Lightbulbs!

We finally made it back to Pyramid Hill to see the Christmas lights. It was spectacular, and of course looks totally lame in photos.

We let Sean hang out the car window for a minute as we passed a really close bunch of lights.

Oops, forgot to wait until the car stopped to take this one....

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Here's a random photo of our stockings and Christmas cards thus far. Yes, we have a faux wall in our family room. Groovy, huh? :)

In other exciting news, Dad got his first #2 catch last week! Sean pooped on the toilet! For a couple of evenings, he would sign for toilet about 3/4 of the way through dinner. We were thinking this was becoming a habit for not eating dinner (it's just so hard to sit still and eat!), but then the next night he didn't ask to go to the toilet. Anyway that was pretty exciting - it's SO nice to be able to communicate with Sean! That has been a frustrating point for us since the beginning. I can't count the number of times we looked at each other and said, "If only he could tell us why he is crying!" Now he still cries but at least it's easier to figure out why. :) Now we ask lots of yes and no questions until we can narrow it down to the "Yes!"

Also, Mom is proud to announce that Sean knows the numbers 1, 2, and 8. I think that's because he loves playing with the Rummikub tiles, so we talk about numbers a lot. He also knows the color green and is getting better at only calling green things green (at the beginning every color was green).

We are now in Webster, NY for Christmas with the Spoonhowers. I will post some pictures soon.

An Early Christmas Gift

Uncle Paul was generous enough to send Sean an awesome red Schwinn bike for Christmas! The box was under our tree for a week, and we opened it up today since we had a bit of free time. Sean was very excited.



Video:



And here is it all put together!



Thanks Uncle Paul! We will see you and the rest of the Spoons next week.

Last week we drove to see the lights on Pyramid Hill. Unfortunately they couldn't make change for us, so we just had to go back home. We'll return and see the whole thing soon. Sean loves lightbulbs, after all.

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Last weekend we drove to Champaign to visit our good friends, Ev, Erica, and their daughter Elana. We had a great time! It was strange to drive by our old house (in their neighborhood) but for it to not be our house. Also we missed some of our other friends (Kenny and Amy) who don't live there anymore.

Here's our old house. I took this picture to show off my pride and joy, the tree that I planted in 2006. I bought it for about $1.20 from the Saint Joseph County Soil and Water Conservation District. When I planted it it was about 18" tall and was constantly referred to as a "stick" by Jeff. Well, look at it now! It's a hybrid poplar, a fast-growing species. I was unhappy to see that the new owners killed all of my native plants and strawberries (why would you get rid of delicious strawberries?) that I put in around the front porch, but at least they kept a few things - this poplar, a pussy willow, a sycamore, a couple of juniper shrubs, and some lilacs.

Elana had a pair of cymbals that Sean played almost constantly as soon as he found them. He will be delighted on Christmas to find out that St. Nick picked up a pair for him this morning.

This is the new library in Champaign. It was amazing. They built a whole new building that was finished this year, I think. It was incredible! We spent a lot of time at the old library and loved it. The new one looks even better! To me its exterior is not architecturally impressive, but the inside is really nice and open.

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Here's one last picture from yesterday at home. Sean likes to stack the "donuts" on his arm. If anyone has suggestions on how I can get Sean to stop sitting like this, please let me know! I am constantly rearranging his legs so that he sits properly, but he continues to "kneel" like this which I've heard is bad for the knees.

I think I have some more photos from Champaign. Stay tuned.

November

So, November turned out to be a month of blog-slacking.

Here are some highlights of what we did.

The people who live across the street had a tree cut down one day.

It was very exciting to have so many trucks and wheels in our street!

Later we went outside for a while, but then all the trucks were gone.... This photo was taken by Dad who was inside staying warm!

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We went to the Christmas tree lighting in downtown Hamilton. It was extremely cold. We had Sean bundled up just fine but we forgot our own hats and gloves! It was about 23 degrees I think. I managed a smile after we found some hot cider at the Cappucino Depot.

The city also offered free horse-drawn cart rides. We had to wait a long time (well it seemed like a long time because it was so cold, and nearing bedtime) but it was worth it. Even now every time we drive through downtown, Sean says "Horse! Horse!" so I know he remembers how much fun we had. In this picture Sean is loitering in a dark corner outside the courthouse, waiting for our turn on the wagon.

Finally! On the wagon! They even had some nice heavy blankets for us.

After the ride we saw the horses up close. Sean stuck his tongue out just like the horses did.

Isn't the horse's eye interesting?

Toilet! Toilet!

This evening as I was changing Sean into his pajamas, he squeezed out a little toot, laughed, then made the sign for toilet. I thought for sure we were going to get our first solid catch (we've been trying this for a little while now, encouraging him to let us know when he needs to use the toilet, and explaining that instead of pooping in his diaper - which requires the dreaded diaper change - he can poop on the toilet). There was no #2 but we did get our first #1 catch in the toilet! Woo-hoo Sean! You make your Mom and Dad proud! :)

ND vs. Pitt

Here are some photos from this past weekend. We had a great time hanging out with Aunt Elizabeth!

On Friday we had dinner at Senior Bar (I still can't call it Legends, sorry), courtesy of the iNDustry Alliance.

On Saturday we walked around campus for a while. Sean was all seriousness in the new science building.

In front of the stadium. He wouldn't stand still any longer to get one with the field in the background - there were way too many souvenir and food trailers (WHEELS!) to check out.

Father Joyce has HUGE hands!

I bought this bottle of milk for Sean from a vending machine in the library. Of course when I wasn't looking for two seconds while talking with some old friends, he opened it and tried to drink out of it, spilling it all over himself. Then we had to go back to the library to dry off under the hand dryers, but he didn't like that because they were so loud. What's a mom to do? Obviously the answer is, don't have a conversation in the first place! Well I must add that Aunt Elizabeth was most helpful in allowing Mom and Dad to have some conversations this weekend. It was nice!

Mom and Sean watching the band march by on their way to the stadium. He was very tired at this point, unfortunately. I know he really would have enjoyed it if he had had any energy left.

He really did not enjoy the cymbals being so close. It was loud.

My sweet pie. (Just ignore my non-photogenic blinking here.)

On Sunday morning, Sean fed some pretzels to the swans and ducks. He also ate some himself (pretzels, that is - not swans and ducks). He tried to eat one off of the ground but I quickly tossed it into the lake.

That's it for now....

Ok, so I did find some pictures

Did I say not much exciting has been going on? How did I forget our exciting Saturday last weekend?! Gone is the old harvest gold, water-wasting, ugly triangular toilet. The hall bathroom has now been introduced to the 21st century! First Sean tried out the bowl in the living room. He also thoroughly inspected the new toilet and all of its levers and working parts.

Here is a cute shot in his crib just after nap time. If only I had cleaned his face off better after lunch, this would be one to print!

Here is an after-nap video. I usually take him out of the crib right when he wakes up so that he doesn't think of it as a playpen, but there are some exceptions. I think on this day I was just letting him go because we were having a rough day - hence the "Are you a terrible two?" questions which turned into a game.

Oh, how I wish I were crafty!

These projects look like so much fun!

http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/homemade-toys.html

Update

Sorry for the lack of posts... not much exciting has been going on around here. We are heading to the ND/Pitt game this weekend, so I will have a lot of photos to post once we get back....

Around the house

Here's Mrs. Deer (or should I say Ms. Deer, since I have never seen Mr. Deer) in the corner of our back yard. Usually she has two little ones tagging along.

I've been working on opening some of our windows which are painted shut. Why would anyone paint his windows shut?! I just don't know. I live for fresh air in my house. Anyway this particular window was a little scary because I had to climb high up on a ladder. I do not like heights.

Ok, on to Sean. Mr. Sean loves to play outside! This is at the front of the house.

I tried to get Sean to sit nicely on a rock and smile at the camera. It was a good effort. The pergola shadows kind of threw me off too.

Sean is getting ready to sweep the sidewalk.

That's a nice pose!

In the family room.

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Sean was really into playing the piano the other day. Unfortunately he woke up early from his afternoon nap, so he was a bit tired and losing coordination. I sort of feel bad posting these videos at his expense, but they are cute and funny. Apologies for the lack of focus with the camera.

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Here is a video of Sean inspecting one of the piano wheels. The floor is a little uneven so this one moves, which is terribly interesting.

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That's it for now - GO IRISH! Beat Tar Heels!

Sean makes his debut in Notre Dame magazine!

http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/au2008/spoonhower.html

September weddings, part II

Last weekend we drove to Michigan for the wedding of one of Jeff's friends from ND. It was a traditional Hindu wedding, so it was unlike any wedding we had ever gone to. It was also larger than any wedding we had ever gone to - there were 600 guests!

Here is the room where the wedding took place.

Sean and Dad, outside waiting for the groom to arrive.

The wedding ceremony was 2.5 hours long. Sean did great and just played in our row the whole time! We couldn't believe it. He also spent some time rolling around on the ground looking up at us.

At the reception.

Sean wasn't a huge fan of being in a room with 600 other people, so during the reception we spent a lot of time out in the outer waiting area. Here Sean is inspecting the doorstop while Mom makes sure the door to the reception stays closed.

Here Sean is checking out the rest of the waiting area.

Ten Little Dinosaurs

September weddings, part I

My second cousin, Tom, got married last weekend in Hamilton. We had a great time! Everything went smoothly considering the church didn't get power back until three hours before the wedding, and as of last Wednesday the reception caterers weren't sure if they would be able to cater the event. Everything went off without a hitch though!

Here is Sean running around with Jacob (my cousin's son).

Here is Dad trying to hold Sean still long enough to take a photo. Not bad!

Here is a video of Sean sliding on the dance floor. Does he have a future in breakdancing? I am not sure. All I know is that he washed his hands before he ate dinner!

A good one of Grandpa and Grandma Hogan.

Next week we'll have September weddings, part II - we are driving to Dearborn, MI this weekend for Raj's wedding (he's a friend of Jeff's from ND).

Go Irish!

Last weekend Sean and I drove (well actually I drove and Sean rode along) to South Bend for the home opener against San Diego State. Jeff stayed home to get some work done around the house. Sean did fabulous in the car, which made the 4+ hour trip kind of fun, actually!

We met up with Aaron, a good friend with whom I went to grade school and high school, and Aunt Elizabeth. We saw the band rehearse on Friday afternoon. Saturday morning we did a little tailgating, then walked around campus, then watched the band's concert on the steps. When the band stepped off for the stadium, we went back to Aunt Elizabeth's place to nap (Sean) and watch the game (me).

Here is Sean playing bartender at the tailgate. He was very good at helping people close the coolers after they got their drinks out.

No, Sean did not have a beer - he was just falling over because we skipped his usual morning nap to tailgate, and he lost his coordination for a while. Aunt Elizabeth was a life-saver. (Overall he did quite well for being up so long - thank you Sean!)

Sean in front of the dome. This picture was the best I could do - he just would not stand still of course. The perspective is very odd and makes Sean and the hostas look giant.

What a cute future Domer!

We went down by the lake to feed the ducks and swans. Sean's sippy cup took a little dip in the lake while we were there. Sean enjoyed sharing some of his snacks with the birds.

Here are Aaron and Sean near Lyons Hall, where I lived for three years. Oops - sorry Aaron, I should have gotten your attention before I took the picture!

We also stopped by Pangborn Hall, where Aunt Elizabeth used to live. Sean enjoyed climbing up and down the stairs, getting lots of "Aww! He's SO cute!"s from the residents of Pangborn who were coming and going, and opening and shutting the front doors using the handicapped button.

Game time!

Thank you SO MUCH to Aunt Elizabeth and Aaron for helping me out this weekend with Sean. It was a lot of fun!



Go Irish, beat Wolverines!