Tonight Becks and I were watching The Proposal while Mason was poking around on the floor. He was opening drawers, unstacking photo albums and playing with his phone. He was having a very good time as we looked on.
At one point Mason was shuffling along the couch when he stood up and kept his balance with one hand. A few seconds later he lifted this hand and stood on his own. It was a bit wobbly but he definitely stood all by himself!
I had never seen him stand and a few minutes later he did it again. This time I held each of his little hands and he took 3 steps. He had a big smile on his face and laughed as his legs gave way and he plopped onto his bottom.
Mason is growing up so fast! At the rate he is going he will probably be walking by Christmas.
Cutes puppy dog ever
After spending an afternoon watching Florida State narrowly defeat NC State 45-42 Steve and Charlotte came to the house. We had planned to have hotdogs before going trick or treating with Mason but things changed when Steve offered to bring over ribeyes.
After dinner we started getting Mason dressed. For Mason’s first Halloween Becks bought him a cute puppy dog outfit and after getting him into the costume she painted a little nose and whiskers onto his face. Although he did not like the head piece he looked adorable and over time he got used of his costume.
Some trick-or-treaters outside our house
Once he was ready we walked down our street and said hello to our neighbors. We then went to the downtown area to trick or treat at the stores. Each one had someone giving candy out and it was a very fun time. Mason sat in his stroller as I pushed and Becks collected the candy. He took the entire scene in and did not fuss.
When we got back to the house Steve said that about 75 kids had come to the house. By 8:30 when we ran out of candy about 125 trick-or-treaters had stopped by our house.
Mason’s first Halloween was a good one and I am glad that we live in a little town where we can trick or treat downtown and have so many kids stop by our house.
Becks arranged for the photographer who took our engagement pictures, Mr. Kevin Lamb, to take a family picture in Maclay Gardens this morning. The plan was to use the picture for our Christmas cards and to that end Becks had bought Mason a special outfit and a tie for me from Southern Proper.
The tie was a bow tie and since I had never tied one in my life I had to find instructions online. Even after watching a few videos I had found I was still having troubling tying the bow tie and was becoming frustrated. Part of the problem was that all the instructions showed how to tie it using your right hand. I tie my ties lefty and after reversing what I was watching was able to get it tied. It looked really good and Becks said I looked handsome.
When we got to the gardens Mr. Lamb took a bunch of pictures of us on the main brick pathway and on a grassy area near the lake. Mason was very cooperative and loved the photographer’s wife who entertained him by playing peek-a-boo with him.
We were able to see a couple of the pictures and they looked like something out of Southern Living. I cannot wait to see the photos at his studio and hope they all came out as well as the few we saw this morning.
This week my buddy from law school came into town for a few days. He had a trial in Apalachicola and wanted to meet up for dinner or lunch one day. The first day we tried to meet up the local partner wanted him to work through lunch do they could meet some clients.
Luckily the next day he was free and we were able to meet up. I picked him up from his office on Park Avenue and we went to lunch at Sahara, a Greek/Lebanese place in town. I had not seen my friend since we took the Georgia bar in July of 2007 and it was nice to catch up with him. He is also married with two kids and it was good to swap stories about working in large firm and trying to manage a balaced family life. We also discussed how badly our football teams (Seminoles and Dawgs) were playing, how trashy the Gators were and my sweet iPod touch.
While we were sitting there he remarked how much he missed Tallahassee. I told him he should sell his house in Orlando and work for his firm’s office locally since they were looking for an associate. I think that if the housing market was not so miserable it would be an option. His wife and mine used to work together and it would be nice to have friends back in the area.
Sadly, lunch was too short and we had to both get back to our offices to bill hours. I think I have to head down to Orlando in December for some marketing and if things work out if would be nice to try and meet up again.
I am learning to administer EUO’s and as part of my training accompanied another attorney in my office to observe him in action. Sine they were being held in Pensacola we had a 3 hour drive from our office on I-10. as usual the drive was one long boring straight line broke up by visits to 1 or 2 rest stops.
When we got to Pensacola we went to McGuire’s for lunch. Since it was Wednesday they had their fried chicken as they special. You would not think that an Irish pub would have good fried chicken, but theirs was some of the best I have tasted. It was perfectly cooked with just the right amount of breading. Unlike some fried chicken that has a thick layer of skin McGuire’s was thin as if the majority of the fat had been rendered out during cooking. The result was a very thin, crispy skin that was almost translucent. The sides were so very good and I was partial to their greens.
After lunch was over we went to our office and waited for the people who were scheduled to have their EUO’s taken to arrive. Unlike last time the people who were scheduled showed up. It was interesting observing the two EUO’s and they were over in a little over two hours. Once they concluded we got back in the car and headed back towards Tallahassee.
After getting home from work I loaded him into his little chef’s chair so he could eat Cheerios and help ke make dinner. Becks had wanted me to make a pot of Ina Garten’s cream of fresh to tomato soup and since it involves a lot of chopping I waited to make it until I had an hour to cook.
While I chopped up the carrots, onions and tomatoes Mason tossed Cheerios onto the floor. Molly patrolled the floor and as they fell she vacuumed them up.the more Mason threw, the happier she became until her entire back-end was wagging.
When the soup was finished I warmed up some crusty bread in the oven and spooned two bowls for Becks and me. Mason looked on as we ate and stared at the soup. I decided to let him try it and he opened his mouth, slurped it off the spoon and made a little sound that meant he wanted more.
Becks was surprised that Mason liked the tomato soup and he ended up eating a small bowl of it. I am happy that he has a good appetite and is not a picky eater.
With Peyton in town we decided to let Mason stay home from day care and instead spend the day with Grammy and his cousin. This resulted in a much more relaxed morning as we did not have to get Mason dressed, fed and out the door. It is much easier getting just 2 people ready than 3.
During the day I called Charlotte to check on Mason. She said they were having a good time and that she had made spaghetti for lunch. Peyton had been playing with Mason all morning and he had also taken a nap in the afternoon for a couple of hours.
Becks got home early and when I arrived Mason was sitting in her lap with a big smile on his face. I know he does not mind going to Ms. Cherrie’s house but I think he really liked spending the day with his Grammy and Little Mama.
