Saturday in the Park

Matthew was kind enough to take both of his parents to Harris Shoals Park Saturday. This time he didn't venture into the creek, but was more than happy to play on the playground.

Surveying the equipment

At the top of the slide.....

At the bottom of the slide.

In the above picture he's holding a Sweetgum ball. Matthew also was assisting with park clean-up as he picked up every stick he could find.

The tunnels are popular and he was happy to share with the other kids in the park. He was also happy to share when offered Chex mix by one of the Watkinsville City Council Member's children. Matthew is learning to say "thank you".

Swinging and Smiling

13 Months

Matthew is 13 months old today. For the past month, whenever someone asked "how old is he", his parents could just say "he's one". However, "he's one" is not terribly descriptive. So as of today, Matthew's age goes back to being described in monthly units. It's not clear when a child's age stops being expressed in months, just as it stopped being described in weeks, (14 weeks? 35 months?) but it is clear that 376 months sounds like an age that may appear in the Old Testament.

Speaking of the Old Testament, Matthew's basket of choice would never make it down the Nile.

Watching football and eating his tailgate snack of choice: Goldfish

Oh, boy! Rocks!

Pumpkins

Matthew is highly intrigued with the gourd-like squash that is abundant this time of year. He can't say "pumpkin" though, he calls them "ball". And like any other ball, Matthew wants to try and pick them up, throw them, or roll them.

No matter how big the pumpkin is, it's still a ball.

So Danielle bought Matthew his own pumpkin that is appropriately sized. It will be a miracle if it lasts until the end of the month.

Fantastic Fall Fun

Matthew was able to see both sets of grandparents this weekend, without leaving Georgia. First, Matthew got to spend time with Big Mama and Big Daddy Friday and Saturday. The SEC football fans got to watch little man while Mark and Danielle sat with Crit and watched Georgia get their first conference win. Due to the good results this weekend, the citizens of Dawg Nation are currently taking up a collection to try and get Big Mama and Big Daddy to watch Matthew during Georgia-Florida weekend.

Matthew also took his parents to a Corn Maze, Pumpkin Patch, Fall Festival in Newton County, GA

The wagon came in handy

Aunt Devin took him down a big slide while his Papa stood watch

Matthew enjoyed his time with Aunt D, Grandma, & Papa

After the hay-ride to end the evening, Matthew played the world's shortest game of fetch with Duke the wonderdog. Duke, a German shorthair pointer, was the only canine invited to Matthew's birthday party and is great with kids.

Matthew needed a bath, but Duke was not done playing.

Saddle Up

Matthew has been traveling a lot lately. The weekend of September 25th Matthew was in Alabama spending time with Big Mama, Mommie Dot, and Cowboy. By all accounts, Cowboy had a great weekend with Matthew and they spent a lot of time outside; with Cowboy sharing insights regarding farming and hunting. Although stories of them throwing rocks in the lake would tend to make one believe that his great-grandfather did not get around to discussing the finer points of fishing with little man.

Matthew got to ride home from Alabama facing forward in his car seat

 Jeans, T-shirt, and barefoot.....just like daddy

Last weekend Matthew headed east bound to South Carolina. While there he got to see Grandma, Papa, and Aunt D, as well as Memaw and Great-grandaddy Gardner. Matthew also got to go to a horse show. A lot has changed since his last horse show in May, including the fact that Matthew can now point and say "dog-dog" and he now needed to watch where he stepped. He also got to ride multiple horses.

Riding with his Aunt Devin

And Riding Buck with his Mama

Yeee-Haww