Party On! (And Matthew is 8 mos...and 11 days...)

This is a long one...

The weather has been a little crazy here this week...a couple of days of snow showers, sleet, hail and then the dreaded ice (and now it's back in the 50's...go figure).  So schools were closed around here on Thursday, which was Nate's last day of school for the year and also the day of his class party.  I was so thankful when I got up Thursday morning and, after seeing the notice of the school closing, saw an email from Nate's wonderful teacher to all of the parents saying that she was still up for meeting at the school at noon (once the roads thawed) and having the party if we were.  Most all of the parents were in so the party was on!

 So the pizza was eaten...the cupcakes were sufficiently smeared all over the faces...and then it was gift time.  All of the children brought in a wrapped Golden Book and they sat in a circle and got to choose which friend they wanted to give their gift to.  Just my luck, the friend that chose Nate gave him "Bambi"...not exactly the story I wanted to explain right before Christmas (or before the age of 10)...I thought that maybe the 'short' version left the bad parts out, but nope...I read it one time, casually skipped the last couple of pages and then promptly hid that book in the hopes he doesn't ask me to read it again!!  Sheesh...

Everyone had to bring their kids who were also home from school so it was a packed room...Matthew got to play with a couple of babies so he had a built in playdate...win-win!  So, I didn't really get any great pictures but here are a few none-the-less.

Matthew has become yoga baby...this is his downward dog...

It's not a party without an appearance by Cupcake Face!

Sitting patiently in the circle waiting for his gift

I have been doing a better job of taking tons of pics of Matthew...but I have slacked on blogging his monthly milestones.  So, here is a quick 8 month check in...feel free to skip down to the pics if this is boring, this is more for my baby journal sake!

This dinosaur has turned in to his "lovey"...he has to sleep curled up with it and he even chews and sucks on the little brown spiky things like a paci...this is his bedtime buddy.

Health - I am certainly jinxing myself by saying this but he really hasn't had so much as a cold since he has been born...which completely baffles me because Nate had probably had 3 ear infections, a stomach bug and 2 rounds of breathing treatments for respiratory infections by this age.  I know daycare has a TON to do with that difference but still.  I actually took him in for his first "sick" appointment last week...he wasn't drinking his bottles well, was waking up at night and started pulling on his ear...I thought for certain that this was his first ear infection.  But when she checked his ears she said "perfect!"...then she peeked in his mouth and pointed out tooth # 6 making its appearance.  What a rookie mom move! :)  So...bottom line...so far he is one healthy kid!  I did get to find out that he weighs 18 lbs though...so he has put on 2 lbs in the last month.

Teeth - as I said, he's got 5 with one on the way....two bottoms and the top four

You can almost make out his top teeth in this one...

Eating - I have started trying some finger foods with him over the last few weeks...the usual suspects - Cheerios, puffs, diced fruits/veggies, etc...but I discovered these Mum Mum Baby wafer things in Walmart the other day (maybe I am the last one to know about these but I don't remember them when I was buying Nate snacks) and he LOVES them.  It is big enough to hold on to, has a good little crispy crunch that he likes, and dissolves easily in his mouth so he doesn't have to chew much.  (And I love them because them are individually wrapped and can easily be thrown in my bag.)  He is still pretty open to trying most things....he loves his yogurt and he loves fruit from the jar but we are still working on the fresh stuff.  We are also trying out the sippy cups...he has taken to them better than I recall Nate did but I think he is using it more as a teether than really drinking from them. 

Mobility - he isn't officially crawling yet but he is really really close.  When I sit him on the floor he will go straight to all fours and he can get around the entire room on his own, just not the conventional way yet.  But I think he will have it all together in the coming days.  And I love that he can now get into sitting position on his own...I love going to get him in the mornings and he is sitting up smiling at me when I walk in his room!  And, as I am typing this, I turn around to see him behind me in his pack and play doing this....

Guess I can add pulling up to standing to his list of tricks!

Talking - he does a lot of babbling these days...I don't count all of the "mama's" and "dada's" as words yet since he hasn't really said them in the right context but he certainly has a wide repertoire of his own little words that he says!  I love his little language...can't wait to understand it!

Nicknames - As I did with Nate, I have a million little nicknames that just pop out and make no sense...but I always call him "Choo Choo" (that evolved from "Ma-Choo" :) but Nate kept telling me that wasn't how you say his name) and "Baby Love" (I don't know where this came from but it cracks me up when I hear Nate call him Baby Love...the other day I heard him said "Good Morning Baby Love, did you have a good nap?"  Makes me smile :) )

He is the sweetest little guy...he loves to play with toys and he is happy the majority of the time...I take him everywhere with me and he just goes with the flow.  He laughs and giggles and I just want to eat him up!!  I love this age....and I love my little Choo Choo!

Christmas Festivities

I can't believe Christmas is next week!?  Here are a few things the Cox Boys have been up to lately...

Kim and family were in town from TX so Matthew got to meet his new friend Ryan for the first time!  We had a fun day playing together...we were so glad they came to visit!

We had Breakfast with Santa at Nate's school.  Luckily, we got there pretty early so we didn't have to wait long to see the big guy...and Nate was totally prepared to hop up in his lap and tell him what he wanted.  He spotted two of Thomas's Friends - Dash and Bash - way back before Thanksgiving while we were shopping for Birthday presents and he has not forgotten them.  He tells me daily (literally) that he wants Santa to bring him Dash and Bash for Christmas....and I thought maybe he just got their names stuck in his head but, nope, he spotted them in a toy circular recently (weeks after he last saw them) and got all excited...so he knows exactly what he wants!  And he told Santa very clearly that he wants Dash and Bash...so, we'll see if Santa brings them...we still have over a week of trying to be "Nice" to go...

Nate and I attempted to make a gingerbread train...yep, that's it.  That thing tested the limits of my patience.  Clearly I failed.  We have a house still to make too...hopefully that works better.

We had a daytrip to AL to attend Tybee's 1st Birthday.  The boys had fun playing with cousins and Nate ate lots of sugar and helped Tybee open her presents....he was a little too helpful but he had a good time. 



Cousin Natalie with Tybee, Cousin Robyn with Langley and Corbin

 This week was Nate's Christmas program at his school.  It was in the evening so that was a little risky - especially since a costume was involved - but he did really well (i.e. the costume stayed on the whole time, he sang most of the songs and didn't try to leave the stage - success!).  Little singing 3-5 yr olds in costumes is really the cutest thing.

The reluctant Shephard

He perked up when I promised a cookie if he kept the costume on

Jingle Bells!

Losing Steam....

The headgear did some serious shifting throughout the evening - but it stayed on his head!  A Christmas miracle!

Last picture with his Teacher - Ms. Christy - he was itching to get to that cookie table!

My Turkeys

We had a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving...no travel, just cooking and eating and shopping.  Here are our Thanksgiving festivities.  Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving with their loved ones!

Nate at his school Thanksgiving Feast - before lunch they all sang "God Bless America", the "Little Pilgrim" song, and then the Blessing.  It was too cute.

Nate's "Turkey" that was our place setting for the feast

From his teachers...

Nate was kind enough to share his Indian Necklace with Matthew

Turkey Day!

Mmmm...good!

We had stuffed ourselves at Neena's and then walked to the school near her house to play

What I am most thankful for....

This is Matthew's new funny face....he makes it all of the time and makes me laugh!

Watching the FSU game...he was saying "Oh Oh Oooh...Oh Oh Ooooh"   (that was supposed to be the chop spelled out :))

Uh oh...we are in trouble...the first signs of crawling have begun!

Grandpa Dale, Dad and Nate built Nate's T-Rex over the weekend....This is Nate being eaten by the T-Rex!

The Final Chapter - Part 7 - Halloween Weekend

And so our month concludes with Halloween...and boy did we have an eventful Halloween weekend! 

It looks like he has seen a ghost!

On Thurs, I helped out with Nate's Halloween Party at school.  Since it was a costume party, he wore his Woody get up and he insisted I be Jessie.  (Other parents were dressed up too, so I wasn't quite as crazy as I look in these pics!)

Cupcake Cowboy

Woody & Jessie

I love this pic of Woody carrying his giant backpack

On Friday, Grandpa Dale, Aunt Julie, Keagan and Rayne, Aunt Abby and Uncle Jeff all came in to town.  So on Saturday we decided to make a day trip to see our Grandparents in AL (not realizing it was Talladega race day)...it was a longer drive than we had hoped for but we had a nice visit with them and the kids got to enjoy running around on a beautiful day (before getting back in the car!).

Grandmother Odom & Matthew

And then it was the big day...first we had a birthday party for Rayne...

Of course Nate had to take Rayne for a spin in her new doll stroller

Then we headed back to the Pumpkin Patch to pick up some more pumpkins for carving...

As the sun started to set, the costumes went on.  A brief aside about the costumes selections...Nate was Woody from the get-go and he wanted the rest of us to be Toy Story characters.  He was adamant that Matthew be an alien but I looked high and low for the costume (I really was not going to make anything this year, really!) but I couldn't find it, not even online - everything was sold out or on backorder.  Once I found out Keagan and Rayne were going to be with us for Halloween, I decided to make them all  partners...so Mom and I made Keagan a Jessie costume and we decided to make Matthew and Rayne Mr & Mrs Potato Head.  Which began the arts and crafts project...we weren't going to make anything but it turned out to be fun!

Mrs Potato Head ripped her eyes and nose off right away

Mr Potato Head with Woody's Grandma

Finally, we took to the streets

Snow White Summer and Cowgirl Shelby

 

Fairy Princess Pamela

It was a fun night...it got a little cool once the sun went down so the kids were ready to head home within an hour so we went back and warmed up with a bowl of chili before the little goblins had to retire for the evening.  Now, if I could just get all of this candy out of my house without eating it all myself....

So, that pretty much sums up the highlights of October...but I guess the biggest event around here is that I am officially done with my job and am currently a SAHM!  It might just be temporary but for now I am going to enjoy every minute of being home with the boys...it is a weird adjustment...once you are used to a blackberry's little red flashing light controlling you it's hard to turn your work mind off but I am learning how to be productive during the week so that we can actually enjoy weekends.  It feels great!!! 

Now, let the holiday madness begin!