Thanksgiving in Dallas

We headed up to Dallas for Thanksgiving with my dad & stepmother and my brother and his family. It was a good visit, although short and tummy filling! Matt had a good time playing with his cousins. Well, he really just played near them and took a good long nap between meals!

Here's Matt with his favorite guy in the whole world! Mine too!

Matt and his cousins, Ethan, Chase, Blake, and Grace. We blinded them with the sun before taking this picture, so unfortunately there are only about 7 eyes open in the bunch!

A family photo on a windy and sunny day.

This time we joined in the picture with my brother Steve, his wife Kim, my dad, and the kids. This time, the kids can see!

Matt got to celebrate his birthday again, thanks to my stepmother Debbie. She got him a cake and everything! He was a bit tired after a trip to feed the ducks and the family photo shoot, but he was a trooper!

See, he managed to muster up the strength to try icing again! I think he remembered how much he liked it last week.

After birthday cake and a Thanksgiving feast, Matt needed a good dip in the tub! On the way out of town, we stopped off at Lisa & Todd's house to meet baby Joshua! He's such a cutie! Lisa and I met in the first grade. Boy has it been a long time! Can't believe we're all grown up with kids now. Seems like just yesterday the boys all had cooties, right Lisa?

Matt's 1st Birthday party!

Matt's birthday party was so much fun this weekend! He was quite the trooper and we are so thankful to all that were involved in his big day.

I tried my hand at decorating the cakes for his first birthday. Here's how they turned out.

Open flame + sugar = danger! We had to blow it out fast!

Here's his first bite of icing. As you'll see, it was over from that first bite!

He is so sweet, he is sharing his cake with his nana.

Clapping over the excitment of a sugar rush!

Amazingly enough, he took his afternoon nap, as scheduled. He also went to bed that night at his regular time and slept all night. I don't know how, after devouring about 1/3 of his cake! We sure got lucky.

Watch his video as he discovers cake for the first time.

Lew (March 31, 1993 - November 10, 2006)

Friday, November 10, 2006 marked a sad day in our lives, when Lew, our trusted companion of nearly 14 years, passed on. He was a true friend who will never be forgotten and will forever remain in our hearts.

Independence at its best!

Matt discovers yogurt! He pretty much stole the container out of my hands, and within minutes poor Lew, our dog, had it all over his head. Matt was a mess too!

He's so proud of his yogurt mess!

Here he is drinking from his pumpkin cup on Halloween. His nana sent him that! He loved it, and the yogurt he spread all over his face before that too!

He sure does like to feed himself! Unfortunately, we have to shovel as much into him before he decides we are no longer allowed. Otherwise, much of it ends up on his face and his tray, not to mention on Lew!

He is learning the art of scooping. Unfortunately, he has learned the art of dumping, so there's not usually much left to scoop!

Halloween fun!

We dressed up at work and the kids from the daycare went trick-or-treating around the clinic, so Matt & I were able to get a picture together! He was roasting and couldn't wait to be out of his costume! He was a trooper, though there were no smiles caught on camera.

After a very eventful day for a holiday he doesn't understand yet, we took it easy at home. I tortured him a bit by putting Peter Pan's hat on him! He tried to pretend like he didn't notice.

I think he noticed now!

He's become quite the drooler this week. I just discovered he's getting his 5th tooth! No wonder he suddenly squeals like someone's pinching him!

Lions and tigers and BEARS, oh my!

We decided to give the costume a try, so we got Matt all ready for the neighborhood carnival. Good thing it was sundown, because his little bear costume was a bit toasty! We finally parted with the socks to help him air out.

Matt recently learned how to blow kisses! Funny how all these new little tricks melt our hearts. I cried when he blew me a kiss for the first time the other day. What a sap!

Here he is with his daddy!

Watch out, don't get the bear too excited!

Mommy and her baby cub

Here's our newest family picture. If only the little bear weren't ready for bed! We headed home for a bath and bedtime shortly after this picture. He was quite happy with our decision and happily ate his cheerios all the way home.

Straw Drinking 101 with Matt!

We have been introducing straws to Matt for a couple of weeks now, but thanks to a few tips from our good friend Cybil, we went full force over the weekend. He had great success!

Here's Matt looking over the nutrition label to make sure it's 100% juice.

He takes the whole thing in his mouth at this point, but loves it!

Just look at that face!

Now he's figuring out how to take the straw out of the juice box. Uh oh!

Baby Jail

Matt gets a little time in his pack 'n play during dinner when we don't eat with him. Sometimes he just plays and entertains himself, but lately he is happier standing up and talking to us while we finish eating. He is getting his top two teeth, so those keep him pretty busy trying to chew everything!

Playtime!

Before bedtime, it's time to play in the loft! Matt has started exploring new toys and noticing things that have been there all along, like his Harley from Lisa & Todd! He loves to grab on and rock it back and forth, slamming it into the wall! He enjoys a short ride on it too, but his smile's not as big as when he's slamming it against the wall.

He started taking the animals out of his new puzzle, and banging them against the puzzle. He just loves making noise, and is becoming an expert on banging toys like he's constantly practicing his hammering skills.

Time to make some music. He bounces up and down with anything rhythmical right now. It's pretty entertaining!

Matt's newest trick is standing up at bookcases and pulling everything off the shelves. We're in such trouble!

Here he is drawing another picture! He's getting better about putting the right end of the pen down before scribbling.