For Posterity's Sake

While I was driving today, I thought about how I need to be capturing more of Paxton's moments on video. The first half of his life, I took pictures of him nearly every day and videos of him at least once a week. It was easier then. I was able to prop him up on a pillow, make a silly face and get a great shot of him grinning merrily. Now when I get out the camera, I am able to capture a blur of my son, at best. More often, he's not even in the frame, because he's running off to the next important thing he has to do. I realize now, though, that this is the perfect time to bust out the video camera. He's doing new things every day, and I want to capture these moments to remember! Since I was in a car with no camera, I started thinking about what things he is doing now that I plan to capture on video in the next week or so. Making lists is a passion that comes only second to loving my son. Combining the two?! What a wonderful world!

1. When I get out Paxton's bin of trains in the morning and dump them on the floor at his feet, he shrieks at the top of his lungs in glee. I love that unfiltered show of joy. It also happens when I get the leashes out to walk the dogs and when I vacuum. Chores have never been such a joy.
2. Paxton has a language all his own which I lovingly refer to as "Paxtonese". Sometimes his words are much more enjoyable than the real English versions. For "water", he says "law-lo". For "train", he makes a "ch-ch-ch" noise. For "Jesus", he says "cheeses". For "hippo", he says "Bip-Bo". I know soon enough he will become more adapt at enunciating and that cute little Paxtonese will disappear.
3. Since he still hasn't mastered piercing his own food with a fork, Paxton gives me the fork and says "more?" (always with a question mark). When I spear the bite of food, he greedily shoves the fork in his mouth and says, around the food, "YAY!". This self-congratulating comes from the cheering Chris and I do when Paxton eats. We're so tired of him throwing his food on the floor.
4. We have a curly hose that often stretches across our front sidewalk, left out from Chris watering the lawn. Paxton doesn't want to risk stepping over it, so he always lifts it up and walks under it. This morning, he tried to do so while holding a push toy in each hand. I heard him make a frustrated sound and looked up to see him holding onto both toys while holding the hose over his head, too. He couldn't figure out just how to get himself and his goodies under the hose in one trip. That's just what mommies are for.
5. Watching Paxton climb the stairs is less nervewracking than it used to be, but I think it will be fun to look back at this tiny little guy racing up the stairs on his hands and knees someday when he's a big boy who goes up them without a second thought.
6. It's also a bit ordinary, but adorable to watch Paxton help me load the dishwasher.
7. True to the Rigby family's vicious sense of humor, Paxton likes to chase the pets with his push train. He laughs liek a super villian as he dose it. I vow to break him of this habit before one of the pets plans his death, but for now, it is kind of funny. He also chases the chickens at the aviary. He can entertain himself by doing that for at least ten or fifteen minutes.
8. Speaking of chickens, when I offer him a bite of soy chicken, he now says "bok-bok-bok-bok". I don't even remember teaching him that. I'm starting to think that maybe I should call his soy meat something other than "burger" or "chicken" or whatever, lest he get confused by the real deal.
9. Paxton loves my mom, whom we started calling "Tizzy" when he arrived. When I pull into her neighborhood, he happily says "Tizzy!". The way he says it is perhaps the cutest thing in the world.
10. I don't know if I'm going to want this on film, but when a dog licks Paxton's face, he opens his mouth wide and lets them go to town licking the inside of his mouth. YUCK! I keep trying to tell him to stop that, but I think he thinks it's rude to close his mouth and push his admirers away. And the dogs will seize any opportunity they can to get a taste of whatever good food is lingering in his baby mouth. They're no fools.

I plan to start making a record of all these things in the next week, and I'll post them as I capture them! Look forward to some live action of our favorite toddling super Paxton in days to come!