Sesame Street Live

Every year Michael and his dad and brothers go to a Reds game in Cincinnati.  They went this past weekend and had a great time.  It was really fun for Patrick and I to have some time to hang out too.  Last week Patrick slept through the night every night and went to bed pretty early so I was really missing my little guy.  I have become accustomed to hanging out with him in the middle of the night for the past 15 months, so I didn't know what to do with myself when he slept through the night for a whole week!  Patrick and I played in the baby pool on the porch on Friday night and just hung around the house all day Saturday.  Michael's mom had bought tickets to the Tim McGraw/Kenny Chesney concert for the family for Christmas, but since the boys went to the Red's game all of the cousins decided to go.  It was really fun!  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the boys at the Reds game.

Michael got home from Cincinnati a couple of hours before the Sesame Street Live show started on Sunday.  I thought it would be fun to go, so we decided last minute to head downtown an hour before the show and buy tickets.  We happened to get great tickets, which were on the floor about 8 rows back on the aisle.  Patrick was so fussy before the show, and we were really tempted to leave before the show even started.  Although, once we got into the show he loved it! He clapped and waved during all of the songs and it was so cute!  He got a little bored when there were no songs since he could't really follow the plot line.  He also loved when the "monsters" came through the audience and touched him.  He was amazed by them! It was great that we were close enough for the characters to come and touch us.   

Playing hide and go seek before the show started

Ready for the show to start

Opening song and dance

My little buddy and me during the intermission

Walking back from the show.  Love this picture, since Michael and I met at the building in the background.

Michael's Birthday Weekend

Michael's 29th birthday was this past weekend.   We both mentioned how we were in Napa for my birthday and wished we could be there for Michael's birthday, so we decided last minute to take a trip to Arrington Vineyards.  It's only about 15 minutes away from where Michael works, so we decided to go Friday afternoon.   I sent Patrick to daycare the whole day so we could go and it was so fun!   There were barely any people there, so we got to taste the wines pretty quickly.  After the tasting we bought a bottle and drank it outside in the shade.  It was wonderful and very relaxing!  Then while walking back up, they asked us if we wanted to do another tasting.  We were so glad we did the second tasting because we ended up liking the different wines we tasted this time much better! 

On the way home we talked to Michael's brothers and we decided we would have a last minute cookout. We grilled steaks and drank the wine we bought that day.  The favorite was definitely the dessert wine!

On Saturday, Michael played golf and Patrick and I hung out.  Patrick has been a little sick and I caught   whatever he had, so I was pretty under the weather on Saturday.  I was really bummed since we had the Swan Ball on Saturday night.  I wasn't really feeling that great so we left right after our jobs.  

On Sunday night we celebrated Michael's birthday with his family.  It was a yummy dinner, with all of Michael's favorites.  Patrick isn't really a big fan of cake, but he liked sticking his finger in the icing.  He also had tons of fun swimming after dinner!

Patrick- 14 Months

Patrick is 14 months old!

He continues to change and understand so much more every month!  He is starting to understand what I say to him, which is a really big step!  He loves his Sesame Street books and loves to point out the characters to you.   I’ll ask him where Grover or Big Bird is on the page and he can point to the correct character.  He still doesn’t say any words, except dada and a very occasional mama and doggie “doddie”.  Although he babbles non-stop!  He really wants to talk and gets so frustrated that he isn’t there yet that it normally ends in a meltdown if I don’t understand what he is pointing to.

He is just so busy and never sits still.  I took him to the pediatrician a couple weeks ago and he weighs 19 and a half pounds.   Sweet little guy is just too busy and excited about life to eat!  He would much rather snack all day than eat a meal.   When we went to the doctor, he did not have an ear infection and his ears looked so clear!  Yay!  This is the first time I have taken Patrick to the doctor where he did not have an ear infection.  Wonderful news!  I can definitely tell a difference in his hearing too!

He takes his favorite blanket with him everywhere,  even while eating

He has started clapping for himself a lot.  I always clap for him when he does something that he has been working on for a while (like put building blocks together), so he claps for himself a lot now which is really cute.  He also covers his face when he smiles really big.  I have no idea why!

He is really having fun with the dogs lately.  When they bark at someone walking down the street he immediately wants to run into the front room and be right there with them to see what is going on.  He also notices that we put on their collars every morning and take them off at night.  He thinks it’s funny to run after the dogs and try to put their collars on them (really just laying them on top of their backs).   He also doesn’t like being in his chair for eating and would much rather pick up handfuls of food while running around the house.   Bailey is a scavenger and ends up chasing him around the house trying to grab some of the food while Patrick runs away from her giggling like crazy.  Sweet Turk just sits there staring at them, waiting for a hand out from Mom or Dad.

He is still getting his first year molars in (such a long terrible process) and they have really been bothering him.  Hopefully they all come in soon and we get a break from teething!

I just love his little personality and am so excited he is starting to understand what I tell him!  

Isle of Palms 2012

A couple weeks ago we went to Isle of Palms with Michael's family.  There are 31 of us staying in this house, so there is never a dull moment!  This year there were lots of kids, and it was definitely a different trip than we have had in the past!  There was Dash (21 months), Patrick (14 months), Avery (3 months) and Harper (2 weeks). Patrick was 3 months old the last time he went to the beach, so I was excited for him to really experience it this time.  The house was 3 stories and beautiful, it was right on the beach with a pool connected to it, but it also wasn't baby-proofed.  Patrick was at a tough age this year since he is constantly moving and doesn't quite understand when you tell him no and why. Plus, he was teething to top it off!  His teeth were really hurting him (he was getting his first year molars in) and he let us know about it!  There were a couple of pretty rough days, where he was biting me, pulling on my mouth constantly, and having really bad meltdowns!  He told us loud and clear that he was hurting!!  He also didn't sleep that great, so I was pretty exhausted the whole time, but he did forget about his teeth a few times and let his bubbly personality shine through which made it totally worth it!

Playing at the airport.  He did great on the plane both times and slept through the entire flight!

Ready for the pool

Swimming with mommy

He liked the big float

But hated the float we bought for him

Taking a nap with daddy on the porch after swimming 

He loved reading with Nana on the porch

Hanging out on the beach before dinner

Can you tell how curly his hair has gotten?  It was pretty windy, so there was no controlling those curls!

Playing on the beach in his pajamas after nap time

This face pretty much sums up his 2 days of teething misery

So much happier this day!  Can you tell how much energy he has?  

This was probably his favorite activity at the beach.  Closing the door and yelling through it.

He does this new thing where he covers his mouth when he laughs really hard

Hello boys, I have arrived!  He is walking into the den where the boys were all watching baseball at the time.  He couldn't be left out of all the fun!

Hanging out with Avery

The boys after golf

Michael and I went out one night to dinner while Nana watched Patrick.  Since we were dressed up, we took a few pictures on the beach before going out

Our little wiggle worm doesn't like to be still, even for just a second!

You can't really see it, but those are Patrick's footprints

When we got back from dinner they had set up a song contest... here are the boys

And the girls.  I feel like a dork for saying this, but I don't listen to the radio anymore, so I didn't know the Justin Beiber song they were singing.  Now if they would have picked an Elmo song, I could have rocked that out ..... :)