Yogurt is Yummy!

I thought I would share with everyone Oden feeding himself yogurt for lunch. This is not a typical lunch, but he didn't drink much milk this morning so I was trying to up his protein for the day. He does not have much experience feeding himself with utensils. I blame myself completely for his inexperience. I would rather take the time to feed him myself than clean up the mess, that would inevitably be EVERYWHERE! That being said, I am putting in much more of an effort to let him have some independence with feeding. With the added hope that if he is feeding himself with new exciting tools, he might try (and like) more things! This video is really cute though :) and I am so thankful that he likes yogurt!

Stuff from my phone

Here are some random cuteness that I remembered I have on my phone. A couple of them are from the beginning of the summer and the others are more recent. The quality is poor, but I know you will appreciate them anyways :)

He has been doing this all summer.....he stands in front of this baby pool at my moms, yells "GO!", and jumps in head first. It's hilarious!

This was a very random day this summer. We went for a walk with Heather and he had to have his stethoscope around his neck, and he actually kept his Sponge Bob sunglasses on!

This picture is part of his morning routine. He comes down first thing, runs over to his toys, grabs his Thomas box, and plays with/lines up all of his trains. Have I mention obsessed?!

I just took this one a couple of days ago. This is the little girl I am now watching two days a week, Maddie. I had a couple of new candles out and they were taking turns smelling them.

It was adorable!

This video is from when Jess got a new cell phone. Oden is always all up in our electronics, so as soon as he saw Dad's new phone he had to see ALL of it. Look for his little squatting dance!

A Day Out With Thomas

Today was our day out with Thomas. This is something Tiff and I had been looking forward to taking Odee to for a long time. As the event neared closer I became increasingly more excited for it to finally be here. I was anxious for the look on his face as he witnessed his hero in the flesh. To provide some sort of a backdrop, if any of you are unaware of our little man, then you will have to know of his obsession with our friend Rev. W Awdry and what he has created out of narration and cleverly designed model trains. His name is Thomas and he is what Odee dreams of. From toys to clothes, cups to lunchboxes, he is everywhere our guy is. If there ever was a smug look upon Odee's face just find some sort of Thomas oriented trinket and his frown will immediately turn upside down. Thomas and Friends is to little boys what the spring training football, baseball in October, and the NHL/NBA playoffs push, is to grown men, what shopping, Jon & Kate Plus 8, and cherries covered in chocolate are to grown women. This is the mecca of little boys everywhere. So, on the day of I wanted to wake up with our baby hawk and start his day off right. This is a Friday, and my excitement for his excitement, prompted me to take a personal day from work. He's in a great mood and looking forward to his toast and fruit to energize his tiny body. After a quick munch session, a dose of Sid the Science Kid and Sesame Street, a good morning from his beautiful mother, and he is ready to get going. We all head up to straighten ourselves out and pack up for the trek ahead, next stop Union, Illinois. The jeep is gased and were buckled in, heading up north. Again mom chooses to use yahoo directions and we are immediately guessing which way to go. You see, yahoo likes to name streets the names they feel they should have, this makes following them very tricky. However, moms keen sense of direction quickly guides us towards our destination. The trip to Union was very pleasant, it was a very scenic route that took us through areas we had never been, this breathe of new places always seems invigorating to the imagination and put us all in the right mood for the day. We arrived forty five minutes before departure and took our time making it to the train. As we neared closer to dreams come true, I could feel the pleasure inside our baby. Then as we came walking down the path, there he was, right before his eyes, it was him... Thomas. The sheer enjoyment that poured from his soul was enough to see what dreams our made from. He was happy, genuine and sincere, just plain and simple happy. I wanted to be detailed to remind everyone and myself when I read this when I'm old, that the small things in life, that we cherish with the ones we love, those memories will be with us forever, so make them. The rest of our day was filled with memories that all three of us will have for the rest of our lives. We rode on Thomas, Odee got his first tattoo (removable, moms), had a wonderful picnic in the grass, and saw lots and lots of trains. It was at an interesting venue, the Illinois Railway Museum, and this was a fascinating place for a family to visit, especially on day out with Thomas. By the time we were ready to leave we had seen it all, Sir Toppam Hatt, the trains, trolleys, the whole kit and caboodle. He was sleeping within five minutes of our trip home, but I knew... he was dreaming of Thomas.

Above story by Jess. All I can say is....I wish Jess would write on here more often. What a great way to sum up our wonderful day :) Now I will add some not so cleverly worded captions on the pictures.

A life-size Thomas! That's something you don't see everyday!

Our first view of Thomas!

Yay for nice people also patiently waiting for their ride.

Odee's 1st train ride!!

Odee getting his first tattoo!

So amazed that Thomas was on his arm!!

It was a little hot, but well worth the slight discomfort.

Dad and Odee in a train graveyard, not really. The back of the Museum.

Exhausted from his adventure with Thomas, Dad, and Mom.