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!