donuts, coffee & the paper

Well, the coffee was for me. Payton does not need any caffeine! Of course he really didn't need the sugar either. I couldn't resist though. Every kid needs to wake up on a Sunday morning and have a sprinkle donut waiting for them at least once in their life. After he was finished eating he enjoyed perusing the Sutherland's catalog looking for new lawn equipment...really! (See the previous post)

Mowing! Mowing!

Payton LOOOVES to "work" in the yard with his dad, or his Papa, or just by himself! He has his own rakes, shovels, tools, wheelbarrow, buckets, a wagon and various other utensils he finds a use for on a daily basis. If it were up to him he would stay outside all day long. If he is "out" he is happy. Yesterday he actually got to "help" with the mowing. He was so serious about it. Little does he realize that this will be his chore all to soon.

itsy bitsy spider...

PAYTON IS NOW 18 MONTHS OLD. I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT! WE ARE SO AMAZED, IMPRESSED AND ENAMOURED BY HIM. HE COMES UP WITH SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY TO ADD TO HIS RESUME. ONE THING HE LOVES TO DO IS SING SONGS. BELOW ARE PICTURES OF HIM PERFORMING ONE OF HIS ALL TIME FAVORITES, ENJOY!

THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER

WENT UP THE WATER SPOUT.

DOWN CAME THE RAIN &

WASHED THE SPIDER OUT.

OUT CAME THE SUN &

DRIED UP ALL THE RAIN

AND THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER

WENT UP THE SPOUT AGAIN.

17 months going on 21

Can I just say that "I love being a mom!" I am so smitten with this little angel. Sometimes I think I need a break and then I can't bear to be away from him. He is growing and learning so fast that it's hard to keep up. He is talking non stop, working on perfecting his jumping and dancing, learning to read (he can read the words 'baby' and 'hi')...I'm not kidding! He remembers all the neighbors names, as well as the mail man's, and keeps a watch for them through the front window. Nothing happens that he doesn't know about. Most of all he likes to "Go!" doesn't matter where as long as we're going somewhere. If he is outside he is a happy boy. Here are a few pictures from this last month. When your kid is this cute it is hard to choose just a few!

Picking flowers for mom...of course.

snack time!

How sweet is this? Don't you just want to squish him?!

He always has that mouth open, always talking.


What an angel!

"broweeez"

"brownies"

President "BaBaMa"

Today the 44th President of the United States of America was sworn into office. No mater your party, no matter your race, no matter your religion, Barack H. Obama is the God ordained leader of our country. You cast your vote but now it is time to stand behind, support and pray for our leader and our country.

Payton was very excited by all the fanfare on the TV today. He loves music, parades and action. It was the cutest thing to listen to him sing along with Aretha Franklin as she sang the National Anthem. In the picture below he was pointing and saying "BaBaMa".

Payton's Papa remembers a time when there where 2 separate water fountains, 2 laundry mats, one with a sign in the window that read "whites only", people of color in the balcony of the movie theater and whites in the lower level, the color of your skin determining your seat on the bus or your place in line. I thank God that Payton won't remember things like that! He can look back at these pictures and remember that the first African American President was elected in his lifetime and wonder why we all thought that was so amazing.

Poor guy couldn't stay awake for the after party. He did manage to catch the performance by Sting and Stevie Wonder, which he quite enjoyed!

OUTSIDE!!

OUT Mama! This child is obsessed with the outdoors. He always wants to be outside no matter the weather no matter the activity. He thinks that having either sunglasses or a hat on increases his odds of getting to go out. This day he refused to take his hat off even for dinner to hold onto that small chance he would be set free. With Payton's holiday money from his Nana and Aunt Jenn we set off to buy him a play set/slide for outside. We were out of luck because most kids don't play outside in the cold apparently. None of the stores have them in stock until the spring. The very next day we notice one of the neighbors had set this play set out at the curb with their garbage. One man's junk is another man's treasure! All is needed was a wash down and some duct tape. You can imagine Payton's surprise when he woke up from his nap and went outside (of course) to find his new toy! He loves to pretend with this steering wheel and throw stuff out the window. Of course, like any boy he climbs up the slide instead of the stairs.





His Granny and Papa gave him this wheelbarrow and tools. He really thinks he is doing some big time yard work hauling stuff around and digging with his shovel.

Holiday Update

Well, this was the picture that made the final cut for the Holiday card this year. There were no pickles, screaming, crazy faces, eyes closed or back of heads. Yay! I think he's pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. Definitely festive and who cares if there is drool on his shirt!

One of Payton's gifts from Granny and Papa was a tool set. This included a drill seen at the bottom of the picture above. Thankfully it also included safety goggles!

Payton is lucky enough to celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas. Every night about 8:00 his internal present opening alarm would go off. He would remind us that it was time for the "lights" and to open a present. He would help light the candles and would get to open one of his presents. After a few nights of this he was quite the pro at tearing into gifts.