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April 3, 2010 -- If Mommy won't let me have it, it must be good! He was so proud of himself for getting his hands on my frappuccino! I had to stay away from hot beverages for a week after my periodontal surgery, so I enjoyed some caffeine on ice. I did let Corey taste it, and yes, he loved it!

March 31, 2010 -- Recap of Q1 Probably the biggest change in our lives was Corey starting to walk! He had been "cruising" (walking while holding on to furniture, walls, or holding someone's hand) since about September (7 1/2 months), then doing one or two tiny baby steps between Mom and Dad around New Year's (13 1/2 months), then he was quite good at true, independent walking by the first week in February (14 1/2 months)! He also enjoys dancing to music, in a cute, toddler sort of way. When asked to point to different body parts, Corey can correctly identify his hair, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, belly button, and feet. He can also point-out Grandma, Grandpa, diaper, lip balm, keys, shoes, cookie, cup, and a ton of other things. He is still learning how to actually speak the words, saying "kss" for keys, "dah" for dog, etc. Generally, he prefers being active over being verbal. Speaking of dogs, Corey loves giving Casey treats! In the second half of February, we flew to Maryland to visit Pete's relatives and college buddies. The flight there was okay, but the flight back was rough -- as an energetic toddler who has just mastered walking, Corey did not want to sit still for four hours! -- but I think Corey's grandparents and great-grandparents enjoyed him. I had a great time with Linda watching the entire BBC production of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth -- awesome!!! I continue to enjoy playing Bunco, Cashflow, and 500 each month with my regular groups. We are always looking for subs for 500 (a card game); if you live in the Denver area, let me know if you're interested! I had periodontal surgery, a soft tissue graft to repair some receding gums. Although I was very tense while anticipating the surgery, it really wasn't much worse than having a filling, although I did have to take antibiotics and steroids for a week. I will get the stitches out mid-May. I finally joined Facebook. Within my first 24 hours, almost 30 people joined my friends list, and many of them were people I had been out of touch with for years. It was such a rush that I had trouble getting to sleep that first night! I enjoy staying logged-in, and when Corey gives me a minute here or there, I can see what people are up to, and view their latest photos. It's been a blast! I put ads on Craig's List to sell the baby things Corey has outgrown. I was really psyched when the first item sold (the infant swing), and am hopeful that more will sell soon. If anyone's having a baby and would like a car seat, bassinet, clothes, walker, etc., let us know!

March 20, 2010 -- Snow Somebody takes after his daddy and loves the snow! We got 10" but it's melting fast in the warm spring sun.

	March 15, 2010 -- Houston Trip While Corey stayed behind with his grandparents, Pete and I had an awesome four-day weekend in Houston, TX, visiting Tracey (Nicky's friend from college) and Luis (her husband)! They recently bought a beautiful four-bedroom home, and we had the honor of being their first houseguests. The ultimate host and hostess and tour guides, Tracey and Luis not only introduced us to their favorite barbeque, Mexican and pizza restaurants, they took us to all the best tourist attractions.
One of our first stops was the Houston Historical Society, where we toured the homes of several prominent early Houston residents, and spent time browsing the history museum. We also went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for the Faberge exhibit, and had an enjoyable stroll through the magnificient parks surrounding the museum district. The weather was perfect -- not too hot, not too cold.
		On Sunday, we visited the restaurants, shops and beaches at Galveston, TX. It was so relaxing to stroll up and down the beach, hear the ocean, and breathe the sea air.
We also shopped, dined, and people-watched at the Kemah Boardwalk, where we had fresh, local seafood, and Pete took this great sunset photo.
	On our last day there, we took in the shops in the neighborhood near Rice Univesrity, then toured NASA! View more pics from our trip here.

March 9, 2010 -- Royal Blood? Wanting to have a more complete family tree in my son's baby book, I asked Pete's grandparents for some genealogy information when we visited them in Maryland last month. They sent me home with some photocopied documents, and I finally had a chance to review the information yesterday. I found something very intriguing! There was a footnote claiming that one of the women who had married into the Stout family was of royal descent. I had to know more! Fortunately, when someone is "of historical signigicance" their lineage is meticulously documented and readily accessible on the web. I found out that Corey and Pete...are indeed descendants of King Edward III of England! Edward III is Corey's 22nd-great-grandfather. For anyone interested, here is the path (one line for each generation): Corey Corey's father is Peter Laird Peter's mother is Gail Stout Her father is Eugene Stout (b. 1923) Eugene's father was Paul Grimes Stout (b. 1903) His father was John R. Stout (b. 1853) His father was John Stout (b. 1825) His father was St. Ledger Stout (b. 1774) His father was John Stout His father was St. Ledger Codd Stout St. Ledger's mother was Mary Ann St. Ledger Codd Mary's father was Captain St. Ledger Codd (b. 1680) His father was Colonel St. Ledger Codd (b. 1634) Colonel St. Ledger Codd's mother was Lady Mary St. Ledger (b. 1612) Her father was Sir Knight Warham St. Leger (b. ~1580) Warham's father was Sir Anthony St. Leger (b. 1557) Anthony's mother was Ursula Neville (b. ~1528) Ursula's mother was Mary Stafford (b. 1494) Mary's father was Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham (b. 1478) Edward's father was Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham (b. 1455) From there, the line becomes more complicated, as Henry's father, Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford (b. 1425), and mother, Margaret Beaufort (b. 1427), were both descendants of Edward III Humphrey's parents were Humphrey Stafford, First Duke of Buckingham (b. 1402) and Anne Neville (b. 1411); Margaret's parents were Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Buckingham (b. 1406) and Eleanor Beauchamp (b. 1407) Humphrey's mother was Anne of Gloucester (b. 1383); Anne's mother was Joan Beaufort (b. 1379); Edmund's father was John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset (b. 1373) Anne of Gloucester's father was Thomas of Woodstock (b. 1355); Joan Beaufort's father was John of Gaunt (b. 1340), and John Beaufort's father was John of Gaunt Thomas of Woodstock and John of Gaunt were brothers; their father was Edward III, King of England (b. 1312). So then I got to wondering, could Corey be, say, one-million-billionth in line for the throne? The answer is no, not without an act of parliament overturning the 1701 law declaring all successors to the throne be descended from Sophia, Electress of Hanover. There is also some discrepancy in the spelling of St. Le(d)ger, which is not surprising when you consider the huge difference between Old English and current English, and also the slight differences between British and American English.

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