Tommy and Grandma

This picture was just too cute to not put on the blog right away! From our weekend in New Ulm... cut short by snow, but still a very fun weekend!

PJs

Tell a little boy that he is cute in his PJs ... and then go get the camera when it is already past his bedtime ... and this is what you get.

Halloween 2008

So, I'm still playing blog-catchup. Since I don't want to blog about the Gopher Game last night, I thought we'd go back to Halloween. We had a cute little owl that loved to flap his wings. Mike was Hamburglar, and I was either a McDonald's employee circa 1993 or "Me - 15 years ago" - take your pick.

Best Buddies

Are these two cute or what! Everytime I try to take their pictures, they tend to sit a few feet apart... But Tommy and Garrett sure know how to have fun together. This past weekend, they got their haircuts together, watched a little parade and played piano. They also enjoy singing Ring-Around-The-Rosy, but Tommy just seems to play for the "all-fall-down" part. Garrett's teachers at daycare asked his dad one day who Tommy was because Garrett was calling Tommy on the play phone - and talking to him about meat, rice, and apple pie. Our boys like to eat!

A Beautiful Fall Season

I have many favorite pictures from this fall, but here are just a few of them.

We are so lucky to live so close to a nature preserve, and we really enjoyed visiting it this fall. Tommy loves the 'pond of water'. Our daycare takes walks in this area too, and Tommy's teacher told me that Tommy loves to 'fish' with a stick. Lucky boy!

More Birthday Photos!

I just love his little smirk in this photo! Tommy's birthday was on a Thursday this year, so it was just the three of us that night. We had a nice dinner, super fancy Hostess cupcakes and we played outside. We gave Tommy a big bag of balls for his indoor ball pit, and we think he liked it!

When you are 2, sometimes getting to the present is the best part... (Thanks to my coworker for Rebecca for the fun!)

Happy 2nd Birthday Tommy! (on 9/25)

(Ok, I'm very behind in blogging, but I plan on doing some catch up today!)

Happy 2nd Birthday Tommy! Wonderful opportunity to get family together, beautiful weather... and my little boy turned 2! Shocking. I don't get to report his age in months anymore, which is quite the adjustment for me.

MN State Fair 2008

2nd place winner...

of his work's Mustache contest. As Mike said, "Such a nice photo. Too bad I have a mustache."

Rainbarrel Advertisement...

Tommy should be in commercials. He didn't even pose for this, he just loves watering from the rainbarrel. What a salesman.

July Updates

This summer has been so busy, I almost don't know where to start! Tommy is definitely a toddler, and a bundle of fun and energy. A few firsts in the last month or so:

1) Tommy's first Twins Game! He was in no hurry to leave at the end.

2) Tommy's first McDonald's french fry... and he asked for more. So, he seems to have enjoyed it which makes me both happy and sad!

3) Tommy went underwater at swimming lessons, and didn't mind it.

4) Tommy's first Bavarian Blast (i.e. Heritagefest with a new name). He enjoyed all of it except the Narren and the big stuffed Goose, Gnomes and Mushrooms, and would have preferred the music be a bit quieter. I also learned something during that weekend in New Ulm - parades during naptime just aren't as much fun as they could be.

5) Tommy's 2nd Saints Game - with all the Larsen aunts and uncles and cousins. Tommy had a great time! He kept a close eye on Madonna, the big pink pig mascot and seemed to really like her. Then she got closer, so Mike and I decided to go have Tommy's picture taken with her. Tommy was terrified, just terrified. For the rest of the game, he kept repeating, "piggy bye-bye?". I must have said, "Yes, Piggy is bye-bye" about 50 times.

6) Lots of new words! Including everybody and umbrella. Tommy, what color is a bus? Lellow. Tommy, what color is a strawberry? Lellow. No Tommy, a strawberry is red. Tommy says "Lred". All colors start with an L. Adorable. And everything in the world is lellow. He seems to know what every animal I can think of can say (thank you daycare).

We've seen the Poynters a few times since they've moved to MN, and Tommy and Garrett are pretty cute to watch together. You'll recall this picture from last summer when they first met:

And now:

In other news, Tommy still loves to pretend to mow the lawn, and watch anyone else mow the lawn. Tommy loves to play with balls, chalk, go for walks and still loves ducks and Elmo. He's growing tall enough to reach doorknobs, and knows how they work. He's recently started to want to sit in the front seat of the car and pretend to drive. He insists on saying goodbye to his toys when he's done playing or getting out of the bathtub - he's so polite.

On the sad side, we found out that our daycare center is closing on Aug 15. We're crushed! Ask Tommy what his name is? The answer will be "Sheila", his favorite daycare teacher. So, we're on a hunt for a new wonderful daycare and accepting all advice and tips any of you may have. After touring 8+ centers in the area, I feel like an expert yet still don't know what to do.

Last but not least, we had a party to welcome the Poynters to Minnesota! Dave took so many wonderful pictures, but here are a few of my favorites.

Garrett

TommyRiley with Lauren and ConnorTommy and Maddie

Swimming Lessons

Tommy and Mike started swimming lessons a few weeks ago. Tommy seems to like it! Mostly he likes the balls and boats they get to play with, but Mike says he's getting the hang of it. My favorite part is when I walk up afterwards with a towel, and Tommy's teeth are chattering and he's shivering... yet he still is pointing to the pool, saying 'water' and 'ball'. What a trooper! Click on the picture to make it larger so you can see Tommy's happy little grin!

I missed May...

I know I missed May - oops. We were busy, and took plenty of cute pictures but the blogging just didn't keep up. But I'm making up for it! There are quite a few new posts tonight... and we'll see if I stop anytime soon. Some updates on Tommy - another fun item he learned at daycare: he never started saying no, he just skipped ahead to saying "No way". He's also started saying things like water, bubbles, mow, outside, baby, and Ernie. He knows many animal sounds, and most of his daycare teacher's names - especially Sheila and Hana. I love when he repeats what I say, however surprised I may be at the time. He loves to be outside and enjoys trying to drink from a regular cup. He's learned to give kisses, which melt my heart every time. I could go on and on... but check out the blogs below and I'll try to keep up with my blogging!

Minnesota's 150th Birthday

We celebrated by visiting the Capitol for the big Party! It was extra interesting because the Legislature was in Session that day, and we got to climb up to the roof to see the Golden Horses!

Who needs toys...

...when we have huge furniture boxes and Daddy's muddy boots! We also had a lot of mud in the backyard, but I didn't let him linger in that long enough to take a picture. We're in the midst of a landscaping project, and we'll post after-pictures when its done.

Katie graduates Daycare... and Cake!

Our niece Katie graduated from daycare this spring, with 4 other preschoolers, and the whole place partied. This meant that Tommy's room, the toddlers, got cake. 12 toddlers with cake - his teachers are saints, or crazy.

Katie is in the middle - Congrats Katie! We'll miss having you at daycare this fall.

Tommy mostly likes frosting. Other toddlers were cleaner, but many were much worse. Adorable.

Kansas City!

The Larsens visited the Rasks for Memorial Day Weekend this year. The drive was smooth, the weather was warm, and the company was fabulous! Tommy even warmed up to Zee (their dog) after a few days, and his new favorite word for many, many days was puppy. Sarah and I took the boys to Jiggle Jam one day, which was a huge festival filled with strollers, bubbles, corn dogs and diapers - and it was fun! The boys golfed, of course and there was a lot of commiserating as usual. Thanks to Kevin, Sarah, Tony and Zee for being such wonderful hosts! Here are some highlights. There is also a video of Tommy and Zee - go to the link at the right for "YouTube stuff from us" and look for Tommy Pets a Dog. Makes me laugh everytime.


Jiggle Jam was HOT, and Tommy didn't exactly acclimate quickly... but....





The huge area of fountains and screaming wet kids helped that alot! And I love this picture of Tommy's cute minnesota-hued belly, which matches my arm. Part of the reason the belly looks fair is because of all the sunscreen I slathered on!

Tony and Sarah

He does like gelato!

The planting of the Friendship Bush.