Halloween

A month ago we were at Costco and saw all their Halloween costumes and decided to pick something out for Jake.

We settled on the monkey and after he got over his first tantrum of putting it on he loved it.

He would walk around making his little monkey sounds.

I didn't think Jake would enjoying trick-or-treating but he loved it!

We lucked out and had absolutely beautiful weather.

He loved carrying around his little bucket and the fact that people would put things into it.

He was a little embarrassing because he would want people to put more candy in his bucket.

We also had to stop and play with leaves as we went too.

After stopping at a couple houses Jake came back and helped hand out candy.

He was so cute putting candy in other people's buckets and when there was a lull in trick or treaters he would walk around holding a piece of candy trying to find someone to give it to.

When he couldn't find anyone he would put it in his own bucket.

It was absolutely adorable to watch and now here is a huge photo dump of my monkey!

Another Week of Visitors

The week after the Calder's came my mom came up for a visit.

We had a pretty relaxing week playing at home.

We also went to the farm play at Apple Holler and toured the fire station with friends from church.

My OCD son was really distressed that they opened all the doors to the fire truck so we could see inside and I wouldn't let him close them.

Friday night I had to spend the evening at the ward Halloween party since the youth were in charge.

Saturday morning my mom wanted to try out the delicious food at Cafe Benelux so we went to breakfast again before she had to get on the road.

It was nice to have her come visit for a few days.

That afternoon the McGowans (family I used to nanny for) came up for a quick visit.

We had a good time catching up and then went downtown for a late lunch and some exploring.

It was so good to see them and I can't believe how big they'd gotten.

They were so incredibly sweet with Jake and would fight over who got to hold his hand!

JPC:: 18 Months

Stats from 18 Month Appointment

Height: 32.25" (44th Percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs 13 oz (60th Percentile)

Head Circumference: 50 cm (98th Percentile)

Seriously how is my baby so big?

We've reached full blown toddler mode here since I sent him off to nursery (church class for kids 1.5-3 years old).

He loves playing with the play food but is not so keen on the structured time.

He has a hard time coloring and just makes dots on the paper with the crayons.

He loves playing with stickers which make for cheap entertainment.

Jake is obsessed with a Red Sox hat that my dad brought him back from Boston.

As soon as he wakes up in the morning he says "eh" and touches his head.

He only takes it off to eat and sleep and we fight about not bringing it to church.

He also loves wearing shoes, a jacket, and sunglasses.

Let's just say it is quite the process to leave the house!

He still isn't talking much but he is definitely comprehending.

He'll point to pictures when asked in books and will bring you the stuffed animal you ask for.

He can make the sounds of a cow, bear/lion, monkey, dog, and pig.

Anytime he sees a picture of Ryan he immediately says "da"

He will occasionally say banana and he says yuck and dog (gogog).

He will also nod and shake his head for yes and no.

He loves to read books especially the same one over and over.

His favorites are "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"

But he'll listen to anything as long as you read it more than once.

He loves to help with chores.

He will open and close the dishwasher, help put his toys away and he knows where everything goes and gets upset if you put something in the wrong place, he puts his dirty clothes in the hamper, and likes to help make dinner.

He is my little buddy and follows me wherever I go.

He likes to take things in and out.

We got him a play kitchen and that is his favorite toy.

He asks to go down stairs to play with it multiple times in the day.

He loves his ruffed animals and lines them up in the window seat almost every day.

He still loves to eat and eats anything we put in front of him as long as we are eating it too.

We're still working on using a spoon.

He can bring it to his mouth without spilling but has a hard time scooping food onto it.

He can also drink through a straw and is getting better at drinking out of a regular cup.

When we first tried a regular cup he put his whole face in the opening instead of putting the rim of the cup in his mouth.

He got quite a surprised when he tipped that cup!

He is a walking machine and has started to run.

He is awesome at holding my hand when crossing the street or walking around in stores.

He can sit down and stand up without any support or pulling himself up.

He can go up and down stairs without any help or reminders to go down on his belly.

He still likes to play on his belly, chase us around, and wrestle.  

He likes to give raspberries by putting his open mouth on us.

He is awesome at giving hugs and kisses and I love those hugs and kisses!

He now has three molars and two canine teeth in addition to his eight teeth in front.

Calder Visit and Concrete

We were so lucky to have the entire Calder clan come and visit us for a few days.

They flew in late Tuesday night and I willed the my non-night owl self to stay awake to see them.

Wednesday

I drove around with them to show them around.

We went to Ryan's work and walked around by the lake.

We were sure to stop at Panera and Qdoba for lunch.

That afternoon we all decided to follow Jake's example and take a much needed nap.

After that the boys worked on some prep work for our concrete project later that week.

Thursday

Ryan took work off, so he and his dad worked on getting all the supplies needed for the concrete.

They also prepped the whole front walk with gravel and putting in the forms.

The rest of us did some playing.

We went to Land of the Giants Pumpkin Farm where Jake was throughly frightened by an extremely loud donkey.

We also stopped at Apple Holler for some apple cider doughnuts.

That afternoon we went out to help the guys and they even helped us rake leaves.

Seriously, how did I get so lucky in the in-law department?

Jake loved to help put leaves into the bag even if it was only one at a time!

Friday

Since the concrete wasn't coming until tomorrow we spent the day playing.

That morning we went to Cafe Benelux for breakfast and stuffed our faces with delicious food. 

In the afternoon we toured the Sprecher's Brewery and sampled all their delicious sodas.

We tried out the Motor Restaurant at Harley Davidson for dinner.

Saturday

Today was the big day.

Everyone was so helpful and spent almost the entire day finishing the front walk.

It was raining so they set up tarps and were such troopers crawling around under them.

We wanted to put Jake's foot print in and when we tried he started bawling.

I don't know what he didn't like about it but he was miserable.

The concrete turned out amazing and it's going to make shoveling so much easier this winter!

The Calder's had to leave just before dinner.

We loved having them here but next time I think they need to stay for a couple weeks!

September Adventures

September was a busy month but we definitely had a lot of fun! 

The weather was perfect for the most part and we enjoyed getting out.

Now that Jake is a walk-a-holic we've tried to go on a big outing once a week so we don't go stir crazy!

Miller Park

Ryan and I had a chance to go to Brewer's game this month.

One of Ryan's coworkers had tickets he was trying to get rid of since his son got sick so we took advantage of the sweet deal!

Neither of us are very big baseball fans but this was an extremely exciting game.

The Brewer's actually won which is a strange occurrence theses days, a batter took a pitch to the face, and a "fight" ensued on the field.

Milwaukee Zoo

We were invited by some friends in the ward to go to the Milwaukee Zoo.

Jake loved riding around in the stroller but did not want to get out!

He started crying anytime I tried to get him out to look at the animals.

So it was a big shock to me when he saw a baby gorilla statue and really wanted to get out and look at it.

It was really cute he started making his money sound and loved touching the statue.

We had a lot of fun and I think I see the purchase of a zoo pass in our future.

Apple Holler

We headed down to Apple Holler one morning to play at the farm park since they weren't picking honey crisp apples and I'm kind of an apple snob!

Jake loved playing on the wooden train.

He kept crawling in and out and walking from car to car.

When he saw the bunnies he sat right down and just watched them sleep.

He was pretty nervous around the goats but would look at them as long as I was holding them.

However his favorite part was the dried corn box.

He would have stayed in there all day if I let him and I think I may need to buy some dry corn for hi to play with at home.

Just look at that joy.  Pretty much sums up the whole experience!

We finished to outing off by treating ourselves to some apple pie and apple donuts.

I'm still dreaming about those donuts and I may have to take a trip back there just for those ;)

The Domes

The Domes are Milwaukee's indoor botanical gardens.

They have one dome of tropical plants, one of desert plants, and one of seasonal plants.

We took advantage of the day of free admission for Milwaukee county residents.

Jake loved watching the fish swim in the pond and touching the bolts on the benches.

We stuck around for story time and I couldn't believe my baby is old enough to sit in a chair all by himself!

Temple Day for a Wedding

The last Saturday of the month one of our friends from the ward received his endowment and was sealed to his wife in the temple.

We were privileged to be invited and Ryan was his escort.

It was wonderful to be in the temple again for such a joyous occasion.

Of course we stopped for deep dish pizza on our way home!

Jake stayed with my good friend and I think he had a great time.

I mean he got to ride in the car cart!