Sam knows how to pommel horse:

I can come out now?

This was taken when Sam was just learning to crawl and could only go backwards, but it *looks* like he's making forward progress...

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First Day of (Pre)school!

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Words, Words, Words

OK, so it's been a little while since we've posted anything here. In the interim, Phil has learned not only to crawl, but also to walk! He has recently turned that sizeable head of his toward learning lots of words. Along with some common utility words like "Mama," "Dada," "ball," and "up," he's got quite a few idiosyncratic mannerisms and mispronunciations. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Bookabookabooka = book
• Sssss = Rice
• Rarrar = Quinoa
• Ha(r) = Star
• Ga(r) = Car
• Bap-pfff = Truck
• Bssss = Bus
• Bo = Boat
• Goo = Shoe
• Dupoh = Duplo
• Burr = Bird
• Goo-k = Goose
• Nomo = Rhino
• Fssss = Fish
• Mnum = Monkey
• I-no = Armadillo
• Mop-pff = Moose or Mouse. Also, sometimes cheese, which is found near the mouse.
• NoNoNo = General utility word, fun to say. Also, "You just asked me a question" and "You have assembled the Duplo incorrectly."

Phil Photos Galore!

Phil's seventh month in photos: http://hilary.smugmug.com/Philip

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2010 was truly memorable for Steven and me because it was Phil's first, Steven's parents flew to us (vs. vice-versa), we got our first snowfall of the season (and of Phil's life), Steven cooked his first full Thanksgiving meal, and one of our very favorite local families ~ Pastor Jukka and Laura Kaariainen and their darling girls Jemina and Aliina ~ joined our celebration.

Phil didn't know quite what to make of the morning snow (or his new snowsuit), the feast (which he forewent for milk), or the ritual post-prandial walk that we took despite blustery afternoon rain, but he loved playing with Aliina and Jemina. Steven and I capped off a great day by heading to the movies that night while Grandma and Grandpa babysat ~ definitely a special treat for us!

Phil's first snow

Tasty 13-lb. turkey

Snapshot of our meal

We gave thanks for many blessings this year, including:
* God's addition of a healthy baby boy to our family
* Phil's sweet nature and excellent night sleeping
* Work that is challenging, interesting, and (we hope) fruitful
* A sunny, more spacious rental home close to campus
* Loving and helpful family members
* Wonderful childcare we can trust
* Steven's opportunity to work (mostly) remotely
* Hilary's supportive advisors and department
* Strong local community, especially our bible study

Hopefully this list ~ imperfect and in no particular order ~ conveys at least a bit of what was in our hearts this Thanksgiving.

[Apologies for such extreme back-dating! For you up-to-the-minute-accurate types, this post is going live in April 2011, but for months it's existed in my mind. There are just so many things we're most thankful for, and I'm too much of a perfectionist to just dash off a perfunctory post. Is perfectionism the bane of blogging? Anyway, I back-date so that someday I can look back and know when certain special events happened. In the meantime, my blogging slogan is "better late than never". :)]

Big Feast 2010

With (Andrew) Luck and the world's cutest football fan on our side, plus our first cable TV subscription and dear Cal friends willing to co-host, we felt this was the perfect year to put on a "Big Feast" coinciding with Big Game (Stanford vs. Berkeley, for all you non-Californians).


We counted out our projected scores for the game using red, yellow, and blue M&Ms. The victory went to Stanford (48-14, go Cardinal!) and to Deborah for the best guess, but we all won the M&Ms we wagered. :)


Next up was a feast featuring Steven's first home-cooked turkey and many delicious side dishes, everything from potatoes to pie, brought by our gracious guests. Anyone up for a re-match next November?

Cousin Hayley Charms Phil

When my cousin Hayley came to town for an Ultimate tournament in November, we enjoyed a lovely visit together.


Hayley used all her awesome "auntie" skills to great effect on Phil. Was it weird for him to have a playmate who looked like Mommy but wasn't?


We're now 2 for 23 in terms of our cousins meeting Phil...here's hoping 2011 brings more fun family get-togethers!

Steven's 30th Birthday

It's not every day that your daddy turns 30, so Phil prepared for the day with gusto. He searched high and low for a suitable costume, finally settling on a jaunty little puppy number, which he used to great effect to notify everyone of the upcoming party:

Meanwhile, Hilary was hard at work preparing for the party. The theme was "30 years, 30 beers," so we selected 30 different types of beer to sample:

With our Dixie Cup servings, even with the help of many friends, we topped out at 11 varieties for the night--so we're well-stocked with leftover beer for the winter! Personal favorites from the night include The Three Philosophers, Magic Hat Winter Seasonal, and Troegs Dreamweaver Wheat.

After we had all shared suitably embarrassing stories from my first 30 years, we moved on to a rousing game of "pin the nose on the pumpkin." If you ever come across a pumpkin that needs its nose reattached, Brandon is your first call!

Thank you to everyone, and especially to Hilary and Phil, for helping me to ring in a new decade!

More photos can be found here.

Favorite Fall Photos

Fall brought all sorts of exciting new adventures for Phil, including new "sports" equipment like a jogging stroller and exersaucer, now that he can hold his head up high! Sometimes he snoozes through runs with Daddy, but not in the exersaucer (a.k.a. Most. Exciting. Toy. Ever. Loaned to us by a dear friend - many thanks!). Here are a few favorite photos from this season:

Phil's first pumpkin!

Exersaucing!

First jog with Daddy

Phil-o-lantern!