Christmas Celebration No. 1

Myles's second Christmas was a big success. He really enjoyed the festivities and all of the family visiting. Of course, he enjoys his new toys as well.

We started off our celebrations on the weekend before Christmas. Uncle Dan, Aunt Tiffany and Cousin Cole came to visit and have a small celebration, because they would be in Florida visiting Grandma and Grandpa T for the holidays.

Myles got the biggest, coolest present in the history of 16-month old kids from Dan, Tiff & Cole and Grandma and Grandpa T. I remember looking in the JC Penney Christmas catalog as a kid and wanting an electric car - still wanting. It took Myles just 2 Christmases to get one. Lucky dog. He enjoyed it from the first moment and is actually surprisingly good at driving it around the house.

Cole and Myles had a fun time playing together and Cole was very patient and gentle with his younger cousin. As a veteran pro with electric cars, Cole gave Myles some pointers. We enjoyed a nice meal and a nice day with them, and it was a great way to start the holidays.

Decorating the tree...

Myles was only 4.5 months old last Christmas, so this one looks to be a lot more exciting for him. Now that he's running around, climbing on everything, getting into everything, etc., he takes so much interest in what we are doing, and he was pretty excited to see Daddy and Mommy set up a 9-foot Balsam tree in the living room on Sunday. He couldn't get enough of it.



Some of the ornaments we have are semi-functioning miniatures of toys, such as a miniature Rock'em Sock'em Robots and, Myles's favorite, a miniature jack-in-the-box that really pops up when you turn the crank.



It looks like we will be spending the month of December trying to keep Myles from doing too much damage to the bizarre, decorated tree that is taking up some of his playspace. He's so curious about all of it - how it looks, what it feels like, how much force it will take to tear items off the tree and what they sound like when whipped against the hardwood floor.

Happy Halloween

Myles had a busy and fun Halloween weekend! As usual, he was a very good sport and the cutest lion I have ever seen! Friday evening, we headed to our friends' house for their annual Halloween bash. We had a very good time and Myles was very well behaved. He stayed at the party until about 10:00 and didn't once complain about being tired.

We went as a safari family. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to get a picture of us all together.

Saturday evening was trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. We stayed home for the first hour handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Myles loved running to the door every time the doorbell rang and all of the neighborhood kids were so cute. Then, we suited up and headed out ourselves.

Aunt Jenny came to trick-or-treat with Myles, which was wonderful! It was not only great having her here, but she sure helped out since Mommy and Daddy were busy wanting pictures and video of this momentous occasion.

Myles hit several houses, and while he was hesitant at first, he really seemed to start to get the hang of it toward the end.

After trick-or-treating, we enjoyed some pizza with Aunt Jenny and then headed over to our neighbors' house for a little get together. It was so cute watching Myles play with the other kids. We are so happy to be in such a nice neighborhood!

Pumpkin Patch, Take 2

As promised, Myles headed back to the pumpkin patch with Daddy over the weekend. Myles had been sick for several days, but appeared to be on the mend and was in dire need of some fresh air and exercise, so this trip was perfect! It was a beautiful fall day!

Myles and Daddy cruised through the hay bale maze. Myles tumbled a few times, but just brushed himself off and kept going.

Myles was fascinated by the gourds and oddly shaped pumpkins.

We have had great times at the pumpkin patch this year and are now looking forward to getting Myles in his first Halloween costume and doing some trick-or-treating!

Grandpa's Buddy

Myles and Grandpa T. really bonded during Grandma and Grandpa T.'s last couple of visits. Myles doesn't sit still much these days, but he liked siting on Grandpa's lap (and Grandpa liked it too). Myles kept Grandpa pretty busy bringing him lots of toys and other various goodies (spoons from the dishwasher for example) to play with. It was lots of fun watching them together. I'm sure Grandpa will enjoy taking Myles on a golf cart ride in Florida when we visit this winter!

Pumpkin Patch, Take 1

Myles went to the pumpkin patch with Grandma and Grandpa T. on Tuesday. He will be making another trip with Mommy and Daddy over the weekend, but he wanted to celebrate the season with Grandma and Grandpa before they head to Florida for the winter.

Grandma and Grandpa took turns taking Myles for a ride in the wagon, which he really enjoyed, but only if no pumpkins were in the wagon with him! Myles walked all over the place, sometimes so fast that we could hardly keep up with him!

He was a very good boy and it was a nice way to spend a visit with Grandma and Grandpa! We were able to get some great pictures and are excited to fill up some new pages in Myles's scrapbook!

Myles brought home two pumpkins to put by the front door, but was promised that he could have more when he visited Pumpkin Patch, Take 2 over the weekend.

Myles is a full-blown walker now! As you can see, he has taken his first header into the sidewalk and scraped up his nose (and got a good knock on his forehead too). We were walking home from the park on Wednesday afternoon. Myles, being the newbie walker that he is, thought it was best if he walked, played with Mommy's cell phone, waved at the passing cars and pointed out the planes in the sky. Mommy had just commented to him that as a new walker, he shouldn't be multi-tasking, when he took a nose dive into the concrete. Of course, Mommy felt very bad that she did not prevent this unfortunate occurrence, but she recognizes that this is the first of many. Myles cried for less than a moment, when Mommy picked him up and he promptly wanted the cell phone back. He is a tough little guy.