Happy Halloween!

This Halloween was Jed and my first Halloween with Jamesy which made it extra fun, though I'm sure it will be even more fun when James knows enough to be excited about it. James dressed up as an adorable little skeleton to go begging neighbors for candy that Jed and I could eat later since he really can't have it yet. It was rainy and kind of yucky outside Halloween night and James's bedtime is 7ish so we just took James around the block, but he still seemed very interested in everything going on. In fact, James's favorite part was probably just standing beside our door as kids came up to trick or treat. He wanted to see what was going on out there and would cry anytime Jed or I tried to shut the door after someone left.

Jed and I were also reminded of the perils of leaving a basket of candy outside. I bought 7 pounds of candy (yes 7) and when Jed and I both walked around to say hello to the neighbors we left the basket outside and came home to a very diminished candy supply. We left the basket out again after James went to bed so people wouldn't be ringing the bell while he was sleeping and the candy was gone in all of 15 minutes. Sorry people who came to our house after 7:15!

James at 11 Months

James at 11 Months - October 30, 2013

One more month and this baby will be one year old, and I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. James is getting cuter and cuter by the day, and of course he is constantly learning new tricks. James has gotten more confident standing this month and can now push off the floor to stand instead of having to use something to pull himself up. James can also toddle around with a push cart now, though no independent stepping has occurred yet (thank goodness). He has also figured out how to open and close doors (assuming they aren't actually closed to where you need to turn the handle), how to open drawers, how to pick things up while standing, and how to climb the stairs. Suffice it to say a lot of baby proofing has been going on around here.

James is also becoming more verbal. He still hasn't said any words, but he babbles constantly and is starting to mimic what Jed and I say.  Sadly, James still isn't sleeping through the night (patience is a virtue right).

James loves playing with toys, reading books, and playing chase. He also loves being thrown in the air, pulling everything out of the recycling bin, and throwing anything he can find into the toilet. James still makes adorable monster noises when he plays and gives big sloppy wet kisses. We love our cute little monster!

Pumpkin Carving!

 After our fun trip to the pumpkin patch we had a pumpkin that needed some carving. I'm not going to lie, Jed and I aren't particularly artistic people so we decided to do a classic happy face and Jed had the brilliant idea of giving our pumpkin two bottom teeth to match our sweet baby James. Speaking of that cute baby, James was very interested in those squishy pumpkin guts and was pretty sure the pumpkin was some cool new toy for him to play with (we did not discourage that idea).

Pumpkin Patchin'

We've been trying to get out and do at least one fun activity every Saturday and last Saturday it was pumpkin patch time! Unfortunately it was pretty chilly on Saturday but we still had fun looking at goats and ponies, walking through the mini corn maze, and of course checking out all the pumpkins. Because of the cold we decided to forgo the hayride, but James still got the enjoy a little wagon ride of his own.

And now here's what you really want to see - a ton of pictures of my adorable baby :)

James at 10 Months

James at 10 Months - October 2, 2013 (we were a couple days late with the picture this time)

James is starting to get too big for his own good, and mine. He is now pulling to standing and has started crawling on his hands and knees more consistently instead of reverting to his tried and true army crawl. James is also getting more opinionated about what he wants and when he wants it and isn't afraid to let you know if he's not getting what he thinks he needs.

James still loves story books and babbling all day long. In particular James likes to turn the pages for you when you read to him and will usually flip them for you when you ask. James also loves his toys, especially his activity table that plays music and makes noises. And of course he likes playing with anything that isn't a baby toy.

He still isn't a champion sleeper, in fact we've had some sleep setbacks recently, but Jed and I continue to hope that one day he'll just magically figure out how to sleep through the night on his own (it could happen right).

This month also marked the start of finger foods and so far James seems to be enjoying picking up and eating some of his own food. James still eats some purees in large part because he drops so much while he's eating on his own I'm worried he won't get enough to eat, and also because fruits and veggies are so darn slippery he has a hard time picking them up.

One more big milestone happened this month: James sprouted his first two teeth. Yep, this little guy is now just mostly toothless - he's got his two front bottom teeth to do damage with now.

It has also become much harder to take these monthly pictures. I have about 30 versions of the picture below on my camera:

Utah

 At the end of September we were able to travel out to Utah to visit Jed's family. For Jed it was a two for one trip as he also went hunting and shot a deer to boot (James and I chose to pass on the hunting and camping activities). We had a great time vising with family, walking around our old campus at BYU, and watching James try to figure out his cousins. Jed of course also had a great time doing deer hunting things but I can't give a good report: I'm not going to pretend to know anything about this and I asked to not hear any of the gruesome details. I'm sure Jed would be happy to tell you about it if you ask him though :)

Papa with all his grandchildren

Visiting Daddy at the Deer Camp