Yes, Houston would drink formula, juice and/or water all day long, if he could. You’ve never seen a baby chug from a sippy cup the way our son does; there’s lots of drama involved, including heavy gulps, gasps for air, intense baby talk about the drinking taking place and lots of sippy cup salutes (when he holds the cup up high, waving it in the air, as if he has conquered the drink within). I’ll get some video of it and hopefully Stephen will figure out how to put it up on the site soon thereafter.

 

Houston went solo swinging for the first time on May 31. It took us a while to actually find a swing, since the two closest elementary schools didn’t have them; my guess is that it must have something to do with an overprotective parent and a frivolous lawsuit. However, we found a nice swing set at a nearby church. He was totally fearless, as usual, and had a ball swinging in the warm breeze.

Other news:

• On May 23, a fourth tooth popped through his bottom gums, making his total teeth count a whopping eight.
• Granny and Grumps visited over Memorial Day weekend, and Houston took his first steps with Granny on May 26, which just so happened to be his 11-month birthday. Unfortunately, Mommy and Daddy were trying to catch up on their sleep during this momentous occasion, but they finally got to see Houston take a few steps on June 1. He’ll be walking before we know it!
• Also on May 26, Houston experienced his first time in a pool. It was kind of short-lived, since our neighbor’s pool is pretty big and Mommy didn’t have on her suit, but he ended up liking it nonetheless. He has since been back in the neighbor’s pool with Daddy and has been swimming in his own new pool a couple of times with Mommy.
• On May 27, Mommy and Houston were playing in the back yard, when Houston made his way over to the deck stairs. Before Mommy knew it, her boy was effortlessly climbing up the stairs and made it all the way to the top. Mommy was in awe. Houston has since repeated the amazing feat, but with Mommy spotting him these times.

• On May 28, we had another scare. This time, Houston got his chubby right leg stuck in his crib above the knee. I was unsure if I could pull it out without injuring his knee cap. I didn’t know what to do, and as I stressed, so did Houston, crying and writhing about. I was going to saw the crib, but I didn’t want to leave Houston alone to go get the saw from our shed, and I didn’t want to kick the crib, for fear of hurting Houston. So after making a number of panicky phone calls to neighbors, Stephen and Gramsey, I knew I had to deal with this myself and that I’d better do something fast. So, I greased up Houston’s leg with Vaseline and shimmied his leg upward toward the ceiling. I don’t what is was about this vertical position — perhaps it was gravity or just the angle — but I freed my boy from the torturous position. He was a bit shaken, as was I and, of course, everyone I had called, but he was fine after a little ice and a lot of TLC. 
• Speaking of chubby legs, Houston is one large boy. It’s not that he’s so much portly as he is long, long, long. He can wear 18-month shirts and shorts, but his onesies and PJs must be 24-month or else I can’t button them up. I did an unofficial weight check the other day and Houston came in at a massive 26 pounds. No wonder my arms are so buff!

All the late May photos are now up and ready to view in Gallery (the flag-waving and swinging pics are on the last couple of pages).