Thomas and friends

Thomas' fascination with the boys this weekend reminded me of a few pictures I hadn't posted yet. He is SO interested in other kids, especially ones his size. 
Thomas spent a few afternoons next door playing with Tobin. He and Tobin are the same size, but Tobin is 3 months older. Holly (Tobin's mom) said that Thomas watched Tobin's every move and they even had their own little squeaking conversation. How nice to have a friend next door! 

Beatrix, the daughter of one of Ed's coworkers, came over last week for a little RPB get-together. She's 2 months older than Thomas. He was infatuated with her, trying to touch her, pull her hair, anything. She was completely uninterested in him. The guys told Thomas to get used to the feeling of girls blowing him off. I think with those big baby blues the girls will be very interested! 

Visitors at the Lake

This past weekend Ed's high school friend Craig, his fiancee Heather and Craig's kids, Treyton and Carter, came to the lake. They brought their newly purchased wakeboard boat too--apparently we're a bad influence on friends as they bought the boat after visiting us earlier this summer!

Thomas liked hanging out with the big boys! He was interested in everything they did.

Treyton learned to ski on the boom. For a while he thought this was the best position for skiing, but he then learned to stand up and even skied behind the boat!

Carter and Thomas try out their new tube (on land).

Craig, Heather, Treyton and Carter with their new boat.

7 months!

Thomas turned 7 months old this past week. He's now up to 20 lbs. 9 oz. and is scooting ALL over the house. He's even started eyeing up the stairs, though considering he's crawling with his belly on the ground, he has no chance of scaling them! 

Check out T's cargo pants and cool sneakers! And yes, this photo was posed. He loves to stand up but can't pull himself up yet. 

Jenn and Pat come to the lake

We celebrated the end of summer with a 3-day weekend at the lake, joined by Jenn and Pat. We still have 3 or 4 more weeks at the lake, but it's definitely getting cooler...wet suit weather for those early morning ski runs! Jenn and Dustin were both out of commission this weekend (both have on walking boots from different but equally painful injuries), so they were designated drivers and babysitters.

Floating out by the sandbar and drinking Pink Sunshine

Thomas likes the beer box as much as his dad likes what's inside.

Giving Aunt Jenn a fish hook

Have bumbo, will travel

Modeling new fall clothes from Kelly

Crawling under the table with Dustin

Me barefooting in two wet suits--the long one for warmth and the short one for padding.

Our first bonfire, complete with s'mores!

Thomas has a book called "Foodie Babies." One of the lines in it is "Foodie babies dine al fresco," which we do frequently. This was something new though--dining al fresco on the boat! 

The perfect spot for a nap! He slept here for about 45 minutes. The life jacket held him up. 
The guys show off their guns.

Jenn and Thomas show off their school pride during football on Saturday.

Baby in the Mirror

Here's a cute video of Thomas and his friend in the mirror. Partway through you'll catch a quick glimpse of the pouty lip!

Mr. Mobile is Mr. Happy

A few random pics....

We've started letting Thomas have free reign to scoot around the house. Yesterday he discovered the full-length mirror in our bedroom. Not sure if he knows it's his reflection or thinks it's another baby, but he was pretty fascinated. 

He's trying to eat the mirror in this one. 

We lowered the crib last night. This morning, Ed sat Thomas up in the crib so he could play while Ed took a shower and I kept sleeping. Thomas likes sucking on the edge of the crib! He was very proud of himself. We might be lowering it another notch, as well. 

Thomas in his "Mr. Happy" onesie. What an appropriate moniker!

Weekend at the lake

We spent last weekend at the lake with my cousin Corey and our friends Rachel and Brittany. The weather was great, so we spent alot of time on the lake and also golfed. Ed and I both barefooted again, Corey barefooted for the first time, Rachel got up on the slalom ski, and Brittany learned to ski. Thomas continues to scoot around on his belly. He's getting faster and more determined in his attempts to chase down cell phones, cameras, and anything with blinking lights. 

Lunch on the boat: Brittany, Corey and Rachel

Rachel and Thomas

Brittany and Thomas on the boat

Corey in action

Ed and Thomas cheering for Ohio State. Sadly (or not so sadly, depending on your loyalties), they lost.
Sunday night Thomas and I cheered for the Packers. Don't worry, Packer fans--Thomas has a Packer outfit to wear for future games. It's long sleeves and pants, so we have to wait a couple weeks for the weather to cool down. In the meantime, I'll dress him in green on Sundays!

Random Thomas pics

Thomas is all about texture these days. He likes to touch carpet, different fabric, furniture, and here, the wet wooden deck on the back of our boat.

He's also discovered (or rediscovered?) his tongue and sticks it out for no reason at all or seems to chew on it.

And this is why we don't let him feed himself. Milk comes out of the other end, silly!

I've been auditioning different containers to use as a playpen lately. He fits nicely in the laundry basket, and actually laid in here for about 15 minutes very contentedly.

At the lake last weekend, the guys bought this to potentially use as a fire pit. The label said that it had "hundreds of uses." I'm pretty sure this is not what the manufacturers had in mind, but it contained Thomas while we vacuumed!

First haircut

Most babies don't have their first hair cut at the tender age of 6 months. But when you have as much hair as Thomas, and your sideburns and hair in the back are long, it's a different story. Thomas had his first haircut today. My hair stylist cuts kids' hair for free, so rather than wielding a sharp scissors near Thomas' head, I let a professional do it. 

Thomas was more interested in the lady taking the pictures and the mirror than in the haircut. 

Before and after pictures of the front (see the sideburns?)

And the back--so much better--but now he looks like a kid instead of a baby!

Rubles visit Mattoon

Tom and Alice spent Labor Day weekend with us at Mattoon. We had beautiful weather 2 out of the 3 days, they spent some quality time with Thomas, and, as usual, we feasted--this time with another round of meat in the smoker. 

Cruising with Grandma and Grandpa

Playing horsey with Grandma during the Ohio State game

Chilling with Grandpa on the couch

Reading stories

Napping in the shade on the boat

We took this same picture last time Tom and Alice visited. Thomas is 6 months older and about 11 lbs. heavier in this picture!

Barefooting!

This weekend I finally did it! I got up for about 5 seconds last summer before I got pregnant, but hadn't been able to do it since. Half the battle is getting your body turned around as the boat accelerates up to speed--stomach muscles I was lacking as this summer began. Then it's all about technique: putting your feet in the water. This weekend, after a first attempt wipeout (which you'll see), I was able to put both pieces together.
I was thrilled to barefoot again, and to feel pretty stable doing it. And once you get up, it really feels as easy as it looks when everyone else does it! Can't wait until next weekend to do it again. Check out the video..

Not to be outdone, Thomas started working on his abs so he'd be ready to barefoot next summer.

Take me out to the ballgame!

We took Thomas to his first baseball game last night...Cardinals versus my team, the Brewers. The final score was painful, but we had a good time. He was mesmerized by all the action and was still awake when we left at 10 (right after the 7th inning stretch...long game!) Not too many Brewer fans at the game, but as always lots of red clad fans. Everyone around us thought Thomas was adorable, though a few were concerned because they initially thought he was wearing a Cubs jersey. 

(Briefly) sitting in his own seat.

Family photo

Before the game. I put his Brewers hat on so that people would know he wasn't a Cubs fan (the front carrier he was in hid the Brewers logo).

Eating a plastic cup with dad.