Pax's Big Week

Lots of big milestones this week for the Paxinator. First off, he has four teeth coming in on the top. It looked like just the ones next to the front two were going to come in leaving a gaping hole on the top and Dad was excited that he was going to look like a hockey player. But the top two in the middle are popping through so he's got all four of those puppies coming through at once.

And then -  he learned to wave.

Next, not captured by photos or video, came Pax's first words. Mine was "ball" and Mae's was "dog" and Pax's were... "quack quack." He and Natalie and Mom were reading an animal book and they asked him what the duck says and - clear as day - he said "quack quack." Then he repeated it a couple more times later on in the day when they asked him. So there you have it on the first word - quack quack.

Next up was some walking. He's not walking all the way yet but I guarantee you he will be soon. He has learned how to pull himself up and get after it.

It started on the box...

and continued on his friend, the lion.

 

He also learned to smile for the camera and say "cheese." This is his "cheese" face.

And since Pax just turned 8 months old about a week ago or so, consider this post his 8-month old photos. And for good ol' times sake, let's take a look at Mae and me when we were 8 months old.

Moi

What's with my cheeks?? It's like someone cut a bagel in half and stuffed half in each cheek.

Now check out Mae - just straight up rowdiness.

Mabel "Sunshine" Skertich

Maestro... and a one, and a two, and a three...

Room Renovation

So we wanted to spice up our room a bit and Mom had just the idea.

Grabbed some old frames we were just going to donate and painted them... you guessed it - TEAL!

So with three down there was just one big one to go. Mae, painting in her underwear (she would've painted naked had we let her... kid just loves naked), lost a bit of her focus...

 So I kept it together and did my thing.

 

We got a little silly as it neared completion but...

VOILA! Done. And. Done. Way to go, Mom, killed it. Signing you up for HGTV's Design Star. Believe it.

Christmas Morning 2013

Where've I been for the last two weeks? Around, off of school, busy as a bee and not particularly feeling like a blog post. But that has passed, so here I am.

We left off on Christmas Eve. So Christmas morn came and we were ready to roll. Down the stairs we came...

to notice that Santa had, in fact, arrived. And what could that gigantic present on the right be???

But first stop was the food we left behind, which Santa and his assortment of sooted sidekicks took care of pretty well.

One problem though, good golly big jolly apparently couldn't stay away from the donuts. I'll let it slide this time, Santa, because, well, you done good. (did you notice, on the photo above by the oranges, he left the "no munching" sign that I put on the donuts? Kind of rubbing it in there, Santa, I'll be watching you this year.)

Got some good stuff, among them a stuffed cardinal that I REALLY wanted (long story, but did you know the cardinal is pretty much officially the Skertich bird?)...

And the movie Brave, which is flipping awesome!

Also scored this fancy vest.

And Mae? Well, she pretty much only needed her chap stick to be happy. He could've shut her off after that and I don't think she would've even noticed.

Pax did some opening as well from old St. Nick as well, and then it was on to our big present that was addressed to all of us.

Looks like there are gonna be some ballers in this house.

Lastly, this holiday season I'll leave you with our Christmas Card Wall of Fame. Thanks to all of you who sent one our way, we just LOVE Christmas cards.

Christmas Eve, 2013

As I mentioned, we did Christmas Eve at Nana's a few days before so this year we were snuggled in our house on Christmas Eve. And with all those presents under the tree from Grandma and Grandpa and from all of us in our family to each other, we decided to open those gifts on Christmas Eve and then Santa's on Christmas morning.

So first on the list - mostly because he was past his bedtime - was Pax. This was his first Christmas gift ever!!! (don't mind the snot and droopy eyes, Pax was still really not feeling well)

And... he got a new dog stuffed animal from Grandma and Grandpa. AND... all he wanted to do was eat the wrapping paper... okay, Pax, time for bed.

Now it was time for Mae and I to open our gifts to each other. First we exchanged these little buggers, which we actually picked out for each other while we were at the toy store with Mom a couple weeks ago.

Here's the thing - Mae wanted a pillow pet so badly so I picked one out for her and it was so awesome and then I realized I really wanted a pillow pet but how was I ever going to get one because...

Yeah, Mae! Great gift - you got me the Panda Pillow Pet that I wanted so badly. So that kind of reminded me of Ernie and Bert on Christmas Eve on Sesame St. when they both traded away their favorite things to get the other one what he wanted... okay, I'll be Ernie (Bert's weird and Mae is really weird a lot of times, too).

Then it was on to Dad's gifts. First up was Pax's gift to dad, drum roll please. Wait, Pax is still up?

Tank Tops/Wife Beaters!! Nice, Pax, solid gift. Next up was Mae...

Underwear!! Okay, my turn, I bet you think it's gonna be socks, right?...

WHITE T-SHIRTS!!! Gosh, Dad basically netted the "Dad Christmas Hat Trick." In all fairness, mom rocked him a new pair of tennies and a sweet backpack so he actually did score better than what you've just seen.

Then it was on to Mom. I wish I could do these next set of photos as an animation, like old school cartoon style. Anyway, here goes. Got mom a...

Dinner bell!!! This way, when we're upstairs or downstairs and it's time for dinner, Mom can ring it up total "on the farm" style and we'll come-a-runnin'.

Mae was up next. Got mom a really great teapot.  Well played, Mae.

Then, before we hit the hay, we put a note on our Christmas morning donuts, which we had picked out from West Town Bakery that morning. Since we left him some orange and apple slices we wanted to make sure he kept his hands off the goods.

Here, take a closer look.

Concerto

Had my piano recital a couple weeks ago. I was dog sick the 2-3 days heading into it so I stayed home that day in order to have enough mustard to get through my recital.

My bestie Nadia was there with me again this year performing.

And I had quite the crowd there to see me perform, including Natalie, Mae, Mom and Dad, Nana and Pax.

And then the curtain was raised. A little bow and then my rendition of "Angels We Have Heard on High" followed by a little bit o' "Rudolph."

VIDEO ALERT
No, the photos do not do it justice, so TAKE A LISTEN

And lastly, a shot of Miss Victoria - my piano teacher - and moms. Ahhh, all smiles.