Unbearable

Linds bought me a pair of tickets to see the Vikes/Bears game at Soldier Field in Chicago on MNF for my birthday. She donated the other ticket to my brother Joe, saying out loud, “I know you’d enjoy the game more with him and you guys rarely get to see each other these days”… while simultaneously saying internally, “no way in hell am I sitting outside for 4 hours in sub-zero temperatures so you can watch your stupid Vikings”.

Aside from some minor frostbite and a terribly disappointing ending, we had a great night. Thanks hon’!

Editor's note: That ugly hat on Joe's mug has been his favorite for ages. Just how long, you ask? Well, we did a little digging and turned up this old pic (I guess they don't make 'em like they used to!).

9 months

On 12/27 our little girl hit the 9 month mark. Here’s the monthly update:

A few of Evie’s latest tricks include:

• High fives and blowing kisses
• Cracking herself up playing solo peek-a-boo, pulling a blanket over her head and down a million consecutive times
• Adding Na-Na and Ta-Ta to her growing list of “words”

A few of Evie’s latest favorite things include:

• Yogurt (you cannot shovel the stuff in her mouth fast enough!)
• Changing TV channel from whatever Mom or Dad happen to be watching*
• Related, freezing Mom or Dad’s laptops with amazing and swift keystroke combinations I’ve never even seen before*

*Hm, maybe these are signs that we should be paying more attention to the kid…

Oh, and a late addition to this entry... 9 month stats from the doc's office:

• Weight... 22 lbs (90th percentile)
• Height... 29 5/8 inches (>97th percentile)
• Head... 18 1/2 inches (95th percentile)

A Maxwell Christmas

With the addition of EJB, another set of in-laws (the Alexander clan) and the fact that all of these families are states apart, Linds and I finally instituted the rotating holidays plan. So, Christmas 2009 was the Ohioan version. On the 22^nd, we packed up the Element with a week’s worth of “supplies”, a bag of gifts and, of course, two dogs and a baby… and made the 12 hour journey to West Chester, OH.

The commute wasn’t necessarily tons of fun, but once we arrived and settled in we had an excellent week. Highlights include:

• Evie’s infatuation with wrapping paper, ribbons and bows
• A date afternoon with the wife, leaving EJ behind with G’ma and G’pa (no offense, Evs)
• G’pa Bob’s turkey dinner and famous wings
• Watching Maya and Bob’s German Shephard (Harley) battle daily for the role of Alpha Dog
• Catching up with the Dennings & Elsons

Thanks Bob and Linda! Miss you guys…

Hats off to Christmas!

The blogmaster is shuttin’ it down for a week or so as we begin our Midwestern holiday tour this evening. Ohio for a week, Chicago for a night, back to Minneapolis for a few, down to New Ulm and then back to the grind in 2010.

Happy Holidays and safe travels to all!

Booty, booty, booty, booty rockin’ everywhere!

Looks like we’ve been heavy on the naked baby pics as of late, so we’ll cool it for a while… but I just had to post this classic.

Happy birthday to me!

I celebrated the big 3-3 on Sunday (12/20) opening the day with the traditional breakfast in bed, compliments of Linds and Evie, and closing it down with a couple beers in the company of friends (friends not pictured, just the damage).

Thanks all… I had a great one!

My first subject

Not much to report from SW Minneapolis this weekend. The big news of the week is that I finally upgraded from my trusty "point-n-shoot" pocket camera to it's fancy-schmancy big brother, the DSLR.

I'm about halfway through the manual and I think I may be a bit out of my league, but I've been having fun learning the ropes. Pictured above is my favorite practice shot, of my favorite subject.

No offense L, G or M!