Happy Halloween!

What a cool holiday - I love Halloween! You get to dress up, play with pumpkin goo, take walks at night, and eat lots of food! Yum!

I actually had 2 costumes, a cow and a witch! It was a good thing too as I had a lot of parties to go to. We dressed up in each of my classes this week... so I was a cow at Gymboree, a witch at Bubbles, a cow during music class, and a witch at story hour, then back to a cow for a mini pumpkin carving party at Joey's!

Here are some highlights from Gymboree, I take this class with Joey, who dressed up as a dinosaur! Roar!

And of course, Bubbles. I love to help the teacher play the guitar...

Then on Saturday night we went over to Joey's for a pumpkin carving party! I loved getting in all the pumpkin goo and even managed to steal a pumpkin seed and eat it! I got yelled at for that one, but once Mom googled it and realized it wasn't going to kill me to eat a raw pumpkin seed she relaxed a bit. Joey was not a fan of the pumpkin goo at all though! Using his extensive vocabulary (seriously, the boy is amazing) he kept telling us all that it was "ucky" (you can hear it on the video!) and preferred to play with his learning table then help with the carving. Oh well, more pumpkin goo for me!!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, on Sunday we made Halloween cake pops too! Check out these scary pumpkins and frankensteins!

Happy Halloween!!

11 Months!

So today I turned 11 months old!  Mom and Dad keep saying how they can't believe how fast I've grown up; I'm almost a year old now!  Apparently I'm doing all kinds of new tricks that Mom and Dad are really excited about - but I don't know what the big deal is - I'm just doing all the things I enjoy.  They think its really great how I can walk by myself all over our apartment with my Learning Walker - or how I walk along the walls (or pretty much whatever I can climb up such as the couch, chairs, dressers, shelves, etc.) -- but it's no big deal, I'm just trying to check everything out because I'm so curious!!

Some of my other favorite activities right now include:  crawling behind our couch and drapes and looking out into the park; reaching up and turning the computer printer on and off; drinking out of sippy cups without any help; showing everybody where my belly, head and toes are when asked; playing peek-a-boo; and sliding down the slide at the park all by myself!

Also I'm really good at talking too -- well at least I think I am good -- I don't think Mom and Dad understand me but I definitely have a lot to say!  I say "duck" ("duh"), "dog" ("dah"), done ("duu"), down ("duh") and Dad ("daa") - never you mind that all those sound the same!  My favorite word though is duck - in fact, my little ducky stuffed animal is my favorite toy right now!

Here's some video of me doing some of my favorite things:

[Me walking around the condo]

[Me talking and playing with my ducky]

[Me playing peek-a-boo (I crack myself up!)]

It has been a great 11 months - only one more month now until I'm a year old!!!

Bucket Head Kate

Here's my new favorite game to play! I love to play it with mom and dad and I'll play it with you too. All you need to do is say 3 magic words... bucket head kate!

The Triple Threat

That's right Mariah Carey, move over again. I can dance, I can sing, and I can play the Piano!!!

Happy Birthday Ella!

This Saturday I went to Ella's 2nd Birthday Party! She had everyone over to her house for a big party. There were games and toys and presents and cake and ice cream - oh and balloons, which I did not like at all - note to Mom, no balloons at my party please! I was the youngest kid there, so everyone was helping to show me the ropes. Ella was helping me play with her dragon scooter, and another girl was helping me wear a purse, and this nice boy named Landon was giving me high-fives and trying to show me how to give knuckles... I'm going to have to work on that one though.

After we sang happy birthday there was cake and ice cream again - and this time, Mom and Dad let me have some ice cream! It was soooo good! I almost started crying when they stopped serving it to me! But they said I could have some again at my own party. I can't wait for my birthday now! Hurry up already!!

Pancakes!

Today I went out to breakfast with Mom and Dad. I got all bundled up since we were having a bit of a cold spell and we headed out. I got quite a surprise when after my yogurt Mom and dad handed me a pancake! They even put a little syrup on it for me. I really liked it, but was pretty full from my yogurt so half way through I just started to play with it and managed to make quite a mess in the restaurant.

I also got to eat some sweet potato fries mom made me for dinner, those are really good too. I like that I can start picking up all my food on my own now. Sometimes I forget to take bites though and that I can't just shove it all in my mouth at once. I also mastered the sippy cup! I'm so grown up!

Happy Birthday Joey!

Today Joey turned 1! He had a big old party with tons of kids and tons of toys! The highlight was clearly this giant inflatable ball gym. I was really excited about it, but sort of unsure of what to do with it. You can see me hanging out in the back here, just scoping it all out...

After about 5 - 10 minutes of checking the scene out, I decided to take the plunge - literally! 

After all that playing cake and ice cream was definitely in order. Joey did a great job of blowing out his candle and then smashing his cake up - in fact he needed a quick bath after it was all said and done. I was a little upset that they put this hat on me, turns out I don't really like hats - note to mom for my own party... no hats! After all the excitement at the end of the night it was just Joey and I trying out all his presents and our parents enjoying one last drink before taking me home to bed.

Thanks for inviting me to your party Joey! I had a great time!!

The Children's Museum and...

This Friday Betsy and I hopped a ride with Maria (that's Joey's nanny) and Joey to the Children's museum! We had so much fun! I have never been before and so first we ate lunch together and then we played in all the fun exhibits.

It was a great time until... POPSPLOSION!!!!

And guess what... I didn't have any of my own extra clothes, so I had to wear one of Joey's outfits. I ended up looking like a trucker in this sweet blue fleece flannel onesie. That's the last time I got anywhere without a spare outfit!

Weekday Fun

This week I got more into chunky finger food. Betsy gave me diced cooked carrots that I could pick up on my own. I think I might have missed the point though as I thought the bowl was more exciting than the carrots!

I also worked more on my standing, and eating puzzle pieces.

Apple Orchard

Today was my first trip to the Apple Orchard! Well, technically I went last year too, but I was still in mom's belly then, so it doesn't count. We headed way out to Kuiper's Family Farm with my friend Ella and here Mom and Dad (Shalee & Blake). First things first, we headed straight to the bakery to get some apple cider donuts! I was a little unsure of it at first, it just looks like a big brown blog, but once I got a little taste I was hooked!! Mmmmm!!!

We found a nice little spot in the shade on a picnic bench and settled in for a chow down. It was amazing!

Everyone had a great time hanging out and eating donuts.we could have easily just had donuts and gone home. But of course, there are a million other things to do! First, we all got measured...

Then we went across the street to the pumpkin farm. They had so much to do over there... there was a petting zoo, a play ground, a "corn-box" - that's a sandbox filled with hard corn kernels instead of sand (and yes, it was kind of gross and I tried to eat a kernel and mom and dad freaked out, so I didn't last very long in there) - a train ride and a million other fun activities (that you had to pay for separately, after you paid to get in, naturally).

Then on our way out we went through the pumpkin patch! This was another half hour of picture taking mayhem, but it was worth it, Ella and I look pretty darn cute : )

What a day! I slept the whole way home and didn't make a peep. I wish we could go every weekend!

Grocery Shopping

Today I went grocery shopping with Daddy so that Mommy could get some work done. I have never been to the grocery store before - can you believe that! I was in Target and a few other places like BuyBuyBaby of course, but never to a grocery store! I couldn't believe all the food they have there! Aisles upon aisles of pasta and beans and chips and drinks, bin after bin of oranges, bananas, broccoli, and carrots, row after row of ice cream, and yogurt, and cookies! It was magical! Daddy put me in the cart and even gave me the list so that I could make sure we got everything. It was an important task that I took very seriously, don't worry we didn't forget anything! When we got home Mom was so proud of us! I can't wait to go back again...

Diaper Time

After the football game we went over to Joey's house for dinner - and some more play time. I even got to push Joey's truck around...

Everything started out fun and innocent, until the poopsplosion! Then it was diaper time. Joey and I had a great time playing in the bathroom in our diapers. Who knew a bathroom could be so much fun, although I guess when you have toys you can make any place fun.

Touchdown!

This weekend we went to a football game! It was homecoming for Joey's mom and dad's high school so they invited us to the game - along with Kristin & Josh (Josh went there too!). First we hit up a tailgate and had some lunch. Joey and both had our footballs and we were decked out in our patagonia. We can both throw our hands up for "touchdown" whenever anyone yells it (oh and did I mention I learned how to pick my nose - cool right!)

Then we headed to the stands to watch the game. Even though it was a little chilly out, we were sitting in the sun so it wasn't too bad. We had a great view of the game and whenever I got bored with football, there were plenty of people around to entertain me.

At half-time the mom's took Joey and I into the school for a diaper change (I feel sorry for the classroom where they left those stinky diapers!). Then we played pretend school for a while before we headed back out -  I think I'm going to like real school!