The Dirty Thirty!

Franklin Bass is 30 years old today!!!! He is officially old, ha! We love Franklin SO much it is hard to describe. I know many people think a woman is the heart of the home (and I do think I contribute), but it's really Franklin at our house. He is our rock and David Franklin and I both get so excited to see him walk through the door each day. I don't know what I would do without him. He is my best friend in the whole entire world and I hope he has the BEST birthday ever! Happy Birthday Dada! WE.LOVE.YOU.

Check out my crafty handwork- I made that t-shirt as a surprise. I got him dressed for school and Ta-dah!! Franklin drops him off most mornings, so I thought it would be hilarious and precious for him to take him to school in this t-shirt! We may have to make an appearance at the bank too :)

Here is Franklin's face when he saw his outfit for the day for the first time: He kept saying where did you get this....he couldn't believe I made it. If he only knew how easy it was!


Although we love Franklin to pieces, we also know he isn't perfect. Look what Dada did last night at bathtime....

Yep, the diaper got washed too!

New Stats

DFB is almost 16 months but he went to the doctor for his 15 month check up yesterday. It is late, very late. Nothing to interesting but:
His height has overtaken his weight!!!! He is 70th percentile in height and 50th in weight. He's a big boy! Don't worry, he's not getting thin or anything. He still has his pot belly, cellulite, wrist wrinkles, and all. He got a great report and the doctor was pleased with his growth and development.

He did get diagnosed with a very minor case of the croup. He doesn't sound like a horse or even a frog but he has a nasty cough. He got his blood taken, a shot, and was champ through it all. He reached up and sat in the doctor's lap, but has wised up about the nurses. He is not a fan of the ladies that bring needles with them and gets a very stern look on his face when they are near. He much prefers the ones who bring the suckers!

Barry Manilow makes me sleepy

I've been working in the kitchen this morning and I've been very productive already. This is partly because my weekend was not whatsoever. We had a party in Little Rock Friday night and I had a girls weekend at the Races on Saturday! Franklin went duck hunting so he was excited too. We had both had a blast, but were worn out yesterday!

I've got my energy back today, and I'm even considering trying to get a work out in this morning on the Wii. I've never done that before but Franklin got the Jillian Micheals workout and I want to try it out. I'm a little nervous though, she is so intense on Biggest Loser! I think it can squeeze it in this morning because DF decided he wanted an early nap. He came up and said Nap, Nap and practically put himself to bed- amazing! He is vocabulary is exploding by the way! New words all the time, I can barely keep up.

Things got quiet while I was working and I didn't hear any of the gazillion songs that play from all of his new Christmas toys. (Toys with sound, although the favorites with the kids, sure can wear on the parents nerves) I was wondering why so quiet when I peaked my head in my bedroom and saw what he was up to. He had piled up in our pillows off our bed and was mesmerized with Barry Manilow on the Today Show this morning- no wonder he was ready for a nap! He doesn't watch much tv, it doesn't hold his interest for very long so this was hilarious to me! I'm not sure if I agree with his music taste if this is any indication, but how could I not be a fan of Barry's song, Mandy.

New sign language:

Seriously, this is no joke. The kid loves his food. Even his teacher
said "he's been really hungry today. He may be in a growth spurt."

We had dinner late tonight. It was a masterpiece and took a little
extra time- ha! Actually it was just tomato soup and grill cheese, but we were watching Idol from last night and time just got away. We had our church group game night last night, and were too tired afterwards for the DVR.

David Franklin obviously got tired of waiting and laid under his highchair saying quot;ssssss" which is basically how he says "please". It sure got my attention and I hopped to it!

Walking my dog

Walking my dog is so much fun. I love to hold the leash...but sometimes she pulls so hard, I fear my arms will yank out of socket. When it gets to be too much and I can't hold on any longer, I release, and the leash goes flying into the street and pretty much smacks Bella in the bottom. My mommy has to chase after her and she is yelling and clapping her hands, but finally she gathers Bella once again. It is such a fun game, I can't get enough. Even when we get home, I carry around the leash and chase after Bella so I can walk her inside. But she seems to run away from me and hide...???

art project

...turned snack time. I had the idea it would be fun for a little art time. I thought the high chair would be a good place to keep it more self contained. Everything was going fine, I got him started and took his laundry into his room. I came back and this is what I found. A totally blue mouth and a kid eating his markers instead of writing with them, but he had a ball. "Uh oh" is what he kept saying as I was cleaning him up. At least I was smart enough to buy the "world's most washable" markers. Hopefully they have the least amount of toxins too.

The littlest handy man

Poor Mr. Wilson can't get very much done with this little guy on his heels, literally. He tries to climb up the ladder behind him. Don't worry, he can't get very far. What were we thinking at Christmas? We should have just gotten him a ladder and called it a day. Or a Mr. Wilson, he sure is a lot of fun and has a lot of interesting things his his shiny tool box.

(I usually don't think he favors anyone or side particularly, but in this picture he looks very Johnson to me)

This week was 15 months for David Franklin. This age is amazing. Someone had told me age 15 months to 18 months are huge in language and cognitive development. He is only 3 days into his 15th month and I am already impressed.

Here are a few new developments:


-He no longer takes his "ba" and is on a sippy cup exclusively. I know this should have happened at 12 months but I decided 15 would work better for us, and so far it has.
-He goes up to his high chair now and shakes it and says "Nack" which means Snack.
-He can open doors and falls into the next room. This isn't a good thing, I am putting locks on the top of my outside doors today.
-He loves to dance
-He hates getting his diaper changed these days (or laying on the changing table). I'm not sure about this one.
-He loves his toothbrush, and goes into his bathroom and gets it out of his drawer.
-He has also gotten pretty attached to his white little blanket or "ni ni" he calls it. He pulls it through his crib spindles
-Walks up to the door and tries to put a key in the knob.
-Goes to the door and knocks saying "bye bye" and waving over and over again when he's ready to leave.
-He can anticipate the next page of some of his favorite books.
-He knows his nose, ears, and eyes.
-He knows several animal noises.
-He's sleeping in longer in the mornings! I pushed his bedtime up thirty minutes and it has made a world of difference!
-He loves to help- we are doing some home improvement projects and he follows Mr. Wilson around trying to get in his tool box, climb his ladder, etc. Whatever anyone is doing, he wants to be right in the action. He also likes to help cook.


He's just a little presh and we love him. I can tell things are about to get interesting though, he is liking markers and pens and is holding one up to my new dining room furniture right now!

Who says hospital food is no good? This little guy was all about his Pap Pap's tray! Pap generously shared his crackers although they are his favorites these days. These two are pretty special buddies. David Franklin loves to reach down and sit with Pap. Although, he does try to pull at all of his tubes and push all of the buttons. Pap went on a little joy ride while DF took his bed up and down, up and down. I will tell you one thing- they both have the nurses wrapped around their fingers!