Cousins

A quick upload at Abo and Aba's place while our computer is being fixed.

Wow!

So cute! We have lots of pictures to load - hope to get to them soon.

Sharp Dressed Little Man

What a lady-killer!

Baby In A Box

Stacks upon stacks upon stacks of new toys for Christmas, and what does John Patrick like to play with?

The box, of course.

Happy Holidays!

Cheerio-head wishes everyone out there a very Merry Christmas!

Abo and Aba found this great Radio Flyer car – Critter enjoyed driving back and forth between Toyland and the living room. We’ve promised him more open driving space at the park when the weather gets a little warmer.

Daddy conducts a hard-hitting interview with John Patrick – courtesy of Elmo’s microphone.

“No pictures, no comment!”

Silly Daddy – always goofing around.

Ladies and gentlemen: please welcome the future President-Elect!

Here is one of the better pictures we took for the holidays. Unfortunately, John Patrick wasn’t smiling for this one.

And, as per Murphy’s Law, the one picture we took where all three of us are smiling was out of focus.

Critter jumped right in to his new train/play tent.

Daddy jumped right in too.

“No girls allowed!”

Although this is actually John Patrick’s second Christmas, he was really too young to enjoy it last year. Here’s what Santa left for him for his first toddler Christmas.

Christmas morning – here is Momma getting him ready for the surprise from Santa.

As we predicted, he was a little confused at first.

But, it didn’t take him very long to understand what was going on.

After enjoying our Christmas at home, we headed off to Grandma and Grandpa’s for the yearly family gathering. Critter was his usual social self.

Here he is being the sharing-type, giving Daddy some of his dinner.

After his meal, Momma helped him open his presents.

And the winner this year for the noisiest gift goes to Uncle Paul. Drums – I’m sure the neighbors will love it.

As usual, Uncle Paul and John Patrick got lots of time to goof around.

Critter also managed to join in the fun on Papa’s lap with Peanut.

Here’s the happy couple enjoying the lovely day.

Uncle Paul learns the hard way that John Patrick will poke you in the eye if you’re not careful.

Of course, Critter made sure to spend time with Kelli. He’s such a lady-killer!

Here’s the whole Gilmartin clan. From left to right: Travis, Lori, Papa, Grandma, Kelli, Paul, Casey, Tim and – of course – John Patrick.

That’s all for now. Look for more pictures in the New Year. Happy holidays everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Critter enjoys his daily book-time. Mommy and Daddy enjoy this time too.

Abo and Aba stop by for a visit.

Causing trouble? You betcha!

‘Tis the season for new headgear.

Anyone care to guess what John Patrick is eating?

So cute! One of Critter’s new habits is to share whatever he is eating. Here we see him being generous with his first real Thanksgiving dinner.

The return of the Bowler hat.

Are you looking at me?

Awww!

What can we say? He gets more and more adorable every day.

That’s it for this round. We’ll keep snapping the shots – you keep tuning in!

Happy Halloween

Sorry for the delay on these photos. Although Critter is not quite ready for the Trick or Treating, we popped him in the most appropriate costume we could think of:







Awww...

Too Cute!

This should make Grandma and Grandpa feel good. Here we see Mr. Critter enjoying some time with Grandpa:



But, all good things must come to an end…



Awww…

Critter Enjoys The Splash Park

Howdy all! We’re all settling into our new place very well and have started taking John Patrick to the huge park that is just up the road from us. They have a great fountain park area, which we have dubbed Splash Park. Here are some of his moments from today:

Crawling around in the water.

Now that he walks, he has found enjoyment in this place where he can walk all over. The ground padding is nice for his occasional trip-ups.

Although he was one of the youngest there, he had no problem making his way around in his usual outgoing style.

Of course, he had a smile for everyone he met.

And, he still loves to pose. Since still pictures don’t do the day justice, here is a short video of Critter enjoying his outing:



That’s all for now. More photos and videos coming real soon!

Bam-Bam Has Breakfast

Too funny!

Critter Walks!

For the past week or so, Casey and I have been helping Critter practice walking. He has been taking one or two skaky steps in that process until today. This is the best video I could get of him walking, but he loses concentration when he sees the camera, so you will have to take my word for it that he has begun to master his balance and movement. We are just so proud!

Critter's First Birthday Party

Woo-hoo! John Patrick’s first birthday party was a smashing success and he enjoyed himself quite a bit. Luckily, I was able to grab digital photos from two other cameras, so there are lots of great pictures. As this was an exclusive event, all in attendance were furnished with their exclusive VIP passes:


And away we go!

Fred and “Papa” Gene.

Sherrill and Kathy.

Critter had been watching me and Casey very closely while we were setting up and getting ready for the party, and was well aware that something was going on. So, with his confusion and anticipation, he didn’t nap very much. Just the same, he was quite jovial – especially when Daddy danced around the room with him.

The partygoers seemed to enjoy our antics.

Of course, Critter made sure to wander about and say hello to all the folks there.

Gene and Hugo shooting the breeze.

Since we couldn’t afford a pony-ride this year, we opted for a kitty-ride.

Kelli, Paul and Lori in the smoker’s area.

John Patrick saying hi to Grace, our friend who painted his bedroom.

Auntie Sam flew in from California just to see Critter’s big day.

That’s my boy! Always making nice with the pretty girls.

Uncle Paul and John Patrick were nearly inseparable all day.

Time for presents!

“Ooooh! I can’t wait!”

Mommy was in charge of helping with the opening process.

Once he got the hang of it, he started to dig in on his own.

Grace’s daughter Lilly dropped in to help too.

Hey, how did he get into the TV?

To all the folks who gave Critter the loud toys, we thank you.

Swimming in a sea of gifts.

John Patrick loves cars and trucks – just like Abo!

Bongos! Hooray!

Of course, Critter is always happy to drop everything so he can wrestle the cat. So, now that he’s opened his presents, it’s time for cake!

As per Murphy’s Law, when Casey went to pick up the cake, they had forgotten to make it. For a rush job, it still came out pretty nice.

Watch out! She’s got a knife!

“Why is everyone singing?”

“And what do you want me to do with this?”

“Oh! I get it now!”

“Smash it and rub it on my face. Check.”

I’m not sure who had more fun: John Patrick smashing his cake or the partygoers watching it.

He was such a good boy all day.

Even when he got icing in his eyes, he didn’t fuss too much. So, once cake was done and he was cleaned up, it was time for Critter to say his goodbyes and head out to Grandma’s for some down time while Casey and I entertained everyone with cocktails, food and swimming. It was a wonderful party and we thank everyone who was able to attend for helping make John Patrick’s first birthday a memorable event.

We still can hardly believe how big our little man is getting!