11 months old and Thanksgiving

Tommy turned 11 months old on the 24th.  I can't believe he will be one year old in a few short weeks.  While we were out in Pittsburgh, Tommy figured out how to army crawl with speed.  He now follows me down the hall and into the kitchen, etc.  Of course, this meant that we had to install a baby gate.  Tommy also inherited cousin Hannah's walker.  He gets some speed in that baby!! Watch out! He will run you over and thinks nothing of smashing your toes!  Growing up too fast!! 

We made the trek out to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving.  Michael (my brother-in-law) made an AMAZING dinner.  Tom, J.R. and I ate a ton.  Tommy, of course, loved it all, including the pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  Cousin Hannah had a great time playing with Baby P.J. (aka Tommy).  For some reason, we can't convince her to call him Tommy.  When you ask her what "Baby P.J.'s" name is she always responds "Tommy," but still hasn't gotten around to calling him that.  She is at the most adorable age right now, 3 and a half.  She has the best comments and never stops talking.  She reminds me of an auctioneer.  If you listen really closely, you know what she says, but otherwise you hear the first and last words.  She loved showing Tommy all of her toys and didn't quite understand that he wasn't big enough to play the way she wanted to play.  She would say "No Baby P.J., not yet" or something of the sort, every time he knocked over her tower.  By the end of the weekend she would tell him "you aren't big enough yet to do ..."  She was gentle and kind, and more than once asked if he was a brother.  Cousin isn't quite comprehensible to her yet.  We hung out at Joan's Friday and then went to dinner with the Smith's.  After putting Tommy to bed, we went back and hung out with Jess and Chris for awhile.  J.R. and Chris could talk for hours about cars, tractors, etc.  Jessica and I have a good time just chit chatting about daily life.  Saturday was uneventful until Hannah came to Joan's for a sleepover.  She and Tommy played until he went to bed, and she was up waiting for him in the morning.  She was so sad to see Tommy head home with us.  I wish we were closer so they could grow up knowing each other a little better.  We promised to be out again soon to visit for Christmas and so that she could have another play date with "Baby P.J."  The only downside to the weekend was that we all came home with colds, which are still lingering around.  Oh well... Now time to prep for Christmas!