Snow!

Johnny got to see his first snow ever this weekend! It snowed a few weeks before he was born last year, but he missed it. He wasn't feeling great this weekend, so we didn't spend a ton of time outside, but who knows when he'll get to see it again? We had about 5 inches or so, I think. He wasn't too impressed on Saturday with it, but we think he was nursing an ear infection, plus it was bitterly cold and still blowing snow/sleet a bit. He warmed up a bit to it today and did a little more walking around in it, and a little sledding!

Snow!

Here's some video showing how good he's doing walking with the popper and then trying to walk in the snow/ice:

Walking!

Johnny has been working his way toward it, but we can officially say now that he is walking! The 2nd weekend in January he really got the hang of it, and for about 2 weeks now, he has been walking instead of crawling. He's starting to get really good at it!

Video of the earliest attempts:

January 2010

Pictures from January 2010: a "boy's weekend" with Daddy, walking, and playing with friends.

January 2010

December 2009 and Christmas

OK - Finally posting the pictures from December and Christmas - sorry these are so delayed! We had a fantastic Christmas this year. We made up for not traveling at all last Christmas while I was on bedrest by going to Marion, Carthage, and Chesapeake. We had a great time, and while Johnny didn't really "get" Christmas, he enjoyed all the visiting and attention, love, and of course, all the new toys! Pictures from both December and Christmas below, plus a couple of videos...

December 2009

This video shows Klay singing Happy Birthday to Andrew (sort of), Johnny starting to get tired, how good he's getting at feeding himself, and then fun times with Daddy and with the chaos at Christmas:

Christmas 2009

Christmas Cantata 2009

Our church held it's annual Christmas Cantata on December 7th. It was the first time I have sung in it, and it was pretty exciting - and a really nice evening. We worked really hard on the songs in the weeks leading up to the Cantata, and although I wasn't as comfortable as I would have liked to be with the music, I managed to sing more quietly through the parts where I didn't know the notes, and I don't think that I wrecked it! During one of the first songs, I saw one of the other moms in charge of the "living nativity" scene come over to Andrew and Johnny - and I knew something was up! Our little man was was one of the lambs! I was so proud and he was so cute. He did great with it and hung in there well past his bed time - he even made it through part of the cookie reception afterwards. Here's a few pictures:

Christmas Cantata 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving was extra-nice this year, because in addition to having something (someone) to be extra-Thankful for, Andrew and I both had Wednesday off! So, we headed out Wednesday morning to Carthage and had a great time there hanging out with Klay and Olivia and everyone. Olivia did a great job helping Klay ride Princess - Johnny didn't get to ride Princess, but he did get to do the next best thing, which was riding on Mom or Dad's shoulders!

We had an awesome meal on Thanksgiving day, and headed to Marion after Johnny woke up from his afternoon nap. At Mimi and Gramps' we had a lot of fun and saw some friends and helped to put up the Christmas tree! We also go to hang out with Thomas and watch him dance :) We had a fantastic meal that night with the whole Marion/Chesapeake Dodge family.

On Saturday we headed out as early as we could stand it to drive back towards Raleigh. Johnny did well on the trip, but we were all ready for a break as we hit the triad area, so we dropped in on the Monroe family and got to meet baby Claire! She is so sweet, and was so tiny! We had a really nice visit, and I loved getting to hold Claire, and Johnny loved their stairs :) We made it the rest of the way to Raleigh and I dropped Andrew off at the NC State/UNC game (Go Pack!) and headed on to complete my "Baby Tour" of NC! Johnny and I went to see Kaye and Kelli and to meet Baby Meridith, who was about 4 months old that day. We essentially invaded the Brookshire Thanksgiving celebration, but they didn't seem to mind too much. Johnny had fun playing with the other kids (and their toys), but had a hard time with not getting the ones that he wanted! State won the game and we picked Andrew up and headed home for some unpacking and rest and relaxation.... and thus ended the weekend of Andrew's favorite holiday...

The pictures (including Claire and Meredith!):

Thanksgiving 2009 and Babies Claire and Meredith

November 2009

November was a bit of a whirlwind month - I was very busy at work with the semester starting to wind down, and just trying to keep up with it all at the house! We cruised along, and Johnny got faster and faster at crawling, and better and better at cruising and pulling up! He also mastered waving (and saying bye-bye), and learned how to give high-5's! One of his favorite toys this month has been a cardboard box - he really likes climbing up and down thresholds.

Pictures from November:

November 2009

Giving "5" :):

The Box!: