Little conductor

Hello all!

we're here feeling full from all the holiday food! Atom is still full of energy, running around and playing with all his new toys. This is the year of transportation for him. Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (big trucks!). He has been having so much fun with all his toys, so thank you for the gifts.

now for a video!




Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, or what every you and yours celebrate!

Love, Mikee

Happy Halloween!!

Spooky greetings everyone!
This week before Halloween I needed a Hawaiian shirt for a work group costume, so we went to the Goodwill to find it. While there we found the cutest dragon costume for Atom. We weren't planning on it, but when you see what we found, and for Five Dollars? Come on. You would have bought it as well!




As always these are on the flickr page as well:Life of the Atom Photos

Hope you are all having a safe and happy holiday!

~Mikee

fall park play

we took atom to the park today. there were some large dry leaves on the ground that atom was having fun playing with. sorry the video is on its side.

Look who's 1!

Oh man it's been a long time. Sorry about that.

So. Atom turned 1 year old this weekend. We had a really great time. Saturday we had a nice little family party. Then on Sunday Grandma & Grandpa Versoza took Atom, Darb, & myself up to Seattle for a mariners game. Atom got spoiled. We got a certificate that shows he was there for his birthday with family, he got a bag of goodies with a hat and ball, and he got his name up on the big screen:



We also have video to show you guys as well. The game was good. Atom got a little antsy before the end of the game so we did leave a little early. The mariners did win though 11-2. So way to go team! After that we had a birthday dinner at the cheesecake factory and then back to the hotel to check in for the night. This morning we had a lazy start, walked down to post alley and pike's market for a bit and then got back in the car and came home. It was a lot of fun but we are all very tired.

So, the rest of life. Atom is getting bigger every day. We have finally gotten control of food for him that don't cause him dietary issues. His skin looks great now and he is gaining good weight! He likes to eat a lot. Some of his favorites are avocado, blue berries, and banana. Atom can now stand on his own and will even bend down to pick something up. But he's not walking... yet. It's real close. He has taken a step a couple random times, but the second step gets him. He hasn't quite figured out how to shift the weight. He is very mobile though, crawling very fast. No comprehensible words yet, he does talk baby talk quite a bit.

I think that's about it. I didn't post to many pictures on here but I will upload them to the flickr account. Hope you are all well and staying cool.

Mike

it's been too long

Wow, it has been a really long time since we last posted. I'm sorry about that. Life has a way of getting away from you. But! I have something to make up for it. We decided since we take way too many pictures to post in the blog we would set up a photo account for everyone to look at the pictures we take. This way you can have your own favorite pictures even if they aren't ours. So our new posts will have the normal blog content and a link to the new photo set's uploaded. For example there is a new set for our trip to the zoo today!

What a perfect day for a trip to the zoo. It was Atom's first time at the zoo, it was also the first time we used our year long pass to the zoo. Darbie and I both agreed that it was a very good trip. Atom was awake the whole time and didn't cry at all. His favorite seemed to be the sea lions. He was waving his arms and kicking while he looked at them. He also seemed to enjoy the tide pool with sea urchins and fish. Maybe he just really liked the water? Over all it was a really good trip.

So without further ado, here is the link to the photos. This site will be updated more often as it's very easy to throw more pictures on there. There is also tags to search for certain content and the ability to make comments on individual pictures so it should be good:
Life of the Atom photos!

that's about it for now, I'm going to update the rest of the pictures. Hope everyone is well!

Mikee

Save hand made goods, and other stuff

Please take note of the adorable little "Save hand made" bear to the left of the screen. Read below, and then click the link to save home made goods!!!

I just went ahead and stole my friend Katie's explanation of this:
Some of you "may have heard about the law going into effect this February that will basically make it impossible for anyone but big manufacturers to sell items that come in contact with children. It seems reasonable in theory - protecting kids from lead - but it basically requires everything that goes into any item that's going to be used with or for children to be tested for lead. Every part of every item. This will absolutely kill the WAHM (work at home mom, for those not internet-acronym-savvy) industry, as well as many others, including all small craftspeople that make kid's toys."

Also

"It will devastate small manufacturers and home businesses who create children's products such as clothes, handmade goods and toys for children, beautiful Native American artifacts, children's books, adaptive products for children with disabilities, and classroom and homeschool materials. These small businesses simply cannot afford the $300-$4,000 price tag per product that Third Party testers are charging."

This could greatly effect many of my friends lives, as they rely on the products that they make, for children, at home to help provide an income for their family. I think I should be able to buy Atom any beautiful item I'd like. Be it at Saturday market, craft fair, Goodwill, or online. If this law goes into effect I won't be able to do that - BOO!

EDIT: Check out this link to see how this new law has effected children's books. Quality children's literature is something I'm very passionate about, and this just breaks my heart.


Please follow the link. They make it very easy to get in touch with the right people. It'll take 5min of your time, and a little copy and pasting.


In other news:

We are doing well. I'll have Mike post another update this weekend. As I type thee baby is asleep on my lap. He's growing, teething, and has a cold. He's also rolling over and doing this like magic roll/crawl/wiggle thing to get across the room. He isn't trying to get to anything particular. He just likes to move. Wooden spoons are his favorite teething toy!

We got a Wii. So far I've played tennis. I'm not a very good tennis player. lol But it makes Atom laugh when I jump around, so I guess I'll keep it up. It is also very hard to play tennis w/a baby on your hip!

Now I'm off to try and nap w/the babe.

xoxo
Darbie

Almost 6 months!

Our little baby is getting so big. But you could have guessed that right? So what's new. Baby had his first real cold. It was really sad. He was uncomfortable and it made Darb and me sad. But then Darb and I caught it and oh was that fun! not really.

Let me think what else is going on... Oh, if you are ever in Portland and you need a quick breakfast snack before an early lunch or what not, may I suggest to you the Waffle Window. A little off-shoot of the Hawthorne Cafe'. It's a pleasant surprise. For around 4 bucks you get either a savory or sweet waffle with many different toppings. I ended up getting the 3b. Brie, bacon, and basil. It was really good, the waffle had a sweet taste too that really rounded it out. Darb ended up with a berry medly. It had strawberries and blueberries and whip cream. She commented too that it was a little too sweet. Speaking of the whip cream we seem to think that Atom has a dairy allergy. Which is not even slighty surprising figuring that I can't handle dairy and Darb doesn't frequent it. But he had the rash and spots on his face and behind his knees and a red little butt. It was sad.

But now we are heading out the door for a super bowl party. So I'll leave you with the highlight picture of this weekend. You can see atom's two little teeth in the picture. Okay I need to go, everyone is waiting on me! bye!

splish splash I was taking a bath

Hi there!
How are you all doing? We're doing good. Every day is a little more new with Atom. He is now noticing a little more around him & he is trying to touch more things and put them in his mouth. Right now he is laying on the floor near where I'm typing and he is trying to crawl. He hasn't got the hang of it down yet, but can move around by rolling around, which he is quite great at doing. He has been able to get his legs to bend but doesn't put the pressure down on them yet to start going, but we know soon it will happen. What else is new with him? He is starting to actually laugh more than just his little squeaks, more like full belly laughs. Oh, hold on the baby isn't happy.

(I had to stop here and entertain the baby until Darb got done in the shower)

Okay, now I'm back. Yeah, here is one of our favorite new things: Last bath Atom got, Darb was giving it to him and I was playing a game. I could hear Darb laughing quite a bit and then starting asking for more towels in between laughs. I got into the kitchen (where Atom was getting his bath) to find our little baby has discovered that when he swings his hand into the water it splashes. The kitchen was already drenched and Atom was moving towards getting everything (darb and myself included) soaked.

Here is atom splashing.


Get everything wet!!!


Atom also is starting to respond to his name.

So bath time has become a ton more fun. He is growing so fast that he is too big for his sink tub deal. I think the next bath may have to be in the tub.

What else? I think for Darb and I, one of our favorite things is trying to find clothes for Atom to wear. He has a couple clothing items that I wish were in my size so that I could wear them. Anyways here is one of our favorite things:

They are just plain old socks but they have little dinosaur toes. He also has a hat with horns on it just like a dinosaur.

The rest of these don't have a story they are just cute:

I think that he might have been watching me as I was preparing to cook dinner. NOTE: the stove was not on.

This is what happens if Atom is not wearing any pants. He loves to suck on his little toes.

I think that's about it. I need some breakfast and by the sounds of the baby, he's ready to get into the car and fall asleep. Bye!