Blizzard 2008!

We got SNOW! A LOT of it! I think this is the most snow I have ever experienced at one time here in OHIO! We bundled AJ up today and took him out in it. However, I don't think he was too impressed. Nuge on the other hand LOVES the snow, and it has been very entertaining watching him hop around in it (the snow completely covered his legs).

Here are few more cute pics of AJ... He finally discovered the little cubby hole under our counter where Brian and I keep our work bags. AJ has also realized how much fun it is to take things out and put them back in. Notice too that a sock is missing (he NEVER keeps them on without shoes).

I finally took the crockpot and George Foreman off this shelf and stocked it with AJ-proof materials (tupperware, kitchen gadgets, tin cans, magazines, etc.). It keeps him busy while I make dinner, although it usually looks like a hurricane has gone through by the time AJ is done with it!

AJ practicing his letters... he's so smart!

Since AJ wasn't very entertaining in the snow, I took video of Nuge instead!

11 Months Old

My baby is less than one month away from being a year old, and I CAN'T believe it! I really need to start planning his party! Well, we finally made it back to the Dr's for a well-baby check-up and AJ now weighs 22lbs. 5oz. and is 30 inches tall. He stands for long periods of time while clapping and playing. He took three steps for Brian and I last weekend, but hasn't really taken any since. He could do it, but he's really just not interested. We can't hardly get him to stand to even try. He justs pulls his legs up so he can sit and crawl. He's extremely efficient at crawling and getting around. He crawls with toys in his hands. He pushes objects while crawling. He catches a ball and tries to throw it back to you. He eats with a spoon (I put the food on it and hand the spoon to him) and tries to dip it in the food to get some more. He likes to feed mommy by putting his freeze-dried apples in her mouth :)! He gives Nuge treats. I've also noticed that he really tries to put things where he sees mommy put them: shapes in the matching holes, little people in their cars, etc. He's even played Power Rangers at the babysitter's with the 3 year old boy. He eats lots of real food now, and will soon be completely off of the baby jars. Some of his favorites are yogurt, grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese. He just needs more teeth to come in so he can chew better! He only has his two, front bottom teeth, but it seems like he's working on about 4 more.

I really can't believe I haven't taken more pictures, but what happens is that everytime he does something new and cute, he's on to something else by the time I have the camera ready.

I had a few snow days this month, so one day I got the playdough out for AJ to experiment with. It lasted about 2 minutes before he couldn't keep it out of his mouth. He also had a lot of fun pestering Nuge. Nuge was happy when I returned to school so he could go back to sleeping his days away peacefully.

Naked baby on the loose!

This is AJ's new favorite game to play. He thinks it's hilarious!

Sleepin', Cruisin', Jammin', Slammin'

Just a few pics and a cute video to share from the past couple weeks...

This is how I found my boys last weekend when Dad had baby duty. TOO sweet!

AJ can zip around with his little walker - that is until he runs it into a wall or something.
AJ making lovely music with the kitchen gadgets.

Our future basketball star! Thanks Uncle Eric for the fabulous sports center!

10 Months Old

For AJ's ten month birthday, he got a VERY special gift - his FIRST tooth! It must have popped through last night and AJ handled it like a champ! He hasn't even seemed that fussy today! This month AJ has been mastering his "getting around moves." He crawls at the speed of light, goes up stairs, walks between objects that are close enough for him to grab onto from one to another, and pulls himself up on flat surfaces like walls and doors now. He doesn't really walk around furniture or along walls (although he could), because I think he knows it's quicker to just crawl. He can also stand alone for a couple of seconds, and can let himself down easily and with control from that standing position. He has a few new tricks (just discovered this weekend): he likes to put his mouth/tongue on our sliding glass door, which leaves the very cool breath marks, he purposefully drops food onto the floor, which Nuge is LOVING, and he hits all the buttons on the stereo until he gets the music to come on. He absolutely LOVES music! He also loves to turn the pages in his books. His favorite books are the touch and feel ones as he actually knows where to feel. Here are some pictures from the last month (mostly from this past weekend)!

AJ and Daddy getting ready to cheer on the Buckeyes during the National title game (Brian had to hold AJ's hands so he would keep the hat on long enough for me to take a picture). Too bad we lost!

"Look - a little seat just for me!" "Mom, I promise I won't rip all the laundry out of the basket."
This is how our family room looks at the end of each day, but AJ has a blast! Notice that I strategically place his larger toys in front of the T.V. area so he can't get to it!

Some of you think that AJ never cries. Well, here is the proof! Last night after his bath, I spiked up his hair just for fun. AJ's thoughts, "Mom, I hate the spikey hair." Really he just wanted his bottle and instead I was trying to take a picture of his hair.

"Mom, my hair is STILL sticking up. WAH!!!!" Again, AJ wanting me to pick him up after waking up in the morning and instead I am taking pictures.

AJ loves his dump truck. The best is that the blocks make noise when you bang them together!

AJ loves to play in the curtains, which often results in Nuge being scared out of his mind.

AJ with the garage. He just discovered that items could go down the elevator shaft.

AJ trying to get his music on. He also tries to get Daddy's books!

This is how I managed to get my grade cards done.

The aftermath! AJ thought it was great! Daddy, not so much!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! AJ spent his 1st New Year's with the McLaughlin Fam. Thanks Uncle Mark and Aunt Connie for hosting - we had a great time! The night was filled with cards, laughs, food, and new this year - a Wii bowling tournament. AJ actually went to bed around 8:30, but when the noise started at a quarter 'til midnight we got him up to join in on the celebration. He had a very concerned look on his face as we all cheered and hollered when the ball dropped - he was probably thinking that we were all crazy! Here are a few pics from the night.

Great Uncle Ken with AJ sporting the 2000 decorations.

With the new year came the start of Brian's term on Pickerington's City Council. Here he is at his new desk in city hall (nameplate and all). The bottom picture shows him taking his oath of office.

9 Months Old and AJ's 1st Christmas

AJ's movin' now! He's crawling EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING! Brian and I can't take our eyes off of him for a minute. Once he learned how to get up on his hands and knees it only took him about a week to master crawling. He's a speed demon now and knows when to speed up when mom and dad are after him. He pulls up to stand and has learned how to let himself back down gently (a few good spills took care of that). He can go up a single step to a large landing, but is still working on mastering the entire staircase (won't be long). He also goes back down the single step face first, but has actually learned how to do it without bumping his head too bad (will have to work on going down when he masters more stairs). It's so fun to watch him learn cause and effect. He repeats actions to get a repetitive response from you. He also has this fake laugh he does now. He has mastered the "da-da" sound, but we are still working on "ma-ma." He appears to have conversations which are foreign to us, but we think his one-year cousins may understand him! AJ's other favorite thing to do now is clap. He is so cute when he does it!

We had a wonderful 1st Christmas with AJ. It was busy, but well worth it! The pictures below tell the story of the past week!

I noticed after I posted the Christmas pictures that I didn't have a single picture of the three of us on Christmas day, so here is the portrait we had taken a couple of weeks ago. I think it's so funny that AJ's skin coloring is so different from Brian and mine's.

My sister Angela and her family flew in from Houston on Dec. 21st. We all went to church together on the 23rd and of course tried to pose the two cousins (Megan and AJ) for a cute Christmas picture (easier said than done with a 1 1/2 year old and a 9 month old). This was the best we could do.

Megan had a great time learning how to make the traditional Christmas cut-out cookies with Grandma Bonnie later that afternoon.

Boys will be boys. Uncle Eric got out the old train set and AJ just couldn't resist.

Later that night, we went back to church for the children's Christmas pagent. The question here is, "What's wrong with this picture?"

Since AJ was sick when he was supposed to see Santa, and I was beginning to feel like a bad mother for not taking him to see Santa for his first Christmas, I was so excited when Santa showed up at church after the pagent. AJ loved Santa's jingle bells and happily sat on his lap! On Christmas Eve, we opened presents with Brian's immediate family. Here's AJ having fun with the paper of course!

Grandma Rose kept the kids moving with their presents.

Brian putting his first Christmas toy together. He got lucky this year - this one only took 10 minutes to assemble.

AJ appreciating Daddy's hard work. Right now he actually prefers to stand and push his push and ride toy.

Okay, so I didn't take a single picture of AJ opening any presents with just Brian and I at home on Christmas morning (we only took video), so here he is later that morning at the Glandon house in his wagon that Grandma and Grandpa got him with his new sports center that Uncle Eric got him.

Grandma and Grandpa took the Grandkids and the Granddog for a walk after we opened presents to give the parents a rest. Nuge loves taking walks with Grandpa because he gets to be on a long leash.

AJ's favorite part about Christmas was all of the bows. We should have just filled a box with them. His favorite toys were actually the small items that fit into his hands (the balls from the sports center, the little fish from his bath toys, and the little people).

AJ's other favorite part about Christmas - undecorating the Christmas tree. We then headed back over to Brian's parents' house Christmas night to celebrate with his mom's extended family. They had about 45 people in the house and a present extravaganza. Here's the cutest picture of the night - Heidi and AJ safe in Grandpa's arms.

We had one day of rest on the 26th, and then AJ and I headed to Kalahari (an indoor water park) to celebrate with the McLaughlin clan (my mom's side). AJ and Megan often had trouble sharing during Christmas, but a gift bag in the hotel room brought them together!

After torturing AJ on the baby slide (he hated it) and the lazy river (he got blasted in the head with a water spout) the first night, we simply hung out on the edge of the wave pool the second day which he loved. You can see him clapping for the water.

Megan loved playing in the water spouts that were by the wave pool.

Both kids also loved swinging with Grandpa in the kiddie area. AJ liked crawling around in the water too which came all the way up to his chin.

On Saturday the 29th, the fun continued with a reunion of neighbors from Doverwood Drive. Megan and AJ are bonding with Allison Kimmin's little girl Elianna.

Later that night we also celebrated Christmas with Brian's Dad's family. I had a picture included here, but I somehow deleted it and I don't know how to add a picture without it going to the top of the post. It was so fun seeing all of you again!

Today, my sister and Megan headed back to Houston. We were all sad to see them leave, but glad to have had so much time to spend with them. Here's Grandpa Joe getting one last Holiday hug from his two favorite Grandkids!

Thank you everyone for the absolutely fabulous week, and making AJ's 1st Christmas one well worth remembering. We love you all and wish you a wonderful new year!

Enjoy the short clips from our Christmas week!