Teeth On The Way!

Well, just a few days shy of his nine month birthday, and we finally have the signs of teeth! This weekend we noticed, during the usual nose-chewing session we're given each morning, that there was a little more bite in that otherwise gummy mouth! So far the bottom left tooth is breaking the surface, and the bottom right looks like it's just a few days behind. Remarkably, other than being a little less apt to take his usual long naps and being a little more cuddly than normal, he's acting as if cutting teeth is no big deal. We'll take pictures once we have a good view of the brand new pearly whites!

Little Pumpkin

Warning: this is a picture heavy post with little else of interest. Who wants to read a post anyway, when you can look at a handful of cute pictures of an adorable 8 month old in a pumpkin?? :)

He had so much fun watching us pick up leaves and toss them down, as our way of getting him to look up for the camera. That, and eating leaves. Mmmm, crunchy! These are just a showing of the 70+ pictures we took trying to get a good shot. All we really got were some good pictures, and a nagging sense that we need to be getting a better camera soon! Oh well, we'll be spending our money on practical things, like a new bathroom, first. Sigh. More on that to come.

Happy Giraffe

Sorry it took me so long to get these other Halloween pictures posted! Joseph spent last Sunday dressed up as a giraffe until bedtime. He accompanied me to the grocery store, where just about everyone stopped me to say how cute he was! Well of course, with a face like his - no surprise there! :)

 He is doing his best to pull up and stand on everything now. And he's loving crawling all over the house, checking things out. His favorite is to crawl from the living room, where we hang out the most, to the bathroom or bedroom when someone moves into one of those rooms. Just yesterday he was trying to climb up on me, and managed to pull up standing and stand on his own, unsupported for almost a minute before falling over.

Joseph is SOOO big! And he knows it. Well, at least he thinks he's so big. So much so, that feeding him traditional pureed baby food has gotten increasingly difficult. He'll eat anything we offer, as long as it's bite-sized and he can pick it up and put it in his mouth. Spoon feeding? That's SO 2 months ago.

At least this morning he was hungry enough he let me feed him some of his usual morning favorite - oatmeal with fresh bananas. Oh well. As long as he's eating and still growing ok, then I guess I'll hope it's just a phase!

Happy Halloween!

Our little pumpkin had a great first Halloween! Ashley and Mikael came down with cute outfits for Joseph. They tried to let him pick which to wear by holding both in front of him. His solution? Grab both at the same time! On his second try, he went for this one:

And he looked adorable! We even had orange socks, again, thanks to a previous Ashley and Mikael gift, but they are really easy for him to take off, so they didn't last very long.

We also decided it was time to pull the activity garden that I bought earlier this fall at the kids' consignment sale out of the garage. Joe wiped it down while Joseph was finishing up his morning nap, and it was all ready to go when Joseph woke up and finished off his lunch. He loves practicing standing, and this particular toy is great because it's heavy enough that it doesn't tip over when he pulls up on an edge.

 He was having fun opening and closing the mailbox door, and even managed to stand on his own while clapping his hands!

 Then of course, he had to start chewing on the toy carrot and onion, along with the pieces of mail. He hasn't figured out the whole toy, but I'm hopeful that it'll provide lots of fun as the weather continues to get colder and his activity levels go up and up.

More pictures to come tomorrow of Joseph in his second costume - the giraffe!

We won!

The trunk or treat that we attended on Thursday was hosted by a mommy's group to which Lauren and 7 belong. Apparently, they have a contest for the best decorated "trunk." So, naturally, we won.

Lauren covered a box in brown paper and drew burners on the top and then put a pot with candy on one and left the other open. She also made up a little table with a tablecloth and fake food and a sign that said fresh 17lb lobster to put in front of 7 in his "pot." I think most of this can be seen in the pictures below.

I just wanted to let all of you know that Lauren is amazing and that her mommy's group agrees.