Tug's Birthday Party

We had a really nice time at Tug's birthday party on Saturday evening. Paul had tons of fun playing with Tug's toys and visiting Kaitlyn's hamster. Kaitlyn does so well with Paul that I told Uncle Keven I wished she could come babysit him while I got things done around the house. It was also very nice to see Keven's brother Matt and his wife Stefanie and their very cute baby boy Joey. We had lots of fun talking and laughing about early parenthood.

Yesterday morning at church was another story...it was a complete disaster! We had to go early for Sunday school because Paul was going to be in a skit next Sunday and I was in a skit this Sunday and we had to practice. Well, Paul did fine through all the confusion of the pre-church practices, but by the time it was time for church, he was DONE! It was a good thing I wore suspenders on him that day because I had to hold him by the suspenders as he kept trying to run off out of the pew and he was yelling and screaming like crazy. Then, when I had to go up and do my skit Jodie had to hold on to him for dear life. He was picking up Chad's toys and throwing them across the church! Then I had to give the Children's Sermon. He was taking the microphone around to all the kids and putting it in their faces and repeating everything I said very loudly. It was a mess! I guess I will laugh about it someday.

I did have a very nice time at my MOPs Christmas party that night.

Play Dough Fun

This morning we had fun playing with Play Dough. It's one of Paul's favorite activities. He is holding his play dough sandwich. Then we went over to the Queens for a delicious homemade pasta Italian feast. Paul had fun playing with Nina and Lydia.

Christmas Trains

Paul had a great time at the Washington model train exhibit. There were tons and tons of trains to watch and even a rocket ship to see blast off. Hopefully we'll make it back before it's over.

Gingerbread Cookies

I discovered that making gingerbread cookies with Paul pretty much just entails him eating icing and getting a bright green face. He also really enjoyed using the rolling pin but was more interested in trying to use it as a baseball bat. It was fun.

Busy Week

What a busy week. Monday and Tuesday we did our grocery and Sam's Club shopping. Also, on Tuesday we took soup to a new MOPS mom. I watched the kids while she got some things done. The older daughter was the same age as Paul and they had lots of fun running around. Taking care of the baby for even a brief time made me think I'll definitely feel more confident this time around.

Yesterday we had gym class then at night we had a very nice visit with Michelle Chicone. She got us a gingerbread man making kit. Paul was using his spatula for a hockey stick, as you can see in the picture.

Today we went to visit Keli, who helped me get Shawn's Christmas presents and then we had a nice lunch with her.

Tomorrow we hope to go see the model trains in town and Saturday we have Tug's b-day party. What a week!

Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum today with Pam, Pat and Elly. It was sure great to see them, it's been a while. Paul had a blast. We went early, which was good because it wasn't busy at all. He had fun building pipes and playing with toys in the water, throwing parachutes, climbing over a suspension bridge, going down a big slide, shooting rockets and much more. I tried hard to get a good picture of Paul and Elly, but when I'd catch one of them the other one would run off. In the picture with the hula-hoop, you can see that naptime was approaching.

Paul has been saying very funny things lately. Also, he seems to be developing two new skills. The first is coming up with excuses or reasons for things. For example, the other day:

I told Paul we needed to check the temperature to see how much we had to bundle up to go outside. He said, "No, I don't need to bundle up. My faith in God and Jesus will save me."

Also, he is learning to blame someone else. The other day he had a dirty diaper and Shawn asked him if he had a dirty diaper. He told Shawn no. A couple minutes later he told Shawn, "The firefighter has a dirty diaper. He stinks."

Winter is Here

We had our first real snow of the season this week, about an inch. Paul was excited to get out and play in it and to make snowballs.