Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus dropped presents off for Maddox last night.  Maddox wasn't really sure what was going on at first, but he quickly got the hang of opening up his presents.  He got lots of good stuff... two "big trucks!", a few books, some blocks, a puzzle, and snuggly clothes.

Merry Christmas!  We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.  We love you!

Christmas adventure: Part 1

We are on our annual Christmas vacation.  We've been able to visit with Grandpa John ("Napa") and Great Grandpa Bud and Pam.

Fun at the park!

Story time!

Picture time with Dada

A family portrait

Having fun visiting with Napa Bud and Pam

Smiles and hats

He likes hats.  And he likes his cheesy grin.

Smile

Halloween!

We took Maddox trick or treating for the first time this year.  I was a bit nervous about it because I wasn't sure how he would react to seeing people dressed up in funny costumes.  We have reason to suspect that Maddox has a very active imagination, and I could only guess what his 1.5 year old brain would think about strange people dressed up in strange costumes.  But, we did the best we could to explain to him that on Halloween people dress up and if you say "trick or treat" they give you candy!  We practiced saying trick or treat, put him in his puppy costume, and set off.  We went to a well known trick or treating street in the city, and arrived around 5:30 (when we knew the other toddlers and babies would be out).

Maddox and I walked hand in hand up to our first house.  It was decorated and the woman handing out candy was dressed like the Bride of Frankenstein.  Maddox walked up the steps (with me), said his "tick o tet", and was rewarded with a few pieces of candy.  Then he looked up.  And saw Bride of Frankenstein.  And promptly burst into tears.  It's important to mention she didn't try to scare him... he just didn't like the look of her.

Mama carrying baby puppy to safety after the scary encounter

He was a bit upset by the whole thing.  Luke and I tried to explain to him that the nice (scary looking) lady gave him candy!  How cool!  But, being that he has never had candy before, so he didn't know what it was, he wasn't that impressed.  So we decided to get serious.  We didn't want our child to be afraid of trick or treating.  We bribed him.  We broke open a small pack of M&Ms and popped one in his mouth.  He stopped crying as soon as that little piece of chocolate hit his tongue.  "See!  That's candy!  That's what you get when you say 'trick or treat'."

I like this candy stuff!

"Do you want to go to say "trick or treat" at another house?"  "Yeah!"  So we went, hand in hand, to our next house.

Success!  No tears!

And our night was pretty uneventful from that point on.  Maddox walked from house to house, even getting so brave as to walk up to a few without holding either mine or Luke's hand.

Trick or treating with Dada

Look, Mama!  I did it!

<3

So, Maddox did end up enjoying trick or treating.  He was very disappointed when we called it a night and headed home.  And you'll be happy to know he has yet to ask for candy since Halloween.  So we haven't ruined him yet! 

Pumpkin Patch!

As is the custom this time of year, we went to the pumpkin patch last weekend.  It was low 80's out, so we couldn't dress up all Fall-like with scarfs and mittens.  Instead, we dressed Maddox like a little farm boy. 

Stop Motion Toddler

For various reasons, we have quite gotten it together to post more pictures. Maddox took it upon himself to produce this short film for your enjoyment.

Gigi and Gramps were here for a visit, which was a lot of fun.  We didn't do much but play with Maddox (and really, what else could be more entertaining??). 

Maddox is getting to be such a big boy (and not a baby!).  He is walking and running around like a champ.  He loves playing with his toys, especially his cars, train, and farm animals.  He also has a tool box he enjoys.  His vocabulary is just amazing.  He regularly says two word-sentences ("mama baba (water)", "nekked baby!" (when we let him run around naked after his bath at night), "more vroom vroom!" (vroom vroom refers to anything car-like)).  We have started working on three-word sentences as well, especially adding "please" on to the end of a request ("more baba... please").  He is also a little parrot, repeating words he hears other people say.

He is such a neat little boy, with such a mellow personality.  He is inquisitive and playful, but also very loving and (for the most part) gentle. 

We went shopping yesterday for new 24month and 2T winter clothes, and Maddox also got some new shoes.  They are very stylish. 

Our first hurrication

As most of you know by now, we had our first hurrication experience a few weeks ago.  We were in Dallas for a few days and then we were in Houston.  We didn't take a lot of pictures while we were gone, but the pictures we do have of our Maddox playing at the Children's Museum in Houston (which was pretty neat).

 And one from the hotel: