Happy Halloween!

This was the kiddo's first big trick or treating experience. We went out for a minute last year, but he was only a couple of days out of the hospital, so it was a short trip. Gage picked out his own costume about a month ago (see my previous post about superheroes) and I've had it hidden. When I pulled it out tonight, he was super excited! I didn't think he'd roll with the mask the whole time, but he did! He LOVED being Spider-Man. He walked on his own and insisted on carrying his own pumpkin (to hold candy). It got pretty heavy, but he would not let us carry it. He was still going strong after almost an hour, but J and I were worn out, so we steered him back toward the house. He loved seeing all the kids, totally knew how to say "trick or treat" and just had a great time. He got a lot of compliments on his costume, but I think it's because he was just so cute and outgoing. We really had fun and Monkey did great!

State Fair!

Every year since Jason and I started dating, we've talked about going to the state fair and every year it would pass us by. I really wanted to go this year with Gage, so I recruited our friends, the Cannon family, and we made a family date of it. Now I won't tell you how much money we spent in 2.5 hours, but it was a large sum, and the only tangible item we came home with was a 2 foot inflatable Spider-Man. I don't care though, we had a great time. We started at the auto show, which was tough because Gage loves to "drive" cars. we had to drag him out of there with some kicking and crying. The grown ups tried some of the food (shout out to Jason and Daniel for standing in the Fletcher's line for everyone) and we rode the kiddie rides for about 45 minutes. When we first got to the Midway, we walked past a huge ride that was spinning people WAY up in the air and Monkey was really into that. He got so excited when it would go up in the air. This kid is a daredevil, I tell ya. He and I rode the jumping dumbos ride, which an elephant ride that goes up and down while going in circles. Then we rode the whale ride, which splashed up and down and blew bubbles - we also ran into the Lee family there - EVERYONE we know with kids was at the fair today. Sidenote: the weather was awesome. Gage rode the whales again with Jacob, while I bit my nails on the sidelines. He loved it though, didn't need any grown ups. He rode a car ride with Jason that looked cool, but ended up being kinda lame - only one time around, really? We stepped into the shade and he and I rode the haunted house ride with Daniel and Jacob. We both thought "meh" on that one. Jacob and Ella shared some rings with us on the ring toss game and then Gage and I rode the animal kiddie coaster. By the time we got back to the group, Gage was fading fast. We decided to head out and spend the rest of our tickets on food on the way out - funnel cake (me), Reuben sandwich (Jason), iced tea (me), orange push up pop (Gage) and frozen lemonade (me). We got home just in time for nap time and Gage and I both crashed. It wasn't perfect, there were some minor wiggly meltdowns over not getting his way, but distraction usually worked quickly and he was able to walk around on his own a lot, which helped. I really had fun and Gage did too. Jason and I were saying it would be cool to go back at night for an adult outing to see some music and just walk around. It was worth it just for the inflatable Spider-Man, which he's been playing with all day.

Fall is here...

I was off today, so we made some plans with GiGi to go and check out the Blase Family Farm in Rockwall. Of course we started the day with homemade pumpkin pancakes to get in the mood. Gage loves him some "ca-cakes". We got to the farm around 11a and stayed for about an hour. We got to feed and pet goats, cows and a sheep. Monkey kept running over to the cows and yelling "moo!" Trying to communicate with them in their own language, of course. The area is pretty heavily wooded with a little valley that was more treacherous, so of course that's where Gage wanted to go. We did a lot of redirecting and he caught on to us pretty quickly. After running through the pumpkins, feeding the animals an picking up every stick he could find, we jumped on the hay ride. We were worried he'd get bored, but by then he was slowing down and he really liked the tractor, so it was great. He got to pick out his own pumpkin to bring home and then we all stopped for a little lunch together. Monkey and I both ended up taking a 3 hour nap. Now THAT'S how you spend a nice, crisp fall day.

Conversations with a 2 year old

Lately we have noticed a BIG jump in Gage's vocabulary. Specifically, he speaks using more complex sentences and ideas. Now the sentences usually go something like..."airplanes fly in the sky" or "watch Super Grover with the chicken, cluck cluck?", but its still fun to have actual conversations. Animals are always referenced by their name AND the sound they make - except for cows, which he will still only reference as "moos". I was commenting to someone at work about how much talking he's doing and how great it is that he can usually tell me what he needs and that I can even reason with him sometimes when he gets upset. Now it doesn't always work, of course, but it helps me stay calm. Anyway, during that conversation I realized that some of the increase is probably a result of ME being able to interpret toddler speak just as much as it is him learning more vocabulary. Who knew I'd be learning a new language too?