The Newest Ute Fan!

Start 'em young...that's how we Utes roll! At the ripe old age of 9 weeks, Tagg Davis went to his first U of U football game. Well, technically he just made it to tailgating but it counts! He was sporting his school colors and may have been the youngest fan there, although we did run into another little 16-week-old named Easton in the same exact outfit! They were pretty cute and we promised to hook up again in 18 years or so when they're in the game, not the stands! We emailed pix of Tagg in his Ute gear to Papa, who was in California at his 50th reunion. Tagg actually enjoyed the game, through his eyelids mostly! We told him later that they won. He said "ooo."

Tagg had his 2 month immunizations on Tuesday. He did pretty well but, due to a little fever and sore legs, he was not a happy boy that evening - at Grandma's birthday dinner. Woops... bad timing! The good news? He was 12 lbs 13 oz - holy cow! - and 24 inches long. We're amazed! He's just getting so big, you can practically see him growing every day! He's very evasive about being photographed with a smile on his face, but it's not for lack of trying! We must take hundreds of pictures of him trying to catch that cute baby grin on film and this is about as good as it gets. Sneaky little guy!

He's so strong. Pushing with his legs, almost rolling over, and definitely lifting his head up. We were pretty impressed that he's able to use the Bumbo (funny little infant chair) already but he seems to like it. For a minute or two anyway! He's also starting to smack at the toys on his playmat so he can hear the doggie song which usually makes him smiling. Of course, every time he does it, Morgan comes over to check it out and give him a little lick on the head!

With all this activity, sometimes a little guy gets worn out...and so does mommy!

Who's the Coolest Baby?!

Tagg Davis, of course! He spent his 2nd birthday (in months, that is) with his 2nd trip to Lake Powell. What a cool dude!! The weather was gorgeous so we cruised the lake a bit. Tagg loves to ride in the boat... more than he liked these cute little sunglasses!

Mommy and Morgan did a little sunbathing while Daddy and Tagg chilled out in their beach chairs on the lanai - also known as the front deck of the boat - sporting their fancy shades.

Daddy started teaching Tagg how to drive the boat, explaining all the controls to him and how to watch for shallow spots. Morgan likes to hang out where she can keep an eye on her baby and she thinks his little chubby toes are pretty fascinating!

Tagg is smiling a lot these days and there's just nothing more endearing than his little grin. He also has his serious face, his Elvis face, his squishy face...we're getting to know them all! He's getting pretty good at getting his fist in his mouth and sometimes even just the thumb. He's figuring out where his tongue is so he sticks that out at us whenever he sees fit.

One unexpected bonus from having a baby is that we get to watch the sunrise come up over the lake during his morning bottle! It's so absolutely stunning! But nothing really compares with our little man! Happy birthday, big boy!

So, When You Say "Big"...

11 pounds 4 ounces, baby!! That was Tagg's weigh-in this week. What is that... almost double his birth weight? And he's got the fat rolls to prove it! He has graduated to bigger diapers, bigger bottles with bigger nipples, and all of his bigger clothes. It's amazing when you look at how much bigger his feet are, or note the fact that he no longer fits lengthwise on Lisa's lap. He's such an awesome baby. He's already sleeping about 4 hour stretches at night and has even pulled a couple of 5+ hour nights. Everyone says we're so lucky, and we know it! That might also explain why we have so many pictures of him sleeping!

It's been a good week, lots of firsts as usual. Tagg is holding his head up by himself and loves to look at ceiling fans, lights and blinds. We don't know why. He just decided that he likes baths, unless Morgan is giving them! (she likes to kiss his head when he's crying...she loves her baby!) He smiles more every day, especially in the morning, but it's still not the big, full-on grin and laugh we're always watching for. He loves it when we play his I Love You bear...it never fails to stop him mid-cry. He's getting pretty good at getting his fist in his mouth and sometimes even his thumb! We don't really want him to be a thumbsucker, but you still have to be proud that he can do it!

We had our first card night with the fam this weekend and Tagg got to use his namesake cards which helped Mommy kick everyone's butt! While Scott was delivering a boat to Arizona, Tagg and mommy went to the Farmers Market and bought fresh peaches, raspberries, and big, giant zucchini so Nana can make her famous chocolate-zucchini cake (sounds gross but pretty tasty). We also went to Porcupine Grill for dinner - technically Tagg's second trip there but his first on the outside! We have such great memories of meeting his birth family there for the first time. We reminisced about how much fun we had with them, the evil desserts, and the tears and laughter we all shared...the beginning of a beautiful journey together started at the Porcupine! Whodda thought!

This weekend Tagg got to go on his first hike to Cercret (pronounced Secret) Lake at Alta Ski Resort. In a few months, there will be 7 or 8 feet of snow right where we're standing! He loves to hike...although if I could fall asleep while someone else carried me up a big hill to a pretty little lake, I might like it more too! ;-) After our impressive hike (uh...45 minutes. There were grandparents with canes doing this one!) we went to Oktoberfest at Snowbird to celebrate our German heritage. No baby lederhosen involved, thank goodness, but Tagg does a natural chicken dance with his little crazy arms! The leaves are just starting to change in the mountains and none of us are quite ready for winter, so we're planning to make the most out of the autumn months and be outdoors as much as possible. Love to all!

Our Little Rock Star

At the ripe old age of 5 weeks, Tagg took his first trip to Lake Powell for Labor Day weekend! We think we just beat a family record - Scott's brother was 6 weeks when he made his first trip. Tagg was a true rock star - and he has the outfit to prove it! He really couldn't have been any better behaved the whole trip. He slept for most of the car ride and loves to sleep in his sling while we walk the docks or the beach. He really liked checking out the scenery and practicing his rock star moves with mommy.

It was kind of funny to pack for our first trip with the baby - how does one little guy need so much stuff?! We barely had room for Aunt Tiff and the dogs! We got a special bouncer for the boat which he seems to love, even without the battery operated vibrator and music. Bright stuff that swings? Sign him up!

Tagg is starting to fit into lots of his cute clothes - luckily just in time for the end of summer! The weekend was a little bit of a fashion show, poor guy. I think our favorite outfit is still the naked-baby-in-a-diaper! It's the best for checking out his little fat rolls and cellulite. Why is that so dang cute on babies? He seemed to love the diaper-only ensemble, too, which is kind of unusual since he's got a bit of an aversion to being naked. Nana bought him this cute little striped outfit which was perfect for the cooler nights. You can't see them, but it has matching little striped socks too. Darling!


We had so much fun introducing Tagg to our favorite place and making plans for all of his future lake adventures. We are hoping to squeeze in a few more trips to the lake before the end of the year, even though it snowed in the mountains on Sunday night! Eeek! Way too soon for summer to be over!

The weather was a little funky for Labor Day but we did get to see an awesome lightning storm. It was fun to watch from the comfort of our enclosures and nice, safe camp spot. We actually got lucky with the weather. The cloud cover made it a little more comfortable for Tagg to be outside, slathered in sunscreen and hidden under big hats and umbrellas!

This might be one of our favorite pictures of Tagg from the weekend because of the smile. Gas? Whatever. That is a smile! He's actually starting to find his voice so he's grunting...a lot. Mister Grunts A Lot. It's pretty funny. At first we thought he was really working on some serious diaper business but no, he's just starting to talk. By grunting and groaning!



One last cute picture...Tagg in his going-home outfit. Can you believe the difference 5 weeks makes!! It actually fits him now and it's so cute on him - one of our favorites! It's awesome that he's getting so much bigger but sometimes we're like, stop growing! It's going too fast already! - sigh - This is Tagg sleeping in his super-fancy swing.
He loves the forward-backward motion with the disco lights, circling fish mobile and ocean sounds...so much for a nice rock in daddy's arms! Make sure to check out the double chin and fat rolls on his leg!

Birthdays, Triathlons & Camping

On August 23rd, Lisa and Tiffany finished their second triathlon at Jordanelle. It was a beautiful day - nice and sunny, even though it was really hot by the time we got to the run...at noon! Even so, we both managed to beat our times from last year by over 10 minutes which was awesome. Unfortunately, neither of us made our really aggressive goal times which means we'll have to do another one! There were almost 1000 people taking part in the race, from age 13 to 70!

As usual, the swim seems to be the biggest challenge...but, geeze! look at that! It's so far, right?! Those little white dots are us and there are still two more legs to go! Thank god for wetsuits with a little flotation in them! The best part...we got medals! That's how you can tell these are new pictures since we both have the same outfits as last year. ;-)

We weren't able to have Tagg come to the actual tri because of the heat and lack of facilities, but he's still mommy's biggest fan and incentive! He sent lots of rah-rah text messages (with a little help from daddy). It was Tagg's birthday - one month! Oh wait, we're only allowed to count age in weeks at this point - 4 weeks! ;-) We couldn't believe it's been a month already and he's changed so much and done so much in such a short time. So Tagg celebrated with his first camping trip! The fact that we had power for A/C and lights and a working bathroom kind of took the "rough" out of "roughing it!" But it's a start! Tagg was awesome, as usual! He's a natural!

Tagg is getting so much bigger every day. That might be a function of how much he eats - more than double and he's into the bigger bottles already! He's finally starting to grow out of some of his newborn clothes and he's starting to get more and more little fat rolls. One of our favorite things is the little coo's he makes when he's eating (see the video if you want to see how absolutely cheesy we are!). He's always making funny faces and noises that we can ooh and aah over.