Flanagan Clan

Here is a picture of Patrick opening up one of his birthday gifts, a week before his birthday, without Mommy’s permission. Later, after discovering it was a big boy blanket, he played with it for a while and then tried to attack the other presents, which are currently on the floor in our bedroom.

This is Patrick’s first attempt at running away from Mommy and Daddy. He really wanted to get out that front door!!!

Yesterday was a big day for little Patrick. In the morning we discovered that his third tooth had pushed through his little gums, so now he has two bottom teeth and one little top tooth. It’s hard to look into his mouth anymore because he gets very upset and will try to squiggle away. Also, if you stick your finger in his mouth, he will bite it and his teeth are SHARP!

Later we were playing a game with him where we put him on his feet and see how long he stands up before falling into Mommy or Daddy. He’s getting much better at the game, and can stand up unassisted for longer and longer each day. Well, yesterday we were playing that game and he was standing up by himself, took his first step, and then stood for a little bit longer before falling. He was sooo proud himself! Pretty soon we’re going to have a walker!

Patrick trying to walk to Mommy from the Pumpkin

Patrick LOVES playing in the dishwasher every day while Mommy loads it. Sometimes he stands by himself without even realizing it!

Yesterday our family went down to Orting Valley to pick out a pumpkin for our Fall decorations. When we got there we were amazed at how many different varieties of pumpkins and gourds there were, and how many different colors and shapes they came in. We had lots of fun finding the perfect pumpkin, and then we went to see the animals that they had, including a miniature horse and mule. Here are just a few of the pictures we took.

Here are just a couple of pictures of Patrick getting into the toilet paper and EATING IT (which he tries to do EVERY TIME he’s in our bathroom), and him brushing his own two teeth with his little ducky brush!

On Saturday Andrew, Patrick and I went with my parents to the Puyallup Fairgrounds, where they were holding an Oktoberfest. This is the first time that any of us had gone to this event, and it was pretty fun. We all got bratwursts, Dad got some German potato salad, and Andrew and Dad got beer. They had a bunch of different German polka bands play, they had a girl in German traditional dress swinging from the ceiling above everyone, and they had lots of German food and beer available to buy. My dad knew one of the people who plays the accordion in one of the local bands, and so we got to watch him play for a while. Patrick really enjoyed the music. He danced with my mom a little bit and then he got to watch a carousel, which fascinated him a lot. However, he was too young to ride, and so maybe next year he’ll actually get to go on it!

The whole atmosphere was cute. The Fairgrounds had been decorated to look like a small German villa, there were people in lederhosen and dirndls all over the place, and there weren’t hoards of people there, unlike during fall Fair time. They did have a select number of rides open, but it was a little drizzly and there weren’t very many people riding them. It would have been a perfect opportunity to take advantage of no lines, but we’ve noticed it’s a little pricey to go on all those rides lately… It was an expensive thrill we weren’t too loathe to miss. However, the rest of the event was lots of fun, and we recommend everyone to go next year!!!