October in Our World

     That's my little cowboy on our way to the season's first costume party! We had a very successful toddler book club. Ashley made a delicious Zuppa soup and sandwiches for the kids. All the moms brought yummy sides to share. I read "Leaves," a cute story about a bear in his first year and taught 5 Little Pumpkins finger rhyme and Gray Squirrel song. The kids explored and compared gourds, pumpkins, leaves (from our park), pinecones (from Colorado,) and huge acorns (from Gigi's backyard.)
     Jeffrey is putting words together like "Dadda work," for Daddy's at work and "Car car, bye bye" for Let's go! Or Gram "Bye bye, car car," when Gram leaves." The absolutely cutest thing is that he has gotten the sign for thank you and blowing kisses mixed up. So, when we I ask him to tell someone thank you, he blows them a kiss. It's adorable. For example, when we leave the library, I tell him to say thank you and he blows a kiss. When I give him what he's asked for, he'll blow me a kiss or if his hands are full, he'll just say, "Muahh," like he's blowing me a kiss. So funny.

J getting used to his new boots and using them as a tunnel for his cars

 

Hello, pardner, walking into Gigi's house like he just got off a horse.

We had a great October birthday celebration for Jen, Brant and Mark at Gigi's house. Deep dish pizza and ice cream pie! Both Jen and Brant's 40th!!!!

Mom took Jeffrey and I to the San Antonio Art Museum for the Baby Art Crawl. We learned all about the museum and had a good play.

The next week, we took the kids to the Botanical Gardens to see their Lego exhibit.

 We continue to walk to our park for breakfast many days of the week!

 Polar Bear, or "Pa Ba" is the newest lovie. He still has Lambie, "Mimi" and the sock Monkey, "Ahh Oooh"

 Wrestling with Daddy

 

 More of my little cowboy!

 Lost a boot on the sidewalk, still getting used to them and sometimes kicking them off!

 

 

 

My little "Hemi" in the bathtub

 

 

Weekend in J-ton

     We had a very fun visit in Jourdanton with our family. Jeffrey got to play with his cousins that he hadn't seen in too many months. Nathan shot his first dove. Jonah caught a 2 foot catfish. Brant shot 8 dove. Hannah worked on her bug project, very impressively classifying insects, left and right! I still need a picture of that finished project!
     We visited with Lolly before she had to go back home. I got to see Brant's high school while riding with Shari to pick up the spaghetti dinners made for the athletic department fund raiser. Jeffrey read with Gram, played a lot with Jonah and we all had a great time!

 

 Playing on the cooler after looking at Jonah's catfish!

 

 

This boy!

    Jeffrey knows exactly what we're saying and doing. He is the only kid I've ever seen who is so interested in the end pages of books. Right now, he especially loves the end pages of Little Mouse, pointing to each animal for me to say the name of the animal before we can read it and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, pointing to each color stripe for me to say the name of the color. He does this with many books. At the end of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, he says "Gigi" on the page with the teacher, so I guess he thinks Gigi looks like the teacher. If I wait for him to finish a line in a familiar book, he'll do it, ("Baby says,...'uh oh!' "Mama says,...'oh no!' "But those shoes just...'go, go, go!' and others.
     Every time we see pumpkins, he calls out, "Hemi!" I have no idea why he calls pumpkins hemi. I bought him some gourds and small pumpkins to feel and sort. They're all "hemis."
Ashley and I started a toddler book club-it's at her house and I do the read aloud/lesson/song. Our second one is next week. We'll read Harriet's Halloween Candy, sing 5 Little Pumpkins and compare the "hemis" with all his buddies.
     We went to the Children's Museum on Monday. Jeffrey had a ball with lots of other toddler boys there. We went to the tot spot and played first, then to a story time and activity, then more play in the museum. He loved being the pilot of the plane. Brant went to Dallas for the day for training yesterday and it was difficult to explain to him about Daddy being on a plane. We hear them and see them in the sky, but that is so abstract! Because he hears them all the time now, I am so much more aware of them too. I never really noticed before.

 Loving his swing Gram and Grampa got for his birthday! He can see it from his high chair and wants to swing after every meal. We do much of the time. I say "1-2-3, Weeee" and he copies inside with his cars, etc.

 Painting on the porch that Lacey keeps oh so clean!

I thought it was funny on this day that the two stickers he got told exactly the two places we had been. Stride Rite for new shoes, "I donated my old shoes today!" and HEB.

 Driving the trolley at the Children's Museum after we saw real trolleys outside.

Listening to the story, I Went Walking, and playing with animals

 On the plane at the museum

 

Racing cars at the museum

 

The next series of pictures is of J eating blueberries and looking in a mirror, making faces...

A bib would have probably been good, but that's what Oxi-clean if for!

 Painting on the back porch that Lacey keeps so nice and clean!

 J loves to empty Lacey's water bowl and then wear it like a hat, gross!

 He sees Brant sitting here, working. He wanted to balance the checkbook. He got out his piggy bank and everything! All by himself!

 Bathtime

 New cowboy hat