Frosty

Carlton made a discovery while at my parents' house.... he made a new friend, really. He became obsessed with their Frosty the Snowman door hanger, which would jingle and sing a few times whenever you touched it. As soon as Carlton figured that out, he was hooked. Over the course of those couple of weeks, hours were spent by Frosty's side, dancing and grooving. Note the different outfits below...the many different days spent with his friend.

(Blurred action shot.)

Some right hand artistry.....it became a signature move.


Yay, Frosty! I love Frosty!

Grooming

Carlton reached a big milestone while in Atlanta: his first haircut! Despite how cute the curls were, we decided the time had come to clean up his look and give him a "big boy" do. Here he is pre-haircut, with his long locks smoothed back and ready to go.

Mark was the talent we chose for the celebrated first cut.
I think they both had a little bit of fun.

And his dad was well up to the challenge! Our clean-cut boy.
And a shot from the post-cut bath time. Does life get any more fun than this?

Christmas morning and family time

Christmas morning with the fam was a sweet time. Carlton first explored the tree with Poppy,

then moved on the presents.

He had plenty of turns when it came time for opening, and was quite pleased with his new toys.

As the day went on, he got lots of loving from the family....




And we even got to enjoy a white Christmas, the first Atlanta has experienced in many, many years!

More Christmas Festivities in GA

After saying goodbye in Wilmington, we rented a car and drove to Atlanta to spend the next couple of weeks with my family. The day after we arrived, we had the extended Hutchins family Christmas gathering, so Carlton had a blast with all his great-aunts and -uncles and cousins. Here he is, the youngest among nine second cousins (the children of all of my older cousins).

More presents, of course....by this point, he was a pro at the unwrapping game.

The party was a great opportunity to get some more photos, as well: our immediate Hutchins clan,

and the three of us Sheerins.

Later that week, on Christmas Eve morning, my parents' neighborhood hosted a Santa party up at the clubhouse. Carlton took his first-ever turn sitting on Santa's knee, and did pretty well.... a bit unsure, but no tears :)

NC Christmas

The Sheerin Christmas celebration was great fun. We even managed to capture a wonderful family photo.

Fun, laughter, and many presents. Carlton was able to participate and enjoy a bit more this year than last, when he was our little one-month-old!

Two of his favorite new toys here - a fun race car, and his very own laptop. The commonality, which makes them both beloved, is that they play music and all sorts of fun sounds, so he can dance, dance, dance.

A wonderful beginning to our Christmas season!

Wilmington fun

So TONS of catching up to do here. We traveled for a month over the holidays, so we stayed very busy. Our first stop was in Wilmington, NC to spend a week with Mark's family. Everyone in the family got to be there, and it was so fun. Carlton was thrilled to have new people to play with and a new place to explore.

Carlton absolutely adored his little cousins, and always wanted to be doing what they were doing.

It was a very cold week there, but often sunny, so we still got some good outdoor playing in.

Some days we had to find some indoor fun, which wasn't too hard....

Carlton had a bit too much fun at times; we quickly learned there was a Kleenex box living precariously close to his crib!