More Snow fun

It has been a great week of outdoor snow play here in Chicago. We are happy that Mathieu has embraced the cold and wintery weather. We don't want him to grow up on Tybee Island a wimp for cold weather. The heavy duty LL Bean snow suit grandma found for him with good snowboots have been put to a lot of use and kept him dry and warm. Just yesterday, the temp finally rose above freezing so the snow became very packable. Very good for snowman building. We had a couple young cousins over so we had sufficient manpower to make a whole snowman family. I haven't done this in a long time. It was such fun to do with Mathieu.

Snow!

We're visiting Grandma and Grandpa in Chicago, and luckily it snowed the first two days of our visit. Grandma outfitted Mathieu in a snowsuit, boots, and mittens, and Mathieu ventured outside. For all those who have seen their children dressed in these snowsuits, you'll understand the astronaut/Stainpuff walk. Waddle, waddle. After Mathieu recovered from his frst face plant in the snow, he got into the spirit and enjoyed sledding.

Notice the running start.

Running start and success!

Christmas Eve

We hosted an oyster roast/low-country boil with friends on Christmas Eve. This consisted of roasting oysters on an open campfire and cooking the shrimp, corn, sausage, and potatoes in pots over the fire. Then, when all food was cooked, we dumped the food on a newspaper-strewn picnic table and everyone feasted! Mathieu ate oysters for the first time and just kept on eating them!

Commercial for Little Tikes car

Mathieu loves driving his car. He loves it so much that he doesn't play much with other toys except in relation to his car. He drives his small animal friends around. After we're finished reading a book, he places the book in the "trunk" and drives it back to the shelf. When it's time for a diaper change, he drives the car to the changing pad. Before he goes to bed, he parks the car nearby.

Yesterday, I told Mathieu that we were going to take his car to the YMCA's gym. My intention was to take the stroller and place the car underneath. Mathieu had different thoughts. He started at our house, drove down the the 4-H Center's road, turned right at the gate, and kept on going. He drove his car all the way to the Y! It's 1/2 mile from the house, which is quite a distance for the combination of Mathieu and this little car. The video not only shows Mathieu's driving skills, but the beautiful marsh grass, the wind in his hair, and the long road which was the majority of this adventure.

Christmas Tree

We had a wonderful time putting up our Christmas tree this past weekend. Because Sue and I haven't done a Christmas tree together before, we've been a little lax on gathering ornaments. No problem. Matheiu came to the rescue with his first attempt at painting. We painted some of our numerous pine cones in our yard for to use as additional ornaments. We did it outside and it was so much fun to share this experience with Mathieu. I know he liked it because he kept on spotting more pine cones and bringing them to the table to paint.



I look forward to painting with Mathieu again. We play together with balls a lot, but it is so exciting to have a new activity I know he enjoys. Although next time I know we need some old clothes so I don't have to worry about keeping the paint off him.



It was such a special moment to start a new family tradition putting up the ornaments together. Mathieu can't stop saying, "Christmas tree". Daily he enjoys looking at the different ornaments and telling us what they are.

The classic pose. Have a Merry Christmas.

Below is a fun video of Matheiu and puddles. Last week it rained one day leaving puddles all over the place at the 4-H center. Mathieu frolicked!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful day at my parent's house, eating turkey, playing games, and being with family.

Debris Hut

Debris Hut: A hut for shelter created by debris readily available in any location, made of natural resources or items that may have been discarded -- a useful creation in the art of survival!

This is what my niece, nephew, son, husband and I made yesterday afternoon. This was a full scale operation with complete participation from every member that included deciding the tree upon which to build the shelter, gathering sticks and branches, arranging the wood to create a frame, and then the best part of all -- dumping leaves all over the frame to form protective walls and a roof.

1. Placing sticks to create the frame

2. Frame completed

3. Covering with leaves

4. Completed hut

5. All of us squeezed inside

6. Peaking out

7. Having fun in the leaves

Mathieu loves to rake. We have enormous amounts of pine needles in our backyard, and Mathieu rakes them into a pile and I dump them in the wagon. With all this experience, Mathieu was primed for my Dad's backyard. We're currently in RI enjoying the beautiful fall weather, and luckily my Dad has inches deep of oak leaves in his backyard ... well not anymore. We've put a huge dent in the quanity of leaves because for the past six days, Mathieu (and the accompaning adult) has raked. I suggest to Mathieu, "Let's go for a walk and find some sticks." The answer is a firm, "NO!, Rake, rake." And so I've been more helpful with the yard work than I planned to be.
Mathieu also loves driving a car.

Mathieu tried to be a lion

Halloween is quite the event on Tybee Island. The entire island tricks-or-treat in only one location -- Lewis Ave (our street). The ENTIRE street goes all out with decorations, bubble and smoke machines, lights, haunted houses, and candy, candy candy. The police block off both ends of the street, set up the lovely portable bathrooms, and hand out candy, too. Because it's warm (no turtlenecks and jackets needed to hide those cute little costumes), it's like a summer block party. Everyone is on the street, residents have set up their Halloween tables at the end of driveways, folks are grilling, some are drinking. Families come not just from Tybee, but all of Savannah, numbering the trick-or-treaters in the thousands ... on this one residential street. Not Kidding.

Mathieu was amazed by this carnival event, loved seeing other kids in costume, and had a blast walking up and down the street. In fact, Mathieu even had this adorable lion costume and he practiced exclaiming, "ROAR!" This lasted for 30 seconds and the lion costume needed to come off. No amount of roaring from his parents could entice him to wear his furry clothes. Instead, Mathieu paraded on Lewis Ave with his brand new toddler backpack (given by Grandma), and apparently he lresembeled "Diego" from Dora the Explorer. Neither Mathieu nor his parents have ever seen the show, but we were all proud he was in costume.

Mountain Weekend

"Big stick, big stick, big stick"
"Big rock, big rock, big rock"
"Wow, whoa, WOW!!!"
Mathieu was thrilled that we traveled to the North Georgia mountains this weekend where he spent 97% of his waking hours hiking up hills, throwing rocks in streams and ponds, and whacking sticks against trees. That, interspersed with motorcycle noises, is what Mathieu very earnestly spoke about these past three days.
This was a momentous trip for two reasons. 1. It represented our first family vacation that did not include going to grandparent houses. 2. We had to drive 6 hours with Mathieu in the car ... and it was a total success!

Here are some of the highlights, which all included exclamations like "Wow!" from Mathieu.
Exploring a cave
Loving life
Resting near a waterfall
Eating pasta
Riding in a backpack ... for very short increments
Hiking up hills and scrambling over rocks
These next two videos will help you gain an appreciation of Mathieu's enthusiasm and pure joy. The first one is about throwing rocks into the water. His emphatic gestures are his way of retelling that story. If you listen carefully at the end, he says "motormo" which translates into "motorcycle," one of his favorite sounds.

The second video takes place just after he's whacked his stick against the tree and the tip of the stick broke. He's trying to do it again. Although he sounds like he's saying "broooom," he's really saying "broke."

A Fort Pulaski Tale

Mathieu runs down the tabby sidewalk that leads us into the wooded path. His first task is now before him: Finding the right stick. Mathieu takes this job very seriously as he surveys his options. It's comical because this stick-finding mission feels like it comes right out of a child's tale. "This stick is too small. I can't whack it against the ground easily. This stick is too big. I'm still struggling to heave it onto the path. This stick is too confusing. It has many poking, scratching twigs jutting out from it. Aah, but this next stick is just right. Long enough to whack against the ground but light enough to run with." Throughout this process, Mathieu has handed me a variety of stick options, too. I hang onto one, and off we go down the path.
Too small:
Too big:
Too confusing:
Just right:
Don't let the pants mislead you. They're for bug protection only. It's still summer on Tybee with water temps at 85 degrees!

Before I was pregnant with Mathieu, Dave and I would talk about what we would have to give up when we had a baby. We knew basic things like no more weekly kayaking jaunts to Little Tybee. We also knew we wanted to have a family and that what we "gave up" would be replaced with something more joyous. Or at least that's what every parent said. I'm pleased to say that those parents were right. Mathieu is such a joy, and his actions, like when he first started walking, have a powerful and exciting impact on us in ways that I did not understand before I had a child. Now he runs, doles out hugs, frantically blows multiple kisses, and attempts to communicate through recognizable speech. It's astounding to see, especially since 19 months ago, Mathieu's main skills included crying ... a lot. But it's not just that he can DO things. And it's more than being responsible for a life. It's that all three of us are in a relationship and we love one another.

Mathieu enjoys helping out around the house. He's currently just as concerned with a sandy floor as his mommy and exclaims, "Oh no!" and runs to get the broom.Dave and Mathieu made play dough on Saturday. At first he didn't quite know what to do, but then Mathieu got the hang of it.
Walking in Mommy's shoes!

Corn

This is the used canoe we bought while in Rhode Island. We will leave it in Sue's parent's backyard for our yearly Rhode Island adventures. Matheiu climbed in with his favorite vegetable and found a seat perfect for him. I can't wait until we can canoe down a river with Matheiu sitting in his seat, enjoying the ride.

There's a farm near their house and the fresh corn was so tasty. Mathieu is actually chowing down on raw corn here. He ate a lot of corn in Rhode Island.

Our Trip to Rhode Island

While we were in Rhode Island, Mathieu loved spending time with his Pepere and Memere.





With eager babysitters at hand, Sue and I were able to enjoy many fun adventures in Rhode Island. We spent a few days with our niece and nephew,Jeanne- Marie and David, canoeing, hiking and swimming.


We also journeyed to Block Island and hiked 10 miles on our 5 year anniversary.