Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you are enjoying this post with a nice big slice of pumpkin pie. I know I'm writing this post with a nice big slice of pumpkin pie sitting next to me. Thanksgiving Day we celebrated here in Orlando this year. William's first Thanksgiving! We did nothing all day - joyous. Relaxed at home in our pajamas and fixed a couple dishes for Thanksgiving dinner to bring to Matt's parents' later that evening. William took his first steps with the support of his cart, which was very fun to see! He pulled himself up and pushed the cart along all by himself then we tried it a couple more times. Here's video of those attempts. Watch those little legs move!

Thanksgiving Day parade

The day was going great - until afternoon nap time. William is very good at going down twice a day and I wasn't worried a bit that he wouldn't go down in the afternoon then pop up by 4p so we could make our way over for Thanksgiving dinner. Nope. William fought the nap. Finally fell asleep an hour later and then we woke him up early to leave the house. Not a pretty sight. Pictures probably describe the situation best. Here we are... Not looking so thankful!

Not a happy camper

Crying...

Uncle Andrew trying to reason with William

More crying

William just wasn't happy last night. He did enjoy some food at the table though. He liked the stuffing and the turkey. How do you explain to a 9 month old this is the best day of the year so no tears! Oh well - many more Thanksgivings ahead of him!

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Virginia Trip

Once again William is collecting his frequent flyer miles fast and furious. His fourth roundtrip flight was to Washington, DC earlier this month. We enjoyed a weekend with dad and then William and I stuck around for a few days more. It was a great trip with nothing much planned - just relaxing and enjoying family and friends -- perfect!

While Dad was around we went to Cox Farms - I have great memories here picking out pumpkins when I was little on school field trips and petting all the different farm animals. It was a gorgeous fall day and I loved bundling up William!

Welcome to Cox Farms, William!

I love his little barn coat!

Dad and Mama even got a night out while my mom and Aunt Celine watched Mr. William. Wine tasting in Clifton with the Collins.

Cole joined the party too!

Another great part of the week was meeting a couple new friends for William! I mentioned in Month 3 post that my high school friends Erica and Lauren were expecting babies this fall. Well, the boys have made their arrivals! Cole Thomas Collins and Coleman John Woodley! William missed out on the duo's meet and greet we had at the Woodley's house, but he did get lunch with Cole Collins later in the week. We also got to celebrate Cole Collin's Baptism that weekend at the Collins' house. Cole is "totally Catholic" now - Erica will appreciate that one! :)

Coleman Woodley and Cole Collins

Cole's Baptism day!

Other fun activities were walking Burke Lake in the mornings, cold days in our fleece pjs with a nice fire going, playing with the fall leaves... Heaven.

Burke Lake walk

Watching Mac outside

Something new

 

Start em young - little laxer

 

And I can't forget flying back home as a solo parent! Until now flights were a breeze because William didn't move. Now that he's very mobile and very motivated to investigate everything around him, I got a little nervous thinking I couldn't contain him and someone sitting next to us would not be happy. My prayers were answered though! Our row was empty, the flight attendants let me on the plane before everyone else (even before other families for some reason!) and take off was on time. Couldn't be better! What a nice trip. We are looking forward to many more trips back to Virginia and D.C.

Ahh... one nice empty row! Bye Bye VA!

Babyproofing & More Standing

Babyproofing... that was something I was hoping we could maybe avoid doing in this house, since we will be moving soon. Not soon enough though! Cabinets and drawers are now a source of entertainment for William. He was in the kitchen today going non-stop. Looks like Matt will be installing some latches this weekend! Gates are also in order because William is a huge fan of crawling up the stairs... and I saw him eyeing the stairs going down today.

As William was having fun opening kitchen drawers pulling out different odds and ends, he also was standing alone for a good amount of time. I don't think he even realized it!