Fire museum

To check off another location on our Be a Tourist pass, we decided to visit the North Charleston Fire Museum. Last month, Trey & I attended a Christmas party there and we agreed that Thomas would love all of the fire trucks. We were right. The only bummer is that he cannot climb on them all!



But in the middle, they do have a slide and fireman's pole that Thomas was more than happy to climb on again and again and again.






And that one was right before he went a little too fast off the end of the slide and landed on his nose. I was there to catch him, but had backed up since the previous six times he had not come close to the end of the slide. I blame it on his Daddy for showing him how to go head first! ;-)

Thomas was fine though and jumped right back up (after a few tears) to slide again...


They have a neat simulator of a fire engine.


Thomas insisted that we take two turns at that. Well, we tried to leave without the second turn and this is what we got...




THomas takes his driving very seriously...


Parker and I worked the airhorn:


It's really pretty neat. It's very dark in there and looks like a real fire engine (I suppose!). And across the windshield is a screen that shows where you are going as you make your way to an accident scene:


Afterwards, both boys were obviously ready to go home and take a nap. This is Parker's "I need a nap face" (well, aside from the more obvious crying face, of course):

Time to be a tourist, again

It's January, and thus it's time again to Be a Tourist in Your Own Town. Our weekends have been full of other things to do or inclement weather, but so far we've managed to check two sites off the list. First, last weekend we went aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown.


It was a beautiful day, and while a bit windy, not nearly as windy and cold as it was last year when we went.

Thomas enjoyed sitting in the static plane, but had no interest in trying out the simulator (he was bit afraid of the movement he could see from outside):


And this one is not a full plane, but makes for a fun photo op:


And then we headed up to the flight deck to check out the planes there:


Aunt Beth came along with us and Thomas enjoyed her company, as usual. But even Aunt Beth can't get Thomas to cooperate for a picture when he doesn't want to!






Thomas checked out the view from the captain's chair:


And Parker enjoyed his slightly-more-limited view from his seat. Mostly he just got to see me. Luckily that makes him happy. :)


It was a quick, but fun trip, and I hope we can check many more places off the list before the month is over. It's such a great way to see the local sights that we otherwise never take time to stop and notice.

After-Christmas cookies

We had some leftover cookie dough from Christmas cookies (not the homemade kind, the in-a-roll and actually dairy-free variety), so Thomas and I made some cookies the other morning. I decided to let him do the majority of the decorating (and I let him cut them out with very little assistance from me as well...which was hard for me since I like to optimize the space on the dough and he doesn't give it much thought at all!). :) He actually did very well, except he might need a lesson on how less is more when it comes to sprinkles.



This is about when I would finally step in and say "STOP!"


But he thought it needed just a little bit more for perfection:


But then perfection needed to be redistributed to a cookie that was a bit more bare:


These cookies didn't cook up as well (hold shape) as well as the homemade dough. I'm not sure you can even tell these are trucks and cars, but they tasted just fine!

I did shake off some of those sprinkles prior to putting them in the oven! :)

Toddler life

We might be moving Thomas out of the crib soon. Not because he has learned to climb out of it though...instead it's because he has figured out how to climb INTO it. :) Granted, the risk of injury is much less, but I suppose it's only a matter of time before he figures out he can go both ways.

Thomas says the funniest things; I wish I was better about writing them all down.

Yesterday he was looking at a Babies R' Us coupon book in my car. He noted a play vaccuum cleaner and pointed it out to me. This conversation followed:
Me: "You don't have a vaccuum cleaner, do you?"
Thomas: "Yes, I do. It's a Lily's house." (this is his good friend Lily, where he goes for a playdate most Tuesdays)
Me: "I thought that was Lily's vaccuum."
Thomas: "No, it's mine."
Me: "If it's yours, why is it at Lily's house?"
Thomas: "Because it belongs there."

He's been enjoying his brother's little Richard Scarry's Cars & Trucks A to Z book filled with a different vehicle for each letter of the alphabet (not your average vehicles; things like hot dog cars and the like). A couple weeks ago we were riding to dinner and Trey & I were talking to Thomas about boys and girls ("Is Lily a boy or a girl?") and we asked him if Mommy and Daddy were boys or girls. He said, without hesitation:
"Mommy is a girl and Daddy is a pencil car."

Not sure what that was all about, but it makes me laugh everytime I just think about it. Kids do say the funniest things!

Eight months old!

I've been holding this in draft for a few days hoping I'd find time to put some other posts here (trying to keep things in order), but I can't seem to find the time and this one is becoming long overdue!

On January 2nd, we started the new year off with Parker turning eight months! I cannot believe eight months have already passed so quickly.


He's currently battling a ton of rashes on his face (not exactly sure what is going on but possibly caused by excess drool because he is teething!) and I was waiting to take his pictures when they went away. Since they seem to only be getting worse, I figured I better go ahead and just take the pictures!

At eight months Parker is:

* Rolling all over the place. He's not showing many signs of crawling, but he tries to roll wherever he wants to go. He does tend to get frustrated when things are out in front of him because he reaches and doesn't understand how to move his body in that direction.
* Standing while assisted pretty well. He has even started to take a few steps here and there, and has moved a tiny bit while holding onto things (cruising). I almost think he might be one of those kids who just skips crawling altogether.
* A smiler. He smiles all the time. People comment constantly about how big he smiles and about how much he smiles. If you smile at him, he will always return it with the biggest smile he can muster. His face lights up a room.
* Probably about the same size as he was a month ago (in the 18 pound range). He wears mostly 12 months clothing and size 4 diapers.
* Growing a full head of hair (compared to his brother at the same age). I know other kids have fuller heads of hair, but compared to Thomas at this age, his is getting really "thick." He will definitely be needing his first haircut long before Thomas ever did (at 18 months). In the pictures here you can see it's already starting to curl up around his left ear.
* Somewhat spoiled. He loves to be held and usually just picking him up will cure any fussiness. When he is hungry or tired though, if anyone else is holding him and he can see me, he will fuss and/or cry until I hold him. And when I do hold him during those moments, he will almost always stop fussing immediately. Drives his Daddy nuts. :)
* Talking more and more. He will repeat noises after you, and has started to say "Dada." Still working on "mama"!! Sometimes he likes to squeal very loudly.
* Still a great nighttime sleeper and his naps (knock on wood) seem to be improving. He sleeps from 7 to 7 at night without problem (sometimes we put him down even earlier with no trouble). Naps are improving, but still not consistently as long as I would like. Even so, considering the fact that Thomas didn't sleep through the night consistently until he was a year old, I will suffer through the poor napping gladly.
* Totally in love with his big brother. He gets so excited to see Thomas and smiles with glee. Thomas loves his brother right back.
* Putting anything and everything he can into his mouth. But his #1 favorite thing to put in his mouth remains his right thumb. He constantly has that thing in his mouth. Oh well. It makes him happy and he always knows where it is and how to find it (unlike his brother's paci)!
* Speaking of putting things into his mouth, he's doing a bit better with solid foods, but still has room for improvement! He will eat the sweeter foods like pears, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots, but he will have very little of peas and green beans. He will tolerate oatmeal cereal but is not keen at all on rice cereal.
* Teething. The two front teeth on the bottom are finally popping through. Between that and the cold he currently has, he's a bit pathetic at the moment, but still sweet. :)

Now for a few more pictures.... Here's Parker looking at his big brother:


Such sweetness!


Notice the little curl above his left ear:


He was quite interested in getting the paper...


Why? So he could put it in his mouth, of course!


And this sums up how he is these days...a blur! He grows so fast and he rolls fast! And he grabs everything fast too!


And here's a little video of him saying "Dada" (although it's very briefly). He was really tired when I tried to catch it, so he wasn't all that cooperative:


I cannot believe how quickly these past eight months have passed. I look at other kids a few months older than he is and I cannot fathom that in a few months he could be walking. Will someone please slow down life a little?

First ice cream cone

Over Christmas, Thomas had his first ice cream cone. He tried ice cream at Marble Slab Creamery once, and I've offered him some a time or two, but he's never really been all that interested. And since he hasn't always tolerated dairy very well, it's just not something I offer him much. But he watched his cousin Katherine eat one one night and he wanted his own, so I promised he could have one the next night (he had already eaten a dessert of several cookies on that night). So the next night he was most excited to have his own (and didn't seem to mind that he couldn't have the one with chocolate in it like Katherine had).



They don't look all that excited in the picture, but I promise they were. :)

Of course, it didn't take long until I realized that Thomas wasn't that much into the ice cream, but he wanted the cone. He asked me to take the ice cream out and I obliged.


And then after eating the cone, he gave the ice cream another try...


I think he liked it:


I know Dropshots doesn't always work for everyone who views this blog, but the file was too large to upload to any of my other photo services. So hopefully you can see this because it's kind of cute:


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Family day at Magnolia Plantation

One day last week while on Christmas vacation with the family, we decided to visit Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. I knew they had a petting zoo there the kids would enjoy and Mom also wanted to check out the tram that carries passengers around the expansive grounds (it's a 45-minute ride!). It turned out to be a beautiful day and a fun time was had by all!

Magnolia Plantation, still dressed up for the holidays:


Thomas was not afraid to feed the animals...


And he petted the deer with no fear...


And walked right up to a very, big pig...


His cousin Katherine was his partner in feeding the animals...


The deer were friendly...


Sometimes really friendly, as this stranger found out...


Thomas' cousin Eliza looked on with glee...


After a quick lunch, we headed for the tram. Thomas thought his was great! We were the last to board, so we got the last pick of the seats, but it turned out to be the best for us. Thomas could not have been happier to have a bird's eye view of the driver and his vehicle...

(And Beth, I'm sorry to post a photo of you without your usual smile, but it was all I had!)

We drove all around the grounds of the plantation viewing all the different wildlife and other beautiful sights. There were many birds and ducks, and alligators, too!


Parker, safely in the arms of Nannie, decided the location and the tram ride were perfect for a nap. He was completely zonked out for at least 20 minutes.


I wasn't sure how the kids would do with the 45-minute tram ride, but they all seemed to enjoy it very much. The entire visit to the plantation was perfect. Thanks Nannie for the fun outing!

And speaking of plantations, the day after Christmas, everyone (but me, Parker, Dad & Trey) went to Stony Landing (Santee Canal State Park) for a quick outing. They came back with some cute pictures, and here is one I snagged from Andrew:

I hear Thomas didn't want to sit still for this picture. Such a surprise! :)