Messy Messy Munchkin

Little dude is getting more and more independent and adventurous in his eating. He loves his puffs, reaches for everything we have, and always tries to grab the spoon from me when I'm feeding him. Needless to say, the mess factor has been amped up. Luckily, messy is still a good look for him!!

Patrick's Baptism

On Saturday, April 17th, we celebrated Patrick's Baptism with family and friends. Since we attend a small church, there was no way to fit all our guests in during our normal Sunday mass without displacing a quarter of the regular congregation, so we had it on Saturday afternoon instead. The result was a private baptism that was very warm and personal - Father Henehan did a wonderful job. I was a little worried about the water on the head because Patrick hates having his hair washed, but he was a trooper - no tears! While Patrick was a bit older than I pictured he'd be at his baptism, there was something so nice about him being old enough to know that he was surrounded by people he loves and that love him. 

During the reading

Patrick loves his cousin! (Check out the sweet suit!)

A blessing from Father

I am clearly worried that he's going to cry!

Uncle Andy lights the candle - Patrick wanted that candle SO BAD!

Pay attention, kid!

Godfather Uncle Andy, Patrick, and Godmother Aunt Elizabeth

After the ceremony.

(Not sure why we're standing so far from them. I blame the candle.)

Father Patrick Henehan, Patrick, Meghan, and Ryan (That's right, Father Patrick baptized our son Patrick...at St. Patrick's Church. No joke. If only we could have done it on St. Patrick's day!)

After the ceremony, our family and friends joined us back at the house for a reception. Unfortunately, I was too busy hosting (a.k.a. chatting and eating) to get more than a couple pictures. But it was so nice to relax and spend time with our wonderful family and friends. Thankfully, the weather was somewhat warm and not too windy, so we got to really enjoy our deck for the first time:

This picture is supposed to be of people chilling on the deck, but I'm guessing that about half the people that read this blog only see the mini Morge pies on the table :)

This gorgeous cake was even more delicious than it was pretty. (No, I didn't make it)

And since no weekend would be complete without construction of some sort, after the baptism, Ryan and Papa got to work grinding down the countertop so that the cooktop and backsplash could be permanently installed. Nothing exciting about that, I know, but I couldn't resist a picture of the menfolk in their "work clothes" - Corona and Mt. Dew pajama pants.

Happy Easter! (Part II)

The weekend after Easter, Grammy Dorothy and Grandpa Phil came to spend the weekend, help us to get the house ready for the baptism weekend, and to celebrate Easter with our little bunny. He got his first bubbles, which he LOVES, and a very cool activity walker, since he's ready to go, go, go!! (Given that during the same weekend, he 'tripped' over his own arms and legs while crawling, going face first into the floor, cutting his lip with his teeth, the walking concept makes me very nervous!)

We also had a finger food breakthrough. On Friday, I thought we had made progress, as I gave him a tray full of puffs and they disappeared. I was so proud of my little eater, until I lifted him out of his high chair to find that he had been stuffing them in the seat under his tush. He did eat one or two, but still playacted gagging. 

On Saturday though, while we were eating some homemade banana bread, Grammy Dorothy gave him a little taste and VOILA, he was suddenly very interested in “our” food. He begged for more banana bread and when he was given puffs later in the weekend, he was all over them.  I’m very excited to start giving him the things we eat!


We didn't get many pictures that weekend, but here is one of my favorite pictures that Daddy took one morning before daycare:

Happy Easter! (Part I)

Patrick had a wonderful first Easter! Ryan had Friday off of work, so in the afternoon he brought Patrick to Bloomington to have his pictures taken. This photo session went MUCH better. Patrick was still a little afraid of the photographer, but with a bit of holding and a lot of Peek-a-boo, we got some great pictures! 

On Sunday, we attended mass in Peoria followed by dinner with the Peoria Morges, the Wilsons, the Decatur Morges, and Great Grandma Ruth. The day started out a little rainy, but cleared up nicely just in time for an Easter Egg hunt.  Here are a few pictures from the day.

10 months? Already?

Our little man is 10 months old already. I can hardly believe how quickly time is flying.  This last month has been a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see what the next months hold. Our little Mr. Personality has a lot going on:

• He is an expert high-fiver. Uncle Andy taught him to high five and he loves it.
• He is a pretty big guy. He also has a ginormous melon head (but don’t tell him, he might get a complex)
• He still has his crazy hair that sticks up all over. It is the most beautiful strawberry blond / red color.  If I had a dollar for every time a stranger looked at him and said in a syrupy voice “I love your hair” we’d have a significant college fund for him.
• He is still rocking 6 teeth but is working on 2 more. The bottom center two are quite close together, but he has a great Michael Strahan gap between the top center two.
• He knows how to clap and loves the reaction it gets him. When he hears other people clap (even on TV) he gets a huge grin on his face and claps along.
• Related to the clapping, he knows the sign for “more.” Sort of.  He doesn’t have the fine motor skills to hit just his fingers together, but if he’s fussy and clapping softly, he’s asking for food.  So, he kinda thinks its “food” but it gets the point across.
• He “talks” all the time - calls out to us, responds verbally when we say talk to him and points and shouts at different things in stores while we’re shopping. His favorite place to talk? Church, especially during the quiet parts. Naturally.
• He makes noises that sound like “I did” and “I do” and although we know he doesn’t know what he’s saying, it’s usually an appropriate response.  It cracks us up.
• “Patrick, did you pull all the toys off the shelf?” “I did”
• “Did you just say Mama?” “I did”
• “Do you want the rest of your bottle?””I do"
• He is still rocking a stupid milk allergy. Unfortunately, that means Mama is also milk free right now. Never have I craved a warm chocolate chip cookie and glass of ice cold skim milk so much. We’re still hopeful that he can outgrow it.
• He is still not a big fan of table food. We’re trying to give him more solids that he can feed himself, but he’s just not very interested.  When he does get something in his mouth, no matter how tiny, he gags. Our doctor has encouraged us to try to give him meat, but he doesn’t care for it yet. We’ll keep trying.
• He loves books, and loves pretending to read. This makes Mommy very happy!
• He is getting better about biting – for a while there I thought it was going to be an issue, but now when he clamps his mouth on you, you’re more likely to get raspberries than bite marks.
• LOVES his afternoon walks. On days when the weather is nice, Patrick gets loaded into his stroller and the three of us take the dogs for a long walk. He really enjoys watching and getting ‘kisses’ from the doggies.
• Has a little bit of stranger danger, but not too terrible. He is usually extremely friendly and social, but sometimes just wants to be back with Mommy or Daddy, particularly when he isn’t feeling well.

We tried to get professional photos done on Sunday, but he was fighting a double ear infection and was very clingy. We couldn’t get a single good picture, so we rescheduled his appointment for Friday. Hopefully they’ll turn out!