I am 4 months old now. I can make noises with my lips and I can jabber and coo with my Mom and Dad and friends. I can stand up with your help for balance, I like to sit in my Bumbo chair at the table at dinnertime. Grandma Deb says I have Dad's smile, and I think she is right- its crooked! I like to chew on my pacifier a lot, but my parents are getting pretty stingy with it. I am able to flip from front to back and from back to front occasionally. My legs are getting very strong, and my workouts include bicycle kicks all the time. I really like my colorful toys with different textures, and I am in awe of television so Mom and Dad are totally cutting me off of any viewing time there. I am growing a lot and weighed 13.5 pounds at my vaccination checkup this week. You should come and see me soon while you can keep up with me!

MINNESOTA THAWS OUT!

Almost a whole weekend of above freezing (during the day at least) and we enjoyed it! Aaron worked on the garage door installing a new opener while Megan watched Claire. Saturday afternoon we went to Medicine Lake and the Art Shanty project, where there are some crazy fishin' shacks--but not really any fishing going on. See their website on our list of sites. Sunday after church we went for a drive in the new car and ended up near Canon Falls. you can see the falls in the background with Aaron and Claire.

Aaron and Megan and Claire purchased an used car for the Patterson fleet. Aaron has been complaining about the Jeep ride (bouncy and noisy, and windy and cold too) for a long time as many of you have heard him whine. We all muse over what type of car we want at times thanks to tons of marketing and the need for reliable wheels. There are sporty, utilitarian, green, good milage, luxurious...

Evidently I will have to have a midlife crisis car some other time. Sorry Porsche dealer/salesman. We are all happy with the family station wagon that we now have. We are able to fit our family (carseat included) and one set of grandparents quite easily and still have some cargo room. We tested it out on 2/23 with a trip for sushi with Doug and Char. I bet they never even knew we had the stroller in the back.

Aunt Monica and Uncle Rich stopped by for an overnight visit before they flew out to Cancun this weekend. They came up to avoid and Iowa blizzard/ice storm and make sure they were able to get onto their plane for sunny Mexico. We all opted for a small taste of the tropics at the Como Park Conservatory on Sunday. There were some great orchids blooming.

And we were able to get some entertainment from their resident sloth...

Our cute, little, funny valentine!

Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends and family