A start

I'm having major issues getting these pictures to post, but here's a start.

Visit from Grammie and Papa

We had so much fun with my Mom and Dad (Malachi's Grammie and Papa) this weekend!

*We played at Chik-fil-A. Malachi wanted Grammie to climb on the jungle gym with him. He also wanted me to sit in Grammie's lap on the slide. We couldn't get him to the top of the jungle gym, so we're wondering if maybe he's scared of heights. Kevin and I have taken him to the top of those kinds of jungle gyms before, but this one was less enclosed with lots of "windows" where you could really see how high up you are.

*We went shopping. Malachi conned Grammie and Papa into buying him a toy. While I was shopping, they were in the toy section and he kept pointing to an Elmo toy and signing/saying "please!" Grammie and Papa were quick to oblige! :) Thanks, Mom and Dad. We love the cute new outfits, too!

*We went to an outdoor festival where 4-H had animals on display. A ze-bo (type of cow and I think my Mom's favorite), horses, sheep, goats, chickens, bunnies, and kittens were all there to see. We took a ride on a wagon hooked to a pickup truck and an old fashioned wagon pulled by two beautiful Belgium horses (trained by the Amish in PA). There were quilts and crafts on display, too. Malachi LOVED this one stall in the barn that had about 10 sheep and goats in it. He figured out how to open the stall...luckily I caught that in time before he let the animals out in the process of him trying to get in with them!

*We went to Pet Smart where Malachi jumped up and down in excitement for what seemed like half an hour watching the dogs in doggy day care and the birds for sale. He named the fish when we saw the tanks, but the birds and dogs had his attention.

*We played lots of baseball and hockey with Papa, which was so much fun. And Malachi enjoyed reading, playing with stickers, and pretending with the babies with Grammie.

Fun was had by all. I'll update with pics later; blogger is not cooperating right now.

More pictures...

We're on a roll, folks! Enjoy!

Kicking back and relaxing. No, I don't allow him to do this; it just kind of happened. He's been exploring so much more lately, and I think we are on the cusp of a climbing phase. Oh, boy!
He looks so grown up here!

My sleeping angel with his Steeler bear.

OK, Taylors, Malachi is gearing up for Thanksgiving. He can correctly identify every single one of us in the Thanksgiving 2007 photo. That's 19 of us, plus 2 dogs! Remind me that we all need to print both 2008 and 2009 photos before leaving this year. Somehow we're missing 2008 and that was Malachi's first one.

*I caught him singing for the first time this weekend! A new song he learned in Sunday school--so cute!

*We "made" sugar cookies (the Pillsbury kind that you just place on the cookie sheet). We had a plate of the cookies out during small group (i.e., Bible study) and Malachi was grabbing cookies every chance he got. To limit the intake, I took one and broke in half to share with him. The result? Immediate crying. I pushed the cookie halves back together, and everything was right with the world again.

Pitt Game

To celebrate Kevin's birthday, we spent Saturday afternoon outside in a cold, drizzly rain...watching the Pitt/NC State game. I think despite the chilly, wet weather we all had a good time. Malachi and I almost made it to half time before heading home.

Dare I say that Malachi seems to be exiting the camera obsession phase? I managed to get a few pics before he demanded the camera. Enjoy!

Tailgating. Malachi is certainly the apple of his daddy's eye.

Ah, goldfish.

Uncle Brian, Paul (with the wrong colors on), Kevin, and Malachi (still munching away).

Thanks for handing down your Pitt gear, Cousin David! Malachi loves his Pitt bear, Grandma!

Mama's Best Helper

Ketchup! A new word and new fav "food," along with pepper (I think he just likes the sprinkling of the pepper).

My little man is doing a great job following directions these days, and takes a lot of pride in helping out his Mama. He now helps put the milk on the table, as well as putting it back in the refrigerator. He even helped wash dishes the other day, and he helped make birthday muffins for Daddy.

We went to a high school football game, thinking that Malachi would like to see the game in person. The highlight of the experience? The mascot. A cougar. Malachi touched the cougar's hand and pet his head (we were in the bleachers, which were elevated from the ground/track where the cougar was). He watched and watched for him, screaming, "Tiger!" Kevin responded, "Cougar." Malachi responded, "Tiger!" with much zeal. Kevin responded, "Cougar." ...You see where this is going. :)

Enjoy the pics.

THE Turtle Towel. Asked for by name. He plays with it on and sleeps with it on. He can eat and go to school without it, but he asks for it as soon as we head out of school at the end of the day and right after meals. I believe it's his "security" blanket. He looks so darn cute with it on.

I'm shy, Mama...

Just kidding!

Making some progress...

I can now get one picture taken at a time. Yeah!

And Malachi is definitely talking now! :) And talking ALL THE TIME! It is so wonderful to finally hear his voice saying words, communicating his wants and needs. He came to the kitchen the other night, grabbed a juice cup and said, "More please." Music to my ears. I didn't have to ask him if he wanted a drink. He told me!

He is mimicking what Kevin and I say, which is so cute, and his vocabulary seems to be growing exponentially. Some new words (or words that have gotten clearer recently):

Please

Thank you (Even unprompted from time to time!)

Car ("tar")

Truck ("tuck")

Tow truck

Kitty cat

Daddy and Dad

Mama (He has said Daddy and Mama in the past, but he says them with much more intentionality-to get our attention or "ask" us a question-and correctly-I'm Mama and Kevin is Daddy and not vice versa.)

Duck (He LOVES his ducks at the lake.)

Dog

Puppy

Go (We hear this ALL THE TIME!)

Stop ("top")

He is also doing really well at picture identification. We have a bunch of books with just one picture per page. You can ask him questions such as, "Which one goes in the water?" and he'll correctly point to a boat. So exciting!

OK, enough bragging. Sorry. I just had to share.

Fourth of July

Still catching up on my lack of blogging...Fourth of July was fun. Our neighbor hosts quite the celebration for the kids. A bike parade, complete with a banner, starts off the festivities, followed by the star spangled banner and the Pledge of Allegiance. Next up? Old-fashioned games: three-legged races, sack races. The finale? A massive water balloon fight, a watermelon seed spitting contest, and ice cream sandwiches. Does it get any more American than this?
Doesn't my little guy look so grown up with his new haircut?

With Grandma and Grandpa. A quick visit on their way back from Florida for a Taylor family reunion (which we sadly had to miss).