Pirate Booty

Gabe loved being a pirate for Halloween this year. Weeks ago, he chose his own costume at the party store. I thought he might like to be a doctor, since he's crazy about his pretend doctor kit too, but he liked this one better. He didn't want to take it off once he tried it on either. Between being a fan of the Wiggles show's Captain Feathersword character and just wanting to play pretend, it was a perfect match.
He ran to every neighbor's door and knocked, yelling trick-or-treat and then once he received his loot and thanked them, he came running back to us yelling "I got more treats!" or "Hey look, more chocolate!"

Plan B

Now, that's more like it!
Gavin liked this Superman costume much better than the ELMO one. He had a great time when we went trick-or-treating. He rode in the wagon and walked up to a few doors with Gabe.
Gavin's currently obsessed with steps so he only wanted to go up and down all of the steps at all of the front doors he walked up to. He looked so cute and got lots of compliments.
When we first put the costume on him, Gabe was a bit jealous and wanted to wear it too. Capes are pretty popular, I guess!
Gabe also said, "Look, It's a Super Gavin!" ...And indeed it is!

Time for Bath

Tonight, Gavin decided to go head first, fully clothed, into the tub while Gabe was brushing his teeth. Bathtime is a favorite nightly part of the routine. They both have always liked to reach over the side to put their hands into the running faucet and tonight, Gavin just lost his balance and went right in. And it never phased him! Too bad summer ended a bit too soon this year, these boys are part fish!

Muppet Madness

Gavin might love all things ELMO, but getting dressed up in this costume was certainly NOT one of them. I bought the costume well in advance of the big night and thought it would be perfectly adorable. I tried to put it on him multiple times just so he'd be ok with it, but no deal. He was not having this furry red thing anywhere near him, nor was he crazy about the part over his head!

Gavin isn't talking much yet, but he does make a few hand signs to communicate with us and he shakes his head "no" rather accurately. He knows what he does NOT want! Well, when the ELMO costume comes out, the poor boy just starts shaking his head "no" and turning to walk away or hide his face in Daddy's shoulder. This tearful face was the pitiful result I got the one time I actually got him completely dressed up for a friend's Halloween playdate. Bummer.

Moral to the story: Let's go with PLAN B!!

The Itsy Bitsy Baby...

Well, you see the water spout and the spider web in the picture....I just couldn't resist a little silly rhyme!

I don't think I've seen this photo since the night we took all of these and I just giggled, because Gavin was SO funny. Daddy put out some cotton spider webbing and fake spiders in front of the house to make it look spooky and festive. The only drawback was, we kept "trapping" Gavin in the spider webs! Every time he got near one, he just started flapping his little arms like a bug and got more and more tangled until it was across his eyes and in his mouth and he was completely frustrated and really quite stuck. He required help to get out of the webs more than once! Guess now we know how effective spider webs can be.....

Carving Tradition

We got an enormous pumpkin at the pumpkin patch, that probably weighed 100+ lbs, so we bought a couple at the store to actually carve into. It's still a bit warm up here for the true feel of fall, (as you can see, we're in short sleeves), but we made due and were festive anyways.
I love this time of year and carving pumpkins with the boys is an annual tradition I hope to keep up. Gabe and Gavin played outside and rode tricycles more than they scooped pumpkin goop, but all in all the jack-o-lantern turned out great. Now, we're ready for Halloween!

As American as Pun'kin Pie

Now, how cute is that? I knew you'd want to see the "little pun'kins" more than the actual pumpkins, so that's exactly what you'll get!!!
The one Gabe is leaning on isn't the one we actually bought, but it will give you some size perspective...he's no small toddler & he's standing up! But, the one we did get took 2 grown men to lift into a wheel barrow and 2 grown men to unload onto our front porch from the car. It's enormous and looks so great on our doorstep awaiting trick-or-treaters.
Although, even I have to admit, it likely won't be the one we actually carve this year! It probably weighs over 100 lbs. Pumpkin pie anyone?
There were pumpkins in every shape, size and color, as far as the eye could see....and a crowd to match, as you can probably imagine. We had a blast and can't wait to go back next year.
~Happy Fall Y'all!

Squash-tacular

Gavin walked all over the Pumpkin Patch at Burt's Farm. He picked up the ones he could lift and smiled and then gently tried to put them back. He had lots of fun walking through row on row of festive fall fruit. Many of them were bigger than he was. It was a great time and the weather, as you can see, was gorgeous!

Windswept Curls

We try to go to the local parks often and some of them are really nice. Now that Fall is here, the weather is cooling off, and the parks are packed with people having picnic lunches with kids running and playing, enjoying the outdoors.
Gavin loves to climb and has fun on all of the playground equipment. He has no fear! He climbs all the ones Gabe climbs and goes down even the tallest slides. He loved this one and went down it more than once. He'd climb all the steps on his own and the sit on his bottom and push off to go down. I was at the bottom to catch him this time, but had to snap the picture first.
Look at that hair!

Baby Steps

Gavin is taking more and more steps independently. He is eager to try to go up and down without assistance. He will hold onto one of my fingers, but he will let go if there is a hand rail, door frame, or other object he can hold onto instead. He loves to climb and since we don't have a second story in our house, he seeks out stairs wherever he can: ie, friends' houses, street curb, playground ladder, garage door, front stoop, etc. He has quickly figured out how to get close enough to the edge and then pick one foot up and over, or sort of stagger down to the next level. He is so proud of himself and just looks up and grins at me. Ugh. What a big boy!

Soccer FUN-damentals

Gabe is thrilled about playing soccer lately. He stays after his preschool on Tuesdays for a little soccer practice called HOT SHOTS. They have toddler size soccer balls they play with and are learning basics. He is really getting good at bouncing the ball off of his knee. He can do either knee. He thinks it's pretty silly when it bounces back up and hits him in the face, though. We are so proud of him.

He recently got a soccer goal at home that is just his size and it has a battery operated arm that hangs in front of the net so that when he gets the ball in acurately, it screams out "GOOOOAAAALLLL!" He really gets a KICK out of that!