Pumpkin Patch

For the third year in a row, we spent a Saturday morning at the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch! It was our second time to go with our friends, the Barkers and the Spurgeons. Jack just loves this tradition of spending a day with good friends climbing on hay bales, riding on the hay ride, swinging on the tire swing, and picking out pumpkins. Jack made it a point to pick out the "tiniest pumpkin of all."

After lunch at CiCi's Pizza and a nap, we decided to carve the pumpkins. It was Jack's first time and he really enjoyed it! He chose for his pumpkin to have a face, for Mommy's to have polka dots, and for Daddy's to have an OU. They turned out better than I would have expected, considering the lack of artistic ability in our household!

Our Nine Month Old

Graham turned nine months old on Friday! His biggest milestone (although technically it took place during his 10th month) is that he took his first step on Sunday!!! I knew he would be an early walker because of how active he is, but I'm not sure I really expected this at nine months. Jack didn't walk until 14 or 15 months so this is definitely different. I've noticed (and the doctor mentioned to me) that early walkers tend to be much less careful and steady, so they have more falls. I have certainly noticed that Graham is clumsier than Jack and he does tend to get hurt more often. We can't let him out of our sight for a second!

Other notable milestones and moments from this month:
- He is now standing up on his own for long periods of time.
- He has taken two steps in a row twice, but is pretty much sticking to one step for now.
- He is sleeping through the night pretty consistently, from around 8pm to 7:30am.
- He still takes two naps a day and has been good about sleeping in the church nursery for us on Sundays and Mondays.
- He still has seven teeth, although I think he's working on a few more.
- He weighs 22 pounds, 3 ounces, which is around the 75th percentile.
- He is 29 1/2 inches tall, which is in the 90th percentile!
- He is eating finger food almost exclusively and has mastered the "pincer grasp."
- He took his first trip to the zoo and his first trip to the pumpkin patch.
- He loves to play peek-a-boo by hiding under his blankie and then pulling it off!
- He love to read Pat the Bunny.
- He loves when Jack sings to him, especially Alouette.
- He still loves taking a bath.
- One of his favorite games is rolling a ball. He likes to throw balls too and seems to have a great arm!
- He loves watching Super Why probably even more than Jack...
- Just like his brother, he seems to light up the room! His nursery teachers can't say enough about how sweet and fun he is and we agree!!

Snapshot of my Day

I spend quite a bit of time every day snuggling with two boys...

Tickle Wars

My boys LOVE to be tickled! In fact, Graham squeals even when he's not the one being tickled...



Here is Jack spreading the love:



Silly Boys!

Jack's Dinner Prayer

Jack learned a little prayer song at school and now he loves to lead us in prayer before each meal! I keep trying to catch it on video but every time I do, he sings it really quickly instead of slowly and sweetly! Oh well, this is a typical evening...

Conversations with Jack

After school on Thursday:

Me: Jack, what did you do at school today?
Jack: Well, I found an alligator in the drain on the playground. He was hungry so I told him to wait and I would go get him some mud to eat. And I did! He loooooooved it!

(After much more discussion, I finally concluded that the alligator was actually a lizard. He is sticking to the rest of the story though!)

Day at the Zoo

Last weekend, the weather was so perfect, we just had to spend the day outside. So we headed to the OKC Zoo. We like the zoo, but really dislike hot weather, so this was our first visit since the new Children's Zoo opened earlier this year. It is amazing! Jack loved climbing and going through the tunnels and both boys loved the petting zoo. Hopefully, we'll have a chance to go again soon!