J.H.

OK, John Hilton, wake up already. I'm ready to play.

...and I want a choo choo train and I want a ball and I want a toy airplane and I want a shiny bike and I want some building blocks and I want a coloring book and I want something to chew on and I want a skateboard and I want a slinky and I want...

We met Santa Saturday. The boy was prepared. He looked him straight in the eye and said, "Gift Certificates." Mom and Papa were proud.



Thank you to the Leonard Department Store Museum. And may I highly recommend a visit there next Saturday, they offer free popcorn, lemonade and poloroids of Santa with no line whatsoever! What a treat!

New photos...








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Guess who turned two months today? Strother Norman! Some photos of the growing boy...

Gmail, the e-mail server for Google, allows its users to publish blogs (that's a web-log Martha!) by using a spreadsheet. So here's my first go at it. By the way... Anne , I hope you're feeling better. Your apartment looks amazing!

Strother is enjoying story time with Papa.

He was sure to wear his "Hi my name is Strother Norman" to our neighborhood association meeting.

Bjorn again

Papa has found his new favorite way to carry his little guy. And his new favorite way to put him to sleep too.

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch

Strother got his first taste of West Texas this weekend. It was a thrilling time of palpatating cattle. He's going to wait a few more years until he can really dig his hands into that job...

One Month Old

Strother turned one month Wednesday. He started the day with a stellar report from his pediatrician. For those of you into stats, he's 9 pounds, 14 ounces and grew 3 inches to be 22.5 inches. He's a weed!

Look at me in the big boy chair!

I can even hold my head upright!

Well, I can hold it up for a minute anyway...

Norman Men

Strother Norman has a fine group of men to look up to as he grows...

My new friend

John Hilton was born Tuesday morning and Strother couldn't be happier. He's excited to play with his new buddy, whenever he wakes up. Strother also thinks J.H. looks just like his mom Allison. Congrats to the Beadles.

Strother Norman loves Halloween

Strother gets into Halloween. Check out his pre-trick-or-treating outfit. He of course wanted to be goulish for all the parties, so he chose an appropriately sized mini-mummy outfit, complete with a scary fanged teeth addition on the pacifier.

Last Sunday was a return to the scene of the crime of sorts. We spent the day at the Japanese Gardens (where we were married a year ago) and at the Botanical Gardens (where my water broke the day he was born). Something momentous seems to happen on every visit, so it's always special to go back.

Strother's Weekend Continued

After a nailbiting game at Trinity Valley, Strother decided a calmer evening with Marme and Big Dad was in order (thanks to Jim and Marty for letting Blythe and Darin go out on a date!).




Saturday we visited the Red Stegall festival at Cowtown. It was the boy's first visit to the Northside. I'm sure he looks forward to the time when he can enjoy a margarita on the patio at Joe T's (in a few years boy!).

This kid gets around

Strother has been very busy this weekend. He started at his cousin's 7th Grade Homecoming Football Game. Go Trojans!

Another Stolen Post

My thanks go to Christian for being a more entertaining writer (and having cooler blogging skills). Strother talked about his new buddy Beckett all night. He's looking forward to his next play date. Now onto the stolen blog...

Beckett Meets His Twin at the Jazz Cafe

You can make many cowboy-oriented assumptions about living in Ft. Worth, Texas, but expecting to find a Sunday Brunch 'dive' like the Jazz Cafe is not high on the newcomer's list.  Soon after Karla and I made the pilgrimage to Texas, this local's joint famous for great food (Greek, everytime but breakfast), slow service, a funky paper-reading atmosphere, strong coffee, and a live jazz session on Sunday mornings became a regular part of our monthly routine.  Today was Beckett's first visit.

With a late breakfast completed out on the patio -- you gotta love living in a place where the final Saturday of October allows you to eat outside in shorts -- we finally had a chance to catch up with Darin and Blythe who stopped by for coffee with their 3-week old, Strother.

Most striking was the fact that lil'Strother is Beckett's spitting image (esp. the profile) a few weeks ago.  Scary, really.  Sort of a weird separated-at-birth moment for all of us, although all 4 adults are pretty sure that no funny business took place.  If the literal 'look' of each boy didn't mirror the other on occasion, we'd still have done the ah-shucks moment when we realized that each little critter was wearing the exact same outfit.  Bought on sale in the same clearance rack of the same store within a few days of each other.  Bizarre to see 2 similar looking kids next to each other for the first time...and see them worshipping the same fashion deities on the same day without any planning. 

At least they both wear different brands of diapers to maintain a little ego-credibility. 

Blog School

Ok blog-newbies, and you know who you are, here is the "Where are all the photos?" Lesson. Look to the left. Below Previous Posts and Archives is a heading called Links. Click on Darin and Blythe Photo Collection. There! You'll find hundreds of photos, from our wedding up to today's latest pictures of Strother. So easy! Good luck. Blog School is finished now.

Boo

Yup, Strother Norman can be a spooky little baby when he tries really hard:

Strother's Cousins

Our son is a lucky boy. He has a large handful of older and wiser cousins to hand down clothing, teach him to throw a ball, learn to play tennis with, and look up to for the rest of his life. We spent last Saturday afternoon with three of the Norman cousins. They think he's cute, but they can't wait until he can toss around a football too. Jack, Lily and James even made Happy Birthday cards for the boy.

First Playdate

Strother had his first playdate with Lilah yesterday. They talked and talked like old buddies. Actually, they slept calmly side by side for two hours. It was an enjoyable outing to the park either way.