Christmas, and the forgotten photos...

Hello again, everyone! Good to have you back for the last of the archival postings taking care of all the pictures I neglected to post during the holidays. And today, there's even a special treat.

You see, long ago Tanya and her fiance Mark came to visit us in Three Hills. Tanya brought her camera and took some pictures and then emailed them to me for posting on the blog. And then I forgot about them. Completely. Until she reminded me of them with her comment on last week's posting. And so the first set of pictures is from all the way back in the lovely month of November. I present to you the Forgotten Photos.

First off, we have the amazing Theo Hendrix, learning to play the guitar with his teeth...

What a prodigy. "Hey, what are you looking at?"

..."Oh, you're taking pictures? Well then, here's a pose for you..."

Can he get any cuter?

Finally, the epic photograph that is now on my desktop, and likely soon will be on yours as well (it makes a really good desktop wallpaper, actually). Ladies and gentlemen, the flying baby...

That, I think, is the best photo ever taken. Because Tanya has a camera that actually takes pictures when you press the button (as opposed to ours that has some strange delay on it), she could actually get a mid-air shot. I love the look of unmitigated joy on his face (that's how I choose to interpret it, at least). Fun times.

Moving on, and getting back to somewhere closer to the present day, I thought I'd share with you our Christmas photos as well. As you know, this was Theo's first Christmas. Although he probably had no idea what was going on, we did, and we were excited for him. Took two videos (and I'm sorry in advance for the low lighting), but I won't put them together--breaking them up is more suspenseful, or something. Anyway, here's the first one for you.


Here's Theo and mommy looking at his new Knock-Knock Blocks...

He even got a new car. At first, he wasn't sure what to do with it...

...but eventually, he got the hang of it. I think there was a slow-moving vehicle in front of him in this shot...

Hand on the horn, tongue hanging out. Yeah, he's a Vancouver driver.

"Hey guys, check this bag out!"

"Mommy, what do I do with it?"

"Do I eat it?"

"Wait a minute, maybe there's something inside it..."

"...yes, I can see it down there..."

"...just a little bit closer..."

"Ah ha! Told you I'd find it!"

Here's the little man with Grandpa, all dressed up with a hand in his mouth...

And finally, the last half of the Christmas video...



Administrative note: as you may know, it's Theo's birthday next weekend (actually, it's on Monday, but we're celebrating on the weekend). I'm flying home on Friday evening, and we're all coming back here on Tuesday. That means that I'll have no new posting up next weekend, but please do look for one the weekend after that with all sorts of 2007 footage, as well as birthday party photos. See you then.

On to December!

Gather 'round, kids, it's time for another Theo blog posting! It's my favourite time of the week!

Hi again, everyone, glad to see you again. Things have been going well here in the lovely hamlet of Three Hills, even without my family to keep me company. School is getting into its usual swing, snow is falling, grad photos are soon to be taken, and life moves inexorably forward.

With that, I think it's time to catch up on some more pictures from the December archives as promised last week. You know, the cynical among you might see this all as a ploy--how could I maintain Theo's blog without fresh pictures of Theo? Well that's where slacking off before Christmas came in handy. Sometimes, I'm startled at my own genius.

Anyway, on with it. Is that Theo? I think it is...

Unless you're the parent of a Kid's CBC watching child, you probably don't understand that allusion. Good thing the internet is a fount of information on kids shows (warning: sound. Click here for the non-sound variety).

As I mentioned last week, my parents came out for a visit in late November, and they stayed until early December. And although my mom hates seeing pictures of herself (and where do you think I got it from?), this picture is particularly good, although Theo doesn't look like he's impressed with the whole situation...

Having other people around here also meant that we had someone else to hold the camera and take pictures of us. And apparently, Theo remembered how to smile...

One of the joys (*ahem*) of living in rural Alberta is the snow. When it finally got humane enough to take a walk in said snow, we bundled up the boy and took him outside...

Great toque, eh? But you know, when you really want to get somewhere besides just up and down your street (which is all we can expect from Theo's walking abilities), you have to find other modes of transportation. Some kids, they get to take a dog sled. But Theo, well, he gets to take a daddy sled...

Off we went, down the street (I especially like the lighting in this one)...

And, even though at first Theo wasn't so sure how to sit up properly in the sled, and it looked as though we were carrying around a doll...

...he eventually figured it out. "Mush, daddy! Mush I say!"...

...and, of course, we took a video of it...


Like the sunglasses? They're for three-year-olds.

Finally, it was time to return to Langley, where much festivity was had (the Christmas photos and videos will be posted next week), and the opportunities to dress up were numerous. Good thing, too, because GQ just happened to be in the area...

...and, of course, the Canadian junior team was busy winning the gold medal. You know, it's never too early to get them into hockey, that's what I say...

But at the end of the day, when the photographers are gone, the belly is full, songs have been sung, and eyes start to get heavy, it's good to just sit back and relax in your crib. With your foot through the bars...

See you next week.

The Blogger Blogs Again!

Okay, so I lied. I told you, oh, six weeks ago that I'd have new pictures up within the week. Yeah, oops.

Not that I don't have a good excuse. Sure, we went home for the holidays, but it wasn't what I would consider a "relaxing" time away. We had tons to do, including church commitments, family commitments, visits with friends, the whole Christmas dinner thing, the new year, and preparing to come back. Plus, both Steph and Theo were sick for most of the time we were back.

Theo actually got so bad that we had to take him for myriad tests and doctor visits. Not a lot of fun (have you ever tried to take an infant for X-rays? I don't recommend it), but after some good care from the pediatrician and some antibiotics, he's fine again.

In addition to all that, Theo was sleeping in what's normally our office where our computer is (Steph's mom, who is living at our house while we're away, is in what was Theo's room), and so I couldn't get to the computer at optimal blogging time, which is right before I go to bed when Theo is down for the night.

But now, well, it's a different story. If you've read the Three Hills blog, you'll know that I'm back here in Three Hills by myself. We decided that it would be best if Steph and Theo stayed home until his birthday in February. It's a little bit lonely, but I've got so much school stuff to occupy my time that it's not as bad as it could be. Being here by myself also gives me plenty of time to do other things, like catch up on long-lost blogging that I should've done weeks ago.

On that note, here we go, back into the swing of it. I'm going to take the next few posts to catch up on old material that should've gone up a while ago. So picking up where we left off last time, let's travel back in time together to November of 2006. Theo, as always, is looking dapper...

This was the month of visits. It started off in the middle of the month with Steph's mom coming out for 10 days. Here she is with Steph and Theo (and I love the way Theo's looking at the camera in this photo)...

After that, Steph's cousin came out to visit with her son, Gabe. Much hilarity ensued; I'm sure these guys thought they were part of a zoo with all the photos and videos being taken. It was really funny because Gabe is a bit of a pokey guy (and I don't mean that he's slow; I mean that he likes to poke), and Theo, well, he's Theo--he sits there and takes it. This video is from when they first met; keep an eye out especially at the end when Theo starts getting poked in the eye. You wonder when anyone was going to step in (the voices in the background are Steph, her cousin, her mom, and her aunt)...



After Steph's mom left, my parents arrived (pictures of them with Theo next posting) for a two-week stay. In the midst of all these visits, we managed to get some pretty good pictures of our little guy...

"Little Stinker? Who, me?"

And, of course, he kept being messy, as babies are wont to do...



I know you've seen a video like this one before, but I had to include it because with a clear cup, the use of tongue becomes quite evident...



But there was also pain this month, as more teeth came through. This video is for all you young married couples who think that having a baby is always sunshine and lollipops. I admit, it's a lot of fun, but sometimes, things get a little bit loud. Ladies and gentlemen, our birth control video...



But in the end, Theo is still the cutest baby in the world. No seriously, I can prove it--I've got photographic evidence...

That last one is his "French Pea" look, so named after the Veggie Tales characters of the same description. Couldn't find any photos on the web, but if you know what I'm talking about, you'll see the resemblance.

And with that, the month of November concludes. Next time (sometime next week, depending on how school goes) we'll get into December, and after that, it's the Christmas episode (only five weeks late). See you again soon.