Snow Day

On Sunday it snowed about 3 inches in Nashville and has been below freezing ever since. That didn't stop Francis from getting outdoors to roll in the snow and get wet. Below are some photos from his 5-minute adventure in the yard.

Francis prepares for Christmas

Francis has no idea that Christmas is around the corner despite all the new things that have been going on. After returning from Columbia last week we decided Francis was due for his first hair cut. He did very well and didn't seem to notice that anything different was going on (thanks to the Sesame Street DVDs from Aunt Sam). Don't worry, we didn't cut too much off and saved every last curl.

We got a live tree last weekend which Francis seems to enjoy having in the house. We were only able to decorate the top two feet with ornaments after Francis tried to pull some off, but he doesn't bother the strands of lights too much. He has fallen face-first into the tree several times while trying to lean on it but has mostly left it alone. He can almost say "tree" and points to it if you ask him where the tree is.

Last weekend we took Francis to Toys R Us for the first time. Now that he can walk he refuses to sit in a buggy and insisted on touching everything in sight. Fortunately, there were hundreds of other children losing their minds and Francis did fine in comparison. Geoffrey the Giraffe and Santa were on hand to greet kids, but Francis showed little interest in either.

Potatoes!

Francis walks outside

Francis doing stuff

Francis is becoming quite an active toddler and is all over the place. In some ways it makes him easier to watch, but you can't take your eye off him. Even when you're watching him he still makes poor decisions, such as shoving dirt in his mouth. In the second picture he was not upset about the dirt but was mad at me for taking him back in the house. Francis is becoming an expert walker even in shoes and while crunching through leaves. He spent a lot of time outside this weekend.

We finally decided to childproof the cabinets since Francis likes to open and close then and pull heavy corningware onto his little feet. Francis doesn't need any toys for Christmas: he's happy with his 5lbs of potatoes.

On Saturday Francis surprised us by grabbing Will's keys and trying to put them in the doorknob. For those who believe Francis eats too much tofu and zucchini, please see the large cupcake below.

Will bought Francis a fancy toy flip-phone this week since Francis really enjoys playing with ours. He doesn't really understand what's going on though, and holds most anything up to his ears, including sappy pine cones.

Francis REALLY walks!

After tentatively taking some steps several weeks ago Francis had mainly reverted to crawling....until tonight! As you can see, he's quite pleased with himself.

Francis walks!

13th month

Francis apologizes for taking nearly a month to update his loyal fans on his activities. It's been a fun-filled Fall so far. Francis travelled to South Carolina at the beginning of the month and got to hang out with August and his dog. He took his first trip to Congaree Swamp while there. He's now well supplied with new clothes for the colder months ahead thanks to Jackson, and is modelling many of them below.

Back in Nashville, Francis has been playing in the yard as much as he can before the weather gets cold. Below he can be seen pointing at the neighbor's dog, pushing his walker, dressing in Hawaiian shirts with daddy, showing off his new PJs, playing in the bag of recycling, and playing with a model train set at the pediatrician's office (not realizing he was about to get stuck 5 times).

Francis went out looking for some pretty leaves this past weekend and, as is apparent in the photo below, was disappointed when it was time to leave. He looks forward to returning to Columbia for Thanksgiving.

Francis and the Tow Truck

Francis celebrates

Cake Destruction

Francis fans everywhere don't need to be reminded that today is his first birthday! While he plans on celebrating with family next weekend in SC, there seemed to be no harm in having a little party today. As can be seen below (and in upcoming videos) Francis took this opportunity to destroy the cake, his clothing, and a good section of the kitchen floor.

Francis received several new books and a squishy tow truck that he can push around. It makes noise when it's rammed into something. This frightened Francis initially, but he got used to it soon enough.

Francis wore jeans for the first time today as the weather is starting to feel cooler. He has recently started pointing at everything in sight, so we spend a lot of time identifying things over and over.