The Fitzgerald Boys

This past December, I won a raffle at my company party good for a $2000 trip to anywhere of my choice. Naturally I decided to take my family skiing. This past weekend we bundled up the kids and headed up to Northstar.

We got a lot of help from Grandma and Grandpa Bill, who stayed with us Friday and Saturday night to watch Matthew while Mommy and Robby and I enjoyed the mountain. Ski school was a bit rough for Robby, who isn’t a big fan of falling down, but he has a blast when he hit the slopes with just his folks. He particularly liked riding on the chair lift and gondola. Other activities included roasting marshmallows, ice skating, tubing, sledding, romping around in the snow, and generally having a ball. Matthew didn’t get to participate in a lot of this, but he got to scoot around and see the sights everywhere we went.

It snowed all week leading up to our trip, letting up just enough to let the Caltrans people keep the roads clear, and we got snow during the day both days we were actually skiing. We had absolutely great conditions, with snow that was simultaneously soft and fast. It was also great for making snowballs, as Robby figured out immediately.

Robby and Matthew have embraced the cold weather. Rain is pouring down as I write this, and I fully expect Robby will be out tomorrow hopping in puddles till his pants are completely soaked. Last week we got Matthew up to the snow for the first time, we ran into Erin and Veronica Morris at Snoopy’s Home Ice this morning, and we’ve got solid plans to get Robby skiing in February. More word on that after the fact; no need to jinx anything.

Matthew’s been hard at work catching up with his big brother Robby. We’ve been getting lots of monosyllables out of him that sound a lot like “ook” when he wants us to “look,” or “ike” when he sees something he likes. He’s also been working extra hard at trying to walk, cruising around using furniture or family members to help keep his balance. He will also traverse our stairs when we let him, and will try to climb into both the dishwasher and refrigerator if the door is left open long enough.

Robby continues to be an excellent big brother, offering lots of encouragement and the occasional admonishment.

At last count, Matthew has six teeth. Robby has twenty.