Happy Halloween!

I enjoyed my costume much more this year than I did last year :) While I didn't go trick or treating, I got to participate in the Halloween Festival at school. They had a petting zoo, pumpkin patch and a costume parade. I had a blast and even got to take my pumpkin home!

The cow tried to lick me!



I got to pet the goat.



I stood in the "pumpkin patch" for a while, but didn't want to actually pick up a pumpkin.



Later, I got to wear my lion costume and go for a buggy ride around the playground. All the other kids from my room fell asleep, but I powered through.



I love to climb on EVERYTHING these days - couches, stairs, tables, buggy's...



Mom and dad took me to a real pumpkin patch yesterday and I had a really great time. We'll post those pictures shortly, but I told them next year I want to spend more time there - they had a big slide that looked like fun, a pumpkin cannon (dad wanted to try that one), a rubber ducky derby and much more. We were only there long enough to go on the hayride and walk through the pumpkin fields. It was a nice day, though and we all had fun. We stopped and got some pear cider on the way out and I LOVED it. I think it gave me a sugar high, though, because I was up almost 3 hours past my bedtime last night!!!

I'm learning new things all the time and mom and dad can't keep up with me anymore :) I can now feed myself with a fork! I kept grabbing at mom and dad's fork, so they gave me my own to hold and wouldn't you know, I figured out how to stab the food and put it in my mouth. I now eat an entire meal with a fork by myself. I also say kitty very well now, but a lot of other things are still "b." At least I say "mom" now. I walk all over the place now. My new thing is to grab mom or dad's finger and make them walk around with me - I don't *really* need to hold on, but I like to have the company. I have at least 12 teeth now - I won't let mom open my mouth to count exactly how many, but there are definitely at least 5 on the bottom and 7 on the top. That's probably why I've been so cranky lately.

What else? Mom, dad, Jay and Steve all ran the Wolftrap 5K a few weeks ago. It was mom's first 5K and she finished without walking which was her goal. Steve was kind enough to slow down and stick with her, so that kept her going, despite the nasty and unanticipated hills. Dad far exceeded his goal in terms of time - I'm so proud of him! I cheered for all of the runners and got my picture taken with the "Wolfman." The next day, we watched Molly run the Marine Corps Marathon. I was a bit cranky, but I clapped for her every time we saw her (that I wasn't sleeping, at least). She did a great job and we were able to see her 3 times along the way.

Mom made Aunt Terry's macaroni and cheese today and I loved it as much as I did at my birthday party - thanks for the recipe Ter!

I'm sure there's more, but that's all the energy I have for the evening. Take care!

Proof that I can walk :)

Assuming mom taught me how to upload the video correctly (just kidding - assuming she actually figured out how to upload it), here's a short clip of me walking to the kitty (also affectionately known as "b"). Everything is "b" lately.



Mom thinks I need a haircut soon - what do you think? She says it looks like I have a mullet, but I don't know what that is :(

Mom and dad (and Uncle Jay and Uncle Steve) are running a 5K on Saturday, so I get to play with Aunt Molly while they run - huzzah! Then on Sunday, we get to go watch Molly run in the Marine Corps Marathon. Go Molly!!!

I'm officially a walker!

That's right! I've been taking a few steps here and there for well over a month, but when mom picked me up from school on Thursday, I walked from the toy area the whole way across the room to meet her! It's all over now - they won't be able to keep up with me. I already climb up the stairs quite well and am super fast at crawling. I've also learned to say (or imitate as the case may be) "Thank You," "ball" and "Pooh" as in Pooh Bear. I point to the Pooh Bears on my wall and get excited.

It's been really cold and rainy here this week, so mom's been making me wear my new coat and hat. I think it's a little ridiculous, but I guess it's cute enough.



My new favorite toys are a stack of red plastic Solo cups - they keep me entertained for a really long time. That and a pan and spoon - makes so much noise and lets mom make dinner while I bang away. I also love to pull all of the newly folded clothes out of the laundry baskets, which mom says isn't such a big help.

Breakfast time for me! Happy Saturday...

Ready for the White Out!

Even though it was pouring, we were committed to being part of the White Out for the Penn State - Iowa game last weekend. Mom and dad found me a white PSU shirt that was big enough to go over my sweatshirt. Not the greatest photo because we were either in the car or in the rain ALL day, but you get the idea.

I'm a whole year old!

I can't believe mommy hasn't let me update my blog in over a month! We've just been so busy that we haven't had a chance to sit down and update. I'll try to fill in the details of the last month, but of course the most important detail is that my FIRST birthday was last Monday!!! I had a very nice birthday weekend and got to visit with almost all of my family and friends. Aunt Terry came to visit me on Thursday and she got to stay until Sunday. I *almost* said TerTer - she kept telling me that TerTer was easier to say than Laurie. Then Laurie, Dan, Courtney and Kaylee came on Friday after I was in bed. Not long after I got up on Saturday, Grammy and Grampy Clements and Grandma and Grandpa Coble came! My Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Coble and Great Great Aunt Faye came later in the day on Saturday, as did a lot of mommy and daddy's friends. Daddy was kind enough to smoke another couple of pork shoulders for my party and mom made a bunch of cupcakes (yum). Thank you Aunt Terry for suggesting your mac and cheese recipe - even I could eat that (and LOVED it!)

My party was a blast and I hope everyone else had a great time too! Mom and Terry put together these photos to hang on the wall for everyone to see (OK, Terry did all the work, mom just picked out the photos). Eventually, mom will put the pages into a book, but for now they're still hanging up.



My party had a cupcake theme, so mom made a giant cupcake for me and "regular" cupcakes for everyone else. I even had a cupcake dress.



Thank you everyone!!! Everyone was so generous and thoughtful - I think I'm loved :) I was a little overwhelmed opening my gifts, look at this whole table! There's more hiding in the wagon behind mom.



Mommy and daddy got me a wagon - dad had "fun" putting it together for me :)



There was a slight icing malfunction and the icing on the pink cupcakes melted the night before the party, and the icing on my cake started to drip as well. Everyone said it made it look like a Dr. Seuss cake. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the giant cupcake...



I finally decided that picking the pieces of candy out of the icing would be a good idea. Daddy really wanted me to just dig into it, so he showed me how.




I still wasn't so sure about that, so mom cut a piece of the cake off for me to eat. That made it a little more manageable - it reminded me of the Pound Cake that Uncle Jay gave me at Wolftrap! After I had eaten my fill of cake and icing, mom took me straight to the bath tub.




In other news, I had my 12 month well baby visit last week. I'm 19lbs, 15oz and 28.75 inches. Everything is going well and I'm 25%-50% across the board which is consistent (and therefore good). I'm still on track or ahead developmentally. I am almost walking - I've taken 2 steps several times over the past few weeks and can stand up from a sitting position without holding on. I have 8 teeth and 2 more on the way in. I say "daddy," "kitty," "uh-oh," and "dog." I babble "mom" but don't use it consistently. I recognize a few other words, but don't consistently say them. If you ask me where the dog is, I can point to a picture in a book. I'm very vocal now and have a personality all my own.

I also had my follow up appointment with the orthopedist. I had another x-ray and my hips look perfect. He usually follows up at 18 and 24 months, but my hips look so good that he said we could skip the 18 month check and just come back at 24 months if mom is still concerned. I guess that made the 14 weeks of having to wear the harness all worthwhile.

Unfortunately I had the experience of my first Penn State game :( I say unfortunately because they lost miserably to Iowa. It rained the entire day, it was cold, it was an awful football game, and it started at 8pm which is already past my bedtime. Mom ended up sitting with me in the concourse for all but 5 minutes of the game so I didn't get completely soaked. I was so unhappy and just wanted to get down, but mom said she couldn't let me get down and crawl, so I had to say in the carrier. Eventually I fell asleep. I slept until we got back to our hotel, then I woke up and wanted to party for the next hour - I don't think mom and dad were too amused at 2:30 in the morning. On the bright side, our seats are AWESOME! Hopefully I'll get to see more of the Ohio State game in a few weeks. Mom and dad got me a really cute Nittany Lion hat and put a Lion Logo on my cheek - I'll post pictures when we get them off of the camera.

I also want to welcome my new friend to the world!!! Mom's friend Kim had her baby a little early...Daniel Reilly Caughey was born the day after my birthday - he was 6 weeks early, but it sounds like he is doing well. I can't wait to meet Kim, Mike and Daniel!

Bye for now - hope everyone is doing well!

My shiner...

For Erin, here's a photo...it really wasn't too bad at all, but it was pretty swollen which you can't see in the picture. Tell Emma that this is what happens when you climb things you're not supposed to...






















I stayed home from school today and mom and I went to the doctor this afternoon. I'm 19lbs 4oz (with my diaper on - the nurse took pity on me for not feeling well and didn't make mom take it off). I still have a fever, but it's lower than it was. If my fever is still down in the morning, I'll go back to school tomorrow. My lungs and ears are clear, so we just have to let it run the course again. Hopefully I'll start sleeping better once this runs its course too - I've only been in bed for 2 hours so far and have already been up 4 times. It's looking to be another long night, but I just don't feel well!

That's all for now - hope everyone is doing well :)

A rough week...

I got my first "shiner" this week :( Mom got a call at work on Monday and the first words were "it's not an emergency...BUT..." I recently discovered that I can climb things and I must have slipped while climbing on the exersaucer and hit my eye. It looked pretty bad Monday night, but by Tuesday morning you would never know what happened. I'm so mobile now that it's bound to be the first of many bumps and bruises.

I've not been napping well at daycare, so that's added to the rough week. Mom had to travel for work on Tuesday, so I got some daddy time in the morning and he picked me up from school, but I only had one nap all day which clearly is not enough for me. Mom got home around 7 and I was already ready for bed (that's about an hour early for me!) I may be transitioning to one nap a bit early, but when that one nap is only a half hour, it's not enough.

Let's see - what else is new? I now say "uh-oh" pretty much in the correct context. I'll drop a toy and look at mom and dad and say uh-oh. I also say what sounds like either daddy or kitty all the time - it's not always clear, but it's a two syllable "word". I can associate those words with either dad or Raz, but it all pretty much sounds the same. If I see a picture of a kitty, I point to it and say kitty (or daddy as the case may be). Same with daddy - there's a picture of our family on the door to my room at school and I point to the picture and say daddy. My 7th tooth has finally come in and I'm starting to get a few more - I bite EVERYTHING. I have all 4 incisors on top, 2 incisors on the bottom, and a lower cuspid - that one hurt! I'm so wiggly now and don't always like to be held - there is a lot of up and down these days. Mom makes me wear shoes most of the time in case we're out and I want to stand :) Mom says that bathtime is torture for her now that I refuse to sit down. I don't know why she won't just let me stand up in the wet and slippery tub! Needless to say, my bath's have turned into me screaming and mom washing me very quickly! I can also now walk behind the car that mom's Aunt Jenny gave me! But if I push it on the hardwood floor, the car moves quicker than my feet and I fall down. And I FINALLY drink from a cup - I decided that I don't like the traditional sippy cups, but do great with a cup that has a straw. Now I can't get enough water which makes mom happy :)

Daddy was out of town last weekend, but mom and I had a fun weekend with friends! I got to meet mom's friend Sarah, her husband Jake, mom Cookie and daughter Lily! Lily will be 2 in December and we had such a good time. We went to the Splash Park in Germantown and Lily was nice enough to share her toys with me - she had a really cool ball that looked like a shark and a paintbrush - brilliant! Mom really wants to go back to the Splash Park now. Then we went to dinner at Buca and I got to eat spaghetti and meatballs. Sarah was hoping that my appetite would rub off on Lily, but she didn't seem too interested in eating. I thoroughly enjoyed the spaghetti, though :) Mom didn't get pictures, but really should have!!! We'll just have to get together again.

I got to go to the fair on Sunday with Arabelle and her mom and dad! We saw lots of sheep, goats, cows, and pigs. I especially loved the pigs - they squealed at me and I clapped my hands at them.

Tonight I was supposed to go to see David Beckham play at RFK stadium. But to continue with the rough week, I came home from school yesterday with a fever and it has spiked to 103.1 so far today :( Mom stayed home with me tonight and I'm bummed that I will miss my first Beckham game. Maybe it's for the best since it's pouring anyway. Mom talked to my doctor today and they definitely want to see me on Monday if not before, so keep your fingers crossed that the fever starts to go down before then. I've also started coughing again - have to love those daycare germs. My doctor said that I'll have a great immune system by the time I start kindergarten, though!