October (In December)

Darn it, I've had this blog completely written for weeks, but never clicked "publish".  So before I go crazy posting a few thoughts about Thanksgiving and such, I thought I'd better give the October blog a go...

-----------------------------------------------------

October 2014 goes down in the books as one of my favorite months in the history of all my months. 

The weather was gorgeous, there were so many fall activities to do, and the baby (who is really a toddler, but I’m more comfortable with “baby”) was especially fun.


Park Play
Since the weather was perfect we hit up the park A LOT in October.  We’ve frequented Citadel Park for a long time, but I really fell in love with Rosewood Park this month.

The little slide is actually small enough that he can negotiate the whole thing himself.  

We had one incident with the tunnel that resulted in a little knot on his head.  He wore it well and learned the word “boo boo”.  



Here’s a few shots from our park play date with Andrew.  Technically not in October, but it was our first time wearing the big jacket, so I need to document it. Right?

Pumpkin Patch Kid
I must have picked the hottest day of the month to do the Pumpkin Patch.   We had a little lunch and then Doster sweated his way around the pumpkin patch.  Side note on lunch—it was Doster’s first “fast food” lunch, and I am pretty impressed with Chick-fil-a.  Those people make it pretty simple for parents and I feel good about grilled chicken, fruit and milk.  A++ experience.

Anyway, Doster loved seeing all the pumpkins and it was so cute to watch him try to navigate through them (since he is not tall enough to step over them).  We told him he could pick any pumpkin he wanted.  

Snapping a picture was a completely different experience than last year. He could barely sit up on his own last time.  This year, he would not sit still.  





Fair Enough

Ahh, I can still smell the lovely aroma of fried-everything...

Since I had to volunteered to work at the station tent, James and Doster met up with me after my shift ended, and we enjoyed some animals and classic fair food.

Daddy/Doster Selfie at the Blue Grass Stage

I let my baby eat funnel cake.  Don't judge me.

Boo at the Zoo
I think Boo at the Zoo was one of my favorite experiences to date.  I was a little nervous about the logistics – when would he eat, how late would he stay up, how bad would traffic be – but it was all perfect.  I left work early, gave the baby a late nap and an early dinner, and we were on our way!

A Rare Family Photo!

At first we met up with the Childers and the Walls.  How cute are these kiddos?

It was nice to see them, but it was clear that little man’s pace was a little different than the experienced Graham and Campbell.   We watched Campbell participate in the magic show (I wish I had a picture—she was so cute) and then we ran in to Olivia and her family.

Olivia is in Doster’s class at school, and they are BUDDIES!  His face lit up when he saw her – high fives all around.

They were on the same speed and enjoyed trick or treating and seeing a few animals together.  

They were so cute together, I can’t even stand it.  

I really do love Doster’s class from school.  They are such a good crew.

It was also nice to get to know the Goldbergs better as well.  They were really fun and relaxed and easy to talk to… you can’t ask for more than that!  

After we parted ways with Olivia and family, we tried to tempt Doster to dance, but he was a little overwhelmed by the craziness. Can’t say I blame him.

We headed to a bench outside for a little late night snack and milk.  It was fun to relax for a few minutes and watch other families file out.  We put our jammies on in the car and went right to bed once we got home.  Perfect night!

Halloween!
Our little man hit the streets very eagerly this year – that boy LOVES his car.

He kind of managed a “trick or treat” that was really more of a “twe tee” but it was adorable.  He’s getting really good at saying “taaa tuu” (thank you) so that was fun to hear.

We hit up a few houses on our street and called it a night.  

Doster had his first pizza for dinner and was not really impressed (good, more for me).  We ended the night with cozy pajamas, a Halloween present from Grammy, and a thoroughly exhausted baby. 

 Halloween night was really warm, but then the next day was freakishly cold here in the Midlands. 

 We all stayed in PJs all day and caught up on a little football and Daniel Tiger.  

A pretty successful Halloween weekend I’d say! 


So in conclusion—
Fall is awesome.
October is especially awesome.
Having a toddler is the most awesome.


To my Doster:

You are so much fun right now. There are just a few little blurbs that I want to be sure stay in my memory!

• You are a PARROT these days.  You’re figuring out how to say words, and even putting a few together.  You’ve twice said: Uh oh Daddy.
• You a little wary of new places.  You are usually okay with new people, but only if they are on your turf.  Once you get comfortable, you open up a bit.
• Your new favorite word is TV (“TB”). I promise I try to regulate—but it’s the only way to keep you still enough to dress you in the morning.  
• You can name all of the kids in your class when I show you their picture.  
• Today I asked if you wanted to go to school and see your friends and you said: Libee (Livey/Olivia).  
• You LOVE knocking down blocks. 
• You really like going down the three steps to our bedroom.
• You are always very concerned about Brighton’s collar.
• You are so good at bedtime.  For a while, you fussed, but now you completely embrace our routine.  You are so sweet about giving hugs before bed.
• You weighed 23.8 lbs last week (I took you in for a cough, but apparently that’s just par for the course this time of year).
• We practiced “saying AHH” before we went to doctor, and you still do it
• You love to wave at people
• You say a lot of words, but I love it when you just say HI