More Fun with the Video Camera!

Just a few second long glimpse into the humor of feeding an infant.

Now, I fully concede that this could purely be my imagination. However, I swear he says "kitty" when he sees Shadow enter the room.

You be the judge.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas!

Well Christmas is officially in the air! The house is a wreck and there's something allocated to every free moment on the calendar! But it's so exciting counting the down the days and knowing what a special first Christmas we'll have as a family. No matter how many Christmases we all experience, there is something so magical about this time of year, and going through it with our son now makes it even more wonderful. I so look forward to seeing it all through his eyes in years to come and remembering what is was like when it was brand new to us, too.

Matty certainly seems to be enjoying the new eye candy around the house! The wooden "Merry Christmas" train from my childhood came out yesterday and he was all about it! I can see us clocking many miles around the house, someone pulling and Matty trailing behind! And "Tumbling Santa" was an especially huge hit! The wooden toy that Bop handcrafted for me when I was little is such a unique toy, and so simple, but mesmerizing at the same time! We all could watch Santa tumbling down that ladder over and over again! Matty and Ben placed the first ornament, a Waterford choo choo train Patsy gave us to commemorate his first Christmas, on the tree last night. The house is really starting to come together and we're excited it's almost time to start our celebrating!

Matty's school has been very busy since Thanksgiving. Us Room Mothers have been busy planning a surprise Teacher Appreciation dinner for all the teachers at DCA. The dinner was Tuesday and I have to say, they were very surprised and the evening was a huge success. These women are truly amazing, and genuinely love these kids, and every mother there was proud to serve them our homemade dinner to try to thank them for all they do for our children. The Christmas Program is this afternoon as well as a Bake Sale we've been putting together. I am so excited about the Program, all the children are in it, yes, including the infant room...they have even been rehearsing for the past couple of weeks! I can't wait to see it come together, it's all a big surprise! Our neighborhood had their Christmas party Sunday evening, which I also helped out with (yes, I know, I need to start saying no!) We got the chance to get to know our new next door neighbors and it was funny to learn that the wife went to Stratford, our rival high school, and also graduated in '95! Small world! I think we're going to enjoy having them as neighbors!

Last weekend was Davis MacIsaac's first birthday party! It was so fun to get together and celebrate Matty's little friend! I can't believe he is already 1 and that Jake and Matty will be there before we know it! Davis gave all the children Santa hats with their names on them! They are so cute and I must say rather toasty warm, I've worn Matty's on more than one occasion. I might need to don in again this weekend, as I roll up my sleeves and start the holiday baking. If anyone has ever seen me in the kitchen, wish Ben and Matty good luck.

Matty is pulling up well now and enjoying the new things that he now has access to. His father's wallet for instance. Getting an early start on going through that one. And we're trying all sorts of new finger foods. He loves wagon wheels and puffs, but we're still getting used to Cheerios. The baked potato did NOT go over well when I made another attempt this week. I mean Oscar worthy, full on gagging at my cooking. I thought I had years before I had to worry about that. We're getting used to the tastes and textures of ripe pear and cheese cubes. All in a day's work for an 8 month old.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! It certainly was a special one for us, and I hope it was for all of you. It was so special to be in our home with Matty and to have my parents with us as well. We missed the rest of our family very much, but it was wonderful nonetheless. And how much we have to be thankful for was not lost on us at all. I, myself, got a bit choked up during grace. To have our son with us and my mom healthy...oh we are blessed!

The Thanksgiving celebrations started for us last week with a party in Matty's class. The kiddies weren't exactly chomping down on all the turkey and gravy, but the parents sure were while our little ones just kept on playing! And each child was sent home with his very own Thanksgiving place mat with his name on it! Mom and I worked away in the kitchen Wednesday and Thursday and if I do say so myself dinner was great. Matty sat happily with us at the table with his place mat, but only tasted the mashed potatoes and, surprisingly, those were not such a hit. I picked up another one at the store today however, I'll be giving it another go this week. While Mom and I cooked, Ben, Bop and Matty just played and played! I think they all wore each other out! Matty played with every toy he owns and then moved onto super fun things like lamp cords and sharp table corners. After all they are way more fun. :)

Matty is 8 months old today if you can believe it! And he has lots of news to report this month as well: Matty has cut two new teeth in the last week alone! Not the top middle two, however, oh no, in the spirit of Twilight and all things vampire, Matty is cutting fangs! At first I thought "oh no, these are not coming in right at all!" He is doing pretty well, but those poor gums. Thank goodness for baby Orajel. And last Sunday morning Matty pulled to kneeling for the first time and just as I could motion to my mom what was happening he was pulling to stand! I could hardly believe it! Now nothing in the house is safe and it's amazing how he finds the least sturdy items to pull up on! We're very proud of him and it's just a matter of time before he's walking...God bless us. He is also starting on finger foods now! So far however he's not so interested which I find shocking, because everything goes in this kid's mouth! But every time a puff goes in, he promptly sticks his tongue out til it falls out. Hmm...

The rest of us Browning's have been keeping busy as well. Ben is getting more and more Georgia Solar projects and I seem to be volunteering for everything under the sun! But the end of the year will be here before we know it and chances for lots more family time together. I can hardly wait!

More Videos!

Well the Browning's have certainly kept the camcorder busy this week. Matty is just at such a cute age, we (ok I) can't seem to stop recording him!

This first one was taken Monday night (pardon the unmade bed!) when Matty was in fits of giggles at peek-a-boo!

Then Tuesday evening while the rest of the world was watching election coverage last night, Matty and I took a break to explore the intricacies of the laundry basket. Who knew it could be so fun! He's crawling up a storm now as you can plainly see. Later that night he crawled to me with such purpose as if to say, "There's my mom, I want my mom, I'm going to go get my mom!" It was a proud moment I must say.

Hope you enjoy! Have a great rest of your week!