Little drummer boy

Here he gets set up.

Here he shoots a smile to his fans.


And here's his drum solo.

Amazing how he can make those things talk.

7 Months: Good-bye summer

The daylight hours are shorter. The evenings, and now the days, are cooler. Summer! Say it ain't so! Do you have to go already? And I know we even got a little bit of an extension this summer with nice weather reaching into September.





But here we are at the end of summer and Malcolm is seven months. Malcolm will sleep through the night, but it's random when this happens. Otherwise, he only wakes once per night. We appreciate that. What's hard at the end of a long day is his going to bed at 10pm. We've tried to change this pattern, but he'll have none of it.




He enjoys his meals in his highchair, eating fruits and vegetables. Still, he gnaws on board books but he only has the two teeth yet to show.





Since he loved sitting at the window to watch the neighborhood we moved his chair so he has a front row seat to all that's going on out there.




His own mode of transportation is to still to roll. And he's still super social with kids.

When he refuses to sit, he'll straighten his little body so it won't bend at the waist. He likes to be on his feet, and studies kids who have mastered what their legs can do (e.g. run). But his balance isn't there for him to take off on his own (whew). Yet.



We'll go to Paul's volleyball matches, but Malcolm doesn't know what to make of them. They're pretty loud and there's much to watch. Maybe too much. So he usually lasts a set or two before wanting a change in activity. But he loves to cheer on the team.




So here we are, Malcolm's first summer is fading into autumn. It's nice we have the fade and not get into winter in such a hurry. We're wearing warmer pj's and planning our walks earlier in the day. We take in as much sun as we can but love the color in the trees and the leaves on the ground.

Speaking of a walk...time for ours.

Malcolm Minute 9: Cousin time

Cousin Oscar came to Madison to visit.

Malcolm and Oscar seem to love to interact with each other more and more each time they get to see each other.





This time around the two of them got to see some of Edgewood College's scrimmage and to cheer on Paul with Sarah and Dave.





Then the two cousins found each other hilarious.



This wasn't their most funny moment, but we're sure there'll be more.

Firsts

Why does Paul look so happy?





Because he got to show Malcolm his first Packer game AND win. Well, Malcolm wasn't up late enough to see the win, but Daddy cheered loud enough for the both of them.

Malcolm gets a taste of rice and peas

Malcolm had his first meal from a spoon - rice and peas. Paul hates peas, so he understood Malcolm's face of disgust when Malcolm first tasted the peas.

What Paul didn't expect is that Malcolm's reaction to apples was the same as it was to peas.

Not all hustle and bustle

Laura and Mike's visit to Wisconsin wasn't always on the go. They also got some time to chill with Malcolm.











And be silly with Malcolm. Like seeing what he'd look like with more hair. His look says it all:

Next stop: Cedarburg

Another day trip we took while Laura and Mike were here was to Cedarburg,which holds a special place in their hearts because it was the place of their first date and there's a little spot along the river where they were engaged. [insert aww's]

So we walked around with Malcolm.

Window shopped for hats.












While Malcolm napped, we ate some yummy lunch and splurged on some chocolates.


But to avoid us all taking naps, we stopped at a coffee shop where Malcolm enjoyed only the cup.

A trip to Wollersheim winery

While Laura and Mike were in Wisconsin, we hopped in the car and headed to Wollersheim winery for a nice a day trip.
Before we did our wine tasting, we roamed through the gift shop. And were silly.













The weather was beautiful and our little lunch with wine was delicious.

Here, Malcolm had his first taste of peach.

And after the wine, we took in the vineyards and gardens. Malcolm loves nature and his mom. He expresses his love by grabbing.

Noah's Ark

Laura and Mike came to visit us in mid-August. Well, they came to visit Malcolm and stayed at our place. :)

We had lots of fun around Wisconsin taking day trips here and there with Laura and Mike. One of our trips landed us in Noah's Ark. Because nothing says summer in Wisconsin like the Dells.

Malcolm was a little indifferent about the water, but looks pretty cute in his swimmer diapers.

Mostly he spent the day under a shade umbrella and was a lounge-chair lizard with Papa.














Eventually the beach bum baby just tuned out all the noise and napped away the summer afternoon with Nonna.