Daddy's #1

Joe got up early on Thanksgiving to burn some calories before eating a whole bunch of them. In Hopkinsville, we have a fun run called the Turkey Trot. Joe took first place :-) Stephen and I stayed home because I was cooking, but we celebrated with a photo shoot when Joe got back.

Emily's new hobby

If you'd like to see what I'm up to in this arena, visit my new blog: Emigurumi.

Stephen in his "man suit"

Stephen shouted "I'm a MAN!" the first time he tried on his little suit a month ago. For the actual wedding, he seemed to be a little unsure about his clip-on tie. Still, he was a good enough sport to pose with his daddy. Notice the "manly" stance.

He was also quite taken with a Christmas tree decorated with owl ornaments. Stephen's own words as he described different owls, "He's funny! Nice owl! He's wearing GOGGLES! I don't like this owl, he's scary!"

Stephen gets his photo taken with Isabella Bixler, his cousin-in-law? The wedding was pretty sweet for Stephen... as he got a bunch of goodies at his seat, including the hand-made bib and monkey toy. He likes his monkey because, "he's got boots! He's ready to GO!"

More dream talk

Two nights ago Stephen was having a very "active" night: talking, calling "mama," crying, whining, laughing and thumping around. Yesterday I asked him what he was dreaming about.
Stephen: Mama had a little baby!
Me: What did the baby look like?
Stephen: Baby was laughing!

Later, when I told Joe about the conversation, he decided to pursue it further.
Joe: Stephen, did you dream about little brother?
Stephen: Yeah!
Joe: What did he look like? What color was his hair?
Stephen: Mmmm... Black!
Joe: He had black hair? What color were his eyes?
Stephen: He has... he has RED eyes, I guess.

This morning, Stephen woke up wailing. I assumed he had a nightmare.
Me: What's a matter, Stephen? Did you have a bad dream?
Stephen: There's a BIRD!
Me: What kind of bird?
Stephen: It's a lellow bird. He's going round and round and round.
Me: Was he scary?
Stephen: Yeah. I want to PET him! I want to pet the lellow bird.

"I make a tunnel!"

Where I go, Stephen is not far behind. Sunday morning I was trying to fold laundry on the bed when Stephen got an ingenious idea. "I make a tunnel! I go in!" he said as he burrowed under the bed spread. It was too cute, so I had to take some pictures.  Unfortunately, you'll see the messy clothes pile in disarray.

Another funny conversation

The other day, Stephen was experimenting with language again.
Stephen: Mama is BIIIIG! Seephen is O-Lol. Mama is BIIIIG! Seephen is O-lol. Mama is Bi--
Me: OK. I get it. I'm big, you're little. What about Daddy?
Stephen: Mama is BIIIG! Seephen is O-lol. Daddy is... is... BIGGERRRRR!

Fall fun

Stephen said, "I found a cabbage!"

Then he decided to use it to wipe his nose.

Shopping

I took Stephen shopping with me today. This is what happened on the way there.

Farm field trip

A couple weeks ago, I took Stephen back to Christian Way Farm for a field trip with Restoration House. Here's a few shots. Stephen loves going to the farm. In fact, a few weekends before we went, Milt, the farm's owner, said "You'll have to come back to the farm soon," as Stephen and I were leaving church. I told him we would. When we pulled into our driveway, Stephen threw a fit beacuse we weren't at the farm. Anyway, he eventually got there :-)

"I got here first and I'm not getting off!"

"I drive tractor!"

Catching up

I should have posted these when I uploaded the video of Stephen feeding my Dad salmon...but better late than never. These two shots were from our drive home. We stopped in Champaign to eat at what used to be our favorite Indian restaurant, Basmati. Under new ownership, it's called Bombay and was just as tasty as we remembered. After eating lunch, we took Stephen to West Side Park, where he enjoyed the fountain. Actually, he wanted to go swimming.