These Are the Days....

See that sweet, happy face? The Lord outdid Himself with this little man. Yes, I'm his Mama, so I'm supposed to say that, but it is so true. Thomas is at the best age right now....he is discovering so many things and learning so much. He is feisty and sweet, pensive and impatient, cuddly and independent and best of all he is exactly who God made him to be. I love watching him grow and develop...it is truly an amazing thing to watch. Being a parent is hard work, but it is also such a gift.

On Monday night, Thomas had his first taste of lasagna. I think he liked it, what do you think? Not only did he devour it, he also decided to wear it all over his face and hair.

Mommy's purse....oh what a treasure chest this can be. While I wasn't watching, he proceeded to delicately take things out of my purse and examine each one of them (his pensive side).

This looks complicated. Good thing I don't need lipgloss!

On Monday afternoon, Thomas was fixated on the big machines tearing up our front yard. He stood there for over 20 minutes and would have stayed longer, but they were done.

This is a picture of what he was watching.

I love that while so focused on the machines, he still didn't drop his lovey.

Whoah, Mom. Have you see this?

Just chillin'...I just might have a tiny attitude.

This afternoon Thomas and I had a grand time. We went to Target, got ice cream and then went to the playground. We played hide and go seek, chase and peekaboo.

Little guy is getting very adventuresome these days!

Then we ventured to the slide. Thomas loves the slide and can now slide down by himself. (I have a great video but I can't upload it for some reason. Will work on that later.) This picture will just have to do.

These are the days that I hope I will never forget!

My Little Buddy

Thomas has been sick since Wednesday. I am tired of sickness around our house. We have had more than our fair share these last few weeks. He had his first ear infection....a double ear infection in fact. Poor kiddo. That meant Mama has been home spending lots of quality time with my little guy. He felt so bad all he wanted to do was be held....fine by me....I had some snuggle time to make up after tax season.

An awful picture of both of us but I love seeing that smile!

Even though he was sick, we had some good times. He is really fun to be with these days...he can roll the ball and can now say "uh-oh" completely and uses it correctly. He dropped the ball and said "uh-oh!" He can also say and point out dogs. We saw a few walking by our house and he would stop and point and say "Daw." He loves to be chased, and it is so funny to watch him crawl so fast.

10 Months

I'm trying to catch up on the last few weeks of our life. I didn't have a chance to post our 10 month update, so here it is, a little late. I don't have a height and weight update, but we do have 4 full teeth with 2 more on the way. He can say Mama, nana (no-no), Ba (ball) and uh-oh (uuuhhhh). He walks on furniture and using his walker. Crawls like a crazy man, LOVES the bath tub - he takes bath in the big tub and swims around and plays with the faucet. He loves to read books - by himself or with someone. His favorite toy right now is the noisy truck. He really likes Thomas the Train. What a fun little personality little man has - he can be sweet and sassy (already). He is really funny and I think he knows it. He will do anything to make you keep laughing. He is so, so ticklish and has the most contagious laugh. Here is a great picture showing off those little teeth!

Here are our 10 month pictures in the blue chair. It is hard these days to get him to sit still long enough for pictures. He loves to read books, so I had to use one as a distraction!

Thomas is very curious about the mirror. He likes to touch the baby in the mirror. I do think he is starting to realize that it is his reflection but I cannot be certain, of course!

We are messy messes when we eat these days. He likes to feed himself and I let him most of the time. How else will he learn? Patrick has some serious issues with the stickiness factor so he can't watch some times. Thomas likes to make a "stink face" when he doesn't get his way. He huffs at you and wrinkles his nose.

Then he thinks he is being really funny and starts laughing...

Happy boy!



A Real Weekend!

No more counting down the days until the end of tax season. I survived my 6th tax season (I had to count that twice to make sure it was really 6. That sounds like a lot!)....the first as a mom. It was very different this year. More motivation to get it done and get home than ever. A big thank you to Patrick and my family for helping out and putting up with my griping.

This week has been fabulous. I have been checking off items from my "to-do" list and catching up on quality time with the special people in my life. I am so excited to go back to my old work schedule and get to spend those few extra hours a day with this little man.

Check out our new red sandals. We went in to just get white sandals and came out with white and red. I couldn't resist. How stinking cute are these? They are  made even cuter by the fat little toes that poke out from under the strap. Too bad Thomas isn't a girl because he has the perfect ballet "second position."

We play on the kitchen floor a lot while I'm making dinner. Thomas thought the bowl was great fun for playing hide and seek....Where's Thomas?

A big accomplishment on Friday...Thomas figured out how to use his snack cup! It is one of those where a hand can get in but the food cannot get out by itself. Perfect for all the shaking that happens when we are holding a cup. My persistent little guy who also happens to be very passionate about food figured out just how to get those puffs out of that cup. He was so proud of himself!

On Saturday morning, we learned another new trick. Thomas discovered he could walk back and forth across the room with the help of his walker. We did this for hours on Saturday. Here is a video...not sure if it comes through or not.

 

Since I didn't have to go to work on Saturday, Patrick and I decided to create some of our own work at home. 12 yards of mulch was delivered to our house Saturday morning by a dumptruck. Do you know how much dirt that is? Over 100 wheelbarrows full! Our backs are reminding us today just how much dirt that was. Our new front bed looks amazing. Now for our new grass in a few weeks and we will be set for summer!

Funny Guy

Little man is quite funny these days. He makes us laugh every day! I wanted to share a few of my favorites over the last few weeks.

He loves to run his sticky fingers through his hair at dinner. One night, we ended up with crazy spikes! I swear he did this all on his own.

After our meals, we have started the habit of washing our hands. He is usually so sticky that a wet cloth is no match for the mess. Since he loves water so much, Thomas thinks this is the best part of eating. He looks so long in these pictures.

Thomas loves books. He loves for us to read them to him and he loves to look at them by himself. This is a pop up book that Nana gave him. He has finally learned to open the pop up page at the end by himself. Look at that little face concentrating so hard! He is a very persistent child.

Today, Thomas wore his first polo shirt. As Ann said, he looks like a "frat boy" in his collared shirt and seersucker shorts. This mom has decided that her baby looks too old so he won't be wearing this again for a while. He has the rest of his life to wear polo shirts and shorts! Right now, I'm going to go back to dressing him like the 10 month old that he is! Look at that big smile....it is full of teeth these days.

Thomas takes after his Mama in one thing for sure....he loves his blankie! He dove on his blanket when he saw it on the floor and just layed there hugging it.

My two guys! All clean and ready for bed.



Easter

Hi, it's me. No, I haven't fallen into the dark hole of tax season. Yes, I'm alive....barely. We have had an eventful two weeks....not in the good way, though. The Thursday before Easter, Thomas came down with the stomach flu....yes, my 10 month old has had this nasty virus twice in his short life....lucky us! Poor guy was so so sick and so pitiful. We almost landed at LeBonheur because he started to get dehydrated but he started to keep down a teaspoon of Pedialyte every 20 minutes in the middle of the night, so we were able to avoid that fun trip.

By Saturday, Thomas was better - just in time for Easter! The first part of Easter was the highlight of our week...Easter is such a fun holiday with a child. We ate lunch at the MCC with Lulu.



Thomas got to see the easter bunny again....not only did he love the easter bunny, he apparently thought the easter bunny was hysterical. Most babies were kicking and screaming, but my child was belly laughing!

The little guy was all smiles showing off his beautiful easter outfit!

Tino and Mimi stopped by to see Thomas all dressed up. They popped in right as the easter bunny came by.

At the egg hunt after lunch, we ran in to the easter bunny again. He must have been cracking those baby jokes again because Thomas sure did think he was funny!



Just when we thought we were passed the illness, Patrick came down with the stomach virus Easter night...poor guy, he felt awful! I was next in line...not exactly how I envisioned spending my last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of tax season!

Anyway...we have all breathed in our fair share of clorox and lysol and are finally well. Just to end on a happy note....ONLY 2 MORE DAYS OF TAX SEASON!!!! WooHoo....life can go back to normal!

Spring Has Sprung...

This has been the craziest of crazy weeks. Started off with a sick baby at the beginning of the week - just happened to be one of my busiest weeks at work. Patrick and I traded off for a few days and had my mom, Lisa and Lisa filling in to help us when they could. By Wednesday, he was well and the schedule was back to normal.

I have to share this picture because it makes me laugh. Thomas likes to spit these days. No, I'm not proud of this but he is so passionate about his spitting that you cannot help but laugh. I caught him "mid-spit" here:

Patrick's parents came to visit us this weekend. We had lots of things to do while they were in town. I will share some highlights from the weekend.

We went to the Easter Egg hunt at the Dixon on Saturday morning. This was Thomas's first easter egg hunt, although we have been playing with easter eggs for a while now, so he is very familiar with those eggs.

Thomas only picked up two eggs at the hunt....two hands, two eggs...that's all I need, Mom. But since I only have two, I will keep a death grip on them in case someone tries to take them from me. Poor guy is used to having his toys snatched from him so he is learning to hold tight and scream loudly when they get taken (I have many lessons on sharing in my future!).

Saturday afternoon, we had Virginia's 2nd birthday party - another easter egg hunt! Thomas had so much fun. He was really good....all day, actually. I was very proud of him!

Playing in the ball pit with Henry and Graham.

Thomas LOVES ice cream...probably because I don't let him have sweets very often. Yummy treat!

A cute picture of the group....as Patrick said, its a shot of the future of MUS and Hutchison!

We went to the Zoo today...don't have any pictures uploaded yet. This weekend was a great end to a LONG week! Only 16 mores days....