Pumpkin Carving

Today we tried to find a pumpkin patch. I didn't really know where any good ones were and I didn't want to drive too far. I found one road-side stand that had only 2 left. And they were pitiful. So I drove some more and still didn't find anything. So we went to the grocery store. And they had only 2 left. And they were tiny. But we got them anyway. I was bummed we didn't find an actual patch, but I don't think the kids really cared.

Of course, I did most of the work, but they helped scoop, and played with the gunk while I cut. Leah didn't really want to touch the gunk at first, but she did get into it later. I had to keep Andrew from putting it into his mouth, but he mostly just loved holding the spoon and putting it in the seeds. Both of them kept putting the gunk back into the pumpkins, so I must have dumped them out about 4 or 5 times.

The final product turned out really cute, I think!

But this is the best shot you're gonna get of a very active 15 month old (who really loves steps)with his jack-o-lantern.

State Fair 2011

Yesterday I took the kids for a "field trip" to the NC State Fair. They had a deal where we could get in free with 4 cans of food for the Food Bank. So of course there were huge crowds of people, and just finding a parking place and walking to the Fair took over half an hour, but I was prepared, and both of them did so well, especially since we went well into the afternoon without a nap.

We got to see lots of animals. Leah loved all of them! Andrew was just happy to be out of the stroller.





PBS had a fun tent just for little kids with some hands-on activities. They both loved Alphabet Soup magnets, and climbing on little pillars and just getting to run around a little while.

There was a great photo op. outside. The girl is a cheeser.

Andrew got to enjoy his first funnel cake. Leah had a little but she's had a little tummy bug or something and didn't really eat much all day.

By far their favorite part was the petting zoo. It was the last thing we did but we must have been there at least 20 or 30 minutes. We got to feed the goats some grain and carrots. (Andrew even tried to feed them sticks and dirt from the ground.) Both of them were fearless and did not at all mind the goats in their faces.

As we were heading out, we saw Elmo! I thought Leah might be a little nervous, but she walked right up to him and gave him a hug! Andrew had no fear, either, and the whole way out kept saying "Elmo... Elmo..."

They were so exhausted at the end of the day and it was a long trip but I hope they will have some memories they can carry with them a long time.

Andrew @ 15 months

Andrew's developing quite a personality, now, and becoming quite a comedian too. When he was littler he was always so serious, but now he does things to intentionally make us laugh. He plays "peek-boo" on his own. Lately he has been holding his arms up in the air and throwing himself onto a pillow or whoever's sitting on the floor, while saying "whoa!", giggling, and then gets up and starts all over.






Andrew's loves right now:



- the vacuum cleaner-- all I have to do is mention the word and he starts saying "vrr, vrr" and rocking around. He runs to the closet where it's kept and waits for me to get it out.





- the broom and mop (or really anything with a stick or cord)






- the phone! When it rings, he will go around saying "hello" for the next 10 minutes. Even if he sees it, he will point and say "hello."

- climbing! I don't remember Leah ever climbing this much. He has to stand on or climb on anything that is remotely off the ground. He especially loves chairs now, and loves to climb onto our little play table.




- doggies-- when he hears one barking, he starts dancing and saying "woof woof"



- cookies! He asks for them all.the.time. Thankfully, he's satisfied with graham crackers or a small vanilla wafer.

- doing "school" work with Leah. He'll sit down in the chair at the table while we're working and wait for something to do. If we're pronouncing letters on something, he'll start saying "oh, oh, oh" as if he's reciting the letters. Actually, he'll repeat many words you say, very clearly

His extensive vocabulary (the doctor said 15-month olds typically only speak about 5-10 words-- he has many more!): "mine!" (thanks, sissy), "baby", "cheese!" (for a picture), "juice", "bye bye" (with a wave, at appropriate times!), something like "paci", "thank you" (He'll hand you something you may or may not need and say it), "ball", "shoes," "cracker," "Andrew," "bubbles!," "all gone," and "hold you" (as in "I want you to hold me"). He points at things he wants and says "that!" until he gets it. He really doesn't talk much around strangers, though, so no one really believes he says all these words!

He's still a great eater, although becoming more picky. He doesn't always like meats or fruits with texture. He *might* be officially weaned, I think. He hasn't nursed at all in the past 2 days, although he still whines for it in the mornings. I have started giving him a bottle of regular milk a day because he really doesn't drink it much from a cup and I'd rather him be getting milk than be weaned from a bottle, that can come later.

He's also been sleeping much better. He goes down pretty much without a fight after a minute or two of rocking about 7:45 or 8 and usually sleeps through until about 6:20. I can most of the time get him to go back to sleep until about 6:45 or 7. He takes one nap a day, usually 1 1/2 hours, but if we're out and about, he'll often fall asleep in the car.

I so love this age, between 1 and 2-- so much fun to see him learning new words every day and discovering new things. He's so sensitive right now and even though he gets in to everything, he really doesn't get into trouble or do things he shouldn't do (just things that might make him bump his head or other boy-like things), and even if he does, he responds well to just a harsh tone, without much else discipline.

At his doctor's visit, he was 21 lbs., 7 oz., only about 6 oz. more than at his one-year checkup. That's the 10th % for his age-- even though he looks chunkier to me and he seems to eat A LOT, he's not growing as much as he was, and is still wearing 12 month pants. He is 31 inches tall, almost 2" taller than last time.

Corn Maze Fall Fun

Yesterday we had so much fun with some of our church friends at Hubbs Corn Maze, not too far from here. We didn't actually do the Corn Maze itself, but they had tons of other fall fun things to do!

Leah was really excited about jumping on the giant pillow. Until she got on. Then she just wanted us to hold her and jump. Which was tiring. Because when you were on there, you had to jump whether you wanted to or not!


I was so suprised she wanted to go down the giant slide by herself. First she did the smaller of the two. Later, after Daddy went with her on the bigger one, she even went on that one by herself. It was so high and she wasn't scared at all!

We paused to take a picture with some of Leah's little church friends. Of course, none of them were looking at the same time.

We got to take a short little hay ride to see some farm animals.

Andrew spent about 5 minutes of the hayride "cleaning up" the hay and giving it to this random lady sitting next to us.

Leah also suprised us by riding on the barrel train by herself. It even went out of our sight. She rode by herself the first time, then Andrew and I rode with her the second time.


I think one of Leah's favorite things was Toddler Town playground. We didn't even have to pay $8 for that!

This giant chair was a lot more difficult than it looks to get up into. And Leah didn't like one bit of it. But we still managed to get a good photo.

Of course Andrew loved climbing in the toddler-sized hay maze.

They did have a corn maze just for little kids. We started out in it, but either Leah didn't really like it, or she was just more interested in the playground. (When we go to places with a LOT of fun things to do, Leah gets a little overwhelmed and wants to go everywhere all at once. She actually did pretty good here but she still had her own plan in mind.)

I tried and tried to get some good fall pictures of the kids, both together and by themselves. Here's what I ended up with. It's impossible to get them both looking at the same time when there's so much other stuff going on.

At the end of the day, our church had rented a bonfire pit to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. It was a great time of fellowship with our new church family-- we had a great time getting to know some people in a more relaxed setting. Leah told me today her favorite part was the "marshellows." We didn't get home until after 9 and everyone was worn out, but so content!