Last weekend we met some church friends at a local pumpkin farm for a great time. This is Piper's third trip to a pumpkin patch in her lifetime, and it was the most fun for all of us, by far. She loved all the pumpkins and the activities (except for the Creepy Corner and its "skelekins").
She chose her pumpkin right off the bat
Graham was the perfect companion!
Loving on the three little piggies
She kept asking about the big bad wolf
Channeling Grandmom
Feeding the chicken--she was so patient and calm
crazy goats
I had turned away while she was trying to feed these sheep when I heard her sweet little voice say, "No, lambie! You can't have me!" Apparently the sheep was more interested in her sleeve than the straw she was offering.
This will be a fun picture to compare from year to year (if we return to this particular farm)
First time getting her face painted
I wasn't sure how she'd do, but she kept perfectly still while she got her chosen cat
Taking it all in on the hayride
We have officially entered the fake smile stage of life
She loved this little maze made of hay just for the preschoolers. The slide was at the end of the maze.
Sweet Graham took a short nap amidst all the fun
Why is playing in a giant room of corn so much fun?
More corn
Intently pouring
Funny--she made that face last year!
Love these two!
She's changed so much since October 2010!
My world
Last year's hayride (Graham in utero!)
We brought home three pumpkins: a big one for carving and two little ones for the kids. Piper had a great time painting the little ones. I gave her some artistic freedom with "hers" and let her paint in a jack-o-lantern face I had drawn on Graham's.
Graham turned 10 months last week (on my birthday!). It's hard to believe he's this close to a year old. I've been trying to plan his birthday party, but I keep getting hung up on a theme; he really only has a strong attraction to me and his pacifiers. Everyone and everything else can come and go.
Seriously, could he BE any cuter???
As is expected developmentally, we've been dealing with a bit of separation anxiety lately. Most of the time, only Mommy will do. Making this worse was a few instances this month of new babysitters. They were great, but Graham loves his momma. Not even Daddy will do: one morning I made the mistake of trying to take a shower while Graham was awake. Josh said he crawled to the closed bathroom door, pulled up on it, and stood there screaming until I came out (Daddy doesn't know the art of distraction). One of my friends came over to visit today, and Graham immediately started crying because he must have thought she was a new babysitter and that I was going to leave him.
Participating in eating at his first restaurant: Cracker Barrell
Speaking of babysitters, they were all awed at how much Graham eats. He's a machine! He still nurses four times a day with the occasional early morning feeding thrown in there, but he gets so distracted that I have to feed him in the dark of his room, alone, every time. Sometimes I really have to work to get him to be still and focused enough to nurse; he'd much rather be down playing, crawling around, or talking. But man, the boy doesn't mess around when it comes to real food. If we are in the kitchen or dining room, Graham thinks we must be preparing his food, and he wants to eat it NOW! We have dramatically cut back on the baby food he gets. Now, I'm good to get one jar in him before he demands to feed himself. He hasn't turned down anything I've given him to eat, and nothing has caused an allergic reaction (although I haven't given him yogurt, cheese, or buttery food yet). I remember Piper being hesitant to eat meat; Graham shows no preference. He loves to feed himself peas, blueberries, peaches, soft and peeled apples, kiwi, green beans, sweet potatoes, white chicken chili, ham, pumpkin bread and muffins, blueberry muffins, cheerios, crackers, bananas, carrots, french fries, hamburger, black beans, and even broccoli! As much as I like not having to worry about prepping baby food much anymore, it's a little bit of a challenge to make sure I always have nutritious finger foods ready for him to eat. But this means that our days of making separate meals are numbered!
Putting away some peaches
This month brought new games to Graham's attention. He's now a pro at the "dropsies" game. He also loves balls, much to Piper's dismay. It's probably no surprise that she would much rather have those all to herself. His favorites are a big, squishy purple ball that he can grab easily and even bounce a little on his own, two different balls Tam-Tam gave us that are meant to be water toys (he can easily manipulate these because they are soft), and whatever Piper is playing with. He has also learned to push around wheeled toys like trains, trucks, and cars.
Playing ball by himself
Pushing around the zoo truck
He still only has two little bottom teeth. I was certain he was teething earlier this month, but there's no sign of any other teeth. But that surely doesn't stop him from gumming up all his food!
Happy boy!
Graham is so efficient at crawling that I doubt he'll be an early walker. He's cruising a little more than he did a month ago, but he's not really standing by himself at all. And this is ok with me!
"Mommy, why are you so far away from me?! I can't get to you!"
He loves to mimic and be mimicked. Today my friend was chomping really hard on her gum, and Graham was chomping right back at her. It made her self-conscious! He's also learned to smack his lips and likes it when we smack back at him. And Josh noticed that he responded well when Josh mimicked his little baby sounds.
Little mischief-maker
No words yet, but Graham has turned up the volume and the frequency of his babbling. Piper is always asking, "What's Bubbie saying?"
And that means lots of baking with pumpkin! Piper helped me for the first time this week in the kitchen. We made a very simple recipe for pumpkin muffins (that didn't include eggs, so don't get worried that she's eating the batter!). We both came out alive, and we didn't even make too big of a mess.
