Dad's Surprise 60th

It's hard to believe. Hard to believe that my dad is SIXTY YEARS OLD. How did that happen?!?

To mark such a great milestone, Ann threw a surprise birthday party for him on Sunday afternoon. It was great--he had NO idea what was going on. He just thought we were coming up with kids for a nice low-key lunch. And when I mean low-key---I mean McDonalds. We really wanted to throw him for a loop so we said that Emma wanted to visit Ronald McDonald with Papa. (Well, in Emma's eyes McDonald's is a special treat b/c we don't let her go there very often.)

It was a great turnout; there were probably about 20-25 people there. Ann had the garage decorated--banquet tables covered with fall decor. Snack tables full of chips, sweets, and dips. Pulled pork sandwiches were heated on the industrial-sized crockpot. I made a video montage of my dad from infant to today (which was a big hit!) that was set up next to the popcorn station. (If you know my dady--or me, for that matter--you know we *heart* popcorn.)

So as he pulls up the street, he sees that there's something going on. Emma goes running out to great Papa and he just has this goofy smile on his face. For about 5 minutes he doesn't say anything. He just stands there and smiles, looking at all the faces that have shown up.

It was really special. My dad does this (almost uncomfortable) hug-thing when he really wants to express his feelings, so I know he was really surprised and appreciative. Happy 60th Dad! We love you!

Drew's First Feeding

We decided to give the 'ol rice cereal a go around. In looking back at Emma's baby book, I remembered that we started her on the cereal at 3.5 months but she wasn't quite ready. So then we tried it again 2 weeks later and she took to it. So when 4.5 months rolled around, we figured Drew was ready. And as expected, he didn't like it. But he didn't scream like Emma did. Sure, he cried a bit. But Emma wailed! (I guess that's the temperment difference between Emma & Drew.) We kept up with it, doing it every night, so after a week or so he got used to it. I've even discovered a few "tricks" to get the food in his mouth (like when he's laughing).