Happy Halloween

John Henry's first Halloween went better than I expected.  I was a little worried since Halloween was on a Monday.  Monday's are always bad and to top it off, our poor baby had an ear infection and didn't nap well at all that day.  I felt like I was rushing all day and was convinced that the night would end badly.  We started our day rushing to the doctor, then to daycare, daycare to work, back to daycare, over to our house to pick up Jay and then over to Sherridan's so we could get John Henry in his costume and join Holland for the Somerset Halloween parade.  Shockingly we weren't too late and made it just in time for the parade.  Granted, we were the second to last people in the parade, but Sherridan and I are fast walkers and we were able to make up for my tardiness.

Sherridan and I decided that John Henry and Holland would enjoy riding in their cars more than in a wagon.  We were right and they were the cutest monkey and bunny in the entire parade!

They really are cute together.  They had monogrammed Halloween trick or treat bags (thank you Mandy!) and stayed side by side for most of the parade.

Such responsible drivers with their hands at 10 and 2!

Mommy and her monkey. 

Please notice the banana in the cup holder.  It was a good prop until John Henry tried to eat through the peel...

Our little family.  Do you notice all the other people walking in the parade?  I wasn't lying when I said we caught up with everyone!

The parade ended in the parking lot of the clubhouse.  There was a pizza party and prizes for the best costumes.  We didn't stick around too long since we had pizza back at Sherridan's house.  But we couldn't leave before saying hello to the Marshall family.  Emmaline (the cute ladybug)  is just a few months older than John Henry.  

Aren't they adorable?  I think Emmaline tried to steel John Henry's banana after I took this picture.  Sneaky little ladybug!

Grandma Yeary came to watch the parade.  John Henry loved seeing her and was happy that she could come see him in all his monkey glory.

On the way from the parade to Sherridan's house, John Henry had his first trick or treating experience.  We had planned on waiting for Holland but this man came running down the driveway saying, "Don't you want some candy?"  I'm not sure if he thought we were depriving our 10 month old of candy, or if he was just worried he wouldn't be able to get rid of his stash by the end of the night.  We didn't want to be rude, so we took a piece and said thank you.  As he was saying your welcome, he put two more pieces in John Henry's bag.   I'm pretty sure he just wanted to get rid of his candy.

Once we got back to Sherridan's we ate our pizza then headed outside.  Just in time to see BeBe!

We drove over to Jay's parents house for our first official trick or treat of the night.  They have a long driveway and steep stairs, so they compensate the children with king size candy bars...

I guess they feel that if you make it all they way to the door, you deserve a good piece of candy.

John Henry couldn't decide so I did it for him.  Thank you BeBe and Cece, the Snickers was delicious!

After trick or treating in Somerset, we came back home to pass out candy.  John Henry behaved so well and lasted longer than I expected.  He was in bed by 8 and I'm pretty sure he had a successful first Halloween. 

Carve it Up!

We were so excited to carve pumpkins with John Henry.  We knew he wouldn't really understand but we wanted to do it as a family.  He ended up napping for most of the carving which worked out perfectly since our designs ended up taking more time than expected.  Before John Henry went down for his nap he enjoyed smacking/playing with the pumpkins and feeling their insides. 

The pre-carving shot.

He had the best time smacking the pumpkins and screaming.  Hey - whatever works kid!

Poor Jay.  He had to do the hard work.  He was in charge of hallowing out the pumpkins.  Can you see Lady by his leg anxiously awaiting some of the pumpkin seeds?

John Henry feeling the guts of the pumpkin.  He didn't think it was gross.  In fact, he didn't seem to have much of a reaction.  I was a little bummed.  I guess I expected more of a reaction.  Maybe it didn't gross him out because he's a boy...

Feeling the newly hallowed pumpkin.  After this picture he went down for his nap.  And when he woke up, we were done!

The end result.  Jay's Auburn pumpkin, my haunted house (yes that's what that is), and John Henry's classic jack-o-lantern face.

After we were done, we put them outside.  We had planned on adding our scarecrow (named Stew) but we never got around to it so this was how our entry way looked for Halloween.  Not bad, but next year we'll have more.

Trunk or Treat

We live half a mile from Mt. Bethal church which is literally up the street from us.  Every year Mt. Bethal has a Halloween event called Trunk or Treat.  Basically, they rope off the parking lot, people decorate the trunks of their cars, and pass out candy.  Instead of your small children walking from house to house, they walk from one car to the next to receive their ever so needed candy.  Although our baby isn't walking, and isn't eating candy, we wanted to see what it was all about and hang out with our friends.  John Henry was in awe of the entire process. 

This was the second time John Henry was in his monkey costume - but it was the first time with the feet.  Special thanks to the Benich family for letting us borrow their costume.  Ours arrived with only one foot and thankfully the Benich's had the same costume and saved the day!

Our little monkey trying to climb out of his daddy's arms.

All bundled up and ready to go.  John Henry didn't really care that he was in a monkey costume.  He was just along for the ride.

Once we arrived I plopped John Henry down so he could check out the craziness.

And it wasn't long before he got his first visitor.  Charley loves John Henry. 

I mean she REALLY loves him.  I think she kisses him every chance she gets.  The funny thing is, I think he believes this is normal and why wouldn't you kiss him every time? 

Kriya and Bree.  I love this picture because Kriya is always taking pictures and she's apparently so good that she can have a baby in her lap and still get the perfect shot!

The Benich family in front of their trunk.  They had the Thomas the Train theme.  Kriya and Bree were train engineers, Wade was Thomas and Beau was the man in the fat suit.  I think he's called Sir Topham Hatt.   

Sweet Dorthy.  None of the kids stood still for more than a second so we weren't able to get any good pictures.  Can't say I blame them.  Who's going to stop hunting down the candy to smile for a picture?  Not these kids!

All of the kids showing their candy collections. 

My sweet monkey.

Maybe Jay and I will dress up next year.  Yeah, maybe not. 

10 Months

John Henry is 10 months.  How crazy is that?  We don't have another well check until 12 months (very scary) so we're not sure how much he weighs or how tall he is.  We do know that he's happy and healthy (if you don't count the ear infections and numerous colds).  September and October were great months for our little man.  He had a lot of quality time outside, which is by far his favorite thing.  

John Henry rocking the Auburn look for his 10 month picture.  It's been an up and down season this year but John Henry supports his team no matter what.

Getting taller in his chair...

We've had a great time enjoying the fall.  John Henry has been able to participate in outdoor festivals, outdoor birthday parties, and a fun pumpkin patch.  We rarely get a picture of all three of us and the one below does a pretty good job of capturing how happy we really are.

John Henry spends lots of time with his cousins.  He sees them at least once a week and he's taken a special liking to Sumner, Holland, and Aunt Sherridan.  I think that tide will change and he'll eventually be more enthralled with the boys.  At this point the girls love on him, carry him around, and kiss him to death.  I'm not surprised that they are his current favorites!

John Henry's favorite thing is still his car.  We have one at our house and one at Bebe's house.  I've never seen a child love a piece of plastic so much.  If he's ever unhappy we just put him in his car and take him for a stroll. 

Since we're out of the "baby baby" stage we've become a little more comfortable putting John Henry on kitchen counters, couches, and seats.  We're always right there to catch him if we need to and we still spend a considerable amount of time on the floor.  There's no doubt he's getting bigger and for some reason I realized it the day he was helping me open the mail.  It was one of those days I saw him as a little boy and not so much a baby.

And then he reminded me that he is a baby.  I doubt little boys use the taste test method to determine which envelopes to open! 

At 10 months he continues to love the bath.  He splashes and has the best time in the water.  It doesn't matter if it's in the tub or sink.  He could care less as long as there is water.

Now that he is more stable he's been playing with some "new" toys.  (I say "new" since they were given to us or bought at a consignment sale).  He doesn't have the hang of pushing himself around with his own feet so we do the pushing.  This car's like the indoor version of his big plastic car.  We go racing around the house until our backs can't take it anymore.  He loves it and always wants more.

I know I've talked about his love for being outside but I don't know that I'll ever be able to really explain it.  He loves to sit and listen to the birds or pull on the grass/leaves.  He is his father's child in the fact that he'd rather be outside than in,  any day of the week.

Another big first for John Henry is that at 10 months he is finally walking around.  Not by himself but using his push toy.  We like to do it on the grass so that if he falls it doesn't bother him.  We have a long stretch of grass in the back and he walks up and down until his little legs give out.

And even though he can't walk he is an expert crawler and uses that skill to get anywhere he wants.  He's figured out how to crawl up out of our sunken living room but hasn't figured out how to crawl back down.    Thankfully his crawling hasn't caused too much trouble yet but I know it's coming.  Just look at that face.  It's sweet at first glance but it has trouble written all over it! 

John Henry's favorite person is his Daddy.  It could be because they look so similar.  It could be because his Daddy always takes him outside.  Or it could be that his Daddy is just the favorite for this month.  It doesn't really bother me.  It's a fun relationship to watch.

Since Jay is his favorite I do my best to steal as many hugs and kisses as possible.  I probably kiss him a thousand times a day.  It doesn't seem to bother him yet so I'm taking full advantage.

John Henry is a happy little guy (most of the time). I have to admit that he doesn't love the part of the night in between bath time and story time.  Meaning he doesn't like to put a diaper on, get all lotioned up, and get into pajamas.  Jay thinks I'm crazy to put lotion on him every night but it's a habit.  And it's not a bad one.  So until he really starts to protest I'm going to keep doing it.  He's had the same night routine since he was itty bitty.  After bath, it's lotion/pjs, then we read a story to him while he drinks his evening bottle.  After we finish the story we say our prayers, sing a song or two, and then put him in his crib .  He falls right to sleep (usually) and sleeps until 6-7 the next morning.  He's a good little sleeper. 

He's such a curious little guy and growing by the minute.  Some random developments this month are:

1. He's babbling a lot and assumes you know what he's saying. 

2.  He lunges for the food / bottle when he's hungry. And if he's hungry, he's sure to let you know.

3.  He enjoys clapping along to patty cake.  He'll even keep clapping once you finish the song.

4.  Continues to protest taking naps during the day.  Especially at daycare.

5.  Loves his new sippy cups we bought him and drinks a ton of water each day. 

He makes me laugh every day.  We do our best to get some good time with him before and after daycare and on the weekends.  It never seems like enough so we try not to take any of our time for granted.  I don't think anyone can argue that this 10 month old isn't loved.