Monkeys and Monsters, Oh My!

I love Halloween! Before I had Nolan I really loved the idea of dressing kids up in Halloween type clothes and accessories. Why can't kids wear fairy wings on a Tuesday or be a lion a few days a week? Now that I have a baby of my own, my feelings are even stronger and I'm stockpiling costume-y things for him to wear. First up, sock monkey body suit. He needed a warm outer layer to get him through the winter...Then when I realized that I needed booties to keep his feet warm (since he pulls off all his socks) I started my search for something a little more interesting then the typical blue mukluks or baby ugg boots. I mean, what little boy doesn't need booties in the shape of monster feet?
Hopefully this won't scar him for life!

Backed into a Corner

On days that I work from home, I let Nolan play with his toys on the floor just around the corner from my office area. He usually makes all kind of noises as he talks to his toys and Cortez but this day the talking was much louder. I turned the corner to see what he had gotten into and found him halfway under the TV console. Before I pulled him out, I of course had to take a picture. A very proud mommy moment for me!

He's So Grown Up!

He is standing with support, although he is not pulling himself up to standing if you stand him up, he will stand forever!
He is scooting across the floor. This scooting isn't quite a crawl as much as it is a pulling and pushing himself across the floor to get to where he wants. It's slow going, but he gets there eventually.
He is started to talk and I'm pretty sure he knows what he is saying. He says Dada whenever Pat is around, yells up whenever i walk by and don't pick him up, mimics yeah! when others say it (complete with clapping) and says diddy which I'm pretty sure it Nolan for Kitty since he yells it whenever Cortez is around.
He is also eating finger foods, so far we have had veggies of all kinds, chicken and tofu. Besides the vomit inducing tofu stuck in the back of his throat all has gone well with this new introduction. He definitely prefers purees still but at least he is willing to try new things!
I can't believe how much he has learned in the last month alone. I am cherishing these last few weeks of him not zooming around everywhere as I'm sure the crawling and cruising is right around the corner.
Yes that is Cortez in the basket, these two are practically inseparable and have started to make up their own little games. Here's another shot to show the love!

Pumpkin Patch!

Pat and I have always done Halloween pumpkins, even when we were poor college kids we managed to save up enough to buy one and this year is no exception. We loaded up Nolan and headed down to the Carlito (or something like that) brothers farm in Kent. Evidently everyone else thought the same thing as that place was CROWDED!! Luckily it was a giant farm with tons of perfect pumpkins.I wasn't sure how Nolan would like his first pumpkin patch experience. Usually he likes anything that has a lot of people, so maybe the crowds were a good thing. He loved it of course and was squealing with delight, here is an action shot of that...He was very patient with me as was Pat since my main focus was not on finding the perfect carving pumpkin but the best photo ops! Another cute one...
We did eventually find our pumpkin soul mates and checked out, here is Nolan with our finds, and his little baby stripped pumpkin that he had a death grip on.It was a good day, I can't wait for next year when he is old enough to go on the hay ride or get lost in the corn maze. So much to look forward to, but I'm pretty sure Nolan is going to love Halloween!