Trimming the Tree/Toddler

The Perfect Tree

We made our annual trip with the Nelsons to find our tree, and this time we had even more family along with Uncle Beej, Aunt Stacy, and Livvy. After a bit of a rough start, Connor enjoyed himself even with a snowy and windy day - including catching snowflakes on his tongue. The weather did make for good pictures!

Thanksgiving - Take 3

We actually did some of the cooking for our final turkey meal of the long weekend (check out Connor waiting for it to cook!). That is one HUGE bird - 27 pounds! Also free range, organic, and brined for 16 hours before cooking. In case you're wondering, yes, brining really does make a difference! For this meal we went to our friends the Nelsons' house along with "Auntie Rachie" and indulged in still more decadence - but, oh, it was worth it!

We were thankful that this Thanksgiving we didn't have to choose who to spend the holiday with. Instead, we got a chance to spend it with everyone! Now we need to work off some of those good eats...

Thanksgiving - Take 2

This time it was on to Grandma's house for another great turkey dinner with Grandad and some friends of the family.

Thanksgiving - Take 1

Our first of 3 Thanksgiving meals was at Grammy & Pappy's house. Although they couldn't be there for dinner, Uncle Beej, Aunt Stacy, and Livvy got there soon after and we got to enjoy some family time with all of us. Lots to be thankful for this year - one big thing is having them with us instead of far away in Colorado.

First time seeing Santa

Well, that isn't true, now is it? Yes, Connor saw Santa last year, but this was the first time he saw him with real awareness. And as you can see, he was quite impressed with Santa's grand entrance via firetruck.

Slide!

I think his face says it all - he is thrilled to be doing the slide like a big boy!

ABCs

Connor singing the ABCs with some squeak-toy accompaniment by Ty. Takes a bit of interpretation, but you'll see he gets most of the letters!

Trick or Treat!

Until today I hadn't been able to get Connor to wear his Halloween costume for longer than about 2 minutes. But, he really came through tonight! His cousin Livvy came over and they went trick-or-treating together and did SO WELL!!! We were all surprised at how much fun they had with it. Although, Connor had never had candy until today and he caught on VERY fast that his pumpkin held the goodies and Mom & Dad stood between him and sugar nirvana.

Start him young

When you have trees (i.e., leaves) like we do, raking is a skill that needs to be taught at a young age. :)

Shaver's Creek

Connor's Grammy and Pappy took us all to Shaver's Creek for their fall festival event along with Uncle Beej, Aunt Stacy, & cousin Livvy - fun! Then in the afternoon we carved our pumpkin, but Connor was initially pretty upset by the whole idea. Me cutting the top off the pumpkin and then showing him the "yucky" insides was almost too much for him to take. But he was eventually won over by the chance to feed the pumpkin pieces of himself... poor pumpkin.

Pumpkin picking

Our family outing for a pumpkin this year was a lot different than last year. Last year I remember propping a not-so-sure little Connor within a pile of pumpkins, but this year he was a little man on a mission. We took a tractor ride out to a huge pumpkin patch and as soon as Connor spotted them, all we heard was "punkin pleeeease! punkin pleeeease!" as we waited to get to the patch. Once there he was all over the place checking them out.

This one was special enough that it got lots of kisses

Picking the right one takes a lot of concentration

"Cheeeeese!!!" with Daddy

Climbing around on the pre-picked patch

Hamming it up with Daddy

Love that toothy grin!

Bunny petting area

Chatterbox

The last couple of weeks have been an absolute verbal explosion that is so amazing to see. Connor had many, many single words up until this point, but rarely put them together other than to add "please" to the end of his requests. Almost overnight, he started stringing words together to express himself, and will now try to repeat entire sentences when we talk to him - getting closer and closer to forming full sentences for himself.

Yesterday was possibly the best example yet when we were taking turns chasing each other around and tickling one another. He came running at me from from across the room and said "Momma, I gonna GET you!" And I swear it wasn't just me hearing that - Grammy was here and heard it too. Absolutely amazing (and adorable). Other favorites right now are "Right there!" when we ask him where something is and "Goldfishy crackers". Another super cute one is when he sees a PSU pawprint on a shirt or sign, he says "A clue! A clue!", from Blue's Clues for those of you who've seen it. There is still plenty of "talking" going on that we can't understand which is sometimes a source of frustration for all of us, but especially for Connor. He's getting there, though. I can now see a future where he will be able to tell us pretty much anything he wants to.

Fall Festival

There was a wonderful little fall festival downtown this weekend and we went along with Grammy, Uncle Beej, Aunt Stacy, and cousin Livvy. So much to do and see, and so much fun, but the highlight was certainly the kids riding horses.. That's right - Connor rode a horse, a real horse, not a pony. He kept telling us he wanted to ride it and even got upset at having to wait in line. I thought for sure that he would change his mind when we got to the front, but no - I put him in the saddle and he grabbed hold like he'd done it a thousand times before with a big smile on his face. I kept a hand on him the whole time, but he sat there all on his own and loved it. How is it possible that my little baby boy is doing such things??? He also went into the bounce house with Livvy and the other, older kids with no adult inside with him. Although its a shock to see him growing up, I'm so proud to see his little independent streak.

Little spaces and big shoes

I wish I had more time to tell you about how much Connor is changing and all of the fun we have together. Let's just say he has a great sense of humor and is quickly becoming his own little person with strong likes/dislikes that he freely shares as well as a healthy curiosity about everything in the world. Today this little whirlwind had crammed himself into a tiny basket (which he thought was quite hysterical as well and comfy) and followed it up by putting on his Daddy's shoes (all by himself) and attempting to walk around the living room.

Very first amusement park rides

We joined our friends Sherry & Sofia at their family's amusement park this afternoon. Connor actually rode some of the kiddie rides with Sofia (who did an excellent job of keeping an eye on him since parents aren't allowed on the rides!), and even enjoyed it some of the time. He usually liked the first few laps and then wanted "up!". Mommy had to have the operators stop a couple of rides, but overall he did great for his first time. Thanks to Sherry & Michael for treating us to a super fun afternoon!!!