Christmas 2006

Tommy made out like a bandit this Christmas! Santa brought him many great new toys and his family and friends showered him with a few gadgets, too. Favorites are his Winnie the Pooh chair, TMX Elmo (he calls him "Momo") and a Little People School Bus.

Here he plays with a toy train and plane Santa left for him near his stocking.Aunt Michele tells the best jokes! Tissue paper was a big hit under the tree...nevermind all the great new toys!
The hat says "DUDE," dude.
Cuddling with Pooh, Elmo and "mote" (what he calls the broken remote control he won't let out of his sight).

Santa in the Shipwreck

A few days before Christmas Tommy visited Shark Reef aquarium at Mandalay Bay with Mommy, Daddy & Aunt Michele. He enjoyed watching the fish, splashing in the stingray pool and sitting on Santa's lap one more time (well, he didn't enjoy that last one very much!).

Peeking at the stingrays: Where's Santa?Now that I've found you, get me out of here!Happy family in the shipwreck. That's a real shark behind Mommy!Aunt Michele points to an interesting fish in the aquarium tunnel. This place is so cool!

Magical Forest

12/21 we went on a family outing to a local holiday hot-spot, the Magical Forest. Here Tommy ran through a winter maze (and found his way out in record time!), enjoyed all the lights and had so much fun watching the choo-choo train go by as we walked through the different displays. No Santa torture this go-round, but the jolly old elf was there for a chat if he needed him.

All bundled up for the chilly winter night:
Tommy wants a hippopotamus for Christmas!

Santa 2006

This morning Tommy paid a visit to the man in red at Fashion Show Mall. All seemed to go very well while they got reacquainted. Then he sat in Santa's lap and the river of tears began to flow... So, no smiles this year...but before he freaked out, he told Santa all about what a good boy he's been and gabbed about the toys he wants for Christmas. And Mommy snapped this cute shot:

Christmas Party Toddler Style

Tommy hosted a Christmas shindig for his buddies this weekend. Here's our dapper young man dressed in his holiday best.

Snacking on Christmas goldfish crackers with guests Logan and Carissa.And here's our attempt at wrangling Tommy and all six of his guests for a photo op. That was a challenge! From left to right: Logan D., Carissa, Nicole, Taylor, Tommy, Marshall and Logan H.The Wedewer Family in front of our Christmas tree. The ornaments are slowly migrating toward the top as Tommy stands on tiptoes to reach the tempting objects!

Tommy Goes to Maui Part 2

Daddy, Tommy & Mommy went on the Sugar Cane Train with a few other folks from our hotel. It was a fun excursion for our family, but I wouldn't take a tot on it until they're about three or four years old. Tommy stuffing his face with Daddy at Hula Grill. They make the best potstickers here!
Tommy hugs a whale at the Pacific Whale Foundation gift shop. We went on a whale watching excursion with the foundation and saw several whales in the channel. Tommy enjoyed a few, then took a snooze on his first boat ride.This is actually Tommy's second boat ride the next day: goofing around on the Lanai Ferry. Feeding Mommy a goldfish at Haleimaile General Store, one of the best restaurants at which Mommy & Daddy have ever dined. A must go if you're on the island!

Time to say goodbye to Hawaii! With Uncle Jeremy at the Kahului airport. He's showing Uncle J a thing or two about video games before boarding our red-eye flight home. Thank goodness he slept the whole way!

Tommy Goes to Maui

We enjoyed a fantastic family vacation to Maui over the Thanksgiving holiday. We went mainly to celebrate Daddy's 29th birthday, and Aunt Cindy's birthday, too. While there we enjoyed the beautiful weather, delicious food and great company of Aunt Cindy & Uncle Jeremy. While there he learned to say "Happy Hawaii," which was so cute!Tommy snoozes on Mommy's bed at the Sheraton Ka'anapali. I tried to wake him by tickling his toes, but he was so tired even that didn't work! So I was able to clip his toenails without waking him, a chore he usually fights tooth and toenail.
Our first fancy dinner out at I'O. The waiter was very nice to Tommy, as he has a two-year-old son, also. You can tell the two-hour time difference wore on our little man a bit, but he adjusted quite well after only a couple of days.
James & Andrea at the Old Lahaina Lu'au. We celebrated Cindy's birthday here with a traditional meal and many, many Mai Tais! Tommy hung out with a babysitter at the hotel while we went out for the evening.

Tommy dines at Pineapple Grill with the whole family. He's holding Aunt Cindy's Treo phone, from which he sent his very first email. The entirety of the message was... "B" and it was marked urgent to an undeliverable address.
Here Tommy visits with the fish and sealife at the Maui Ocean Center.
More fish, turtles and stingray. He calls turtles "shell." Tommy poses on the balcony of our timeshare. He managed to throw only one toy car from our fourth floor room into the lush greenery below. He's been a little tough to get a smile out of lately, at least for the camera.
Tommy poses with a funny bib at our favorite pizza place on the island.

With Mommy, Aunt Cindy and Uncle Jeremy on the ferry to Lanai. The island of Maui is in the background.

Thanksgiving #2

This Thanksgiving was a very special, albeit unconventional, one. We celebrated with Thanksgiving "lunch" at Uncle Jeremy & Aunt Cindy's house before departing for Maui that evening. Here Tommy enjoys pumpkin pie in his pajamas before his first five-hour flight (on which he slept the majority...thank goodness!)