Some pics from our Ft. Wayne trip

Wednesday was such a nice day we decided to play outside a bit before we headed back home. Here are a couple pictures that Grandma Berghoff took of us.

Thomas playing in the grass. He looks so small out there!

I love it that Thomas is old enough to walk between us like this. Pretty soon he'll be lifting his feet and wanting to swing!

Picture of the family in the grass. As you can see Thomas was more interested in the football!

A picture of mom and dad (Thomas took off to play ball!)

This is my most favorite picture of all...Isn't he just the cutest thing you've EVER seen??

Back from the funeral

We just got back from Fort Wayne and Grandpa Berghoff's funeral. It was very sad to see everyone saying goodbye to a beloved brother, father, grandfather etc. But at the same time it was nice to get to see everyone. We spent Tuesday at the showing and the funeral services were today. After the service we all went back to grandma and grandpa Berghoff's for food and family time.

Even though it was for sad circumstances Thomas still enjoyed his time in Fort Wayne. He loves playing with the "kitty" and spent a lot of time at grandma and grandpa's chasing her around. He also enjoyed seeing all his relatives and showing them all the new things he can do like walking and jumping!

We also found out on this trip that Thomas likes McDonald's McChicken sandwiches- I ordered one on the way up and the little stinker ate over half my sandwich!

Hugs and kisses to all!

Oh yeah, one more thing...on the way to the funeral service Thomas was playing with aunt Tanya's phone and ended up text messaging Travis. The text was a lone smiley face. It was like Thomas was telling Travis everything was going to be okay and lightening everyone's spirits on such a sad day.

Saying Goodbye

Unfortunately we all had to say goodbye as grandpa Thomas Berghoff passed away yesterday at 92 years old. We are getting ready now to head to Fort Wayne for the funeral and showing. I know that Thomas won't remember his great-grandpa whose name he shares but I am still very grateful that they got a chance to meet. Rest in Peace and God Bless.

Family portrait and Thomas' 18 month pictures...Finally!

Yesterday we finally went and had a family portrait and Thomas' 18 month pictures taken. I was concerned with how Thomas would do but he ended up doing great! As soon as they pulled out a football he was right at home:)

Here's the link to the pics. Feel free to take a look and let us know your favorites!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/travisberghoff/sets/72157622535388829/show/

Bathtime fun with dad

Thomas likes to play a game in the tub with dad where Travis takes a cup and dumps water on him. As you can tell by his smile he really likes this game!

Definitely not afraid of the water!

Here's a video of them playing. Isn't Thomas' laugh the cutest thing you've ever heard?!!

Blowing bubbles

Thomas can now officially put his face in the water and blow bubbles. Of course half the time he ends up sucking the water up but he doesn't seem to mind and we figure it's clearing out his sinuses so that's probably good. He likes to make dad and I do it first and then he tries. It's pretty darn cute! He also likes to "swim" in the tub when we make the water really deep. At this rate he'll be doing the backstroke by the time we get the pool open next summer:-)

Pumpkin carving!

Our pumpkin...

Thomas tried to roll it and pick it up but his favorite part was taking the top on and off

He really wasn't too interest in the pumpkin "guts". I was hoping he would dig in and help me clean it out. I actually think he said "Ooooooo" while watching me dig around and pull out the slimey stuff. He was not impressed...

After I was done cleaning it out he did help dad separate and salt the pumpkin seeds before dad baked them for a tasty snack

And here's our final product! I was attempting to make it look like Dooley from Dooley and Pals but this is as close as I got. I actually didn't think it was too bad considering I did it VERY quickly while Dad tried to distract Thomas from the knife:)

Family tree

Check out this family tree! The top picture is of Thomas (17 months) and the bottom is of Travis at 20 months. Can't deny these two are related can we??? Now we know where Thomas gets his cutie patutieness from!!

Spoke too soon

Sick Thomas sleeping on grandpa over the weekend

I think I spoke too soon...Thomas still isn't better. We thought he was doing better but Friday his runny nose and cough came back and Saturday he was running a fever again. He spent the weekend with grandma and grandpa Berghoff who said he didn't sleep very well and was overall a little miserable. Poor thing. After we picked him up today we came home, took a hot shower and then snuggled a bit before bed. We've got his little heater on and his humidifier with Vick's. Let's keep our fingers crossed that he'll be able to get some sleep tonight. I'm going to call the doctor again tomorrow and try and get him in tomorrow afternoon. I'm pretty sure its the flu now and I'm getting a little concerned since its been going on a week... I'll let you all know what the doctor says tomorrow.

Feeling better

I just talked to Dad who's home with Dooder today and he says Thomas is definitely feeling better. They even ventured out of the house to do a little shopping and Thomas was running around like a crazy person (yes, this is what we consider back to normal!). He slept from 11pm until 6am and is eating again. I think the medicine that dad got him on his shopping trip last night is helping. Let's hope he continues to get better and better and hopefully we can stop the currently endless supply of snot here in the near future...

Sick Dooder :(

Thomas is sick. Dad and I split the work day yesterday to stay home with him and then I stayed home again today. He's been running a fever on and off (mostly on) since yesterday and his poor nose won't stop running. He hasn't been sleeping well at night or naps so he looks pretty miserable right now. Daddy just went to the store to peruse the "cough and cold" aisle so hopefully he'll find something we can use to help Bubs feel better.

I called the doctor today (and no, they don't think its the swine flu). They said it sounds like what's going around and that the fevers are lasting 3-5 days and to just watch him to be sure he's eating and sleeping at least a little. We may end up taking him in tomorrow though anyway just because he's our baby and we'd rather be safe than sorry...

Water lover!

I love that Thomas likes water so much! Just tonight he walked into the bathroom and informed Travis and I that he wanted to take a bath. (This was done with some pointing and dooderese!) Once in the tub he proceeded to pull up on the knob and turn his bath into a shower. Every time he did this the water would come down on his head and he would laugh and then push the knob back down to return to a bath. He probably did this 10 times laughing harder each time. I can't imagine that most kids love water this much. He doesn't care if its in his face or eyes and actually enjoys sitting under the shower and having the water hit his head!! What a crazy, fun, water loving baby!!

A year apart...

The top picture is of Thomas at the pumpkin patch looking at the donkey's this year. The bottom picture is of him doing the exact same thing in the same place last year. It's amazing to see how much bigger he's gotten but also how much he must love donkey's!!

My baby's getting big!

Pumpkin patch and party

Saturday we went to Eli's first birthday party and Thomas enjoyed some playtime with Ella and Eli and thoroughly enjoyed a birthday cupcake! On Sunday we all went to a pumpkin patch to enjoy some fall festivities. Thomas had a great time as you can see by the video and pictures. His favorite thing was the donkeys and the straw maze. He liked climbing on the hay bales and practicing jumping! (Most of the time he didn't actually jump but just "bounced" a little and then fell to the ground.) We're still working on the actual jumping:)

Once we got to the pumpkin patch Thomas wanted to see ALL the pumpkins. He kept pointing and wanting to go to the next patch and then the next and so on! I don't think he quite understood that there were ALOT of pumpkins and we couldn't possibly see them all. I got a couple of cute pictures of him with the pumpkins. He is just getting so big! The difference between taking him this year and last year was amazing. He was so much more involved this year! Especially with the animals. Like I said he absolutely loved the donkey's!!

New look for the blog!!!

I thought it might be time for a change. I've been doing this blog for almost a year now and we've always had the same colors. So in response to the new fall season I thought a new template may be in order. Let me know what you think???

The Baker

Daddy had to work late last night so after dinner (pancakes, Yum!) Thomas and I decided to make a pound cake. After adding all the ingredients and started to mix thomas wanted to add the ingredients some more. So to facilitate his imagination (i.e. save my cake!) I gave him his own bowl and he "made" his own cake! He was sooo cute dumping all the "ingredients" into the bowl. By the time he was done the bowl was filled with the cake mix box, the measuring cup and the empty egg carton along with some other random countertop items. Then he proceeded to "mix" it like mommy and Wah-Lah we each had our own cake mix! We ended our baking session by each taking a beater to lick. MMMM....Delicious!!

yeshhh

Lots of times when you ask Thomas a question now he says "yesh". It sounds like yes so that's what I'm assuming it is. It's pretty cute:) "Do you want some milk?"... "Yesh"...too cute!!

He also says shoes as "Boosh". I just think this is adorable!! Also, both dogs and cats are "kitty" now. I'm not sure why or when that happened but whenever we see a dog like when watching Clifford the Big the Red dog he says "KITTY"!

His other words are: boon (balloon), bah (ball), dad, mama, fish, key (monkey) and a bunch of other Dooderese I'm still trying to translate:)

Bedtime cuteness

If you ever get a chance to watch Thomas in the evening you'll be in for a treat... He has developed what I like to call "Bedtime cuteness". Every night right when its time to go to bed he becomes the cutest most precious boy in the whole world. He plays so nicely and quietly. It's like his way of saying "look mom and dad at how cute I am and how good I'm being...you don't want to put me to bed yet do you??"
:)

Making a statement

Here's Thomas making a bold fashion statement with his new Elmo vest from Grandma Berghoff. He really liked it as you can see!

Big helper!!!

Thomas is starting to be a BIG help around the house...

We've got incisors!

Just got a peek and we officially have 2 top canines. Travis' are sharp and look like vampire teeth...I wonder if Bubbies' will too? If so maybe we could be a vampire family for Halloween!

Pennsylvanians and Hiking

We had the Esslinger's visiting from Pennsylvania this weekend! They came in Friday and stayed with us until Sunday. Friday we all went to dinner at Chili's and Saturday we hung out mostly at the house and watched Thomas and Mason play. Then Saturday evening we went to Octoberfest by Saxony in Noblesville. We ate, drank, and the kids played. There was a bounce house that Thomas would have loved to play in but it was too full of big kids. So instead we walked around, checked out the firetruck they had onsite and eventually found a balloon! For those of you that haven't spent any time with Thomas recently he has the uncanny ability to spot a balloon ANYWHERE at ANYTIME! I swear I have no concerns about his vision because he can spot a loose balloon in the sky from a mile away!

Then yesterday Thomas, Dad and I went to get a new filter for the shop vac and stopped a park in Carmel. It was suppose to represent some sort of Indian grounds and had a couple slides, a rope wall and a huge sand box. It was close to the river too so we walked a bit and then did a bit of non-trail "hiking" down to the river. Thomas loved this! He was so cute looking around at all the trees and plants and then "hiking" on the trial by himself holding dad's hand:) Then on the way back to the van we played "here mommy try to catch my shoes as I throw them!" It was a good time and made me look forward to the day we can take Thomas camping and do some real hiking!

Playdate with Ella

Thomas had a playdate with Ella last night. They both had a fabulous time (I think!). They watched some Steelers football, played peek-a-boo with a dish towel, fought over some rings and who was going to ride the Thomas train and ate tasty mac and cheese. Ella even entertained us by putting a bucket on her head (one of Thomas' new tricks too) and walking around the living room. It was a good time for everyone! The babies were so entertaining that Ella's mom hardly even noticed that the Steelers lost and she's a big fan so that says a lot!

Aunt Tanya and uncle Alan are having a girl!

We found out this week that Thomas' new baby cousin is going to be a girl. We recieved a package in the mail on Wednesday with 2 boxes marked #1 and #2 along with instructions not to open the boxes until further notice. On Thursday after Tanya's ultrasound we recieved a phone call telling us to open box #2. Since we were at work we waited until that evening after dinner and opened box #2 as a family. In the box was a little dessert. When we took our fork and cut into it the inside was pink! Thomas was super excited about his new little girl cousin (we think) at the very least he definetly enjoyed the cake!

Congratulations Tanya and Alan!

runny nose and football

We have nothing we HAVE to do this weekend...sooo nice! Thomas came home from the sitter yesterday with a runny nose so we've been taking it pretty easy this weekend. There's been a lot of watching TV and reading books. Thomas and Travis are thoroughly enjoying that football season has started as you can see by the pics. :) Thomas loves watching football and always points out the ball to us...so adorable! Hopefully he sleeps a little better tonight and we can nip this runny nose in the butt ASAP!!

Ready for a ribeye?

I caught a glimpse of the inside of Thomas' mouth last night while we were playing steamroller (shout out to my mom!). It appears he now has his 2 upper canine teeth coming in. I told Amy this morning the kid is going to be ready for a ribeye here pretty soon with all those chompers!

Playhouse and fun with Grandma and aunt Sabrina

Riding his first carnival ride! He kept smiling every time he passed mom and grandma who were standing and waving nearby!

Climbing up the inside "stairs" of his new playhouse

Throwing ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he can find down the slide!

Mouth too full of chicken nuggets!! Mmmm...fair food!!

Thomas is now the proud owner of an adorable playhouse and merry go round courtesy of Grandma and aunt Sabrina who visited this past weekend. Thomas loves his new playhouse and has played on it every day since we got it. His favorite thing is to throw his toys down the slide and open and close the little front door. Too cute! He also likes to push the merry-go-round but isn't too sure about actually riding it yet.

We also went to the Zionsville Fall Festival on Saturday with Grandma and aunt Sabrina and Thomas rode his first carnival ride. It was a big firetruck. It took a minute for him to get use to it after it started but once he did I think he enjoyed it! Grandma and mommy also went through the "Castle of the dead"...the LEAST scary haunted house imaginable, too funny!

Walking fool!

Just this weekend Thomas started to stand up and walk A LOT more. Apparently, walking is becoming an acceptable means of transporation...finally!!

Way to go Bubs!!

No more bottles

Last week Thomas officially had his last nightime bottle. My goal had always been to have him completely bottle free by the time he was a year and half so I hadn't really even been thinking about taking it away yet. That is until one of my co-workers told me he was too old to have a bottle and suggested I do it. So to make what I imagined to be a horrible experience at least a little easier I bought some special "nightime sippies" and thought we'd give it a go. Well to my surprise Thomas loves his new sippies so much I don't think he's missed the bottles at all! In fact yesterday I packed up all the bottles and put them in storage. I was sure that when he saw them he would want one, but he didn't. He's just growing up too fast!!

P.S. Both Travis and I were a little sad to see the bottles go (our baby is growing up!) but also so proud of our little guy for taking the transition like a champ!! Next stop potty training...just kidding...we are so not ready for that yet:)

hot air balloon

There was a hot air balloon flying over the neighborhood next to ours tonight. Thomas absolutely could not get over it! He was so excited and kept pointing outside and saying "boon" until he went to bed. It was really awesome watching how much joy that one balloon brought him!! Too cute!

Thomas' shirt today says "I've decided to put myself in charge". It's VERY cute...and true for everyday I think!!

Labor Day weekend 2009

We didn't really do a whole lot for labor day this year. Gma and Gpa Berghoff came down Thursday night and stayed with Thomas Friday so Mommy and Daddy could go out to a nice relaxing anniversary dinner (5 years!!). BTW we went to Flemmings and it was awesome. Then Saturday aunt Tara and Tanya came over and we grilled outside and played with Daddy's new awesome cornhole set that Gpa made. They are beautiful! Then Sunday and Monday we did a lot of laying around and relaxing. It was a nice long weekend and the relaxing was way over due!

Walking, for real!

Although he often still prefers to crawl or be carried Thomas CAN walk! Multiple times today he took off across the living room. I guess a ball can be quite the motivator!! I'm sooo proud of our little boy and his new found skill!

Let the tantrums begin!

SO I guess we're at that age... Just this week, Thomas has started to throw little tantrums. We had to box our food and take it to go at a restaurant for the first time and then yesterday I had to leave Target before finishing my shopping. Oh the joys to come... and I thought we had at least a couple more months until the "terrible two's"!!

nightmares/night terrors

Thomas has started having nightmares. It's happened pretty much every night this week at 2am and 4am and occasionally other times (the first night was the worst). Usually if Travis or I go in and rub him lightly on his arm or back he settles down and goes quietly back to sleep. I just feel so bad for him. I wish I could just explain to him that he's just dreaming and everything will be okay. All we can really do is hope that he gets over it soon. My poor baby boy!

Berghoff Reunion

Here's a picture of Thomas and cousin Aidan at the Berghoff reunion last month. Too bad Aidan lives in Alabama now Thomas would love to have him around to play with all the time!!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Words

Here is a list of Thomas current vocabulary.

Mama

Dada

Bah (ball)

Booh (balloon)

Broosh (book)

kitty cat

god (dog)

he also has said the following:

duck

makey (monkey)

read

fish

And of course he says a LOT of other stuff too except we have NO IDEA what he is saying. I like to tell him that we don't understand "Dooderese"!

He also knows hand signals for "all done" and "more" although sometimes he gets them confused like asking for "more" when he's "all done" in the bath tub!

Thomas is walking!!

Thomas can walk!! This weekend Thomas has started walking on his own. Friday night he took about 6 steps when he thought daddy wasn't looking and then walked about 10ft yesterday while at the MotoGP at the track with dad and Dave. Since then he has taken a few steps on his own here and there. He still prefers to have a hand but at least now we KNOW he can do it! Congratulations Thomas!!

My baby

So, as I was rocking Thomas last night I realized that my baby is getting too big. He really can't even lay in my lap anymore. Now he has to sit sideways and just lean on me:( In so many ways he is still a baby and needs his mama but at the same time he is getting bigger everyday. It makes me both happy and sad. Thinking back, the past year and half has been the best and fastest of my life. I can't imagine my life without Thomas now and am so thankful for the chance to have him as a son. I'm absolutely loving every minute I get to spend with him!!

Is that a Spotosaurus??

I often call Thomas a "Crankasaurus" when he's being cranky but this weekend we upgraded to "Spotosaurus"! Friday at dinner with grandma and aunt Sabrina, dad noticed that Thomas had some red spots on his legs. By the time dinner was over the spots had spread to all over his legs and his arms. By Saturday evening almost his whole body was covered including the bottoms of his feet! We took him to immediate care on Saturday and they diagnosed him with Roseola (even though he hadn't had a high fever) after the strep test came back negative. And in case you were wondering, Thomas did NOT enjoy getting his throat swabbed! I was sure he was going to puke on the nurse when she shoved 2 large q-tips down his throat to get the cultures but he didn't, thank goodness! Anyway, the spots slowly faded over the rest of the weekend and he seems pretty much "spotless" today
:-)

First Colts pre-season game

Last weekend was the first Colts 2009 pre-season game. We went to dinner with Dave and Kim at Wings etc and watched the game. And has you can see in the pictures I think this is one mom that's in trouble.... By the looks of things, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have another big sports fan on my hands!!!

Dipping maddness

Thomas now likes to dip EVERYTHING when he's eating. I'm pretty sure our almost weekly trip to Chilli's and getting chips and salsa probably had something to do with it! Besides chips and salsa Thomas has also dipped:

-mini corn dogs, fries and grilled cheese in ketchup
-waffles, pancakes and fruit in syrup
-grilled cheese in applesause
-grilled cheese in vegetable soup (dad really appreciated this one!)
-breadsticks in cheese
and has even tried dipping his french fry into his grilled cheese!!

It's just dipping maddness around our house right now!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/travisberghoff/3831709189/

Dad's shoes

Thomas has just recently taking a liking to shoes. As you can see he doesn't care who's shoes they are, he just thinks they are fun to wear!!

Dad's are a little difficult to walk in though:-)

Videos from the water park

Look at how much fun Dooder had!!

He really liked these fountains and being able to "swim" in the water all by himself.

!

Here he is putting his face in the water!

Waterpark Fun!

We spent this past weekend in Colombus Ohio at Fort Rapids Resort, a hotel with an indoor waterpark. We drove over with Kim and Dave in the van to meet the Esslingers for Mason's 3rd birthday. There were 12 people in all and we had a fabulous time. We all stayed in a 4 bedroom villa and spent Saturday and Sunday at the water park. It was a blast! Thomas LOVED the water as you will see in the pictures and the adults had some fun too! Mommy and daddy slept in bunk beds! and Thomas had his first experience away from home that wasn't grandma and grandpa Berghoff's house. We ate pizza and cake and got REALLY wet! So much fun!!!

15 month Dr's appt

Thomas had his 15 month check up yesterday and all is great! He now weighs 25lbs and is 32 inches long. Thomas stood on the big boy scale and kept everyone entertained with his "talking" and laughing (at least until it was time for shots). The doctor said that Thomas looks great and said that she considers steps to be walking and not to worry that he was doing great. She was impressed by his motor and verbal skills and said she wanted to make him her poster child because of how much he likes to read! We couldn't be more proud:-)

We've got steps!

Not officially "walking" yet but Thomas is definitely taking steps on his own now. Everyday he is getting braver and braver. Just tonight he took 4 whole unassisted steps to walk to me in the driveway!

Shhhhh...Thomas tried to walk....

This morning Thomas stood up and tried to walk by himself! He did it while he thought we weren't watching. He was only really able to get one step started before he fell down but we are so excited that he tried!! ;-)

Clay terrace fountains

While out to look for a life jacket to fit Dooder and get some lunch, we stopped and let Thomas play in the fountains at Clay Terrace. He had an awesome time as you can tell by the photos. By the time we left both Thomas and mama were soaked. Luckily, it was a hot day so we didn't mind a bit!