Fall

The joys of the pumpkin patch. Although he had more fun with all the other things it had to offer.

Old firetruck.

Dad and Boyd's scared faces (was there a leaf blower around?) The other day when laying down for nap Boyd heard a leaf blower outside and announced, "I'm scared of Bob's blower". We were outside earlier when our neighbor Bob was using his, Boyd was a little apprehensive of it- so cool that he could later name his feeling.

Cute ghost.



Love this set of pictures. "Heavy!"

RIP broken Pumpkins.

Running for the big pumpkins.

Tunnel time! What a great sky too.

So big swinging on his own.

New tricks with daddy. Pure joy on his face.

Pointing out the moon.

Tractors (Boyd was a little upset they weren't giving hayrides and that he wasn't allowed to drive)

A Boyd, some pumpkins and the moon = one great night.

If you build it, Boyd will come. Heading out of the corn field (hence the upset look since he wanted to keep going further and further)

On our way out we ran into our friends Bert and Ernie. This was also where Boyd picked out his Gourd.

Ready? Here we go!

Safety first. Riding his bike with his new helmet.

Painting on paper after painting McQueen and a truck on his arms.

Trip to the Firehouse

Today we took a trip to the firehouse (we were invited to stop by since Boyd made friends with the EMT's at the Marquette football game a few weeks ago). When we arrived they received a call and headed out. The firefighters got ready so fast while Boyd watched wide eyed. When they turned on their lights and headed out Boyd was overjoyed. The Battalion Chief stayed behind to give us the grand tour. He even let Boyd try on the equipment and drive the firetruck. Boyd was a natural at the wheel and wanted in the competition to become the driver. We almost stayed for dinner as they had chili cooking and boy did it smell good.

Fun Filled Night

Home Again

We're back! Boyd's just so busy it is tough to capture a non blurry photo. I love this first picture; Boyd was chasing ants with his McQueen and Mater cars. The second was taken right before Boyd had to come inside since he wasn't listening and insisted on playing in the road. Three and four are of Boyd and his sticks. The final photo was a sneak attack while Boyd played with his letters on the fridge. Love him. A funny story from two weeks ago. Boyd was eating so much for dinner so I exclaimed, "Boyd you are eating so much you are going to be the biggest Boyd in the world." He replied, "No mommy, Super Grover." Boyd's first life's ambition, to be Super Grover. A funny story from Tuesday. Adam thinks it is quite funny to get Boyd to repeat phrases and words now. He told Boyd to say, "Bad to the bone." Boyd copied and of course a new daddy trick began and was repeated numerous times that day. A few hours later at nap time Boyd snuggled me and said, "Mommy, I good boy." He sure is. The McQueen in the picture is Boyd's current favorite car toy that goes everywhere; however, McQueen goes missing daily(true to the movie). We have found him all sorts of places but when Boyd looks for him he runs around the house calling, "McQueen" as if he will answer. This week Boyd counted to ten (skipping one) and experimented with scissors and glue. Boyd tried to use the scissors as hedge trimmers with both his grasp and literally trying to use them on the bushes. He cracks us up and is a daily joy. This week we are working on Boyd's bed but so far Mom has fallen asleep with him each night. Sleep workshop Wednesday (we're hoping for some tips and a small miracle).

Boyd in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania

One of the biggest buckets of sidewalk chalk ever keeps Boyd busy. He likes to lift it and announce, "Heavy". Today I taught him to flex his muscles to see the results of his chalk lifting training.







At the race with Papa, getting ready to cheer for Mom. He liked the cow bells and the post race VIP kids area complete with fruit snacks and trucks. I think we ended up with 5 packs of fruit snacks for the drive home. Boyd is sneaky.

Life on the farm in Virginia. We spent part of last week at my teammate Jackie's house in Virginia with her donkeys and cats. Boyd was pretty much obsessed with the donkeys and insisted on saying hello and goodbye to them every chance he could get. He-haw is his new favorite animal noise. Boyd also made sure he gave equal treatment to each donkey hugging them all and feeding them an equal amount of carrots. Playing in the barn was also lots of fun, along with climbing the fence-go gross motor skills. Hay is cool too and Boyd thought he had a great find later in the week at starbucks when he started pulling out the shredded paper from their display buckets and yelling "HAY".

Back in Maryland Boyd enjoys the park which at times serves as a resting place for a bus, playing with cars and trucks, and following and harassing Tiger the cat. Tiger is Boyd's idol. Boyd mimicks his movements scratching against walls, rolling on the floor, crawling through tight places, etc. Now if only Boyd would stop imitating the storybook character David from David Gets in Trouble (Boyd pulls the cats tail like David and lets out a loud "Meow".

Boyd's been awesome through all the craziness and deals well with change. He has been out on the town in Washington D.C., visited Mount Vernon, points out American Flags on monuments when we drive by, etc. His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. This week he saw kids playing football and kept saying, "hut hut hike" we called dad, and dad was very proud. He reads many books especially I love you Through and Through, and Go Dogs Go. He really like the moon and looks for it whenever it is getting dark and in all his night time books. During prayers at night Boyd does prayer hands and finishes the prayer with an ,"AMEN". He does nice kisses and hugs and kisses characters in books when the story talks about kissing, Especially D.W.'s Lost Blankie. Cars is his favorite movie and he likes to be a DJ if the CD player is within reach. We may have ruined a CD or two here. I wish I were better at documenting daily he really is something.

Like father or mother, like son?

Give me a hand! Boyd has been enjoying building Mr. Potato Head and playing other games with the accessories. Today it was Caps for Sale and sticking out the pretend tongues.

Sticking with the potato theme, our couch potato.

Boyd and Mom after bath.

My little reader. He loves his books and surprises me daily with his letter recognition.

Monkey see, monkey do. Boyd insists on putting mousse in his hair like Mom.

A true first born, clapping for himself. Today he looked at his shirt, did a double take, pointed to it and announced, "Cardinal." A fan already. Go Cards!

Yesterday in the car after he requested "Wheels on the Bus" and I turned it on he told me, "Good Job!"

This week he has been intrigued by babies and other children crying. He also loves to ride and say carousel. Big rocks, broken trees, acorns, and small crevices are favorite things in nature. Boyd loves others and enjoys chasing older kids around, even if he wasn't invited in the game. He repeats most things now too. Boyd thinks everyone goes to Chicago when they leave. He loves his bubble baths and took one of the greatest bubble baths ever tonight (I was slightly jealous). He continues to be a terrible sleeper but I love him nonetheless.