Payton is 2!

Our precious little boy turned 2 today! Happy Birthday Payton!









Don't know if you can see the runny nose in the pix, but Payton, as well as mike and I have been passing a bad cold to one another...On top of that, Payton climbed out of his crib twice and onto the connected diaper changing table. The first time, I found him sitting on top of the changing table, I freaked out and he just laughed at me...By the second time, we realized, time for the toddler bed...well, it's been a week, and he just doesn't want to stay in his bed! The first night, I was trying really hard not to laugh, because, for a half an hour straight, he ran from his door to the bed and back again....and finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion...He doesn't do that anymore, but he still gets out quite frequently, and we are still trying different tactics... (like, reasoning with him, etc...) so, far, it's been a battle...we welcome any tips! :)

Gingerbread House

We made a gingerbread house a couple of weeks ago when my family was in town. It was alot of fun, however it did not turn out as the picture on the box. I don't know why, when I bought it from Michaels', I had this idea in my head, that it would be so easy to do. Well, note to self for next year, making a gingerbread house is not that easy, especially if you don't follow the directions (which we did not), for example, like waiting 30 minutes for the walls and icing to dry, before putting on the roof...anyhow, payton had fun decorating. Notice the furrowed eyebrows, as he concentrates on putting the candy in the perfect place...


translation of what Payton is saying in the video below... "yellow"... "another one" :)

Choo Choo Trains

Payton is absolutely in love with trains. Especially Thomas the Train. He calls them "choo choos".

I remember before having Payton, I would hear toddlers talking to their moms, and the mothers all seemingly understood every word they were saying, even though it sounded like gibberish to me. Well, I am now one of those moms. Payton can say a ton of words, but many may not be understandable to most people... :) my favorite word that he "says" currently is "ALLIGATOR". (if I was more computer savvy i would have edited this video shorter...so, you can always stop it after he says "alligator".... :) ) And, if you watch the whole video, i wonder, can you understand all the words he is saying?

Let it Snow

The snow stuck for the first time, recently. So far, we've really enjoyed it. Mike was the first one out building a snowman on our street...


our street


Daddy helping Payton get on all his gear to go outside.

Payton's first experience with snow. He started to like it after a little while.

A week later, our snowman is still the only one on our street. I think only us native texans were excited about the snow... :)

Thanksgiving

We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We are especially thankful to Auntie Harriet, Uncle Chuck, Harmoni, Gong Gong, and Po Po for coming to our place and taking care of Payton (and us) over the past month, when we were in the hospital and during Roberta's recovery. Payton already misses all of you. Thanks so much for all your sacrifices and for taking care of us!

Laughing

payton was shy at first, but then really warmed up to the Yu's, who visited us recently. it was great seeing you all, thanks for everything!

Picky Eater

Can you guess Payton's favorite food?








Two of his favorites has to be...pickles and olives. Yeah, strange. In fact, we use his weakness for them to our advantage. He generally dislikes meat, which his superpower sense allows him to detect despite Roberta's best attempt to disguise and bury it in a spoonful of food. Yet, we can coax him to eat the occasional cheeseburger or chicken strips by bribing him with pickles.

One more pickle anecdote...It is likely that Payton discovered his affinity for pickles and olives from sharing our Subway sandwiches. Now, anytime Payton smells a Subway store (there is one in a Walmart that we frequent), something triggers in his big head and he immediately begins his repeated demands for...pickles.

Trick or Treat

Payton's first trick or treating experience. He was Eeyore. Note the chocolate stains around his mouth. We had to bribe him with M&M's to get him to wear his costume.



the back of the costume.With "mickey mouse"


favorite part of the evening, looking at a dog.


It was unseasonably warm, poor payton was sooo hot in his costume...
Running home, because he really didn't get the idea of trick or treating and was even a little scared of taking candy from our neighbors... oh well, maybe he will have more fun next year?

Krolls Farm

Last weekend we went to a farm with our neighbors, who also have a toddler named Payton.

Payton and Payton loved all the animals that you could pet at the farm. Above, they are looking at baby chickens. In below's video, they are still looking at the baby chickens. Our Payton, I believe, is trying to mimic chicken sounds.

Dancing to Music

Payton loves to listen to music (just like daddy) and dance (unlike daddy). This was taken right before our move to Illinois.

Didier Farm

Went to a farm the other day. Payton had alot of fun on his first horseback ride, feeding goats and pigs, first hayride, and first experience in a moonwalk (see video below).

Icees

Who loves Icees? It was difficult to get him to share with us.

Our Home

For those who are curious (and have been asking... :) ), here are a few pictures of our home....


Family room

Kitchen/Eating area

Payton's play room

Backyard

Corn

Corn is a big thing here. We live near a bunch of huge corn fields. It's really cheap here and it's absolutely delicious. For fun, people around here go to corn mazes, and our very neighborly neighbors even gave us fresh picked corn as a gift. Payton absolutely loves to eat corn off the cob.

Hello Illinois

We made it into Illinois about a month ago and have been settling into our new home. Aside from having to unpack our mounds of boxes, we've really enjoyed living here so far. In the last month, here are just a few things I noticed are differences from living in an apartment in Dallas, to living in a house in Beach Park, IL:

1) We are outside everyday. The weather right now is gorgeous, we feel like we live in CA (70s and 80s).
2) We talk to our neighbors alot. Many have kids and Payton loves to play with them... Our next door neighbor even has a toddler named Payton! (a girl)..
3) We actually don't live in "chicago", We live an hour north of downtown chicago in a suburb. Our suburb is only 7 minutes from Wisconsin, so we actually grocery shop in Wisconsin sometimes.
4) Our neighbors are concerned for us because we don't have a snowblower, even though it's just September.

Here's a clip of Payton helping daddy in the yard.



Here's Payton in his new ride.

Farewell Dallas

We are in our final few days in Dallas. These days are bittersweet for us. We've been so blessed by our friends and church family during our time here. A big THANK YOU to all who came out to dinner with us last night for some awesome tex- mex. We were so encouraged and will miss you all so much! Thanks so much to Sandy for planning it for us! Payton's bedtime is normally 6 ish these days, but he was able to stay up until past 9 last night! mostly because he was so entertained. Here are just a few photos/video of those who helped keep him awake! :) ...



With Uncle Paul and Auntie Betsy. Uncle Paul taught Payton how to splash water from his cup onto other people... (i wonder if we can unteach this to him?) :)

with Uncle Mike. His favorite coloring buddy.


With Sarah, Kelsey, and Madison, thanks girls for always making him laugh!!

It's 11:45pm, what are you doing?

This being our last week in Dallas, there is no need to ask mike or myself what we are doing during our evenings...Once Payton's in bed, it's our most efficient time to pack/clean/throw away all of our STUFF... you don't realize how much stuff you accumulate in 5 years, until you start really going through it and asking yourself, if I didn't know that I had this for the last few years, do I really want to send it 1000 miles to my new home?

We appreciate all the offers to help us pack, but I think we see the light at the end of the tunnel. :) (although it may not look like it in the pix below)...

Payton's First (Professional) Haircut

Payton came into the world with a relatively full head of hair and now it grows like a weed. We've cut it at home a few times and as you can see, he's not very pleased with the experience. Here's his first professional haircut.




(Video was taken with my phone so it's a bit grainy)

Payton "talking"

Recently, Payton has started talking a TON.... most of the time we can't understand what he's saying, but clearly, HE understands!

In Love with water

Payton just LOVES water, whether it's in a pool, in the tub or in a cup, he just cannot get enough....


on another note, it's hard to believe in 4 weeks, we will be moving away from the texas heat, and making our way towards the windy city...I wonder if Payton will love snow as much as he loves the water?

Popular with the ladies

It's hard to believe Payton is 18 months old. He still goes to the nursery at our church, as he's too young to be in the Toddler Class. Usually on sundays, near the end of church he gets some visitors. For the most part he loves playing with all his visitors, especially the girls. Here's a pic of him with some of the girls at our church...



And here's a really short video of him, trying to get attention? not sure what he is doing, but normally he is so happy to be around the girls...

Hanging out with the cousins

mamma mia!

Payton new favorite cousin, Christen

the three musketeers

Coming out of Bucca