Feeding Time at the Zoo

We've branched out further into the world of people food in the last week. Not surprisingly considering our little chunker, new foods were met with enthusiasm.

In addition to the spoon, Thomas also thinks it's great to hold the bowl. 

He's now gobbled up carrots and peas. Next up...probably plums. Not to embarrass the little guy, but the veggies have left him a bit plugged up (2.5 days between poops, anyone?). I've read that fruits that start with "P" help to loosen things up a bit. Prunes would be the obvious choice, but that seems so cruel. No one likes prunes... 

Update: Ed was the one grocery shopping tonight on the way home from swim class. He bought prunes. Poor kid. 

Another Weekend at the Lake

We spent a relaxing weekend at Mattoon with Di and Matt, Alli her dog Bella, and a brief appearance by Kelly and Dustin. The weather was cloudy but still plenty humid! We did some skiing, some floating, and alot of lazing around and watching Thomas and HGTV. (We usually watch Sportscenter, but Ed was outvoted for most of this weekend. I was especially happy about that when the NASCAR race was on.) Thanks for coming, everyone!

Di and Matt got Thomas this little whale sweatsuit when he was born. He's now grown into it, and we love the whale on the butt! So cute, and blue is defnitely his color...goes with those big eyes.

Thomas' new thing is eyeing up people's drinks...either cups or bottles. While he was hanging with Aunt Alli, he couldn't take his eyes off her Woodchuck. Being a good aunt, she didn't let him do anything more than suck the bottle. 

When Thomas met Bella back in May, he wasn't real interested. Now, 6 weeks later, Bella makes him giggle. She sat fairly patiently while he petted her. 

And kept coming over for more, and a few toe licks!

This is what happens when we leave Thomas sitting up by himself on the futon. Not a skill he's mastered quite yet!

Floating in the lake...nice.

Fireworks

What July 4th celebration would be complete without fireworks? The great thing about being on a lake is you can float in the middle of it and watch fireworks on all sides. Of course, we also set off some of our own!

Uncle Mark's stash of fireworks

Mom found a ground display firework that looked like a beer mug. She bought it, and Niki and Corey built a "beer man" to hold it while it went off. Notice the volleyball head. 

The guys decided it would be more fun if the beer man burned and ignited the firework. Corey offered up the easy way to get the wooden man to start flaming.

Corey and Patrick show their approval while Ed continues to squirt lighter fluid as the man burns. Yes, the firework is duct taped to the man's arm, and yes, they're all standing too close to something that's about to explode! 
When the fire reaches beer man's volleyball head, it ignites the ball, which promptly falls off, rolls into the lake, and starts to float away. The firework did go off and spout some lovely fountains of fire, but as you can tell from the pictures, that was secondary to the fun of burning a wooden man with a volleyball head!

Grown up fun

Thomas is in probably 90% of the pictures taken this weekend, but we did have some non-baby fun, too. 

The seven of us.

Jenn and Patrick

Drinking beer and floating

Riding Big Mable

Riding around the lake on the tandem bikes

More lake pictures

Random cute pictures from the weekend:

Watching the action on the lake. Look at that big boy standing up!

Trying to drink from Grammy's water glass.

Cool dude in a hat.

Bathtime in the big sink.

Talking to Great Grandma Millie.

Napping with Great Grandma.

"No more rice cereal! I'm done."

Thomas likes cousin Eric's goatee. Prickly!

Swimming in the lake

We took Thomas "swimming" in the lake. He wasn't overly thrilled with it, but the temperature wasn't quite as warm as his baths! Dad had bought a blow-up fish inner tube, so we tried that out as well. 

Toes in the water.

He's not so sure about floating in the fish.

By the end, Thomas was okay with (I won't go so far as liked) the floaty fish. Grandpa caught him some minnows to look at while he floated. The water will be warmer at Lake Mattoon, and also when we're back up at Pearl Lake in August!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the holiday weekend up at Pearl Lake with my family. Beautiful weather, great company, delicious food, and of course, tons of pictures!

Thomas and Uncle Sam wish everyone a happy 4th of July. Uncle Sam's "cousin," who lives with Matt and Diane Knoepke, recently went on a road trip to Pittsburgh with her family. Maybe he'll come to Lake Mattoon this weekend?

Driving the pontoon boat with Grandpa. Lifejacket disclaimer: when the boat is on the water and moving, Thomas wears his life jacket. When it's parked on shore, he doesn't have to. When he gets mobile, the rules will change and he'll have to wear the life jacket on the dock and parked boat as well. 

Enjoying the day with Aunt Jenn (who made him giggle and squeal by singing a certain song about beans while making bean dip).

The perfect place for a nap: on Grammy's lap.

Standing tall on Patrick's stomach.