Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures from Austin's first real Halloween. As a 3-month old and a 1-year old, Halloween was not very fun for him, or for us really. But this year was great. We went dancing at Baby Loves Disco last week, which was crazy!! I loved it. Austin had a great time too. Tonight we went trick or treating at Mill Creek Town Center. I knew he would love it because he really enjoys collecting things in containers. He was so cute going up to each person to get candy. He can't say "Thank you" yet; he still signs it and when he signs it, it looks like he's waving. So a lot of people said "Bye!" after he signed Thank You to them. What was even funnier was that Austin expects to hear "You're Welcome" after he signs Thank You, so if someone didn't say "You're Welcome", he just stood there staring at them, doing his little wave sign until I shuffled him away and said "You're Welcome" for them. He's so polite.

BOO

I was reading Austin a Monsters Inc. book tonight and he was reading along. As I've mentioned before he's a great reader. He was saying each letter in the title: "MONSTERS INC" and this specific book was called "BOO", which he spelled "B, O, More O." He's so cute.

Red Robin & Agri-tourism

Went to Red Robin tonight and it was totally fun. That was a total surprise to me. Austin loved it and clapped along with all of the birthday singing. I think it may have been the first meal out where he didn't fuss once.
We also went to the pumpkin patch today with our playgroup, or as I prefer to say 'We experienced Agri-tourism'. Much more fun than last year, when Austin couldn't walk and it was much colder. We had a great time and my hot apple cider was just perfect.

Catching Up

It's been a while since I last wrote. I don't know where to start. As usual, I'd like to share a funny Austin story. Tonight he was having a bit of a difficult time due to a big day of preschool and other Daddy time, and basically no nap. When it was time for bed he started crying. As a result, his nose started running and of course tears were running down his cheeks. He got all upset, demanding "Nose!" so I would wipe his nose and "Eye!" so I would wipe his eyes. But what was funny was that his nose and eyes running would get him even more upset and cause more tears and it was a vicious cycle for him. Very comical to me though. Then he just wanted to cuddle, which was very sweet. It's been a long time since I just rocked him at bedtime.



A couple weeks ago we took a 4-night Celebrity cruise up to Canada and back. Brian & I are big cruisers, having been on about 8 since we got married. B & I always agree on the big issues, vacations included. We wanted to hold off on cruising until Austin was around 5 so he could enjoy it more and take advantage of the ship's kid programs, but we couldn't wait any longer. Our friends Alcena & Jonathan came too with their 14 month old daughter, Lillian. Despite The Most Incompetant Travel Agent in The World, we managed to get ocean view cabins side by side. So each night two of us were able to go out at a time, while two people stayed back and babysat and either hung out together in the hallway or got caught up on sleep. Austin had a great time. And for us, it was nice to be on a ship again, although it was difficult to get any sleep. We all three slept in the same bed, most of the time in a H: B & I on the edges of the bed and Austin sprawled out across the bed hitting and kicking us all night. It was all very exhausting. There was even a day when most of us were seasick, a first for me and totally unexpected. I mean it's a cruise ship; more like a floating city than a boat! Most of all, it was nice to do something different with Austin and also really nice to hang out with friends, especially while the kids are 1 and 2. Very special. In this picture, Lillian was practicing walking and also cracking Austin up to the point where he'd bury his face in his hands and exclaim "Baby!" (that's what he calls her since he can't say Lillian.)


The pictures below are of HugFest 2008, a playgroup at my house a couple weeks ago where all the kids starting hugging and kissing. They're so sweet.