Pre-Halloween

Today we went to a pre-Halloween party today given by one of Evan's friends.  We gave Evan the option of dressing in his costume, but he decided he didn't want to.  Instead he went as plain old Evan with an orange-black ensemble.  Evan had a blast playing with cars, balls and eating but he spent most of his time playing with all the different ink and stamps making some art.

We always knew Evan liked stamps but I don't think I've seen him sit still for a half hour for the longest time.  Time to go out and get some stamps!  After a nice long nap we carved out the pumpkins we picked up during our recent trip to Leavenworth.  Evan spent his time watching us and refusing to put his hands into the pumpkins and pull out the goop.  I was surprised and a bit disappointed, but he seemed to enjoy watching us do the work.

After we were all done, Jill put some small candles into the pumpkins for some pictures (as you can see below, you can't quite see the candles lighting up the pumpkins, but they looked real nice!).  Since there was a candle lit, Evan decided to sing happy birthday to the pumpkins and then blow out the candles.  

We had a fun and busy day today.  I'm convinced that if Evan cooperates and keeps the hat to his costume on we're going to have a fantastic Halloween next week.

Where's that green sheep?

Last week Jill took Evan to see a play based on the book Where is the Green Sheep?  He loved seeing the actors on stage with their big wooden painted sheep, acting their way through a book whose story he knew.  At the end he was able to go see and touch the sheep up close.  Unfortunately it was past his nap time and he wasn't up for picture taking.  Here's one that did turn out.

Our second trip to Leavenworth

We had such a great time on our trip to Leavenworth last year (see that post here) that we decided to go again.  We had fantastic weather while we were there and spent our days watching parades, taking walks along the river, listening to music, picking out pumpkins, petting animals, eating, and generally having a great time.  It's better to let the pictures do the talking, so enjoy the slide show below.

Sleeping in a big-boy bed

On our trip to Leavenworth this year there was only a small pack-and-play at the condo we rented and Evan was not too interested in sleeping in it.  Our choices were either to sleep with Evan the whole weekend or brave it and see if we could get him to sleep in a real bed.  It took a little bit of work but I'm happy to report that Evan slept the entire weekend -- naps and night time -- in a big bed.  He didn't even roll off onto the floor (much to my surprise).  Yay Evan!

Evan is the muffin man

Yesterday Evan and Jill went to Trader Joe's to get some food and passed some pumpkin muffin mix that somehow made its way into the shopping cart.  When they got home the two of them went about baking the muffins.  I got home just as they were cooling off after baking.  Evan was SO excited he could barely speak.  After taking a deep breath he told me "Evan made the muffins.  Evan crack the eggs.  Evan add oil.  And Evan mix the muffins.  Evan wait for the beep [of the timer].  Beep!  Beep!  Beep!".  He was so proud that he made the muffins with Mommy.  I think the process of cooking was even more enjoyable than eating his still-warm muffin.

Farm Trip Number Two

This past weekend the three of us headed over to Craven Farm to enjoy a tractor ride, some pumpkins, seeing some farm animals and drinking a bit of hot apple cider.  Unlike Evan's previous tractor ride, this one was not all that bumpy.  It also took us through a corn field that Evan was intrigued by.

After waiting patiently in line Evan climbed aboard an old tractor and had a blast driving and shifting gears.

Evan didn't enjoy running through the pumpkin patch too much so we carried him - and he seemed to enjoy that.

All in all we had a fantastic fall family farm day.

Evan in crib-climbing action

I figured it'd be nice to do a bit more show-and-tell on Evan's new crib-climbing abilities.  Check out the video:

It's proven a bit of a challenge to keep Evan in his crib now.  It's like a big game of hide-and-seek to him to get out and find us.  The first night it took us 3 hours to put him to bed.  Last night was 20 minutes, and Jill got him down for his nap with no "crib exiting incidents".  Let's hope it goes well tonight. 

Getting out of bed

Today Jill and I were reading in our room during Evan's nap and much to our collective surprise we heard a voice getting closer and closer to our room. Eventually Evan popped his head in around the door. What does it all mean? Evan can now get out of his crib like a little monkey. This being the case we're putting the railing down now so he has an easier and safer trip down to the floor. This sure should be an interesting development.

South 47 Farm

Today Evan and Jill took a day off from preschool and went to the South 47 farm. Evan pet a few alpaca, pointed at ducks, goats, and chicken, walked though the pumpkin patch, took a very bumpy hayride, climbed on hay bales, pushed a wheelbarrow, and picked up every gourd and squash imaginable. Evanʼs favorite part of the trip was when he got to wash his hands after petting the alpaca. He enjoys the simple pleasures in life.

Go Phillies!

With the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League championship series, Evan decided to strike a pose with everyone's favorite baseball mascot, the Philly Phanatic (Uncle Jeff gave him to Evan for his birthday). Honestly, I think Evan doesn't know quite what to make of the Phanatic and may be a bit scared of him. Regardless, Evan has thrown his whole support behind Philly this playoff season.