Halloween 2013

Growing up I never really got into the idea of Halloween.  First, is carving pumpkins really that fun?  They are gross and sticky and it is so hard to actually cut through the skin with any form of accuracy. Secondly,  I was always insecure and worried about what I would dress up as. The stress...it is just too much sometimes.  Then I got married and had grand ideas of couples costumes and fun traditions.  These plans were quickly thwarted by elk hunting season (the first 2 years of marriage) and football season (the last 2 years).  Now that we have a kid I have more determination to make it a fun holiday.  If nothing else it is a good excuse to make memories and traditions.  Brooke is still kind of young to understand what is going on but we has fun doing a few things this season.

The pumpkin patch:
We went to a local tree farm that puts on a pumpkin patch.  Brooke enjoyed walking around and seeing all the new things, including all the airplanes that kept flying over us.  She liked to pick at the pumpkins and avoid eye contact with the camera.  We took a hay ride and she loved leaning over the front edge to see where we were going.  We actually didn't buy any pumpkins to carve (see reason number 1 above) but maybe next year.

 Brooke did significantly better posing at the wooden cut out things (yes that is the technical term)

And while we are comparing years.  Lets just do a few side-by-sides for fun

 

 Lift with your knees, Brooke!

Let's be honest, her favorite part was just being able to run wild

That, and play time with dad

 Our only family shot, but mostly I just love Brooke's face.

 Enjoying the hay ride

The planes!

Trunk-or-treat:
The church trunk-or-treat provided an excuse to get Brooke dressed up and just the right amount of Halloween festivities considering her age.  In honor of Brett, who was off coaching, Brooke dressed up as a little football player.  Adorable, if I do say so myself. As per her usual self, Brooke loved that there were so many kids there.  We had a little dinner/mingle before the trick or treating began and she just ran circles around the gym.  She would walk up to every kid and examine their costume.  Brooke doesn't really understand personal space and insists on getting eye-to-eye with kids whenever possible.  Luckily most of them are good sports about it and she loses interest quick enough to avoid any issues.  Brooke and I were handing out candy when a lovely girl that is in my young women's class offered to take Brooke around trick-or-treating.  She had lots of fun and we even got a bit of candy out of the deal. I'd call it a success.

We've been practicing "touch down".  Unfortunately she got shy at the activity and didn't do it for anyone other than me.

 Trying to get a picture of this girl standing still is like... well... impossible.

 So I tried to get one in the car while strapped in. As you can see, she still wasn't still. Always moving this little girl of ours.  :)

Running around in the gym

 And tackling our friend Duke

Getting late and baby girl is sleepy

Post party pose with the goods

And a post game snack for this little champ.  Then it was off to bed. 

Halloween day:
The actual day of Halloween was mostly spent like any other Thursday.  We went to play group, did some visiting teaching (essentially play group number 2) and hung out around the house.  We did take a trip to get the mail and Brooke got multiple cards to open.  She LOVES getting mail that she can open.  Mostly she likes to rip the envelope and any paper she can get her hands on. She also loves looking at the pictures on the cards.  So it was the next best thing to actually going treat-or-treating. 

Grandma and Grandpa Clark sent this singing owl earlier in the month.  Brooke has loved playing with it.  She will get up and dance or hug the owl when it sings and then bring it to me so I can turn it on again.

The only way to get her to sit still for a picture is to give her a book. I was trying to get a picture of her outfit (shirt and sock, it also came with pants but we wore those earlier in the week to the pumpkin patch) that Great-Grandma Smith sent.

 Looking at the cards that came in the mail today.  Thanks great-grandmas!

Play time!

As Brooke has gotten older play time has become more fun! Here are some of her favorites as of right now.

Blocks-  She loves these! It is a wooden train set and she will sit and put the blocks on and off the little pegs for what feels like forever some days.  I love watching her little mind work as it is clear that she has a "mission" to complete.  Red one on, blue one on, then both off, one on each peg and then together again.  Occasionally she will stop, admire her work and clap. It is adorable! It has also been fun watching her figure out how to do it.  Her most recent technique is to stick her finger in the hole and then feel for the peg and slide it on.  Much more successful than the random banging technique she used at first.

Magnets- Many years ago we bought these wooden animals for a class project for Brett.  I decided to add magnets to the back of them for Brooke.  It only took her a day and she figured out how to use them and loves them. Probably a tie with the blocks for her absolute favorite. She will carry them around the house and then when she finds one she will take it back to the fridge.  She loves putting them on and off as well as pushing them down the fridge until they fall off the bottom.

Hows that for some bed-head?  She is clapping for herself

Pushing one of the Halloween magnets down to the bottom

Animals- In conjunction with the magnets Brooke likes learning about animals.  Her favorite seems to be the cow because she "moo's" whenever she sees one.  This is actually kind of an example of accidental teaching.  I mean, I knew what I was doing when I would point out the animals and sounds but I did not expect her to actually retain the information yet.  She proved me wrong!  The other day we were playing with the tiger magnet for the first time and I said "tiger, roar!" She looked at me and then pointed into the kitchen.  Then she turned around and went into the kitchen and got the lion (one of the magnets that we had played with for the last few days), who also says roar, and brought it back to me.  What a smarty pants! So then I "quizzed" her and was surprised by how many she could pick out.  Here are just a few...

(Video)

Farm Toy- This toy is a hit because it makes animal noises and she gets to open and close the gates.  She also tries to pick it up and carry it around with her.

Puzzles- I got a great deal on some puzzles so I bought them knowing she is still a little young for them.  She loves playing with the little pieces (they are all animals) and picking them out of their spots.  I don't have a picture, but we have a few larger piece puzzles and she has even started to try and put them in their right spots.

Books- Still a huge hit around here.  She will stop and read her books multiple times a day. She has quite the collection growing and will sometimes sort through and pick one specifically.  Her favorites include one with "actions" like the farm animal flap book, the slide pictures in Brown Bear Brown Bear what do you see?, the sound buttons on another fabric farm book and the pictures in her touch and feel books.  Books are also a favorite while in the car, she gets thrilled when I ask her if she wants a book and hand it to her while she is in her car seat.  

Walks- Although not a toy, one of her favorite activities is going for a walk, especially if we end up at the fountain. This little video shows her excitement as we approach the fountain. (It also shows her saying "up up up" when she wants me to pick her up.

(video)

Usually Brooke does a good job at holding my hand while we are walking because the sidewalks aren't exactly kid friendly.  If I ever let her walk on her own she gets so excited and starts walking so fast that she has to put her hands behind her to maintain balance...

Bubbles- no picture for this one but blowing bubbles continues to be a hit.  Now that she is much more controlled while standing/walking she can actually get to the bubbles in time before they pop and she loves that.

Play Wallet- Brooke got into my diaper bag and got my wallet one too many times so I decided to turn an old wallet into a play one just for her. She loves putting the old plastic cards in and out as well as opening and closing the flaps.

On any given day she will also become fixated on a number of different toys.  The nesting bowls, the Velcro on her shoes, the ball, her stuffed animals, dropping the lids into the wipes container etc.  And then there are all the non-toy activities like pulling the clean clothes off the couch, opening and closing the cupboards, trying to get the books on the bookshelf, etc.  Endless entertainment options for this little girl.

What toys do your kids like? Anything I'm missing that I should introduce to Brooke??

The Cow says MOOOO

Communicating with Brooke has become such a fun adventure as she learns new ways to express herself.  We communicate back and forth all day, sometimes more successfully than others. Here are some cute stories about her learning to communicate.

Her first, and really still the only, word that she uses consistently and correctly is up. The funny thing about this "word" is that she makes it without any sound.  She moves her mouth and occasionally a whispered sound comes out but not usually. Here is a video from almost a month ago when she was just learning how to say it.

(video)

We have been working on signs with her for what feels like forever.  We started with food, more and all done.  She wasn't too interested in the idea until we introduced milk.  She loves milk and loves to sign and ask for it.  She learned that sign in less than a day and since then has also started using others more consisently. In addition to milk, she now signs "all done", "help" and "fire truck".  If I'm lucky she will repeat "food" and or "sleep". It is helpful but we still have break-downs in communication.  For example, the other day she was frantically signing "help help help" but I couldn't figure out what she wanted.  Usually she does it when she can't reach a toy so I was looking around for something she wanted. She isn't great at pointing when she wants something so the possibilities seemed endless. Finally I found her book had fallen into the magazine basket under the side table. I retrieved it and she was happy.  But it took a good few minutes (and an almost melt down) to figure it out.  Also, today she went to the patio door and signed fire truck again and again.  Poor girl didn't realize that I couldn't just summon the trucks and sirens whenever I wanted.  (If I could, we'd hear a lot less of them! haha)

I don't have any pictures of her signing.  But here she is chugging her milk to prove that she loves it.  Sometimes you just have to get after it.

Another funny story, and the meaning of the title of this post, has to do with Brooke's new favorite word/sound.  Moo!  She has a few different toys that make the moo sound and know that it belongs to the cow.  Animals can be tricky though, after all no two cows actually look the same.  The other day we were driving and she was looking at a book about a hippo.  She kept moo-ing and when I turned around she was be pointing at the hippo.   I started to say....  "No, honey, that is a hippo, the hippo says..." But wait, what does the hippo say? So I gave in and moo-ed right along with her.  She laughed and clapped.  Excited to find another "cow" book.

Much of conference weekend we listened to her moo so we decided to try and get a video.  Please excuse her lack of clothing.
(video)

Brooke seems to ask permission sometimes.  She will point to the kitchen and look at me.  Since we've put the magnets in on the fridge usually she wants to go get them but is used to me telling her "no" when she goes into the kitchen by herself.  I nod and say magnets or fridge and she gets excited and continues on her way. 

And of course she also makes lots of non-sense sounds and words.  The other day she was spitting lots and so I got a video of it.  Enjoy!

(video)

Oh what a beautiful day

In honor of finally being all caught up from the summer, today's post features pictures from... TODAY! Don't worry, there is no additional fee for same-day-service. ;-)

For those of you not currently living in Texas, which is most of you (I'm not even sure anyone I know here in Texas reads my blog) the weather today was BEAUTIFUL. There is finally a refreshing crispness in the morning air.  I'm not sure how long it will last but I plan to enjoy it while I can.  Due to my lack of following the weather channel we almost missed it today and were only outside in between running our typical monday errands.  Thankfully, Brooke made sure we took advantage of every minute that we were outside.  Our walk to the car included multiple stops to touch the bushes, examine her shadow and point at everything.  Aren't children remarkable? I love Brooke's interest in and passion for even the littlest of things. She sure makes my days more magical.

Portland's Living Room

We went down to Pioneer Courthouse square one evening. It was a beautiful night and they were having a sand sculpting competition so we couldn't resist.  The sculptures were all pretty remarkable!

Then we walked down the block to grab some dinner and let Brooke out of the stroller.  She played in the water and loved it. No surprise there.  She couldn't walk yet but looking over these pictures reminds me that I should get her to a splash pad now because she will enjoy it even that much more!

"Teacher's Fountain"

Video:

And just like that (ha!) I'm finally done documenting our trip to Oregon this summer! 

The other mess makers

Brooke isn't the only one who knows how to make a mess....

One afternoon Brett and I took his mom's car to the carwash. It was one of those that you drive into and then it surrounds you and sprays water.  As soon as it started I realized that there was some water leaking in through the sun roof.  I told Brett and he tried to fix it by pushing the button.... to our surprise it started to open and we couldn't stop it.  Meanwhile the water was now pouring into the car. Whoops!  We eventually got it figured out but not after getting quite wet ourselves!  Laughs were had all around. :)