Christmas Day

We had so much fun with Maddox on Christmas morning. He slept in until a little before 8:00, which was great because we were up really late the night before. When Maddox got up he was his usual cheerful self smiling and "talking" up a storm. We headed into the kitchen and passed by Santa's cookie plate to see what the damage was. He did a pretty good job on those cookies...

Look what Santa brought! Santa did not go overboard this year since Maddox pretty much doesn't have a clue, but he did get a few cool things. He got a ball pit that he loves climbing in and out of and a brand new wagon. He also got a toy that is like the dashboard of the car so he can steer it and honk the horn. And Santa brought him a few new pairs of pants as well. A couple of the other toys in the room were gifts he'd opened the night before but that he still had fun playing with on Christmas morning.

"Wow, did Santa bring that all for me?"

Here he is playing in his new ball pit. At first he was a bit skeptical, but after a few minutes he was climbing in and out and even tasting everything as well. He loves crawling underneath things so I think he likes that it has a roof. He also likes that there is a hole in the roof so you can drop the balls through while he's in there. This toy has become a big hit already!

And of course we had to get him a wagon because everyone needs a wagon. He has already enjoyed going for wagon rides around the house. We haven't been able to take it outside yet because it has been so cold lately, but as soon as it warms up, we'll be taking it for a spin.

Playing with his new car toy...

And one of the biggest hits was the new snack cup filled with puffs that Santa left in his stocking. Santa could have saved a lot of money by just bringing a few snacks (have a mentioned how much my little man loves to eat?)

After playing with his toys from Santa, Maddox got a bath and put on his nice clothes and we headed back to Ra-Ra and Poppy's. We had a great time having lunch and visiting with everyone. The adults played Dirty Santa and Maddox, Jackson, and McKenzie of course had a few more presents to open as well.

We really enjoyed Christmas with Maddox this year. Being 10 months old, he really was the perfect age for a first Christmas because he could actually participate somewhat. It was so fun to watch him have fun and play with his new toys. I am sure that it will only get better (and more expensive, haha) each year as he gets older.

Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas Eve at RaRa and Poppy's house this year. After going to evening mass we headed over to their house for dinner and presents. We had a great time--it is so much more fun now that there are kids to watch open gifts. Jackson was very excited (and expressive I might add) about opening his presents and he even helped Maddox open his too. Maddox wasn't all that interested in opening his gifts but he had fun playing with them once they were opened (and I am pretty sure that we took out every toy he got from his box so he could play). Maddox also loved all of the boxes that his gifts came in...wrapping paper, not so much, but he loved banging on the boxes and attempting to climb on top of them.

Christmas Eve family photo

Maddox pulling the tissue paper out of the bag to see what he got.

It was a parade of zoo animals!

And a cool activity table! I am pretty sure Maddox opened and shut the laptop on the table about 50 times. That was his favorite part!

Showing Jackson his new table. Aren't they cute in their semi-matching outfits (Thanks, Aunt Jess!)?

Daddy helping him ride on his new car from Uncle Scott, Aunt Jess, and Jackson.

And the biggest hit of the night was probably the beverage tub that I got. Maddox had a great time climbing on it and beating it like a drum over and over again. He had the best time!

Maddox also got some cute clothes and this great hat from Uncle Andrew and Heather. Too bad he keep trying to pull it off, because it looks so precious on him!

One of the sweetest smiles around...

Once we finally got home, we couldn't forget to leave some yummy cookies and milk for Santa.

Merry Christmas!

Meeting Santa

The weekend before Christmas we took Maddox to meet Santa and have his picture made with him for the first time. We decided to try the Santa at the Bass Pro Shop because several people recommended it to us, and let's face it, no one wants to subject themselves to mall traffic the week before Christmas. We were glad we went because it was great! Maddox loved looking at the big fish tank and stuffed animals around the store and he actually didn't mind Santa too much. I never really got a smile, but he didn't cry so I would consider that a success. It was so funny because he would look back and forth from the camera to Santa with this "Who in the world are you?" look on his face. Hope he does this well next year, but something tells me it will be harder!

Waiting in line to meet Santa...The handoff (crossing my fingers that he doesn't cry)...

Dad, I'm not so sure about this. Why are you handing me to this funny looking bearded fellow?

So this is the guy who brings all the toys. I wonder what he'll bring me...That's a cool beard. I'd love to get my hands on it...

And of course we had to get a picture with the big scary bear. Maddox was really fascinated with his claws!

Yummy! Yummy!

Maddox still only has two teeth on the bottom, but he is a wonderful eater! I don't think there is anything that he has tried that he doesn't seem to like (way opposite of both of his super picky parents). I hope he keeps this up! We have been giving him mostly solid foods for the past several weeks and he loves it! He is our little garbage disposal...he just has such a good appetite! Yesterday we went to visit his daddy at work and he ate an entire grilled cheese among other things. His first love is still his bottle, but he is definitely a big fan of food! Here are a few pictures I took of him the first time I gave him one of those Gerber biter biscuits. What a mess!
I guess eating is much harder work now than it used to be. Maddox was worn out after eating that biscuit. This is the only time I have ever seen him fall asleep sitting up in his high chair. And yes, that is his daddy's hat he is wearing...doesn't quite fit just yet.

First Thanksgiving

Yes, I realize that it is almost Christmas and I am just now posting about Thanksgiving, but it's just been one of those kind of months! We went to Mobile for Maddox's first Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. Everyone was thrilled to see Maddox again and see all of his new tricks (like crawling and pulling up). At his Gigi and Grandaddy's house he was fascinated with climbing up on the brick fireplace (anything unsafe of course). He also had fun jumping like crazy in the doorway jumper they had for him. Overall it was a great trip and we look forward to going back just after Christmas.

Maddox also had fun cheering on his Tigers in his first Iron Bowl. He actually slept through the entire first half, but he sure was a cute fan! Sadly his cheers weren't enough, but there's always next year!

Nine Months!

We went for Maddox's nine month check-up on Friday and he is still growing like a weed! He is up to 19 lbs 11 oz. and is 28 inches long. What a big boy!! Everything checked out okay and he was up to date on all of his shots (which he and I were both pleased to find out). He did get his flu shot though since he hadn't had one yet, but one is certainly better than the four we're used to getting at these appointments. He was a very brave boy though. His sweet little sad face and cries break my heart every time he gets a shot, but fortunately he gets over it pretty quickly. We also finished up his antibiotic today that he has been on for a sinus infection and Blake has gotten over his walking pneumonia so I think we are finally all well (cross your fingers).

Dr. Harmon also told me that Maddox could eat from the table now so we are going to be starting that pretty soon. I still can't believe my little man is big enough to start eating real food...it just doesn't seem right! Tonight he did eat some banana that I smashed up into little pieces and he ate one of those Gerber wagon wheel things so he is off to a good start. He wasn't too sure about it at first though. It was funny because every time I tried to stick a little bite of banana in his mouth he would shudder and make these awful faces. I figured it was his way of telling me he wanted to eat from a jar and take a bottle for the rest of his life....haha! But after a few attempts he seemed to enjoy it. One thing I can tell already though is that meal time is about to get a whole lot messier! I can't wait!

Maddox also went to his first basketball game on Friday night. We went Birmingham-Southern to cheer on Huntingdon's women's basketball team that Uncle Andrew coaches. It ended up being an exciting game--they only lost by one point in overtime. Maddox really watched a lot of the game too. He was pretty captivated by all of the movement on the court. He was proud of his Uncle Andrew too! As always, he provided a good bit of entertainment to the crowd as well.

We are headed to Mobile on Tuesday for Thanksgiving and are excited to get to see a lot of family we haven't seen in a while. And I know that they are excited about getting to see Madddox again. I'm sure they will be happy to see us too, but let's face it, Maddox is the star of the show now!

And what good would a post be without a sweet picture?

Look Who's Crawling...

That's right...little man is crawling now! He isn't moving very fast yet, but he has got his form down. Before now he's been getting around from place to place in weird ways...scooting, pivoting, twisting in circles...but now he has figured out how to crawl up on his knees and everything. He still has to be enticed by something (typically phones, remotes, or pretty much anything that's not really a baby toy tend to work) or have something catch his eye before he heads off in crawl mode, but I am sure it won't be long before we are chasing him all over the place. I think it's probably a good thing for our sake that he's starting out slow.

Apparently this new crawling thing is wearing him out...today Sally said he fell asleep in his crib sitting up...definitely a first for him! He has gotten to the point where when you lay him down in the crib for a nap, the first thing he does is roll over and sit up or pull up on the side. Usually he lays back down after a few minutes and goes on to sleep, but apparently he forgot to lay back down today. This past weekend when I put him down for a nap on Sunday he stood right back up and yelled (happy screams, but screams nonetheless) at the top of his lungs. When I came back in to check on him after a while of this he busted out laughing...I guess he is coming up with new games. This should make naptime fun for everyone, haha!

I Can Pull Up!

My little man is growing soooo fast! Today he pulled up for the first time (of course I missed it because I was at work...boo). He has been working on this for a while now. He tries to pull up in his crib and he tries to pull up on things around the house like the couch, even though he isn't quite tall enough to reach just yet. Sometimes I'll cheat and assist him, but that doesn't count. I was happy to hear that he finally did it on his own since he has worked so hard, but I'll admit I was sad I missed it. Hopefully he'll do it again for me soon. He still isn't quite crawling yet. He can get from place to place, but he scoots all around and does these funny pivot moves to get where he needs to go. He keeps getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth so I know he will take off any day now. I told him tonight when I put him to bed that he's not allowed to do anything else for the first time when I'm not around (we'll see how well he follows directions I guess).

Happy Halloween!

Maddox had a great first Halloween! He was the cutest puppy in the whole world. I was a little afraid that he wouldn't do well in his costume because this is what happened when I tried it on him the week before... But luckily for us he felt much better about it on Halloween and spent most of the night dressed up. We went over to Scott and Jessica's house for dinner and we had so much fun playing with all the other cute little munchkins that were there. In addition to Maddox, we had Jackson, the giraffe, Justin, the pumpkin/puppy, and Avery, the ballerina. They were all adorable! We did miss our little friend Whit who I believe was supposed to be a hot dog. Sorry we missed that! Hopefully he and his parents are feeling better.

Maddox and Jackson even took part in their first trick-or-treating experience. We only went to two houses, but they had fun ringing doorbells and getting candy. Maddox even got himself a king size Hershey bar. I told the lady we didn't need it, but Maddox stuck out his hand to get it, as if to say, "Speak for yourself!"

All in all, we had a great Halloween!

First Tooth!

After much anticipation we finally have a tooth! Maddox's bottom left tooth has broken through. We've been waiting on this for a while because he has been chewing on his fingers (and pretty much everything in sight) and drooling like crazy for a while now. I am pleased to report that this tooth didn't seem to bother him much...no fussiness, fever, bad diapers, or anything that everyone has been telling me about. Let's just hope the rest come through this easily!

Halloween is Almost Here

Since Halloween is less than a week away, we decided go ahead and carve our pumpkin the other night. Maddox was excited to help carve his first pumpkin. His daddy did most of the work, but Maddox was in charge of the newspaper under the pumpkin (or at least that's what he decided his job would be). I don't think he could have been less interested in the pumpkin or more interested in shredding up paper and tossing it around.

Maddox taking his newspaper duties very seriously.

The work in progress. Notice that Maddox is still making sure the newspaper is properly laid out.

Posing with the finished product. Didn't they do such a great job? They are lucky the design I picked out was the easiest one or this could have taken a lot longer! :)

Even though he wasn't all that interested in the carving process (after all he is only 8 months old), he was very interested in the finished product, especially once it was lit up. He also tried to eat it a few times, but that is pretty typical of most things.