bernards, Johnsons, Trimmers, and lots of others. Roman was able to run around with his cousins, show off his reading and phonetic skills, give lots of hugs and be in TONS of photos. We missed meeting Abigail- James and Lauren's baby, but we understand them not wanting to travel with a new baby.

Then on our last day in town we visited Sarah, ate yummy mexican food, played at the park and ran around the RDU meeting all kinds of other toddlers.

All in all a wonderful travel and holiday experience.

Roman learning to read

2008-11-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

While I realize this is by memorization- he does this sort of thing with about a dozen books now. He will also point out strings of letters and their phonetic sounds.

My kid is amazing

Roman Loves Lucy

2008-11-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

Roman does an amazing job caring for his Lucy dog. He goes for walks with her, plays fetch, tug of war (against our wishes) rubs her belly, pets her.

Now he's added giving Lucy her dental chews every other day- this is a big task for a little boy and he's always beaming with pride when he gives her the chew. He runs to the window to watch her out side and he chants "chew chew chew"

This morning Roman decided Lucy needed to be cleaned up, so he took a wet wipe and was wiping her face and paws. As you can see from the video, Lucy thought Roman could use a little cleaning up himself

Footy pj's

2008-11-11T20:53:00.000-08:00

I have an obsession with my son's cutie booty- we have lots of great pics of it, and the plumber butt is just too funny. So when he hopped off the potty the other morning and had his footy pj's around his ankles I was hard pressed not to snap a quick pic.

I know he'll be overwhelmed with embarrasment one day- but that's what external hard drives are for. He doesn't have to know it ever existed.
Besides- it really is just a cutie booty

I Love Being a Boy

2008-11-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

We spent Halloween in Sedona eating yummy food, playing down town and exploring prior to mommy's photo safari. I love Sedona Red Dirt

Mommy and Daddy renewed their vows

2008-11-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

I got to be a part of it too!

I had a special outfit that I didn't want to take off at all. I got to play with Duvianna and run around with nana and tata and eat mommy's yummy cheesecake.

To see how handsome and grown up I looked check out this link

http://picasaweb.google.com/jacquelyn.l.phillips/Renewal#

Yikes...time to catch up

2008-11-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

For those of you keeping track, I'm not so great at the blogging thing- hey I just now uncovered enough of my desk I can see my toes (it's glass top :))

So for the Roman fanatics out there here goes...

New Words: Bus, Oma, Opa, Giraffe, zoo, class, ta ta, please, thank you, your welcome, toy, NO

Favorite Foods: butternut squash, peas, spinach, honeycrisp apples, fish, cereal with milk

Favorite Books: Oh the Places you'll go, The Littlest Pilgrim, Guess How Much I Love You

I love to eat

2008-10-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

This would be Roman after mooching daddy's lunch. Roman has mastered not being hungry or not wanting what he has because yours is always better

Cheers- the boys toasting with apple juice

2008-10-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

Scouting in Sedona

2008-10-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

Mommy is doing a photo shoot in Sedona at Cathedral Rock and wanted to go scouting before the big shoot.

Roman loved playing in red dirt, being walked by lucy, playing with big fall leaves and riding on daddy's shoulders.

He slept within minutes of reaching the freeway :)

Amazes us every day

2008-10-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Roman is growing leaps and bounds. He is always surprising us with new words and skills both mental and physical.

In his mommy and me class he's Miss Emily's favorite, always helpful, excited and eager to participate. He runs towards his class and sees his new friends giggleing and saying "oh cool"

At naptime, we read "Guess how much I love you" when little nut brownhair gets a kiss from big nutbrown hair, I always get a kiss, and when big nutbrown hair whispers, Roman whispers too.

He gives Lucy her dental chews every other day

Identifies letters- he espcially loves vowels, everywhere you see words printed.

On his special big boy computer, he can identify half of the letters of the alphabet and make their phonetic sounds.

He routinely helps with laundry, putting away dishes, swiffering, checking the mail.

Every morning, he has to sit with daddy and have his bowl of cereal just like dad, while they watch highlights on cnn

He wants to be just like daddy!

He's also daring like daddy, climbing up onto kitchen chairs, counters and reaching lightswitches and the tops of our dressers.

A day in the life of me (19 mo)

2008-10-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

6:15 run into mom and dad's room and shout "HI" run to whomever decides to not greet me and repeat loudly "HI"

6:20 run into kitchen saying "juice" while pointing to the sippy cups

6:30 have 2 or 3 items delivered for my breakfast, snack on dad's cereal instead while watching bits of cnn and msnbc

7-9:30 play, read, get dressed, feed the dog, have a diaper change after sitting on the potty (usually no luck) read the same book 2 more times

9:30 cry and block the door because I don't want daddy to leave, go outside with mom and wave bye to dad while watering the flowers

9:45-10:30 play blocks, another diaper change, chase the dog, pull on mom to get her from checking her email, play with blackberry while mom finishes up quick email

10:30-11:30 light snack with a few minutes of cartoons, help mom unload dishwasher, diaper change and get ready for nap

11:30-1 zonked out with mom, I like it when she naps with me because she rubs my back and sings to me

1:30-2 LUNCHTIME

2-4 run errands or help mom pick up the house, or go to the playground

4-5:30 a small snack, maybe a book or a game of picaboo thru the house

5:30-6:30 daddy's home and I help make dinner- tonight I put lettuce on the salad plates, eat a yummy dinner

6:30-7 go for a walk

7-7:30 play with daddy

7:30-7:45 splash splash bathtime, I love making big splashes and getting daddy all wet

7:45-8 clean up all my toys in the great room

8- mommy recites "Oh the places you'll go" by Dr. Seuss I get lots of hugs and kisses and fall asleep

So many words

2008-10-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Colors: Blue, purple, red

Commands: yes, no- uh oh, more, go

Animal sounds: woof, quack, hisss, who who, moo

General: truck, that guy, look, move, high chair, duck, dog, this, up, book, kiss, hug, yum, nana, tata, mom, mama, dad, dada, goose

Mommy and me at the zoo water park

2008-10-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hey, look pics of mommy on one of our outings too!

Daddy and me at the zoo

2008-10-03T20:59:00.001-07:00

Goin to the Zoo

2008-10-03T20:41:00.001-07:00

So due to the large volume of photos, we're breaking this one into 3 sections. Here are the general zoo photos

Talk talk talk

2008-10-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

Roman loves talking on the phone. if you're ever bored, call me and ask to talk to Roman! Talk about great low cost entertainment

Daddy's video game gear

2008-10-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

It was spring cleaning time (yes, I know we don't have seasons here) but we were cleaning out closets and Dave thought it would be lots of fun to let Roman play with his gear.

Of course, being the ham he is, hilarity ensued.

Just like Dad

2008-10-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

Roman loves to watch daddy juggle, and imitates quite well. He does this most everytime he gets his hands on block. Recently he showed of to his teacher Ms. Emily during mommy and me class and he had her hook line and sinker.

Now for your viewing pleasure "juggle juggle juggle"

Potty Training

2008-10-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

Everyone was surprised when we decided to use cloth diapers- and besides saving lots of money, here was the other great pay-off. Roman goes potty in his big boy potty. Not everytime of course, and we still use diapers most every day. But every now and then we put on big boy pull ups to encourage his use of the potty.

Fingers crossed, we will be diaper free by the start of '09

Dbacks v. Cardinals

2008-10-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

We don't know the exact score, Roman was having too much fun drinking lemonade, eating chicken strips and fixing anything he could reach with his toy screwdriver. Roman loves baseball games, especially when nana and tata come too!

Phoenix Children's Museum

2008-10-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

We drove past this on 7th St and Van Buren and were intrigued. Intrigue lead to a visit that resulted in a trip to the COOLEST kids museum ever! 3 stories of play- the first floor is dedicated to hula hoops, soft tents and padded floors. The second floor has an art studio, a race track for wooden cars, a pretend street with tricycles and 1/2 of it is covered in bean bags and book cases filled with children's books. The third floor has a play area for 3 and under, a room made into a grocery store with motion sensor conveyor belts, a room set up like an enormous kitchen.

Roman fell in love and so did we. Since our membership we try to go every 3 weeks and even nana has come to visit the museum with us!

How big am I now?

2008-10-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

At his 18 mo check up Roman weighed in at 28lbs and 32" which for those of you keeping track is exactly 1/2 my height.

Now at almost 20 months he is 29lbs and 33.5"

I'm taking bets now as to when he will be taller than me

Welcome to Roman's new page

2008-10-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Congratulation's and welcome- you are one of many of our son's fans and we are happy to share our little boy's life with you.

Hopefully, by doing this in short snipits thru blog there will be more posts adn they will occur frequently. Unlike his current page :(

So...let's get started