Happy New Year

Grandma and Grandpa Dynan had an open house for New Year's Eve with friends and family.

Our chefs for the evening:

Wondering when Uncle Matt can come out of the kitchen and play guitar.

Time to relax and mingle - our hats off to the chefs. The food was amazing!

Our family minus Chase (he was at there, but sleeping somewhere)

Jenn & Mike (aka Bubba)

Pool shark

Some of the crew

Matt with his stalker

Happy New Year!

Dinner at Nancy's

Nancy has the most beautiful holiday decorations and hosted a wonderful post-Christmas dinner for us (Aunt Kate too!). Cheers!

A Day in the Life of an Elf

Jenn and Mike came to the Macy's holiday display with us. My grandma took us to the display every year as kids and we decided we will carry on the tradition with Adam. The displays are quite elaborate, but Adam was only interested in one part...

We went back to this part of the display over and over and over. The barn door you see would open just a crack and then close abruptly. Adam wanted to let the reindeer out so they could eat the hay on the ground.

Christmas in Cold Spring

We celebrated Christmas in Cold Spring with Great-Grandma Elsie and the rest of the crew. Aunt Kate was home for the holidays, but sadly we have no pictures to show for it from our Christmas celebration.

Merry Christmas

We had a change in plans this year due to the weather. We missed seeing so many family members in Iowa this year, but were fortunate to spend it with cousin Ben and neighbor Nancy.

Visit from the Andersons

We look forward to seeing the Andersons each year over the holidays, so were very excited that we could again find a date where everyone was able to attend. It was an evening full of laughs and entertainment! Joe and Mike managed to escape the camera, but I did get a few pictures from the evening.

Adam has had quite an interest in guitars lately and was in awe to see Matt play his for the first time. We had no idea what would come of this. Adam now requests that Matt play his guitar whenever he sees him and wants to be by his side at all times.

We decided to let Adam open his present from Uncle Matt a little early...

Adam's own guitar!

Adam was grinning from ear to ear.

First lesson

Adam's already lobbying to play with Vicky on her next CD.

Judy & Grandma

Listening to stories from Carl and Grandpa from the "college days"

Paul & Lindsay, the newlyweds

Everyone was tuckered out after such a fun evening.

Naughty or Nice?

Adam thinks he is on Santa's nice list (check out video) and so does his Nana based on this shirt she bought for him.

It's Electric

Adam's new hair-do

PB&J

I'm not quite sure how his sandwich got so messy, but he sure enjoyed it!

Little Kids Big City

Nicole and I have been wanting to check out LKBC in Woodbury with the kids and it was a hit. They have various kid-sized CityScapes to explore.

Adam in the firetruck (his favorite)

The Crooked House

Adam and Soren showing us their artistic skills

The gas station

The grocery store

Cookie Monster

Adam had his cousins Soren and Hanna over to help decorate some Christmas cookies. It didn't take long before Adam was covered in sprinkles and frosting and all that was left of the cookies were crumbs. He couldn't decorate without sampling so it was good that his cousins were here to play with. I guess you could say he has his mommy's sweet tooth.

Reindeer in the Park Event

Hudson hosts a Reindeer in the Park event and we thought it would be fun for Adam. Santa was there. Adam waved and said "Ho Ho Ho". We then enjoyed a horse drawn wagon ride through town. We decided to get Adam home for a nap before the reindeer arrived though... maybe next year!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are so grateful that we could be surrounded by our wonderful family and friends.

Nana and Papa arrived on Wednesday to help with all of the preparations and Adam even got to open one of his Christmas presents early. He loves his new kitchen!!

Soren and Adam enjoyed Nana's cooking (we all did!)

These two cousins had so much fun playing together.

Round 2 at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Enjoying leftovers with Daddy

Spending time with Aunt Kate while she was home

Decorating the Christmas tree, although he preferred to pull the ornaments off.

Happy Birthday Grandma

We had a special birthday dinner for Grandma at our house. Adam loved blowing out the candle and wanted to do it over and over. He also insisted that we sing "Happy Birthday" each time.

Twenty-One Months Old

I wanted to document some of the happenings of this age so I don't forget. It seems like Adam is changing so much these days. Here is what Adam is up to at 21 months:

• He is Mr. Independent. He wants to do everything by himself and will throw a tantrum if we try to help. For example, Adam opens to the door to let the dog in and out and feeds Chase at mealtimes, but he can't quite get the collar on the dog or measure his food so we still have to help a little bit. He loves to be a big boy and is very proud of himself when he does things on his own.
• Adam communicates both verbally and non-verbally to get his messages across. He has a dozen words or so that he says and uses lots of gestures. We seem to understand him perfectly, although I'm excited for his vocabulary to expand a bit.
• Adam LOVES music. He bops his head back and forth to let us know he would like music on or to sing songs. He loves to do the hand movements to songs like "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "The Wheels on the Bus", "Head, Shoulders, Kneeds, and Toes", "If You're Happy and You Know It", and many others.
• Adam is good at pretending. He is constantly caring for his baby and his animals by feeding them and putting them to sleep. He asked me to take his stuffed dog outside the other day so he could go potty. He also mimics things that he sees us do each day such as dispensing his medicine, shaving, talking on the phone, and leaving for work.
• Adam really enjoys animals, especially Chase. He loves trips to the zoo and seeing the cows, horses, and dogs near our house. He has also mastered quite a few animal noises thanks to his dad.
  

We are enjoying this age so much. Adam amazes us every day! Here are some recent pictures.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Got yogurt?

Adam doesn't drink much milk, but he has decided to start "drinking" his yogurt.