it's the Great Pumpkin.

This year I thought it would be fun to go on a hayride and let Linc choose his own pumpkin. Below is the one he chose...

Just kidding...he didn't have enough money in his piggy bank to pay for that one!

Instead, we took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. Of course we were there in freezing cold weather. Brrrr. Here are dad and Cassidy on the hayride.

And here is the pumpkin that Linc really did choose. He was looking for a tall one and he sure found a great one. Can't wait to see him try to clean that sucker out.

After we got our pumpkins, we enjoyed some hot cider and donuts. Yum. And then Linc checked out all of the cool kid stuff outside.

First, he rode the cool John Deere tricycles.

And then he tested out a big tractor!

And he played on the wooden train. Not sure what he's thinking about here, but I like the pondering look on his face.

Finally, here are Dad and son making their way back to the car. Time to warm up! Brrrr...

new tricks.

Like any parent, I am proud of the new things Cassie is learning. Here are just a few:

Pulling herself to stand. Up next: walking.


Playing peekaboo in the curtains.


Doing the babble babble thing with her lips.


Sticking her tongue out. She thinks this is hilarious.

And last but not least, eating table food. Spaghetti is always a fun one for mom and dad to clean up!

Our baby girl is growing so fast. Sob, sob.

downward dog.

Apparently Cassie is into yoga. See the pics below. On top is a demonstration of the "downward dog" pose, on bottom is Cassie doing it quite successfully. Her positioning needs a bit of refinement, but I think she's on her way to a successful union of the mind, body, and spirit. Go Cass!

thumbs and pillows.

Lincoln has been a thumbsucker since he was about 6-weeks old. Personally, I don't mind that he does this. His thumb is always with him when he needs comfort (unlike Cassie, who uses a paci - yep, that rhymed). I don't expect that Linc will still be sucking his thumb when he's 20 so I'm not worried about him quitting. He'll grow out of it. I, too, was a thumbsucker. I remember doing it so I must've been at least 5 or 6 before I quit because with my crappy memory I don't recall much before the age of 5.

Anyway, I snapped some pics of Linc in his comfy state: thumb in mouth, hand on pillow corner.

He must have a pillow with a pillow case. Couch pillows are no good. The corners are not appropriate for rubbing.

mobility.

We knew the day would come...mobility for Cassie. She had been crawling backward for about a month and the day she turned 9 months old she crawled forward. I had the video camera out on 9/15 to record a short clip of her as I do each month. I talk about what new things she's doing each month for her first year. It's as if she knew....while I was recording she started crawling forward! Woohoo! There is no going back now. She loves that she can move around. Check her out below.




We have bins of nice, safe, clean baby toys throughout the house. Her two favorite things: the remote control and the speaker wires that are tucked under the step from our kitchen to the family room. Neither fits into the "nice, safe, clean baby toys" category. We have even given her her own real remote control (an old one that we don't use). She will play with this one for about 30 seconds and then wants the "real" remote. There's no fooling her. And, yes, somehow she managed to find the speaker wires that are taped up under the step. See her below "playing" with them. Ugh. We are doing all we can to deter her and to conceal those wires.


And below, you can see her sporting Lincoln's old "Cars" jammies. Just thought she looked kinda cute in them. Matt prefers putting her in Linc's old camoflauge pj's. She does look kind of funny in those. We call her G.I. Doodles when she has them on.


FYI: For those who don't know, we've all been calling Cassidy "Doodles" since she was very little. I had been calling her Cassadoodle (don't know why...just one of those things) and it was shorted to Doodles. There are now many variations of Doodles that crack us all up. Nicknames are good, no? I grew up being called "Fred". Don't really know why. Again, just one of those things. I always knew, though, that the people who called me that were the ones who sort of loved me the most and knew me the best. I hope Doodles doesn't mind that we call her this silly name when she's 30!

mowing.

One of Linc's favorite activites is helping dad mow the lawn. He sees Matt get his "mowing shoes" on and gets all excited. I finally snapped a picture of him with his mower. We got the mower for $3 at a garage sale last year and it's easily the most used toy in our house. Linc loves it. Note that he mows the sidewalk as it's much easier to push the mower on the sidewalk than on the grass.

I will surely bring this picture out when Lincoln is old enough to use the real mower to ensure that his love of mowing stays alive. I can see it now...Matt sitting on the patio with a beer and a smile while he watches Linc mow the lawn.

the pee pee park.

Here goes a story on the funny-while-at-the-same-time-frustrating side of parenting. When you finish reading, you'll be thankful that this post is not accompanied by pics.

Football season has begun so Sundays in our house consist of Matt & Mark shouting at the Lions and making all sorts of comments at the tv. I enjoy this tradition (don’t tell the guys that), but I also like to get out of the house as I can only take so much football. So, on Sunday Yia Yia and I took the kids to the park for a little escape and energy release. Things went well at park #1. Cassie got to swing which always makes her happy. Linc played on every available piece of equipment, aside from the spinny merry-go-round thing that was packed with kids. As an adult, I can’t stand those things though I do recall thoroughly enjoying them as a kid. I will let Linc enjoy it when he’s big enough to do it on his own. I can’t throw him on it now and spin him around because the act of having to watch the thing spin makes me want to puke.

I digress…

We had used all of the equipment at park #1 and decided to go to another park since we had some time on our hands. I knew in my mind that it was time for a potty break and told Linc as much on the drive to park #2. As soon as we got to the park, though, he ran over to the first climber he could find. He proceeded to climb on a monkey bar-like thing, I look over and what do I see? A drizzle of pee streaming down his leg and down to the ground like a waterfall. My mom can see my blood boiling and tells me not to yell at him. "He's just a little boy", she says. Yes, but this little boy has been doing so great with potty stuff since he was 2 1/2. He's now over 3 and has regressed in the last month. I'm sure there's some psychological thing that's going on that I should know about. I'm sure I'm reacting all wrong to any accidents. A parent never seems to handle things properly. I need Supernany to give me some advice or something. Anyway, I got Linc changed as he was very worried that I didn't have extra clothes for him. Ultimately, everyone played and all was fine, but mom was disappointed in her little boy because she knows he has the potty thing down pat in his mind. Me thinks he is just too headstrong sometimes.

I have even started a sticker chart for him at home and he gets to put a smiley on it for every accident-free day. Five stickers in a row = a new book or a special treat! So far, we have no new books or special treats in the house. Boo hoo.

To sum this story up, park #2 has been dubbed the "pee pee park". Linc called it that this morning. It cracked me up, though I didn't let him see that because all I need is for my kid to say he wants to go to the "pee pee park" to play. Really, I'm trying to remember that this is small stuff and not to sweat it.

Speaking of sweating it...I pick the kids up from school today and immediately Linc starts disobeying me by running into the parking lot. He knows that he's not supposed to be in the parking lot or street without an adult. This kid is obstinate I tell you! We have a big talk about his behavior as soon as we get home. I think the majority of our talk went over his head though as his main concern was getting dinosaur fruit snacks before dinner! Then while I was making dinner, Linc was sitting on the couch and Cassie was standing up holding on to the couch practicing her standing skills. Somehow Linc "accidentally" kicked Cassie in the face and knocked her down. Linc goes straight to time out, I sweep Cassie up to make sure she's ok, which, of course, she is because she seems to be pretty tough unlike her big brother. Meanwhile the spaghetti is boiling over, Cassie starts to fuss because she's hungry, and Linc is still crying in timeout. At this point, I had only been home from work for an hour. Happy Monday to me. By bedtime, though, this stuff all became small stuff when Linc gave me the best bedtime hug I've ever received. This kid isn't a super big huggy person, but the bigger he gets, the better his hugs get. He wrapped his little arms around me so tightly that my eyes welled up with tears. A beautiful close to this Monday.