October Wrap-up

Here are the leftover pictures from the month:

This one kind of speaks for itself. Connor eating chips right out of the bag. Adorable.

(Yes, that is a blanket fort in the back of the picture.)

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Since the weather has taken a turn for the cold, I pulled out the boys winter clothes in the next size. I found an outfit that I got at my baby shower for Dallin almost 4 years ago. It's 24 month size so he can just now fit in it.

 There are probably few 2 year olds that look cute in a one piece romper like this, and even fewer 3 1/2 year olds. But he finally fits in it!

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Dallin will sometimes pass out on the floor after playing hard and Connor likes to torment him while he sleeps. Connor's weapon is a vacuum attachment.

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Every time I pull laundry fresh from the dryer, Dallin climbs on top of the warm clothes.

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We made the mistake of talking Connor for a "walk" around the neighborhood, actually letting him walk on his own instead of riding in the stroller. Now he has realized that there is no magical barrier around our yard and he has the power to leave it on his own.

Anytime we go out front, he takes off down the sidewalk.

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Dallin helped me carve a pumpkin. I carved it and he put the cut out shapes back into place like a puzzle.

I love his eyes here:

And again with the eyes.

 Maybe he's trying to copy his pumpkin's triangle eyes.

Field Trips

There is a great little zoo here in Lafayette. It's free and only 10 minutes from our house, yet we've only been there twice. I'm not sure why. It closed for the winter last week, so I took the boys to see the animals before it closed. 

Dallin loved the goats. You can walk in the pen and be right next to all of them. Dallin was fascinated. One of the goats started chewing on Dallin's jacket (as often happens with goats when you have loose clothing), so I gently pulled it from the goats mouth and told Dallin that the goat wanted to eat his jacket. Dallin looked down at his jacket, grabbed a corner of it, and offered it to the goat for eating. Such a sweet boy: always thinking of others.

Dallin liked the tunnel through the otter tank.

He also liked the wallaby enclosure and how close you could get to them.

This is him telling the wallaby to "Wake up!" 

Those were about the only animals still left out that could tolerate the cold. I'll have to be a better mom next year and take them to the zoo several times.

 Next to the zoo is also the biggest, coolest park in town.

Connor went straight for the tallest slide.

They both like to swing, but always want someone to swing with them. Solution:

Put them both in the same baby swing!

Connor LOVED it.

 Dallin liked it too, even though this picture doesn't particularly show it.

On Connor's birthday, Dallin's preschool class had a field trip to the apple orchard. Connor and I got to join them. It was so fun. It was a coldm windy day and none of us dressed appropriately for it. We all snuggled up inside the barn while they read the kids a story about apples and talked about what they do on the farm. Then they let all the kids sample a few different varieties of apple.

Dallin politely took each kind of apple then handed it to me. He's in a big picky-eating funk right now.

Next we got to ride on the tractor.

 Connor was mad that I dared to put him down when he was cold.

We rode around the orchard as the farmer pointed out all the apple trees, the beehives, and pumpkin patch.

We got off the tractor at the pumpkin patch and Dallin got to choose his own pumpkin and gourd to take home.

He chose this weird bumpy gourd.

Connor chose an even weirder gourd with wings on the sides.

The whole class had a great time and Dallin was very sad to leave to orchard.

Along with our pumpkin and gourds, we bought some apples to take home that I turned into the most delicious apple crisp.

Birthday Party

Connor got to open some presents from his grandparents on his birthday.

 He loved being surrounded by boxes.

He didn't quite get the hang of ripping the paper off,

though Dallin offered several times to show him how.

He got lots of cars and clothes and new shoes.

 He really loves all the cars.

A few days after his birthday we had a little party and invited some of his friends over.

 He got more fun toys to play with. This boy is set!

I made cupcakes, each one decorated with the letter "C" in sprinkles.

I cut a "C" out of wax paper and used the negative space left behind as a stencil. Mckay did all the tedious stencil work and I think they looked fabulous.

 Connor didn't really blow the candle out, but he did grab the flame several times with his fingers.

He hesitantly poked the frosting and licked his finger.

 It took a few licks before he decided he liked it and then he really dug in.

 He didn't care for the cake so much, he just wanted the frosting. His face definitely shows that.

 The decorations were simple. In fact, there was really only one decoration, but I love how it turned out. I made a timeline of pictures showing Connor's growth from birth to 12 months, with a picture for each month.

I just hung some yarn on the wall and attached pictures with clothespins.

 I traced the numbers off the computer screen and cut them by hand from construction paper. Although, many people told me I could have done this much faster with a Cricut or Silhouette machine. Call me cheap old fashioned. 

Remember that little pouch I sewed for Connor's present?

 I made him finger puppets!

These particular puppets go along with the monkeys and the alligator song. ("Five little monkeys swinging in a tree, Teasing mister alligator, 'Can't catch me!'")

(made from this tutorial)

So far, Connor has no feelings either way on the song, but he does like it when you put the puppets on his fingers. He rips them off pretty quickly, but then giggles and wants more.

It's so easy to entertain a one year old.

One Year

Connor is One year old! 

He has grown up so quickly. He's walking like a pro, trying to say words and loves cars, balls or anything that makes noise or has buttons.

It's hard to imagine he was this small a year ago.

As great as my birth experience with Connor was, I'm glad we'll just be hanging out at home and relaxing this October 18th. 

He used to be such a calm, content baby.

And now he's a full blown toddler. He is so happy and has tons of energy. He gets into everything. He climbs on top of Dallin, and we're usually breaking up wrestling matches between the two on Dallin's request, not Connor's. He always destroys my best block towers.

He is strong and tough and not phased by most minor scrapes and tumbles (unless the reason he threw himself onto the floor was to get your attention, and then he can really scream). He is quite the monster.

 But we love him so much.

Happy Birthday, my little monster.

Walking and first hair cut

So, just over a week ago, Connor decided he was finally going to start walking instead of crawling. I intended to get a video of his early, shaky and unbalanced steps, but that didn't happen. And now in this short amount of time, he is walking like a pro. He can walk from one side of the house to the other, turning corners, stopping and starting several times and never once fall to the ground. I'm amazed at how quickly this happened!

He can walk when he's mad at you for not letting him play with the camera.

And he can walk while shaking a tambourine.

He walks really fast sometimes and I'm always waiting for him to just fall forward on his face, but he doesn't.

Not only is he walking now, but he got his first hair cut tonight! He had a long tuft on top and he was rocking a baby mullet in the back, so it was time.

 I thought he'd be really squirmy and uncooperative so I had Mckay do the cutting while I held him down, but Connor was very good. Probably because he was very interested in the clippers and just wanted to watch what was happening. I doubt we'll be so lucky next time.

He looks older now.

I can't believe he'll be a year old in a few days...

Crafting

I've been in a really crafty mood lately. I think it has something to do with the changing seasons, though I'm not sure why. I made a display for my necklaces so I can see them all easily and now they don't get tangled in my jewelry box.

 I used a picture frame from Goodwill, spray painted the wood, and then used fabric and quilt batting to make the backing.

I sewed buttons to the fabric to hang the necklaces from.

Not only is it functional, I also think it's pretty. Kind of like a work of art.

I also made some art for the boy's bathroom to match the shower curtain.

 

I actually made these a while ago, put haven't posted about them. They were super easy.

I traced some images from the curtain onto cardstock, got cheap craft paints and painted the images on the paper. Then I framed them. Easy!

I'm working on a felt Advent Calendar for Christmas. I know it's a little early, but I have to finish by December 1st, and I'm sewing it all by hand so it'll take some time. I'm loving the ornaments I've made so far.

The mitten and candy cane aren't completely sewn together yet. (I'm using mostly this advent calendar as my inspiration.)

I made a simple drawstring bag to hold the boys' church toys.

 And I also whipped up a smaller bag to hold the birthday present I'm making for Connor. (His birthday is in 10 days!)

Any guesses as to what I'm making for him?

Connor has been doing some crafty work of his own.

He chewed on his crib!

I know lots of kids do this, but Dallin never did and Connor has had teeth for a while now so I figured we'd be safe. I think this was his way of getting back at me for putting him down to nap before he was done playing.