Holidazzle and getting ready for Christmas

This past week we finally got our Christmas tree up. I was so excited to see it, and every night when we get home mommy and I turn the lights on. Here I am checking out the gifts under the tree (even though they weren't wrapped yet!)

One night I got to help mommy wrap a few gifts. My favorite part was putting bows on. I got a little carried away and put 13 bows on one box. I was just being creative!

Okay, ready for the next one!

On Saturday we headed downtown to see the Holidazzle parade. For those of you that don't know what this is, it's just like a regular parade, only it's at night and the floats are covered in lights. It's pretty cool.

We met up with 4 other families and had pizza first before the parade at Pizza Luce. Then we all bundled up and walked a few blocks to watch the Holidazzle. I got cold out there, so daddy brought me inside one of the buildings to warm up. He even let me ride up and down the escalator a few times while I was warming up.

Here are a few of my friends (Brooklyn, Zach, Gavin and Brady) watching the parade. We had front row seats!

Mommy, Daddy and I decided to take the skyway back to our car after the parade to help stay warm.

I was a happy boy on the way home! What a fun night!

Snow Storm, Birthday Party and Sleepover!

Boy, did I have a busy weekend! First off, we got a HUGE blizzard this weekend, and got about 17 inches of snow. I spent a lot of time looking out the window while my daddy slow blowed our driveway. I wanted to go out an play, but it was way too cold.

Despite the blizzard, we had a lot of stuff to do on Saturday. Mommy had to end up re-scheduling my 18-month photo shoot because Daddy was busy clearing snow and we didn't make it on time. We did make it to my friend Brady's birthday party though. He just turned 2, and he had a big party at Davanni's. Mommy took me there, but the roads were really snowy so we had to be careful. The party was really fun; we had pizza and of course cupcakes.

Here are some of my friends at the party, the rest of them were running around during the picture.

The Birthday Boy, Brady!

Here I am with my very best friend, Kendall. Her and I kept busy by running around during the party. We also had a screaming contest, and I think we were driving everyone a little nuts :) Kendall and I also had to hold hands for awhile during our pizza time, and our mommys were talking about keeping an eye on us when we are older.

As if the party wasn't enough excitement for me, when it was over, mommy took me home and we packed up a bag to head over to Brady's house. Brady, Addison, Brooklyn, Zach and I all got to hang out with a babysitter while our parents went to Shelli's annual Christmas party. We had a blast, but I crashed at about 9pm since I hadn't napped all day. I didn't even wake up when Mommy and Daddy came to get me later that night.

As Christmas gets closer, every day there seems to be more presents under the tree. I can't read yet, so I'm not sure who they are for, but I bet some of them are for me. Every night when Mommy brings me home from daycare we turn the lights on the tree and I repeat the word "TREE!" over and over.

Good night everyone!

Visiting Santa

On Tuesday night, Daddy picked me up from daycare early so that we could meet mommy at work. Santa was visiting her office so we went to see him. For those of you that know me, you know that I am NOT a fan of strangers at this point in my life, but especially this guy named Santa. He seems a little odd. I mean, who dresses like that? We took a family picture first, but as you can see by the look on my face, I was suspicious because I could see Santa standing in the corner.

I am much smarter than people think I am...I knew something was up. Sure enough, Santa came over to sit down, and Daddy set me on his lap. Thanks a lot Daddy! Needless, to say, I was not happy!

When Santa gave me a candy cane after the picture, I threw it back at him. I wanted to be clear that I didn't really like him. I think he understands. I sure hope I still get presents for Christmas now though....

This past weekend I also had my very first sleepover at Shelli's house (my daycare 'mom') Shelli's gift to all of the parents was to keep all of us kids overnight. It was so much fun, I got to hang out with all of my friends all night, and we had a popcorn party and ice cream sundaes. I even slept good for Shelli, and was still sleeping at 8am when Mommy came to get me. Mommy was wondering why I don't do that at home. I guess I just was tired out from all the fun at Shelli's.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we headed back to see both of my Grandma and Grandpas and all of my cousins. We got up really early on Thanksgiving day to head out. Mommy and Daddy were busy getting ready and packing the car, and I really wanted a snack. I didn't want to bother them, so I tried getting one myself. Turns out, I don't really care for hot tamales....oops, sorry mommy for the mess!

We spent Thanksgiving Day at Grandma and Grandpa Ploeger's house. I had just seen them the weekend before, so I kind of remembered them, but I was still shy at first. But then Grandma let me run around in the 'other side' of the house. I was so excited because I'm usually not allowed over there. It was so fun to run after being in the car for a few hours (the roads were really icy, so Daddy had to drive slow).

Grandma and I flipped through all of the ads from the paper, and I pointed out to her what I wanted for Christmas. My list was pretty long, but Grandma was really patient with me.

On Friday, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Owens' house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Travis, Jenny, Jacob and my cousins were there too. I had a lot of fun playing with them. Hunter and I were running around like crazy!

My newest cousin, baby Alli, was there too. I think I like her, however, my mommy pays an awful lot of attention to her, which I don't think I like. She was holding her FOREVER! Mommy seems to do this whenever she's around a baby, what's the deal?

Here's Grandma introducing me to Alli. I kept touching her head, but she was a good sport about it. After checking her out for awhile, I decided that she was okay, and I gave her a kiss. I even shared some of my toys with her.

Here's a picture of me with all of my cousins.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Swimming with Daddy

Saturday mornings are my favorite. Know why? Because every Saturday morning Daddy brings me to his health club and I get to go swimming! I love 'boy time'!

One of my favorite parts of the pool is the big purple slide. I get to climb up on my own (because I'm a big boy now), and I slide down on my belly. I do this over and over again until Daddy tells me that it's time to leave.

I can't wait until it's time to go swimming again next Saturday!

Keeping Busy

I have been keeping busy lately, mostly learning new tricks to keep Mommy and Daddy on their toes. I have learned that when I stand on things it makes me taller. This has proven to be a very useful trick; however, I get the feeling that Mommy and Daddy don't care for it when I stack things up and stand on them. The other day I decided to pull out the paper towels that Mommy bought and try to climb over the baby gate. I always have a good 'What? I'm not doing anything' look on my face when Mommy catches me.

Another one of my favorite new things to do is wrestle. My huge Winnie the Pooh bear is a perfect partner for this. I make Mommy laugh when I come running from across the room and 'attack'. She keeps telling me that I'm 'all boy'. Duh.

I also love to 'organize' things. I think I might take after Mommy on this one. I like to take things out of the pantry and stack them up in various places.

I just recently discovered sugar cookies with frosting. I'm certain that Mommy and Daddy held out on me on this one, but not any more! I could eat these all day long, yum!

I have been supporting the Vikings this year, per Daddy's request. I put my Vikings gear on every Sunday and watch the game on TV. I actually sit very good and watch with Daddy.

Yes, I realize I have a Nuk in my mouth and that I am almost 18 months old. Mommy keeps telling me that we are going to 'donate' them sometime soon. I have plenty hidden around the house, so I'm not too worried. Plus, she doesn't seem to follow through on this so I think I'm safe for now :)

That's all for now!

Halloween

I just have to say that I am not a huge fan of Halloween. Or, at least I didn't think I was. Mommy bought me this stupid costume that was itchy and expected me to put it on and smile. I don't get it, what's so fun about that? Mommy decided to put my costume on me for a 'practice run' (thanks a lot), and I was super mad!

The next day I saw Mommy putting my costume in a bag for daycare. I wasn't sure what that was about until the afternoon when we had our party at daycare. All of the rest of my friends had costumes too, so I decided to be good and put mine on this time. We got to eat cookies too, so I guess it's not so bad. Here I am with all my daycare friends. The girl to my left is Kendall, and she is my very best friend. I didn't dare cry in front of her :)

Since it was so nice out this year, Daddy decided to take me trick-or-treating at some of our neighbor's houses.

Daddy and I visited several houses in the neighborhood. He taught me how to say 'trick or treat' and I was saying it really well in the street. But, when I would get up to the door, I got very bashful and wouldn't say a word. Oh, well. I guess I just need to practice for next year.

I couldn't believe that all of these people filled up my pumpkin bucket with candy. I was so happy to show mommy when I got home! I guess this Halloween thing isn't so bad after all....

Go Rogers Royals!

Our football team, the Roger's Royals, is doing really well this year. They are in the playoffs, so we decided that we should support our hometown team! Last Friday night we met up with some of mommy and daddy's friends (and my friends were there too) for pizza before the game. After we ate we headed over the game, and it was PACKED!

Us kids had fun running around during the game. Here I am with some of my friends: Brady, Addison, and Brooklyn. Zach was there too, but just not in this picture.

I hope I get to go to more football games in the future, because they sure are fun!

Go Daddy Go!

This past Sunday my daddy ran in the Twin Cities marathon. Grandma and Grandpa Owens were here to watch, and daddy's friends Tony and Bob came too, and also Bob's son Charlie.

Grandpa, Grandma, Mommy and I left the house very early to meet daddy at mile 7. It was so cold out that morning, that I had to bundle up to keep warm. Here I am waiting to see daddy at mile 7.

There were so many people running, that we almost missed daddy at this stop. But, at the last minute we saw him, and mommy, grandpa and grandma were yelling his name to cheer him on. He saw us and smiled and then kept running.

After we saw daddy we walked back to the car and drove over to mile 16. I accidentally fell asleep, so I had to rely on mommy for the rest of this post. We met up with Bob, Tony and Charlie at mile 16 and saw daddy running again. This time we had to wait a little longer to see him because we were a few minutes ahead of him. But, we finally saw him in the crowd and yelled his name again to cheer him on. He kept running. Maybe I'm not understanding this whole marathon thing....why are we trying to find daddy only to have him keep running away from us? I guess I need to ask more questions. Here's daddy waving to mommy at mile 16. Go Daddy go!

After we saw daddy at mile 16, we split up a little. Grandpa went with Tony, Bob and Charlie, and Grandma came with mommy and I. Why am I always stuck with the girls? The boys went to mile 23 to cheer daddy on, and they called us when they saw him. Grandma stood at mile 25, and mommy and I went to mile 26. We were so excited to see daddy at the top of the hill! Mommy was cheering so loud telling him that he was almost done!

After we saw daddy, we started walking down to the finish line so that we could see him. We found him by the 'O' sign for Owens. I was so glad to finally hug my daddy!

Mommy and I were SO proud of daddy for finishing the marathon! We knew he could do it! And he did it in 3 hours and 26 minutes, very impressive for his first time!

Here's daddy and I after we got home. I couldn't wait to show him the sign that we made for him. Good job daddy, we are all so proud of you!

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday Grandma and Grandpa Owens came to visit me. We all decided to goto Apple Jack Orchard in the afternoon, and mommy promised me that I could pick out my pumpkin for Halloween.

Mommy forgot to mention, however, that there would be HUNDREDS of pumpkins to choose from! I couldn't believe it, and I took off running when I saw them all! I just kept saying 'pamp' over and over again. I tried to pick them up, but they were too heavy for me.

Mommy and Grandma went inside the bake shoppe to get us some treats, and while they were doing that, Daddy took me over to see the goats

and then bought me some popcorn to feed them. I thought it was so funny when they stuck their heads out to eat the popcorn. But, I soon got tired of that and decided that I wanted to eat the popcorn off the ground instead. Mommy didn't like that too much.

Here I am looking at the turkeys too. I wasn't scared and all and put my face right up to them. Mommy was scared that I was going to lose an eye, so I had to take a few steps back. Silly mama! :)

After running around for awhile, and stopping at all the 'photo op' places (see attached photos), I finally found my pumpkin! By that time I was really tuckered out, so grandpa found me a wagon to ride back to the car in. Thanks grandpa!

That's all for now!

Oh, and P.S., I'm not quite sure why this place was called an 'apple' orchard, I didn't even see an apple when I was there?!? I think mommy and daddy were holding out on me.