yo, ho, yo, ho

A pirate's life for me.

My mom sent us a little pirate onesie for Halloween, which was a convenient daytime costume for Bo.  

And where does a six month old show off a costume on Halloween Day?  Well, he fit right in at the doctor's office where he was seen by Dorothy and given shots by the Cowardly Lion.  They seemed unconcerned that my little swashbuckler hadn't gained an ounce in the last month, despite growing half an inch.  He now holds the enviable stats of 90th in height and 10th in weight.  Enviable if you're a girl striving for anorexic supermodel, not for a boy striving to play sports in high school.  Anyway, I guess we've got some time for him to hit the gym before tryouts.  

Captain Skinnypants also made an appearance at the annual Montessori Halloween parade, where my littlest nanny kid made the slow march around the parking lot as Captain America.  

Of course Moosey was in the Halloween spirit and wanted to wear his costume all day.  I couldn't pry that thing off of him.

It was a happy accident that the pirate look coordinated with the shark costume I got for our small group's theme for Trunk or Treat at our church - Under the Sea.

Bo was a very toasty lobster.

The babies looked awesome.  Here Bo is eyeing his little girlfriend, Malin, dressed to the nines in her mermaid outfit.  

And Jeremy can walk and was cracking me up as an octopus, toddling around unassisted on two of his eight legs.

babies.

babies and dogs.

 I love creatures in costume.

Bo was a champ and was so entranced by the activity that he forgot to fuss about missing his bed time.  A successful first Halloween!  

the best of friends

Matt's mom always sings a little song from Fox and the Hound that I think is appropriate for this situation.

When you're the best of friends

Having so much fun together

You're not even aware, 

 you're such a funny pair

You're the best of friends! 

Seriously, these two are so funny.  Bo just lights up when Moose walks in.  I find myself calling Moose off of the couch to come sit in front of Bo so I can get something done.  This works well during dinner preparation because Moose prefers to be in the kitchen at that time anyway, and as long as Bo can get a good view of his furry pal, we're all happy.  The other day Moose ran in from the rain all wild and crazy and Bo started just started laughing at him . . . oh, it was so cute. 

I know this is a bit gross, to let your child chew on your dog's ears, but I was amused at Bo going for the ears and Moose snoring through the whole thing.  

And this was sweet - Moose got a new toy from my parents and kept bringing it over to Bo.  In fact, I found that toy on Bo's play mat twice today!  Moose keeps bringing it to him.  I could cry . . . 

day in and day out

A tip:

If you have a new sitter, I highly recommend the bathtub as a safe place to practice the new skill.  I found this out kind of on accident when I stuck Bo in the (dry) bathtub one morning while I was fixing my hair.  He loved it and it kept him well enough supported that he couldn't tip over, but he could still sit independently. 

I dragged that thing all over the house for a couple weeks. 

That was about the time he established his favorite toys as the kitchen spatula and the Baby Einstein music box that plays classical tunes and flashes.

A little video in the bathtub of Mommy poking him with the spatula:

We don't use the bathtub anymore because he sits pretty well now.  And he doesn't cry as much when he falls over.  All of Matt's "toughening up" techniques must be working.

Be prepared for some cuteness this winter:

My friend sent us a big box of boy clothes and it had like 4 pairs of shoes, including these:

First time in the cart.  This was a tiny cart at Jo Ann fabrics.  I have since bought a cart/high chair cover because he wants to CHEW on the handle . . . no thank you.

Cold days. Pink nose.

Showin' off.

Sunset.

Sweet snoozin.

And this is a little Halloween preview . . . I can hardly wait.  Even though our church thing goes right through cranky time and past bedtime.  Even though he gets shots that morning which will have questionable affects on the rest of the day.  I can't wait to hold my crying baby in this little hilarious lobster suit.  

27 weeks

(Tracye, it's your blanket!  It keeps Bo warm every night!)

spoiled baby

A few bonus pictures of the Grandersons . . . 

My mom insisted that Bo needed more toys, and we went on a toy hunt.  Unfortunately the aisles at Babies R' Us/Toys R' Us were the worst . . . everything was plastic and obnoxious and looked like it was going to break in a minute and really not anything I wanted in my house.  So now my new stop for baby toys will be stores like TJ Maxx and Tuesday Morning.  We found some nice things there (it was a bit of a treasure hunt), including a wood Noah's Ark that I thought was awesome, although a choking hazard.  We'll wait a few more months before he can play with that.  So we came home with stacking rings, stacking cups, a shape sorter, and a bathtub toy, and of course miscellaneous other items.  Although I was opposed to bringing more 'junk' into our house, Bo has enjoyed his new things.  

Coco and Grandad playing with the new toys.  This is before Matt and I went to a movie and they let Bo stay up an hour after his bedtime.  The spoiling starts already. . . 

Waiting for a table . . . and getting walked around by Grandad so that the patrons don't have to hear his cries.  This was also the first time Bo actually ate with us - he downed an entire banana and then sat and played so well while we finished our meal.  

Showing Coco how well he can eat.  Bo used to put his hand in his mouth after every bite and it was just a really messy experience (flicking food all over us).  I read somewhere not to let your kid do this . . . so while I was dubious about trying to correct a baby, Matt and I worked on taking his hand out of his mouth and telling him no.  After a couple days he quit.  I'm not sure if this is because he learned not to or he just doesn't anymore . . . it's kind of amazing what babies can learn.  Bo also got a bite of doughnut while my parents were here . . . corrupting my child with sugar! 

dedication Sunday

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord . . . 

This Sunday Bo was dedicated at our church, as a sign that we will raise him as best we can to love the Lord, and a charge to the congregation to walk with us in this.  It was sweet to stand up with this church that we've grown to love over the past two years.  They are a family to us.  

 (eating shoes in front of everybody)

(the pastor hand-off) 

(enlisting help to keep the papers out of Bo's hands)

(Matt's co-residents and their families)

 
(the Andersons)

(part of our 'small' group)

(Pastor John)

I know you're wishing for a better view of Bo's little outfit . . . so here it is.  And a picture of the bow tie I made him.  He looked pretty good.  :)  

pumpkin picking

My parents came for a short visit last weekend and we took the much-anticipated trip the pumpkin patch after Bo's afternoon snooze.  It was perfectly crisp and cool, and we drove east until we found a patch that also sold apple cider doughnuts.  We had our priorities straight. 

Priority 1: Pictures of Bo.

Priority 2: Doughnuts in my mouth.

 

Handsome handsome men.

It was super sunny so Bo was a bit squinty, but he was a good sport.  And pretty entertained by the little baby pumpkins. 

And the doughnuts were yum.