happy 2009!

happy 2009! hope everyone had a great Christmas - i know i sure did! we got back from indiana a few days ago and i already miss everyone so much! we had such a great time and i was a really good boy at beamee and grampee's. :) we were there 6 days and did lots of neat things, so here are some pictures to tell the story...

christmas day was so much fun! we opened lots of presents and there were so many boxes and bows to play with! i was very thankful for the things i got, but i also enjoyed checking out everyone else's stash (clearly this isn't mine, since it's pink!)

playing with aunt elaina... i like her a lot, but i really had my eye on her camera!

since i wasnt' really old enough to play with that, aunt aimee let me play with her camera case instead, so i gave it a shot... here i am trying to decide between my new toys and the camera case...

the camera case won, so here are my toys looking on with feelings of neglect...

crawling over lauren to get to some paper...

riding another cool airplane, but this time at SELT's! this one is lauren and taylor's but they let me take it for a spin...

chillin' out in SELT's basement, watching aunt elaina take every down in wii darts...

here we are at great grandma suever's house - we got to go there for one day and see our relatives in michigan. that was a lot of fun because there are even more kids and big people to play with! here we are piling on aunt ginny!

this was also where i first officially WALKED! that's right, folks, i'm a walker. i had been taking a step or two, here and there, but i officially walked (many steps, a couple different times) at great grandma suever's house on december 27. very cool. and i'll write more about that in another blog! but now, back to Christmas...

here's my cousin, nolan, and i taking a nap together upstairs. minutes after this picture was taken, we were both awake and crying hysterically... sorry nolan!

it's a tradition for the kids to do a pinata every year, but i was skeptical from the start. normally they do it in the barn, but it was raining and so we promised to be careful inside (unlike the year aunt aimee dented the wall with the golf club that was being used as the stick... luckily everyone wised up before i came along! what were they thinking?!) in any case, daddy helped me out and i tried to keep an open mind...

...but i was decidedly against the pinata this year. sorry gang! maybe next year! :)

luckily a little chat with great-grandma suever calmed me right down... i sure do like her!

michigan was great, but we only got to stay one day. but then that gave us more time back at beamee and grampee's, so it all worked out. "uncle" brent came over one day (and aunts ashley and holly - yea!), and i like him a lot. he makes funny noises and funny faces. i showed him how i can making clicking noises with my tongue like he was doing!

watching daddy grill on the big green egg...

well, that's probably enough pictures for now. we played lots of games, ate lots of good food (i had cookies, jello, cake, meat, yum!) and just had so much together. i love all my relatives so much! but alas, all good things much come to an end, and so we had to head home on tuesday...

we made it to the airport a little early, so there was time to play before our flight. indianapolis has a new airport, and it was really nice! here i am standing up and eating my sock...

extreme close-up of my making "oooooo" noises, which i really love to do lately...

the one-millionth kissie from mom (that day)...

now where did that sock go?!

while searching for the sock, i ran across a snack on the floor - how convenient!

but mommy wouldn't let me eat it, so she shared just a few bites of her frappuccino instead - yum!

here's a few more shots of me under the chairs...

i was a great boy on the flight and slept most of the way in mommy's arms. once we got back in the car, i was glad to see austin again and sang a little song on the drive home...

but after such a great trip and a long week, i couldn't even make it to my bed... see you next time, indiana... thanks for the best first Christmas ever! :)