Boat Parade

Jacksonville has several Boat Parades around the holiday season. There is one downtown on the river. One down at the beach on the intercoastal. And then there is the little boat parade on the San Marco duck pond. It is certainly not as grand or wild as the other two, but all the kids in the neighborhood LOVED the model boats all decked out for Christmas.

This is a tugboat pulling a full crew from Charlie Brown Christmas. Tuck's favorite!

From the back seat this morning...

Tuck: "Wait a second... is Jesus born every year on Christmas morning?"
Then: "Is there just one Jesus for the whole world?" ... "Well, I think there needs to be a lot of Jesus' because everybody needs him."


While watching the Magic Brownie infomercial on in the background:

"No one's brownies turn out right." (I have NO idea where this is coming from)
Then he points to the TV: "You should get that thing. It's a much better way to cut things. Your brownies never cut in perfect squares." ... "We NEED that thing!"
(every time he sees a commercial he comes to tell me what we NEED!)

I need to start writing down every funny thing the kid says -- I always remember long enough to tell Kyle but we struggle to remember the conversation!

Big last day of school today before Christmas Break -- Pizza, Pajamas & the Polar Express! He could barely go to sleep last night. I can't even imagine how wild he will be on Christmas Eve.

Thanksgiving Dinner... a bit late

We had Thanksgiving Dinner with several of Carolyn's closest friends at Plantation this year. Sometimes you just have to document just how many pictures it takes (and even 40 pictures later, there isn't the "perfect" picture!)

1st Birthday!

Pre-partying.

As I was taking this I said "I'm sure this will be frameable" and it is as bad as I thought :)
Kyle, DBall & Rick

Mac turned one on Dec 8th and we had a little party to celebrate him! Tucker was our official party planner. He wanted it to be as close to Mr. Abilito's Birthday party on Handy Manny as possible, so he directed my balloon and streamer placement, the color scheme, etc. He, of course, thought this day was all about him. He will one day have a wake up call that the universe doesn't really revolve around him, but for now he is still quite convinced that it actually does...

The one year olds (Mac & his friend Carter - DBall's daughter) playing with his new ball game from Mimi. He loves this toy.

Watching everyone sing to him.

First handful... he was quite agressive grabbing bites!

After he ate half of this thing, I took it away and he cried! Sad, but necessary.

Below is sweet Vincent playing at the boys' work bench.

Aunt Terry & Uncle Craig & Paul sent this fun play station to Mac. He LOVES it and kneels in front if it like this and dances over and over (and over) to the music.

Santa!

It went well. Ha! Tucker was fairly terrified (although he warmed up) and Mac...


ended up sleeping it off on the car ride home.

The Clones

It's been awhile since comparing our two little ones.
Above is Mac at almost 1.
Below is Tucker just after his 1st birthday.

This is also Tucker at about 14 months looking super-Mac-like with Patrick & Sean.

The Feast

Today was the SUMP Thanksgiving Feast. The 4 year olds sang a couple songs and then they had lunch for the parents.

MAJOR BREAK THROUGH! Tucker wore the costume at a school event! The best part of his costume was his hat -- each feather said a different thing he was thankful for. Tuck was thankful for his dog. presents. cutting out magazines?? Kanga.

We're sure he meant that he was thankful for Mama & Daddio (like every other kid had on their headdress!)

This & That

1 hour by himself. He is a crazy-puzzle-lover!

We can't stop taking pictures of how this kid sleeps. He now almost always uses his reading chair or Kanga, his oversized kangaroo, as his pillow.

These boys destroy our bed on a daily basis by bringing every toy in the house up there.

Sweet Thing

Mac is just too sweet. It might be that we think he is the most adorable baby on the planet. It might be that he doesn't talk back yet or require any disciplining. It might be those buck teeth. But we are in love...

At 11 months, he walks everywhere holding on to something. He does not like sippy cups. Or sleeping past 5 am. He loves cars. Tucker calls him "Destruct-O" because he can sense Tucker building something in another room and heads straight there to knock it down. He loves to unpack and pack bins of toys one thing at a time. Like he will take each Lincoln Log out one-by-one and places it on the floor then puts each one back. He loves squash and turkey and broccoli and peaches and even spinach. He's starting to reject baby food. For breakfast this morning he ate bite after bite of spinach and wouldn't allow one bite of pears & oatmeal. Weird kid trained on super-high-fiber diet! He likes dancing and clapping to music and he brings us SO much joy!

Undefeated.

We aren't supposed to keep score, but the Raptors did finish the season undefeated. Until the end he loved going and loved being with the boys, but never quite "got it" when it came to scoring goals. Or kicking the ball much in a game, for that matter.

Marko and Sanders cheer. Tucker covers his ears because it is so loud. Typical.

Coach Chris putting Tucker up front to encourage him to go get the ball.

Sanders, John M, Tucker, Coach Chris, Marko, Sebastian & Price

Below: We played sweet Meaghan's team on Saturday. She and Tuck have been in the same preschool class since the 2s Class.

My mom was here for the last game. And Halloween fun.

Dr. Ryan & the puppy dog

We went Trick-or-Treating with Carter Grace & Hayes Ball this year down in Neptune Beach. The boys had a REALLY fun time going house to house. Tucker would survey the candy bowl and then tell the person "No thanks" when he didn't find any candy to his liking. So picky! Even about candy! We told him to just pick out something for us and we didn't have the problem anymore.

It was a balmy 85 degrees on Halloween night.

Speaking of attitude...

This little one can throw a tantrum.