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! :)

oh holy night, the stars are brightly shining...

merry christmas! we're headed for indiana in just a few hours and will be there for christmas eve night - yeah! i guess we'll follow the north star too because we're definitely going north - into the cold! mommy has some fleece-lined jeans ready to go for me! before we left, i wanted to put a few pictures up here from last weekend at mimsie and grandpa's and from christmas eve here at home with mom and dad... not much time to type but just wanted to say hi to everyone one last time!

here's me playing peek-a-boo - that is my new favorite game! i play it a lot!!



and here's my new walker-wagon from mommy and daddy - it is awesome! it has blocks inside and is so fun to push around the house! i will probably be walking on my own pretty soon - yikes!

and here's me peering through the door of another toy - this one is a lot of fun too! being a baby is great! my "house" (but not a girly house, mind you) has lots of levers and doors and things to move around...

and here i am after i had crawled up on the fireplace ledge - which clearly i'm not supposed to do! but i've been trying for a long time and was finally able to do it - yes! i was just checking to see if santa was coming yet...

i had a great time over the weekend at mimsie and grandpa's and got to open some christmas presents and play with lots of people. here i am with the cable box, which i'm not supposed to play with at home and now i know that i'm not supposed to play with it there either! busted!

here's me playing with maggie dog. i liked her a lot, but i'm not sure the feeling was mutual...

this is what i thought of the cool dinosaur bowling set i got from aunt laine - yum!

here's what i look like with a small, red bow on my forehead... sometimes mommy just can't help herself...

here's me and lauren on the swing - i like her so much! we play together and have a lot of fun...

okay, that's all because i have to go finish packing and get ready for our plane flight! i sure do hope i'm a good boy on the plane... see all you hoosiers soooooooon!!! i can't wait - we are going to have so much fun!!! merry christmas everyone and happy birthday jesus! :)

later on we'll conspire...

hello again! this Christmas season really is going by fast! we get to go to mimsie and grandpa's tomorrow and then beamee and grampee's next week - yes! i like hanging out with my relatives and friends! unfortunately, mom has had a lot of shopping to do this week, but i've been a good boy. and when we're back at home playing around the house, here's what i've been up to...

well - i'm standing up on my own!





i can do it for a while when i have something in my hand like this, but when i realize i'm doing it by myself, i usually sit down because i'm not so sure about doing it on my own quite yet. mommy thinks this is funny because usually i'm so confident and love to try new things. and i love to stand up a lot, but it's new to do it by myself and sometimes it feels weird. but like i said, when i have something in my hand and i don't quite realize what i'm doing, then i'm all about it! very tricky... :) and actually, the other day i was clapping for myself while standing up on my own, and that was fun!



i really love to dance to music too. mommy tried to get some pictures of this but it's just not as funny as in real life. i bounce back and forth with a big smile on my face and try to keep the beat. if i'm standing up, then i move my legs and hips like elvis, daddy says. i don't know who elvis is, but he sounds cool, so thank you, thank you very much...

i also love to get things out of boxes and bins, and then put things back inside. here i am in the play room peering into one of the boxes wondering if maybe there's a snack or something in there (sadly, there wasn't)...


and here i am falling off the bed! not really, daddy was holding onto my feet to ensure a soft landing, but i think this game is fun! i still have no fear of heights yet and will probably have to learn that the hard way eventually...

another one of my favorite things to do is knock over a stack of something that mommy or daddy has piled up. here are some of my favorite blocks right before i "crashed" them...

and here i am making a victorious shout afterwards!

Christmas is just around the corner, and mommy and daddy let me open my first Christmas gift last night! it was from the dwights... i knew i always liked them! aunt debbie brought it over last week and it's been under the tree waiting patiently for me, and finally i got to see it was! of course i was excited about the ribbon and paper...

and once i got it opened and realized it was a box - well that was just great! it was just what i wanted! i love boxes!! i recently started climbing them, and this one was the perfect size for that...

it's also great to bang on, which i love to do...

and especially fun to push around...

i tried to push it to the back of the tree in order to get at the plugs, but daddy caught on to me and so i just went back to playing with the box again...

as you can see, boxes can be hard work...

once i was done playing with the box, mommy told me that there was actually a toy inside the box - a playmobil noah's ark! two gifts in one! yes!!! thank you to the dwights - i'm really looking forward to playing with it! i love animals, and i love arks, and i love boxes - you guys know me pretty well. i have so much to be thankful for this Christmas and love spending time with my relatives and friends, and new toys are just a bonus! i'll be sure to think of Jesus when i play with it, since it's His birthday. i bet He liked to play with toys when He was a little boy too. :)

well, i better get back to climbing the stairs or digging in the drawers, but i'll leave you with this final picture... no explanation for this one, but beamee, i hope you're ready for me!!