Matt wears a hat!

Matt is not usually fond of hats unless he's taking off Nick's hat and being silly trying to put it on his own head, or mine! The other day, I got his hat out and we were just playing with it. He ran to the mirror, got a good laugh, and kept it on for a short photo shoot!

Abby comes up for a visit!

Even though Mona and I were pregnant together and Abby & Matt are only 3 weeks apart, we haven't had the opportunity to get them together much. Now that naps are shorter, we have a bit more awake time to plan things, so Mona & Abby made the drive up from Galveston for a morning of playing and a hearty mac & cheese lunch for the kids.

Matt took it upon himself to drive Abby around in his wagon! She wasn't too keen on it at first, but she sure loved it when he continually crashed her into the doors and cabinets!

Here are the two of them hiding out in Matt's "house". The roof is a bit saggy, but it's still cozy by toddler standards.

I think they were devising a plan to hide from us or something! Abby kept insisting the "door" be closed, and Matt finally went along with her plan. It was fun to hear the giggles from behind the foam squares!

These two could have gotten into lots of trouble together if it hadn't been past nap time. We had to separate them! I think we all had a good time catching up, and seeing the two of them play was fun! We'll have to get them together more often!

A visit to Southern California

We had so much fun visiting our friends Aaron, Anna & Waylon in Southern California. It was tough to come back, especially since it won't stop raining at home! They were gracious hosts to us for 6 days and tour guides for several of those days as well. Matt got to play with Waylon a lot and began to learn the evil words "share" and "taking turns". It was good training for both of them who will be big brothers instantly in December!

Matt's first time to the beach!

Matt was hesitant at first with the whole beach, sand, ocean, loud noises, etc. He eventually warmed up to the whole thing, but it took some coaxing.

Matt's trying to act interested in the sand toys, but he's watching some older kids play on the swing set that was right by where we set up camp for the morning.

Here's Aaron trying to intervene and get the two boys to play together and "share" the toys. Such an evil word when you are 16 and 19 months old!

Matt's first trip down to the water. There was lots of screaming, pointing toward me, and crying at first. Once he got into the water and we jumped up and down as the waves rolled in, he settled into the idea of having fun.

Matt decided snack time meant eating the sand! Click on the picture and you'll see what I mean. Meanwhile, Waylon was having a blast with his parents running in and out of the water. Maybe next time for Matt.

A Walk to the Park

Aaron and Anna have a great park in their neighborhood, so we loaded Matt up in the stroller and took him for a walk. The park was fun for Matt. The ground was sand and rubber. You can't beat that! He loved crawling and walking all over the structure.

Here he is cautiously crawling/walking over the bridge.

Learning to drive!

A Trip to Newport Beach

We took a drive up to Newport Beach and Anna & Aaron showed us how the other half live! We saw some beautiful houses and rode the ferry out to Balboa Island for some walking around.

Matt was overly cautious on this playground, but managed to make a friend while we were there.

Here's the one shot I got of Waylon. He was off running around and exploring the playground, while Matt slowly crawled around and sat.

Matt's peaking through his new safe haven on the play structure.

Our pensive little Matt. Wonder what he's thinking about!

Here we are taking a walk over to the climbing structure where all the bigger kids were hanging out. Matt tried to climb on the ropes, but ended up having more fun just shaking them. I had to tear him away before he shook it too hard and made someone fall!

Running around on the beach!

After the ferry ride back to Newport, the boys stop to do some talking. Well, Matt apparently thought someone needed to "shhhh" and Waylon looks like he thinks Matt is a bit of a loon! He's right!

Uh oh, the boys are telling secrets!

4th of July Parade

The neighborhood had 4th of July festivities, and we joined in on the parade and potluck.

Here are the boys in their wagon, hand-crafted decorations by Anna herself! Their 2 beagles, Thelma and Louise came along for the parade.

This was the best shot I could get of the boys. Matt did fine and seemed happy until he saw me and then he would start screaming "all done". So, I stayed back!

The favorite after parade snack... crushed ice. Matt sat in Waylon's chair out back and thought about his busy day!

Ahh, the good life!

Trojan fan in the making!

Daddy, Matt, and Tommy Trojan

While in Southern California last week, we visited the USC campus, Nick's alma mater, and took Matt for his first tour. Nick grabbed Matt for a few pics with Tommy.

Watch out, there's a bit of a smile.

Matt gives his Heisman pose in this one, football and all!

He just wouldn't let go of that football!

Football in the grass

After the Tommy photo shoot, we decided it was time to let Matt run around in front of Bovard Hall a bit! We had just gotten him his football at the bookstore, and he wanted to try it out.

Here he is running after the football. We had to keep throwing it to the middle of the grassy area, because he kept trying to get onto the sidewalks and run free!

An action photo to make a daddy proud!

Matt still has his George Jefferson walk at times, and this time he adds it to his run!

A little advertising with a clear logo shot! It's all about product placement.

Matt looks for a receiver...

He strolls off to get yet another cleverly placed ball, in the middle of the grassy area.

Matt runs off for the football with my encouragement to run faster! He ran off a lot of energy, and was very reluctant to get back into the stroller.

We visited the football practice field and tried to find some players, but no luck. Then we took Matt to Heritage Hall to see the 5 USC Heisman trophies, among other prestigious awards/trophies. That's where he learned how to say "FOOTBALL" in a deep, football player kind of voice! He even said it for some of the athletic department administrators, who were quite amused at his enthusiasm. Gotta start them early, right?

Swimming & Singing

Matt has loved getting into the pool and walking along the step by the hot tub, sitting on the first step, which he calls his "bench", and playing with all of the toys he has in the pool. Here he is showing off his new singing talents while playing in the pool!

Here's Matt driving around his remote control shark. He learned how to use the control to drive it around the pool.

He's sitting on his "bench", still driving!

Father and son driving the shark together. Matt's boat from his Nana and Pawpaw is in the background. He loves riding around in his boat and making waves.

Matt & his daddy play in the pool well together! They are just alike!

More of Matt & his daddy playing together!

Matt recently discovered his love of himself! He loves it when I am video taping him and I turn the screen around so he can watch himself! It's rather entertaining. Here he is bringing his daddy into this new found interest!

Off to the Zoo!

Matt's Nana & Pawpaw came to town for a visit over the weekend and we decided to take him to the zoo! He had a good time in the petting zoo and on the merry go round. He was funny about the animals, quickly saying "all done" for a few of them just when we got to them. We'll be sure to go a lot more and hope that he can enjoy his whole visit!


Here he is brushing the goat. He did much better about not hitting the goats at this petting zoo.

The Houston Zoo, as many of you know, is right in the heart of the Medical Center. During our short visit in the petting zoo, we heard and saw at least 3 Life Flight helicopters take of from the hospitals. Here's Matt, crouching down to get a few between the trees. He kept pointing up and saying his version of "helicoptor" everytime one started up.

Matt had his first ride on a merry-go-round with his daddy, and despite the frightened look in a couple pictures, he loved it and asked for "more" after they were done.

Our last stop was the giraffes. Pawpaw finally got to steal Matt from my hip (which Matt was attached to most during most of the trip). Here they are looking at the giraffes together! I think Matt was trying to figure those strange creatures out! One of them kept sticking his head in the tall fence and sticking out his tongue!