Elmo, Princesses and Pumpkins

October was a BIG month for Julia. I've noted before how she is my little helper, but she is just starting to understand some of what we're doing. It is becoming more than just doing what Daddy does. For instance, she knows what a pumpkin is and what a jack-o-lantern is.

































So like every other house in America, we too need to spend money on pumpkins to make sure that their life doesn't end in vein, rotting in a field, but rather are wasted properly as jack-o-lanterns. This year we even saved the seeds to roast them...but I kinda messed that up. Courtney found a good recipe for them and I left them in a bit too long and the delicious recipe tasted only like burnt.

Now a couple weeks prior to this, Julia and I on a father/daughter excursion, drove all the way to Bivalve to get these pumpkins. They were grown by kids in our Westside Summer Camp and I wouldn't buy my pumpkins anywhere else. Jules picked out each and every one of them and got one for mommy, daddy, Julia and Mia. She never forgets Mia!














So now came the day to carve. As you can see, Courtney and I got all dolled up for the event. Good thing that we're not in too many of these photos. Julia jumped right in. She was pulling out seeds, telling me where to cut the eyes and nose and loving every minute of it! For me, this was really the first "holiday" related activity that she's gotten into to the point where I had immeasurable fun watching her.

Earlier in the month, we went to see Sesame Street Live...Elmo's Healthy Heroes! I thought the girl's head was going to spin. The show was later than her typical bedtime, but she was so good! She was totally captivated and was basically vibrating with excitement. I have discovered that "vibrating" is a true description of what a child does when they are really excited. I LOVE when she does it!














Julia is getting pretty independent. She likes to try to dress herself. The other day, I came into the living room where I left her with her pajamas. She was still wearing her clothes from that day. From the kitchen I heard her yell, "Daddy! I did it all by myself!" I ran into the living room to see Julia now wearing her pajamas over her clothes! Here's a shot of Julia playing dress up with some princess clothes!










She is after all...my Princess!!!

-Andy

All It Took Was a Shoe Lace

Go figure! Julia has been looking like she wanted to crawl for a few weeks now and Courtney and I have been anxiously awaiting that moment. It finally happened tonight and I was the only one who saw it! Tonight was another "Daddy night" and I must admit, I'm getting pretty darn good at this thing.

Now don't get me wrong, this was not a full fledged haul tail across the floor crawl, but it was a big step beyond the belly drag that she's been doing for a couple weeks now.

I placed Julia on the floor in front of Mia, thinking that Mia would motivate her to move. Instead, they both stood there on all fours in a stare down for about two minutes until Mia became bored and walked away to rub her face on the corner of a cabinet.

Julia then turned to me as I was standing over her and that is when she discovered my shoe lace. It didn't take long playing with it to figure out how to untie it. As that lace lie there on the floor with Julia fixated on it, I thought...well, Mia likes to chase shoe laces...

So I began to drag the lace just out of Julia's reach and it happened! She lifted up and took two crawl strides, caught the shoe lace and settled in to play with it for a while. So I moved it again...and again...and again. This continued on for about five minutes and Julia had traveled about ten feet across the kitchen floor.

I wonder if Baby's R Us carries shoe laces. They should...it's a great developmental tool!

-Andy

Momma...Mia

And down the stretch they come! It's LBMF in front by a nose over Swollen Toes. Heartburn is in third, holding off I Need a Backrub by a length. And the field rounds out with Any Day Now followed by I'm So Tired and I Can't Get Comfortable with Insatiable Appetite in last, but gaining quickly!

That's right, from here on out anything can happen at anytime. Momma is doing SO well, but really starting to tire of being pregnant (Not Liz tiring, but tiring nonetheless). She's still all baby and many women due after her are significantly bigger. We've been joking that this pregnancy has been going so well that we are probably destined not to have this baby sleep through the night until it's two!

The picture above is Momma and Mia chillin'! Mia too needs to get her nightly feel of LBMF and his movements. It's really cool now. You can be sitting with Momma and all of a sudden your attention is drawn to her belly as some monster gyration distracts you! It's like a scene from Alien! I get such a kick out of it!

I would say that the weather has been hotter than hell lately, but hell can't possibly be this bad. Even living along a lake, this week creatures are just trying to find shade wherever they can. The picture below is of one of our neighbors staying cool in our flower bed. This is as hot as it comes!

-Andy

Did You Say Pregnant?

We've been trying to keep it a secret from her, but she's finally figured it out. All along Mia thought that we were getting all kinds of new toys for her to play with and refinishing another room for her to use at her leisure (which is exactly what happened when we refinished the sunroom and she now monopolizes it!).

In this picture, Mia has just realized that soon she will have to be on her guard all the time and not just when Ellie, Anna, Emma, Nate, Lucas, and / or Tyler come to visit. She was last seen heading to the far corners of the house, seeking out new and inventive hiding spots.

What she hasn't realized is that before they chase you, they steal your attention! She'll soon figure that out, but for now she'll continue to take advantage of curling up and getting comfy on the belly.