October and November

We've been sitting back and enjoying these last couple of months. Most of the time you can find Paul and me either at the park or playing with/putting up the pots and pans. It is a charmed life, the highlight of which was Grandma and Grandpa's visit. Here are some pictures:

At the Park with Grandma:




Conquering the Neighborhood Park:


On top of the world:


Happy Halloween!


I can't believe how quickly Paul is growing up! He is definitely a toddler now and not a baby. We even got rid of his pacifier to prove it (well, during awake time that is). He has also made a big jump in comprehension. I feel like he finally understands the gist of what I say to him. I didn't realize how fun it would be to watch him figure things out. I'm loving it.

Paul also has a new haircut to show how grown up he is becoming. After a few days of unconquerable bedhead I caved in and buzzed off Paul's hair. I'm not sure why I thought he would act better than he did the first time, it was another miserable experience, but at least he looks a little nicer. Here is the new cut:






I'm not sure if it is the new haircut, all the cousin hand-me-downs he wears, or just my imagination, but I can't help but think this boy looks so much like his cousins on his dad's side. There is no doubt that this boy is his father's son.


Finally, I can't go another post without mentioning Paul's cast. He got it off about a month ago (yay!) and by now it is like it never happened. But when he first got it off he still walked around as if it were on. Even in his sleep he would keep his foot flexed. I thought it was the funniest thing so here is a quick clip of Paul walking the day after he got the cast off:

Pictures - and lots of them

It has snowed ALL DAY today and it is only October! I guess it is about time I got some of our summer pictures posted.

We had a great summer with family. It was especially nice for Paul to spend time with his grandparents, great grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles. We are so grateful for all the wonderful support we have from family and the time we can spend with them.

Here are just some of the pictures of Paul with family from the summer...













Thanks to my family for watching Paul, and Chris's Dad for taking us sailing, Chris and I were able to enjoy a day with friends in San Diego this summer.


And if summer wasn't enough, Paul and I got to visit family again last month while Chris was traveling for work. Thanks to my parents who watched Paul over the weekend, I got to meet up with Chris in New York! Paul had a great time with family and hardly noticed I was gone. Thanks Mom and Dad!










(poor Paul, with a cast he can't ride a trike or swim)



Now that summer is over we've been settling into our new place. We've gone to the state fair, an apple orchard, and pretty much spent a lot of time outside. Here are more pictures...

(note the "Deep Fried Candy Bar" stand in the background
we got a kick out of that)





Unfortunately, this is the new reality:


Let's hope the weather warms up at least one more time before the real winter begins.

Day 1 of the Cast

I'm so proud of my quick little learner.
Paul is feeling much better today and it shows.
So far he has learned

1. how to crawl with his right leg sticking out to the side (the wood floor is his favorite because his leg just slides beside him)
2. that if he reaches his hand out towards an object I will immediately give him the object (Paul unfortunately thinks it is a game akin to dropping items and watching me pick them up over and over again)
3. how to stand up and even walk with a cast!
   

He still trips a lot when he tries walking, but at least he can stand up to things and get around. Way to go Paul.

I was lucky enough to catch his first try at walking on the video camera. Here he is:

Breaking News - Paul Broke His Leg

Well, actually I broke Paul's leg, but that sounds malicious and intentional and this was nothing of the sort.

Yesterday while carrying Paul down the stairs, I slipped and fell, dropping Paul in the process. When Paul finally calmed down, I discovered that while he was okay with sitting and crawling, he would start to cry whenever he would try to stand or walk and refused to put weight on his right leg.

Thankfully I really like the pediatric office he goes to. They got him in yesterday evening, took x-rays, and quickly confirmed that something was wrong with his leg. Today we had an appointment with a pediatric orthopedist who put his leg in a cast. In two weeks the doctor will take off the cast, do more x-rays and go from there, but I have a feeling that he will be in a cast for at least 5 weeks. I just hope that after two his cast won't have to go all the way up to his hip.

The worst part of this is that Paul has a respiratory cold and just feels miserable on top of having a broken bone. I'm hoping that when he starts getting over his cold he'll warm up to his new appendage.

That's the story, here is the picture.


I'm sorry Paul, I love you.

Happy First Birthday Paul

Paul turned 1 yesterday!

Here's a video of Paul first thing in the morning opening Mom and Dad's gift.


Paul got to do all of his favorite things on his Birthday. He had pancakes for breakfast, practiced his golf swing, opened fun presents throughout the day, rode around in the cool shopping cart, had stir-fry for dinner, and of course he ate some cake.

And here are some pictures:









In case you were wondering, yes Paul got a hair cut. I was going to wait until after his 1st birthday, but his hair was always so hot and sweaty that it just had to go. I just hope he doesn't need another hair cut for a long long time. Here are some before, during, and after shots:






Hopefully pictures from this summer and from our big move will come shortly so stayed tuned. In the mean time, Happy Birthday Paul.

June Congratulations

June was a busy month for us.

Paul learned to pull himself up to a stand. He turned 9 months and checked in at 24lbs 11oz - finally slowing down on that weight gain!

I managed to pack up our Chicago condo even with Paul crawling around and getting into everything.

But the best accomplishment and biggest congratulations of all goes to Chris for graduating from the University of Chicago Law School!

Congratulations Dad! Thanks to all the family who came out for the ceremony.

Here are some of our graduation and packing pictures.

Paul can Crawl!

This laugh is just too good to not post...