Big Papa and Pat gave Mary Pat these fancy princess pjs for her birthday and she is just now fitting into them. They were a very big hit with her and Mommy and Daddy couldn't believe how old she looked in them! Unfortunately, she is not a morning person and didn't want to take a very good picture to show off her fancy jammies!
Annoyed at Mommy trying to take pictures.
Michael deciding to destroy the toys while Mommy was busy trying to take Mary Pat's picture!
This is what I came into the room to see a couple weeks ago. Michael had figured out how to pull himself up on the pack and play and was actually trying to climb onto the changing table! Needless to say, Mommy had to lower the pack and play and Michael's crib as soon as she took these pictures.
Really concentrating to figure out how to climb onto the changing table.
Uh-oh she caught me!
Happy to play in the lowered pack and play later that day!
Silly boy.
Of course, Mary Pat couldn't be left out and had to try out the new pack and play as well!
Two silly gooses.
Mary Pat LOVES to dance. As soon as she hears music her little bottom starts wiggling. One of her favorite things to do in the morning is dance to the "Hot Dog" song at the end of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I managed to capture her in action the other morning and the results were hilarious as you can see. Poor thing obviously got her dancing skills from her Mommy and not her Uncle Knox!
Dancing in a circle.
Silly goose!
Striking a pose.
Her finished pose.
Our big boy turned 8 months old yesterday! It feels like no time has passed since he was born. He has completely mastered sitting up and is on the move with a very speedy "army crawl"! There has even been a few times where he has pulled himself up on things so we have lowered the crib and pack & play. He definitely manages to keep all of us on our toes! He LOVES all baby food including the meat and veggies that smell "delicious". At his check up today he was 19lbs 10oz and 28in long which puts him in the 50th percentile for everything. 
It has been bitterly cold in NY the past couple of weeks. However, we haven't let that stop us from doing our Christmas shopping! One day last week, Mommy, Mary Pat and Michael got bundled up and headed to the Deer Park outlet mall which is open air! As you can see from the pictures, Michael and Mary Pat were quite cozy in their stroller while Mommy was freezing. The outlets were empty though so we were able to get a lot of shopping done.
All bundled up and ready to shop!
Mary Pat even had to wear her gloves to make sure her hands stayed REALLY warm.
Playtime at the Kolenik house gets more entertaining each day! Now that Michael is sitting up and doing his army crawl he is much more interactive with toys and with Mary Pat. Mary Pat loves to pretend in her kitchen and to "help" Michael play with various toys. She also takes very good care of her babies and likes to copy anything Mommy is doing to take care of her brother! Michael loves to chew on ANYTHING, especially the tools from Handy Manny's tool box. He is also a big fan of the jumparoo and pretty much any toy Mary Pat is enjoying at any given time. More playtime pictures here! 
Mary Pat "feeding" Michael "ice cream" from her kitchen.
Michael is always happy to comply!
The silly goose trying to feed Mommy.
Michael and Daddy chillin' out.
Mary Pat pouring Mommy some coffee from her teapot (yes, Mommy is aware this probably means she drinks too much coffee!!).
The drool monster playing all by himself during a sick day!
He didn't know what to do with all the toys to himself!
Chewing on his keys.
Can he get some teeth already so the drool can stop??
Cheese with the keys in his mouth.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day spent with Daddy's family at Aunt Charlene and Uncle Bob's house in New Jersey! Michael showed off his sitting and army crawling skills and Mary Pat loved eating her turkey (3 pieces!) and all the trimmings. She especially liked the home-made cranberry sauce that she kept calling apple sauce. As usual, we took the annual picture with Aunt Charlene's pilgrims which was a little harder this year with two kids instead of one! The Christmas card picture should be interesting this year. Enjoy more pics at this link.
The two silly gooses with the pilgrims.
Michael taking a solo shot with the pilgrims.
Mary Pat did not want to sit too close to the pilgrims this year.
Trying to get the Kolenik cousins that were in attendance to take a group picture.
This was not easy and they are all looking up at the various adults trying to make them smile.
Mary Pat and Patrice holding hands.
Three of the four cousins holding hands.
Mary Pat hanging out in the dog's princess bed.
Michael and Big Papa.
