Fall Festival-ing

This weekend was chalk full of fall fun! On Saturday, two training schools affiliated with our church put on one fabulous fall festival at our apartment complex's playground, for any students or families who wanted to come. There were games, snacks, music and a bounce house. It was really nice to meet so many of our neighbors, and we already have some new play dates scheduled.

This game was a favorite with kiddos and adults alike:

On Sunday evening, some families from our church joined us in "reverse trick-or-treating." Instead of asking for candy, we went door to door giving out treats. We met even more of our neighbors, and our little blonde-haired, blue-eyed Superman was a huge hit:

I love all of Levi's expressions (and Batman is pretty cute, too):

I realize there are different opinions out there on celebrating Halloween versus not celebrating it. While I don't think we will probably participate in general "Halloween" activities, it was fun and, for us, meaningful to go out and get to meet families here. Several families prayed for people who were interested, and we heard some pretty incredible stories afterward. And, it's always fun to dress up. The costumes were adorable!

Our little Superman was joined by some of his favorite people.

Rainbow Brite (although she didn't smile for the camera, trust me, she had fun!):

Monkey and Ladybug:

Giraffey:

Kitty:

And another Superman! (I love that Levi is checking out his counterpart):

I didn't get a shot of the dog dressed as Santa, but hopefully he will make another holiday appearance this season. I also didn't get a shot of the older kids. They were much to mobile to gather them all together for a shot!

The new nap

As Levi gets older, his wind-down time before naps has increased. He used to fall asleep almost immediately after lying down. Now, he plays and talks in his crib for a little while before finally crashing. So, it didn't immediately catch my attention when I heard laughter coming from the monitor.

When I reached over to click on the video of our monitor, however, I was not prepared to see THIS:

Yesterday, as he was standing in his pack n' play, I showed him that he could hang on to the side to steady himself. Apparently, that lesson translated a little too well to the crib!

When I went in to see this in person, he was all smiles.

On one hand, I realize that this discovery on his part will revolutionize crib time now. On the other hand, I'm pretty proud of my curious little wonder!

We're not in summer anymore

This fall season has often felt more like a continuation of summer than a changing of seasons. I'm not complaining because it's felt like a nice summer, not like the 100+ temperatures we actually had during the summer season.

Today was a reminder that fall is here! It was rainy, cold and one of those days where I wanted to sit on the couch, drink tea and read a book. Levi's nap time actually afforded me that opportunity for a while, and it was wonderful.

But later, when we ventured out, I was reminded of this picture (sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate it!).

I won't tell you which aunt this is because I love her and I want to continue to be invited to family gatherings. Haha! This just happened to be a cold, blistery day in Chicago, several years ago, during a trip that was so much fun! We gave her a hard time about resembling the Unabomber here.

I thought this picture expressed visually how I felt out in the elements today. I suppose I had better get used to it! It's practically November, after all.

Nine months!

OH MY GOODNESS is the only appropriate way I can think of to begin this post! I can barely keep up with the milestones you've passed in the last month, and I can barely keep up with you!

In the same week that you turned eight months old, you began crawling. At first, it was a slow exploration, but after a few days, it was full speed ahead. Let me just say that we love to watch you crawl. Your expressions, your motions, your focus… you are adorable. Adorable! You are a man on the move!

Being our curious little wonder, within seconds of entering the living room, you notice anything that's changed in the room and you head toward it. You move from one object to the next, and we've had to come up with clever barricades to keep you in our sight. You have great balance and can go from crawling to sitting to crawling to pausing mid-crawl… to pulling up! We are amazed by you, little dude.

Your dad has begun regularly taking you across the street to the playground. You swing, play in the grass and even crawl through the tunnels. I love to watch the special bond the two of you share. He can still make you laugh like no one else.

You've also become quite… *ahem*… vocal in the last few weeks. I mean, you've always been a vocal child, but you have discovered octaves and volume levels previously unheard in our household. Sometimes I wonder what the neighbors must think. We continue to see you become more and more spirited, while remaining very observant and exploring everything (even my shoe). We laugh and say that Blaze is a very appropriate middle name for you!

You had your first plane ride this month, and you were a traveling champion. We are so proud and can't wait to take you on another trip.

The weather is finally starting to cool off, which makes going on walks so refreshing. You rarely make a peep as we walk, too busy taking in everything around you with those inquisitive blue eyes.

You look more and more like a little boy every day, but you know what? You'll always be my baby.

Love you like crazy,

Mama

Birthday, birthday!

In my family, our birthdays are evenly split - two in June and two in October. My sister brought in the month of October in birthday celebration, and my dad will send the month out in style!

The card I got for my dad this year talked about a dad that's down-to-earth, but also out to save the world, and that's my daddy. He loves our family and is one of the most thoughtful men I know. It was wonderful to celebrate him tonight with a steak dinner and gelato. I couldn't believe that I'd never introduced my father to gelato until today!

Our little dude was worn out from all of the celebrating, and found a nice little napping place on Grammy's lap.

Happy, happy birthday, Dad/Grandy! We love you!

Family photos

Note for future reference: a rough night for Levi is not ideal for a family photo shoot the following morning.

Taylor's tweet pretty much sums up how the morning began:

However, because she is a creative genius, she captured some incredible shots. Love this kid!

Lunch

Hands, avocado, mouth. Lunch is served!