Award Ceremony

We had dinner with Auntie Lana and Uncle Joe today to mark a very important occasion.
Tavish presented Auntie Lana with a medal and trophy he had made for her...his very own idea. And then we celebrated!!!

Seven Months

The many faces of Baby Paxton.

We've had many comments that he is looking more like Tavish, and there are times when he does remind me of how Tavish looked as a baby,especially as his hair is getting lighter. But totally different temperaments and personalities. And those blue eyes and that big smile...we can't get enough of it!

Getting ready

Auntie Lana came to visit today and brought Tavish a new Curious George backpack which is much more cool and grown up than his old puppy dog backpack so he was super excited. I woke up from my before-work-nap  to this...Tavish packing to get ready for Poland. Mind you we are not actually going to Poland until next year but he likes to get ready. Often when he gets a favorite treat or toy he will say "I'm going to save this for the airplane to Poland". So here is what one needs to go to Poland if you are four:

blue blanket
toy camping lantern-"for when it's dark"
red heart necklace-"in case it's Valentine's Day"
blue felt Christmas tree ornament-"in case it's Christmas"
rubber bracelet-"so I can look cool"
a few random toys-"for when I wake up in the morning"

I'm not really sure what the ribbon is for but all of this was packed in earnest and with great anticipation for the next trip to Poland...

Quote of the Day...

I'm trying to help Tavish get dressed in the morning...he has definite opinions now about his outfits that don't always coincide with mine. Today he has picked a shirt and shorts combination that totally clash, I'm trying to convince him that he should either switch out the shirt or switch out the shorts...he is refusing and the situation is escalating until finally...

Me: why don't you want to switch your shirt or shorts?

Tavish: because I want to be weird!

Ok. Done. He definitely looked weird. But happy.

Six Months

This cute boy has now discovered his not-happy shriek and uses it...usually to let us know he is hungry or tired. Still pretty mellow overall.

He has also discovered his feet...first his left foot but now he loves both feet equally and loves it when I unzip his little sleep sack in the morning and can play with them. 

He rolls over back to front now too.

Loves to eat everything expect peas (I don't like them either, little guy!)

His hair is getting lighter, which makes me a little sad, I loved his dark newborn hair and thought it would be so striking with his eyes that seem to be settling to a lighter blue. In the light you can still see a little green ring around his pupils, so who knows maybe they will change again.
He is now 20lbs 4oz and 28inches.

We love this boy! 

Check Up

Sunday morning check up.

Vital signs stable.

The Lake House

This year we decided to try something different...we love to go to the beach but had been thinking we should try out a lake. Turns out some friends from church rent out their house at Deep Creek Lake complete with private dock and enough beds to invite our Pittsburgh pals to come too, so off we went...

Rafal and his mini-me hanging out on the dock...so paranoid Tavish would fall in...

Cousin Katie was visiting and Tavish loved hanging out with her. And I loved having a girl around!

Before we even considered going to the lake, Tavish had been asking to go fishing for months. I have no idea what brought this on, but we made sure to get some fishing in...and by we I mean Rafal. They never actually caught anything and tried out lots of different lures, including Swedish gummy fish, but the closest thing to catching a fish was the dead one floating near the dock.

Every day we would head out for an adventure near the lake...one day we went to Swallow Falls where in one spot you can actually climb on the rocks into the river near some small falls.

The lake house had access to the community pool so Paxton had his first dip in a pool. As you can see he loved it.

We tried again the next day, eased him into it, and then he loved it!

We rented a boat to take the kids out on inner tubes but guess who had the most fun???

I think Rafal thought we rented a speedboat. But Paul and Susan and Rafal and I traded off with the kiddos to have some "date time" on the boat. Totally gorgeous day. 

Another day we headed over to the mountain resort to ride the mountain coaster.  Its awesome because you get to control how fast it goes. The sucky part...getting stuck behind slowpokes.

Rafal and Tavish coming around the last turn...

Also at the resort were obstacle courses with zip lines! Tavish got to go on the "Chipmunk Challenge". 

Look at how big my boy is getting!

There were some brief tears in one spot but we were able to talk him through it and this is what he thought in the end.

Katie and I did the grown up version and she was awesome at it! She just climbed her way through in no time.

I thought it looked so easy from the ground and then I climbed up. The first obstacle wasn't so bad, but then the rope got twisted on one obstacle with the guy controlling it going "oh crap this isn't supposed to happen" and me hanging there in the middle of it. But I persevered until the second to the last obstacle where I totally froze. I just couldn't go. And there was a group of people watching below including Rafal shouting up really helpful advice, the guy behind me trying to encourage and then finally, after what seemed a very long time, I just went. And made it to the zip line which was the whole point in the first place. Next time I'm skipping the obstacles and just going for the zip line.

The kids got to hang out...we saw wild turkeys and deer in the yard.

The babies got to hang out...(check out those thighs!) while the moms hung out.

And there was even swimming in the lake.