Mega-Super-Update...

It's been a while...too long, most have said. It's pretty neat that enough people read our little corner of the Internet, that we've been stopped at work or church, and someone will say, "I'm a little disappointed with your blog updates."

Thanks for stopping by as regularly as you do. I'll try to do better.

We've just been busy.

Here's a recap of the last few weeks:

I went to Michigan.
Tara's Dad stayed here with her for the week I was gone. (See previous post.)
Jaxson started sitting up--on his own!
We went to Franklin to visit my parents, brother, sister, and brother-in-law.
Jaxson started clapping. (Also on his own, I guess.)
Jaxson started pulling up.
We went to Tara's grandparents' (two sets) for Thanksgiving.
12-7! Whoop! BTHOt.u.!
We went to Tara's parents after Thanksgiving.
Tara got glasses.
It was really cold one day.
Jaxson discovered a love of cantaloupe.
We went to Braden Henke's one-year birthday party.

See! We have been busy.

Notice how much our little boy has learned to do in the last few weeks. It's fun watching him grow up, and it seems that he learns something new each week.

One wouldn't think that a child learning to clap on his own would be "that big of a deal", but it really is. He started doing that the weekend we spent in Franklin with my family. He would play with something in the floor, and put it down and clap. The funny thing is, he'd look at us, waiting for us to clap, too.

Funnier still, we would. The whole room full would erupt in applause. A 7-month old child was essentially telling us what to do.

Some would say that he's got us wrapped around his finger. Those people couldn't be more right.

He's also become pretty proficient at getting around. In a previous post, I showed the little man moving around the room finding stuff (to put in his mouth). He's much better at this today than he was a few weeks ago. It's not really a true crawl--it's a funky, crawl-scoot hybrid, that I've dubbed a "croot". (By the way, "Croot" is a word that's really going to take off. If you want to get in on the ground floor--start using it now.)


Jaxson's also doing a little better with table foods. We don't give him anything difficult--still no teeth--but he can do pretty well with softer foods: breads, tortillas, cereal puffs, and cantaloupe. We discovered the cantaloupe thing kinda by accident at dinner the other night. The Henke's son, Braden, had some that he didn't eat, so we gave it to Jaxson thinking that he'd suck on it. It only took him few minutes to put away a sizeable chunk of the melon, leaving only the rind. Since then, we bought another one at the store for him to enjoy. It's fun watching him gum it like a toothless man, but he sure seems to enjoy it.


And I guess the biggest news: Aggies beat t.u. in Austin! It's old news now, but I sure like talking about it. We were in Oklahoma that weekend, and several people came up to thank me for helping the Sooners into the Big XII Championship Game (as though I were directly involved). I told most of them, "You're welcome." or "Glad to do it." or "Whoop!", and they were happy. But I was happiest of all.

Here's a few pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

As you can tell, it's been pretty busy...but life's good. We've got a busy month ahead of us, too. With the Christmas season upon us, that means a lot of travelling for the Hall Family. Keep us in your prayers as we make our rounds from Shawnee, OK to Franklin, TX, with many stops in between.

Until next time...be safe, be well.

Norman