Our little carpenter!

Matt was practicing with his hammer the other day. Practicing for his future in carpentry perhaps?? Maybe some day he'll build us our dream home to retire in!

We're still trying to figure out if he's righty or lefty, and I've read that sometimes you won't know for the first couple of years. But he usually throws (and as you can see, hammers) righty so I'm guessing on that at this point.

Ready for a ride!

One of Matt's great birthday presents, from his Nana and Grampa, was a bike seat for the back of my bike. It's called the CoPilot Limo, and boy is this thing really like a limo! It has padding everywhere and looks so comfy - I wish I could ride around in one! So we tried out the helmet for a little bit the other morning, and after a moment of complaint, Matt walked around not caring one little bit about the big thing on his head! I can't wait for our first ride!

One Year Old!

Matt had a wonderful birthday and was so happy to be surrounded by lots of friends and family on his special day! He had the two most important things any birthday boy should have...cake and beer!

Yes, Matt did his first keg stand! We'll be pulling those pictures out in about 17 years when he's heading off to college - just to remind him that he should be an old pro then! (And no, the tap is not really in his mouth!)

But on a more serious note, we can't believe our baby boy is one year old already! Where does the time go!?! It's amazing to think of all the things he's learned in the past year and it's even more exciting to think about the next year ahead of us!

Matthew is a very lucky boy to have such wonderful friends and family! Thank you to everyone who helped him celebrate (early on Tuesday night and also on Saturday - two parties!) and to those that sent birthday wishes!

The birthday boy had a great time with his slice of birthday cake and here are a couple snippets:

Cuddly Boy!

In an attempt to make Matt a little less of a brute, I taught him how to cuddle his stuffed animals. He picked that right up and then moved on to cuddling Wheaton and now cuddling everyone around him. He'll walk right up to you and put his head against you. It's the cutest move ever and he knows it - probably because we still saw "awww" every time he does it!A few weeks back, Matt and Lizzy went for a wagon ride to the playground. Along the way, Lizzy reached forward and ticked Matt in the belly! How cute is that?! In response he cuddled her, or at least attempted to. We all thought the whole thing was adorable, as you can tell from all the ohh-ing and aww-ing.

Horses

Matt had his first visit to a nearby horse farm a few weeks ago. He was really not too sure what to think of these huge animals. He just stood still and stared at the first one for quite awhile - and we all know Matt does not stand still ever so it was quite a site! But after a few minutes, he started laughing and pointing at them, and after a few more minutes, had moved on to running around the farm and playing with anything he could find, especially the hose.

We survived camping!

Matt's first camping trip was a success! We were a bit cold, we were a bit dirty, and we were a bit tired, but all in all, we had a great time! We met our family from Liverpool, NY about halfway and camped at Adriondack Adventure Resorts. The campground was great for kids with a nice playground, a sandy beach to play on, and a really fun kiddie pool! We also spent some time in downtown Saratoga and checked out Moreau Lake State Park. And of course, we played lots of games while doing lots of eating and drinking! Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Here is the tent from Matt's first camping trip. He only spent one night in it because of the weather, and then he moved over to his Nanny and Grampy's wonderful (heated) camper! We did a little musical beds the whole weekend to try to get everyone (people, babies, and dogs) comfortable. Unfortunately, Matt didn't sleep great wherever he was and was quite happy to be home in his bed last night (as were mom and dad)! Matt had a wonderful time just exploring the campground. He walked and walked and walked some more. And he loved watching his big cousins Abby, Brad, Kendal, and Gracie. They were almost like babysitters since they kept him so entertained!

Matt also loved checking out the lake and watching all the big kids catch tiny fish in their nets. He was also quite interested in the birds flying overhead.

And even more fun than that was the kiddie pool, which had all sorts of neat ways of squirting water around!

He also enjoyed touring the campground in his little red wagon! He even took a few rides with his cousins!

However, Matt's favorite part of the weekend by a landslide was watching his cousin David spit the ladder golf balls out (over and over again)! It was actually quite entertaining for the rest of us too!

So overall we had a very fun weekend and loved spending time with family! We were also very glad to be home last night and might not camp again for awhile!!!!!!!! ;-)

We love the spring!

Matt has been enjoying the wonderful weather and we've been outside everyday! He loves playing in his backyard, walking to the park, or just walking around outside between stores while mommy shops!

He has all sorts of fun toys in his backyard; a sand box, lots of big trucks, and a few ride on toys. However, he much prefers to play with the brooms and the rakes anything at all in the garage that is dangerous. He also has a little red wagon that he loves to ride around in and even shared a ride in with his friend Lizzy on Saturday night. It's a great place for him to sit and chill out while mommy goes around the yard watering all the flowers!

And as you can imagine, he's quite a dirty boy by the end of the day! He gets a bath in the bathtub every other night, but on non bath nights when he's very dirty, we just plop him in the sink for a quick wash. He actually quite enjoys it!