At the Hooch

The Chattahoochee River is another fun place to be when it is hot outside.  Our friends introduced us to this "beach" type area.  I thought it was more fun than the pool because it was more shallow so I didn't have to worry as much about him going under.  We used to float down this river, but there are plenty of other uses for the water.

There's a blue heron standing on the rock on the right side of this picture. 

Art wanted food more than he wanted anything else.

Big Night!

After almost 14 months of hair falling out and growing new hair, Arthur got his FIRST haircut.  We were originally going to bring him somewhere, but I decided I could do it.  It wasn't too difficult, but I guess that is the case when you have a patient "patient."  He sat still very well except for once or twice.  Sorry for the final shot of his new hairdo.  That's what happens when you don't hire a cameraman.  You'll have to be in suspense until the new pictures come out!

Last Lazy Days of Summer

Sorry to our loyal fans!  We have had plenty going on and I can't keep up with the demand.  :)  You are probably thinking I am full of empty promises, but I promise, I'll try to be better. 

We went to a pool playdate last Monday.  He seemed to like the watermelon more than the pool.

Such a serious face.

A little bit of juice down the chest.

What a happy guy.

He was the oldest there by a few months.  He's the one sitting down with his head facing away from the camera.

This is what happens when you don't get the picture quick enough with all of the babies on the ground.  Art took off.

Our Week, Again

It was another fun week in Atlanta.  Here's what we did.

Monday:

His schedule has changed so we find ourselves at home during lunch.  He's usually asleep and I eat my meals alone.  It isn't good for meeting people out for lunch, but it does help the wallet.  He is tormenting the dog in her bed.  You would think this is her safe haven, but I guess no where is safe in the O'Connor home.

We met Laura and Brooke in the afternoon at North Point Mall.  We were hanging out in the soft play area until some kids got annoying and what seemed to be a 4 year old in a stinky diaper.  We went to the carousel for a ride.  Art was scared to death.  He finally calmed down and would sit on the horse, but gave me a scared look the entire time.  That'll save me $2 next time.

Tuesday:

We were around the house all day and that was a BAD idea.  We got on each other's nerves and went nuts.  Not sure what the turning point was (maybe the single 45 minute nap), but in the morning he decided to rip up the newspaper. 

I felt it would be good for him to feel the paper.  Cleanup wasn't too difficult. Brian wasn't happy about how he missed a few articles.  I wasn't able to finish reading an article about Home Depot, but it was exciting to see him learning.

My wallet was fair game as well. Luckily he doesn't know how to shop online yet.

Wednesday:

We did a park playdate in the morning and then went back to the park in the afternoon for The Ultimate Playdate.  Jay Memory sings songs and we just hang out.  It is like an acoustic outdoor party adn is very relaxing.  We did this in the spring, but are just now getting back to it now that the weather is cooling down.

Art pulling toys out of his backpack.

These aren't ours, but he found some food and begged for it.  He is an eating machine.

Here's part of our setup.  We had 4 other moms there and a few more babies.

Claudia is blowing bubbles for the babies. 

Thursday:

We had a playdate at our house.  This is Arthur getting ready to share.

Since you really only see him and probably wonder if I make these things up, I figured I'd get a better picture of the group. Matthias, Ben, Efrain, and Joey all came to play. At the end of the playdate, Art followed everyone to the front door, waved, and said, "buh, bye."  It was freaky, but so cute!

Brian's boss gave us this slide that his boys outgrew. We usually play indoors so we figured we'd keep it inside. 

Friday:

Art and I did some shopping to make some invitations for a baby shower we are hosting.  He was a bad date at Michaels.  We also went to his friend Logan's house. No pictures there.

Saturday:

We went to Graham's first birthday party.  He enjoyed playing with the kids.

Here's Graham. They're taking a hayride together.

Dana's dad was nice enough to dress up as Farmer Edwards to take the kids for spins.

Did I really just hear that?

So, we did the McDonald's thing for dinner tonight.  Sorry, Mom, it was getting late and we had a coupon.  Brian and I finished eating and had given Art the last two chicken nuggets.  When we was down to one, Art said, "No more?" and held his arms up in the "I don't know" or questioning stance (palms facing the ceiling).

Seriously... Brian and I looked at each other and were thinking %$^%. I can't believe that just happened.

Cousins - Minus One

Chris, Dana, and Rowan were in town over the Labor Day weekend.  During dinner the babies got restless so we let them run around. They looked so cute sitting on the door ledge together.

Look at the face on Rowan.  Chris was right that she wouldn't be too happy to see a camera.

Can't wait to get all of the cousins together!

Busy, Busy Man

We got together with a few people this past week.  Of course, we don't have any pictures of them, but we have pictures of Art at their homes.

Here's a picture I sent to Brian at work from the camera on my phone.

We went to a newer soft play area at Town Center Mall.  He seemed to have an ok time. He wasn't running around like a crazy person.  I guess we have a calmer kid.

Playing with the toys that he saw older kids play with.

He doesn't kiss too many things, but of course, he put his mouth on the mirror and kissed/licked himself.

Here's a larger shot of the play area.  He didn't roam too much.  I got in there most of the time and tried to play with him a little.  There were some other kids though that were driving me crazy.  They would stand on the top of the house and scream until they got your attention or they would get in between me and Art trying to make me watch what they're doing.  

Art playing again at a new house.

New toys!

Football at Home

Last weekend, GT had a home game.  Brian and I were lucky to score some tickets and fantastic babysitters named Gigi and Papa Jim so we had the day off.  This week, we tailgated indoors.

Art wore his favorite game weekend shirt. The back says, "Tech on Saturday" under a logo of Buzz and "'Skins on Sunday" under the Redskins logo.

I didn't get a good picture of the front, but it says "I love football weekends."

Labor Day With Daddy

Since Brian had the day off and we have season passes to the aquarium, we thought we'd do a family day at there.  We thought it would be super packed, but it was actually quieter than it has ever been. I guess everyone was traveling.

Brian and Art at the touch pool taking care not to fall in.  We don't want to be featured on America's Funniest Videos.

Art is pointing at the sea otters' toy.  He didn't care much for the animals, but he wondered how he could get the ball out of the tank.

Here's the ball.  Also, he really wanted the guide map to the aquarium.

The penguin exhibit opened back up and it has this cool crawl through feature.  Dad stayed outside to get our picture.  It was really cool to be up close to the penguins. 

Art pointing to some fish in the tank.

He really wanted to wander so we eventually put him down.  He went to the conveniently placed toys in the gift shop.

He wore a shark outfit again to scare the fishies.

This guy was too busy cleaning the tank to wave.

And, since we were downtown, we took a stroll through the Tech bookstore.  Art thought this was funny.  When we took it off of him, he pointed at it and wanted to put it back on.

On our way home, he passed out in the car.