Dinner at the Mesterns

We were hangin' with the Mesterns last night in Newark (new-Ark'), DE. It was the Kane family (Thomas, Colleen, and Christopher), the Hughes family (Mike, Katie, and Owen), and. of course, the Mestern family (Mike and Annette). It was a lot of fun. We got to hang out with Owen Hughes, who is almost 2 years old now...he's awesome. A neverending ball of unbridled energy...you gotta love that. Katie Hughes is two-weeks from birthing a baby girl, Norah. Sometimes it seems that children are dropping from the sky like confetti at the New Year's Eve Celebration at Times Square! Mike Hughes was displaying his iPhone and showing the features that lie beneath its plastic black and touch-sensative casing (He took the pics you see here with it and emailed them to me straight from the phone....craziness). The Mesterns, of course, were amazing hosts, the food (roasted pork loin - baked potato - peas - and a "no sugar addeed" cherry pie a la mode to cap the night) was amazing. Thank you both. That'll do, Mesterns, that'll do....

My First Attempt at mp4 Uploading

Here is my first attempt at uploading video. We have one of those floor activity centers for Christopher and he really seems to enjoy it a lot...especially now that he's starting to understand the ins and outs a little bit more each time he uses it. Regardless, I was home from work due to a skin infection on my right calf (from a spider bite) and spent the morning playing and talking with my son. I got the old activity center out and played there...we played peek-a-boo, and "what the hell does this do?" for about an hour. It was fun. I thought I'd take the opportunity to try this video thing and see how it works...and so that people who haven't got to see him (either ever or recently) can see how far he's developed since his introduction to the planet. So please endulge my techno learning.

You done openned up my cabinet with the industrial strength cans o' WHIPASS!!!!

This was found on my walkway by Colleen when she went to the car to get her workbag...just so you
know Emily and whoever else was involved......

ITS ON!!!!

THESE ARE THE CULPRITS! watch out, you might get forked!

They even LOOK guilty...

Just get ready for the WHIPASS!!! Its on like Donkey Kong
>

Activity Center and Johnny Jumper

We've decided that almost 6-months was a good time to finally put together Christopher's activity center. We've had it for a while, but he's always been way too little to fit into it being the tiny tot he was then. I can't stand that these things have 1000 parts, relatively vague instructions, and can end up taking you hours to put together. And you have to undo all the twisty-ties and find out which plastic bag or cardboard box has what in it or whatever....give me a crib to construct any day...or a skyscraper...has to be easier.

I digress...it took him some time to warm up to the Activity Center, but after a few minutes and parental demonstrations, he became quite fond of it for some time (about 15-20 minutes...which is pretty good for Christopher). He loves the noise makers...and, look, he can already write his name! And the penmanship at such an early age! Amazing...utterly amazing.

Uhm...ok, I wrote it...I can't lie to my friends like that.

The only problem with the Activity Center is that he's still a bit small for it, as displayed below, but shouldn't be for too much longer. He's only a couple of inches from being able to touch the floor...then the real fun starts. By the way, I love this picture because he looks like he has a power chord running from his back...he's a robot...WARNING...WARNING, WILL ROBINSON!

And he also has his new Johnny Jumper...much easier to construct than the activity center. He LOVED this one. Now Daddy was instructed to install some molding in the entryway to the hallway (the entryway is arched, so this should proove to be interesting. I'm going to have to ask for assistance from a friend of mine from work because I don't want to screw anything up...I actually have a nice house! A quaint house, but a nice house nonetheless. But everything isn't enough for my little boy, so molding up on the arched entryway it is. How could you resist that smile?

Finally Able to Sit in the High Chair!!

I have to admit that Christopher was very excited about his first time in the high chair...well, actually, he was probably more excited about eating sweet potatoes....ok...he was actually just excited about eating in general, but I can live in my own fantasy world, right?

Mom, I'm ready...let's do it!

Yeah....that's the stuff


You're not going fast enough, Mom...let's get a move on here


There you go...and here's my face that says,"Aaaahh...full belly. Nappy time is coming soon."

Just some cute pictures

I'm not even kidding...this is how he is when he wakes up in the morning! How cool is that to see every morning?
He was about to go to a birthday party at Franklin Park in Philly...so he had to get him cool Irish bib out and his LL Cool J hat (movin', shakin', his hat is like a shark's fin...that's for Karen's entertainment.) He's all like,"Yeah, jus' chillin' watchin' some TV and whatnot, you know..." Love it.
Playing with Mommy...
Just another random pick...

I found myself messing with Picassa 2, which, by the way, is where I keep and edit most of the pics I take...highly recommended (and remember to always back up your files on an outside source). I discovered this "collage" function. So, seeing as how Colleen's birthday is today (September 14), I figured I'd put some together of our boy in some nice picture frames. She's all about pictures and picture frames...chi-ching!! Don't worry, I got her a few other things too...she is turning the big 3-0 this year! But I thought this was kinda cool and sentimental a gift from her son to her along with a book by an author she really likes (I hate the author, but hey, its reading, right?). Regardless, don't mind my senseless babbling...its almost 3am here and I'm just now finishing these up (the last print just exited the printing process as I finished this sentence)!

Good night, all...