Playing in the Snow

We got some fresh snow so we decided to take Tyler out to try his new sled. He really enjoyed his little spin around the yard and up and down the sidewalk. Daddy can't wait to get him on the mountain, but Mommy says we'll have to wait until at least next year!

What is this stuff and where did my arm go?
Wheee!

Come on, pull me again, enough of the pictures!

Of course Kirby had to get in on the fun!

I like this snow stuff!

Tyler has become quite chatty. He likes to talk while playing, eating, walking. Oh yes, he is walking everywhere now! He walks more than he crawls. It was such a quick transition. As soon as we catch some good footage I will post it.

Our First Family Christmas

We really enjoyed our first Christmas with Tyler. We are so fortunate to have so much family around us and everyone was able to watch him tear into his first Christmas presents. He was very interested in the boxes, ribbon, and wrapping paper, and is now playing with all of the gifts. Thank you to everyone who came to our open house and hosted us for holiday festivities this year!

Great Grandma Lois and a tired monkey

Riding his new rocking horse, thanks Aunt Joey!

Enjoying homemade peppermint ice cream with Great Grandpa Al and Great Grandma Helen Jane

I love being in the kitchen!

Holiday Time!

We have been having a great time getting into the holiday swing of things. Recently the Peppmeiers had us over for a little holiday cheer and the kids decorated gingerbread men while the adults sampled some fine holiday spirits.

Will decorating his man

Jack's cookie looks delicious!

Tyler was very fond of playing with Jack's feet... who needs toys?

We will be having a lot of fun on Christmas Eve and Christmas with many people to see, lots of delish food to eat, and I'm sure there will lots of pictures taken of Tyler's first Christmas!

Trip to see Santa

Tyler went to see Santa on Thursday. He did pretty well and really wanted to just check Santa out. I think the big beard was interesting to him. We took some pictures of him afterwards posing near the North Pole display.
Today I gave Tyler one of his presents. I figure he will be overwhelmed on Friday, so we can let him play with them early. His shirt says "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night". How thoughtful! But honestly he has been such a good sleeper lately, sleeping about 12 hours straight at night. Thank you Tyler!

Walking update: 42 steps is the record, from the back door to the fridge.. way to go, buddy!

A Trip Down South

We looked at the weather forecast for Whitefish this past week and decided, "Hey, let's go to San Diego!" We took a quick trip down south and were able to see Nana and Papie, Chris and Neal, and the Larkin family. The weather was spectacular (after a stormy, windy, rainy arrival). Sunny skies and temperatures above 10 degrees were really all we were looking for, and as usual, San Diego delivered. Thank you to everyone for making our trip so fun. We'll come back in the spring for a thaw from the snow!

Tyler and Grandpa Scott
Playing with water (his favorite thing) with Grandma Gayle

Discovering the wagon, which he later napped in

In his Christmas outfit with Fun Aunt Chris

Enjoying the view and weather at the beach

Tyler and his life sized Tiger

Papie and his great grandson

Nana and her great grandson

First Steps!

We were finally able to film Tyler walking. He is also quite chatty in this clip. Each day he seems to get a bit more steady and take a few more consecutive steps. Soon he will be running and we will be chasing him!

Nudy

Tyler loves to be naked. When we change his clothes, he complains as soon as the new clothes start going on. Well we decided to leave him half dressed the other day, and he was thrilled! In other news, he has now taken 3 steps by himself. Stay tuned for video footage!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were so fortunate to be able to spend it with people that we love. Everyone truly had a great time. Delicious food, great conversations, and a fun atmosphere made today very special. Thank you to everyone who was able to share our day with us, and Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family out there!

Al & Helen Jane getting cozy before dinner

Aunt Joey and Gramma Lois feeding a snoozy Tyler

Uncle Nico and Tyler goofing around

The Crew! Stef, Mike, Kathy, Mark, Scott, Rick, and Debi

Weekend Pics

This past Saturday was the annual Cat-Griz football game, when MSU and UM battle on the gridiron. Unfortunately, our Bobcats lost again. We took in the game at the bar, all decked out in our blue and gold attire. Tyler didn't seem to interested in the game and took a nap instead. Thanks to Doug for letting Tyler snooze on his coat. He seemed pretty cozy!

"I'm thinking Bobcats... in my dreams"

We also had an early Thanksgiving at Doug and Christine's since they are headed to Nebraska to spend the holiday with Katie and Aric. We had a wonderful meal and were able to spend some time with LeeAnn and Great Grandpa Al and Great Grandma Helen Jane.

Al with Arlo and Tyler

Kirby and Tyler

I know we've said it before, but Kirby and Tyler really are great buddies. Kirby is so patient with him when he is pulling his hair, chasing him, or grabbing him by the tail. Here is a video showing how Kirby acts out occassionally. It is about a bit long, but you will see Kirby being weird, Tyler standing by himself, and lots of kisses.

In other news, Tyler is in a stage where he will only eat things that he can feed himself. He loves his "puffs" (Gerber Graduates thingies like Cheerios) and the yogurt meltaways. Applesauce has turned into diced apples, and his favorite yams will have to be finger food. What a monkey... He also loves to create his own obstacle courses out of our furniture, particularly the barstools. Sometimes he gets high-centered and we have to rescue him.

Happy Halloween!

We had a little halloween get together so everyone could see Tyler. He opted not to nap all day, so when costume time came around, he was actually pretty good about keeping it on. He was so tired! We were able to see Team Peppmeier and their Star Wars clan. The boys were very convincing as Luke and Darth Vader, and Annemarie was the best Yoda! We handed out candy to all the kids and got to see some great costumes. It was a pretty good first Halloween!

With Batgirl, AKA Grandma Kath

Snoozy, but I'll pose for pics!

Up To No Good

Tyler has learned how to open cabinets and drawers. He was a fan of the cabinet that had the pots and pans. Shortly after this picture, all lower cabinets were baby-fied with latches. Our house is like a maze with gates: the bottom of the stairs, blocking off certain rooms, guarding the bar, guarding the wine bottle racks.... Anything we can do to keep him out of things!

I like to make music with lids!

I had a rough day and fell asleep in my jumperoo!

Look at my new winter hat! I hate mittens!

Our Good Eater

Tyler has become a great eater. He loves his puffs and likes to grab a handful and put them in his mouth. It is so funny to watch him do it, and he is so proud of himself. He is eating applesauce, bananas, yams, sweet potatoes, and turkey. We tried lentils this week, and he wasn't into them. He loves to take the spoon when he is done eating and play with it. He is really becoming much better at meal time, maybe we can go out to dinner again soon!

Yummy! Mommy makes delicious food for me!

My First Truck

This is my truck that I have at Nana and Papa's house. It is so cool! I can push buttons on it and it sings a song and makes neat truck noises. There are 2 cars and little people that go with it. I like to push them around the house! I love my truck!

First snow of the winter

You never know what the weather will be like here in Northwest Montana. 3 weeks ago it was summer, and now it's in the 20's (dipping down to single digits at night!). Tyler had his first interaction with snow last night. We were at the Sargents house for dinner and they received quite a bit more snow than we did.

After feeling the snow for a bit, he started crying when he realized it his hand was freezing. And wouldn't you know it, absolutely no snow today!

Our Little Helper

Someone has discovered how nice clothes fresh from the dryer feel!

Now if only he could learn to put them away...

Are you ready for some football?

While Daddy was working on Sunday, Tyler and I caught the action at home.

September trip to California

We just returned from a week-long trip to the Bay Area. We were in San Francisco for 5 days and then stayed in the Napa Valley for 3 days. We were able to see see friends and family, go to an A's game, take a ferry ride to Sausalito, and go to our friends Erik and Nicole's wedding. It was a great trip! Getting ready to take the ferry to Sausalito. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we were able to eat at our favorite restaurant over there with a beautiful view of the water.
Tailgating in the parking lot before the game, just like old times.Let's go Oakland! The A's won at Tyler's first baseball game.
Enjoying a picnic and some wine at Viansa winery.

View of the Napa Valley

A private tour and tasting at Duckhorn. It was a fabulous experience with delicious wine and cheese pairings.

Scott and Tyler at the entrance to Castello de Amorosa, a winery that has been modeled after an 18th century Tuscan castle.
At Rombauer vineyards. We also had a private tour and tasting here.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. They were married at Sts. Peter and Paul's Church in San Francisco. The reception was out at the Olympic Club and was a lot of fun.

We were at the Kappa Sigma table. It was great to see these guys again! Time to hit the dance floor!

Monkeying around at the SFO airport as we wait for our flight.