Wordless Wednesday -- Cox Farms!

On Sunday we ventured out to Cox Farms for our last "pumpkin patch" outing of the year. The temperature was almost 80 degrees - unbelievable in November. I think I got a sunburn!!! Adam LOVED running around, petting the goats (up close) and picking out pumpkins. However the highlight for him was the hayride. It was about 20 minutes long and he had a huge grin on his face for at least 18 minutes of it. It included lots of cut-out decorations on the side (including aliens, Bar.ney! and zoo animals) and even a trip through the haunted tunnel. Here are some (well, lots) of photos from our day:




















Before we left, Adam picked out a pumpkin (or two):

Just for fun, here is a photo of Adam picking out a pumpkin at Cox Farms last September, at almost 18 months:

One last note... from now on, every time I write a new post, I am going to use a new photo for the title picture. Otherwise, some loved ones (Hi Uncle Steven!) will know that there's a new post. It's also fun to choose a new "photo of the week (or mid-week") each time! =)

Big Talker

I am so behind on my blog posts! We've had a very busy week and there is much to report. Lots of playdates, adventures, birthday parties, etc... I'll post photos of all of it soon. There's a "sneak peak" photo under the "All about Adam" header. This photo (and the one at the end of the post) was taken at C.ox Farms pumpkin patch yesterday. I laugh everytime I look at it and I still have no idea how the heck he got up there?!? I *do* know that Adam will do *anything* to get to what he wants!!! More on the pumpkin patch tomorrow. Tonight I'm in awe of my big talker.

Adam continues to amaze us as he is sounding more "little boy" and less "tot" every day. We can have actual, relatively long conversations with him now. He's *always* talking (unless he's getting into trouble) and loves using adjectives now. His new favorite word is "beautiful". He'll frequently ask me to "Look at the beautiful _________" and it can be anything he likes (beautiful or not-so-much)! He is also using lots of prepositions such as under, over, etc. He communicates really well but still stutters sometimes... I think it's because he just has SO much to say. If you know me "in real life", I'm sure it's not at all surprising that my kid is a big talker!

He is aware of EVERYTHING. Last week I had black hose on and the very first thing he said when I picked him up at school was "What are you wearing, Mama?"... he was truly fascinated. Tonight he noticed the new sheets on his bed and very excitedly exclaimed "Look at my new sheets!" Talk about seeing things through new eyes. He makes every day fun... well, when he's being a little love that is. Believe me, we had some not-so-sweet moments this past week (two words: sharing & pushing. Ugh). For the most part, though, he is truly DE-LIGHT-FUL... full of BIG smiles, hugs & kisses xoxo.

Flashback Friday -- Doggies!

Adam & Doggies - July 2008 (15 months old):


Adam & Doggies - November 2009 (31 months old):


What a difference 16 months can make when you're a toddler, huh?!? =)

If you're interested, you can see more pics of Adam & Big Doggy in the original July post -- I know it's my kid and all... but LL's cuteness in these photos blows me away!!! My precious little (baby)love!!!

Rainy Halloween & some updates

Adam really enjoyed Trick-or-Treating last night. Since Steven is in Las Vegas with my brothers (Why? Oh, the "brothers" just wanted some bonding time... in Vegas!), we spent Halloween (and the majority of the weekend) at Grandma's house. It was a really dark & rainy night so the night truly felt creepy. There weren't that many kids out either so it was really eery. None the less, Adam loved ringing on doorbells, gathering candy, telling people he was a Doctor, etc. He also ran into his pals Louie, Mary & Jack. The only thing he didn't like was when we walked to the Karickhoff's house (very dear family friends). They live down a *very dark* road, surrounded by woods... Adam started crying "Grandma, Stop! There are goblins in the woods!" Besides that, he had a great time and LOVED the chocolates. He was on a huge "sugar high" and was acting like a little goblin himself, truth be told, later in the evening. No more sugar till next Halloween! =) Here are some photos... which are admittedly awful, but you get the gist:

Dr. Adam with his two candy bags and chocolate-smeared face... very professional, huh?!? =)

Adam & Louie. Even though the night truly was eery, Adam's eyes did NOT turn red... even though the photo makes me believe otherwise...

Literally running for candy

On another note, Adam got sick again last week... and so did Steven. I was too exhausted to post about it but I like to write about his illnesses on the blog, to keep track (otherwise all the "sick days" just blur together). Long story short, Adam had a 24 hr. stomach flu(vomiting and 101 fever) from Thursday night - Friday night (of last week). Then on Saturday(?) he began having coughing fits (actually he started coughing at night the week before but they became more frequent) and was running a very low-grade fever (in the high 99s). On Monday night/EARLY Tuesday morning his fever spiked up to 101... took him back to the doctor's on Tuesday and the Dr. said it was probably just a cold/cough or virus and NOT the swine flu. They didn't test him, though, so we're not 100% sure he didn't have it. The Dr. said he was "too happy" to have H1N1, but who knows?!? Regardless, we kept him home from school until Friday (Thank you SO much, Mom, for all the babysitting)! Fortunately, he *seems* to finally be completely recovered (his appetite only came back, completely, today). Steven also managed to catch his stomach flu last week but it only lasted 24 hours (he felt just fine for Vegas, Thank Goodness)! ;)

In other news, Adam has discovered "WHY?" as in "Why is he sad?" and "Why did the leaves fall?"... makes me wish I paid closer attention in biology! Fortunately, no matter what answer I give, Adam usually believes it. =) He also has begun to ask "HOW" a lot, too... such a curious little guy. He's still hilarious with his expressions. Tonight when we gave him his mac & cheese and asked him how it looked he responded by saying "it looks beautiful"... doesn't take much to make this kid happy. He's such a love (usually)!

Steven will be back tomorrow... good thing as this "single mom thing" is NOT for me! Plus, Adam misses his Daddy (I miss him, too). In the middle of Trick-or-Treating last night, Adam says "I miss Daddy!" and he cried for him when I put him to bed last night ("I want Daddy!"). This is the first time Steven (or I) have been away from him since he was 14 months old, and that was only for a night (for our anniversary). We'll all be happy to see Daddy tomorrow! Of course, who knows what we'll hear b/c as we all know "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"... =)

Good night! Have a great week, everyone!

Dr. H & El.mo

I was going to wait until Halloween to post photos of Adam in his Halloween costume but these photos taken yesterday are too cute not to share right away. =) We met up with Rachel & Sarah at the library and the kids participated in the Halloween parade. There were stories first and Adam's first question after the stories was "WHERE'S THE CANDY?!?" -- definitely OUR child!!! Adam (Dr. H) and Sarah (El.mo) were so darling together, marching around in the parade hand-in-hand. They are 10 months apart and have known each other since Sarah was just a few weeks old. Rachel and I met right before I got pregnant with Adam, over 3 years ago. We always joke that we have to take lots of pics of the kids now... you know, so we have it for their wedding slideshow in 25 years! You never know... they are precious together, aren't they?

Look at that smug little smile! =)

Adam & Sarah... and if you look closely, you can see the "little pumpkin" in Rachel's tummy! =)

Dr. H & Elmo posing with the library crew

Adam & Sarah coloring together after the festivities

Adam found the candy!


HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL OUR "BLOGGY" FRIENDS! =)

Wordless Wednesday -- the many faces of LL

After Adam's bath on Thursday, I let him watch Li.on King videos on the computer. His favorite Li.on King songs are now the ones performed by Elt.on Jo.hn. He'll literally say, "No, I want to hear the Elt.on Jo.hn. song!" It's hilarious. Anyway, here are some photos that I captured of LL watching the videos last week. He has always been an extremely alert little guy and has several hundred (or so it seems) facial expressions. Here are some that I captured within a 5 minute span:







Even though our photographer has infered that "smiling shots are boring", they still are my favorite:

Doing better (knock on wood)

Adam slept well last night except for waking up at 2 AM, very hot & bothered. He had a fever of 101.5... I gave him some tyl.enol which quickly kicked in. He slept until after 9 and woke up fever-free! Yay!

He remained fever-free all day and did not "get sick" (aka throw up!) either. Seems like it was just a 24 hour bug. What a relief.

The only thing is that LL did not eat at all today - only 1/2 a bagel but he drank lots of water and diluted juice. I guess this is to be expected since he was down for the count yesterday but it's still a little upsetting. Especially since he has only gained half a pound in almost 5 months. They weighed him at the Dr's office yesterday. With clothes on, he was 27.4 pounds. However, he had thrown up about 10 times before the visit, though, which I'm sure didn't help. Anyway, hopefully he'll be eating normally again tomorrow.