October Crafts, Pumpkins, And Activities

October was a busy month!

Pumpkin Patch 2013

It was Cole's first trip to the pumpkin patch. It was a great day and the kids had so much fun!

Cole Carlson: 10 Months Old

Cole Baby is ten months old!  Hard to believe that he's going to be ONE so very soon.  He is on the move every minute that he's not being held or in his walker or booster chair.  Here's what he's up to:

• He has his two bottom teeth.  He is going to get his top two soon.
• He is clapping and waving all the time.  He claps for everything and gives us a big grin!
• He loves his sisters, even when Harper is tackling him to the ground.  I am just waiting for the day he's bigger than her (which will be sooner than later!)...I don't think she'll be tackling him anymore.
• He is wearing size 9 months and 12 months clothes. 
• We haven't bought him any shoes yet, but will need to soon! He is pulling up on everything and has made it all the way up our stairs. He hasn't attempted to stand on his own or walk yet.
• He is weighing in at 17 pounds 7 ounces.
• We are still battling his eczema.  I'm going to try coconut oil next. Poor little guy has spots on both ankles, arms, and his ears.
• His hair is filling in and sometimes curls in the back. 
• He has the longest eyelashes! Like the girls, he has beautiful blue eyes.  His eyes have a little of my hazel in them...at least that's what I say.
• He is now eating everything that we eat.  He totally skipped the whole baby food phase.  He refused everything until we finally just started feeding him whatever we had.  Now, he's a great eater.
• We are learning that he is persistent and has a bit of a temper.  It's fun to see bits of each of his sisters' personalities in him.  When he's mad, he screams!
• He hates getting dressed and is constantly trying to roll over and kick his legs.  It is even harder to change his diaper. No matter how hard we try to distract him the little bugger is trying to roll away.  Before we know it he's crawling away and we have poop all over our hands! Seriously, it's gross and when we can we always have two people on diaper duty.
• He loves to jump, bounce, and dance. 
• He is drinking water from a sippy cup.
• He is drinking 5 ounce bottles.  We can't get him to eat any more than that, and sometimes he only eats 3 ounces.
• We are trying really hard to get him to sleep through the night.  He always wakes up at least once.  Some nights we can give him a paci and turn his glow worm on (which we keep on the floor under his crib) and he will fall back asleep until 4:30.  Other nights, we feed him one ounce and he's back to sleep.  We are struggling with this.  Riley was a terrible sleeper (up every 3 hours) and we eventually  had to let her cry it out.  Then Harper came along and was a great sleeper.  Now we have Cole who really needs to just cry it out, but his room shares a wall with his sisters.  The last thing we want to do is wake the whole family up when we can just give him an ounce and head back to bed.  So, we'll see what happens in the next few weeks.  We may just suck it up and give it a go.

Fall Fun 2013

We have had a fun fall so far. The weather has been great and we have spent a lot of time outside. We enjoyed the zoo on a cool morning. The kids loved seeing all of the animals so active. We celebrated Grandpa Kevin's birthday. We have taken many walks to the park. We've picked lots of veggies from the garden. And, we've celebrated several weddings with friends.

Cole Carlson: 9 Months Old

Cole Baby is 9 months old! Here's what's new:
- He really is a sweet little guy, but sure has a temper. Don't take anything away from him or he'll raise hell!
- he has his first tooth! It's on the bottom right. I'm pretty sure the other bottom tooth will be breaking through any day.
- he had recurring ear infections, but they are thankfully cleared up.
- he weighs in at 17 lb 7 oz.
- He is crawling everywhere, and is pulling up on anything he can.
- he is a handsome little guy. His hair is starting to fill in, but its very thin.
- he is not interested in his walker or saucer anymore. He wants to move around and explore.
- we have had a few successful nights without bottles. He still wakes up at least once for his paci.
- he is drinking all formula. I quit pumping about a month ago.
- he is finally showing some interest in food. We went straight to real table food for him. His favorites are turkey deli meat, broccoli, cheese, cheerios, and puffs. I think he is our picky eater.
- he hates his car seat. Every time we put him in it he arches his back and pushes himself up so we can't buckle him.  It can take a couple minutes to get him strapped in sometimes.
- he waves hi, bye, and good night.
- he loves to bounce to music.

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Riley's First Day of Pre-Kindergarten 2013

Riley Started pre-k at Westview Church Preschool. She goes Monday through Thursday from 12:30-3. She is loving it so far, and we haven't had any tears so far. Poor Harper doesn't like her big sis being gone. Other than their website and a tour of the school we didn't know anything about Westview, but we've been really impressed. I think it is perfect for Riley and we are confident that she is where she needs to be this year!

Iowa State Fair 2013

We went to the Iowa State Fair for a day this year. We were lucky to have beautiful weather and the kids were great. We changed it up this year by going early on a Friday. We left to take naps around 2:00 and went back out for a few hours around 6:00. I have really fond memories of the fair as a child and one of them is the thrill of the fair at night. Here's what we will remember this year:
- Little hands on the farm. Harper was able to go through this year.
- Cole's first time at the fair! He was great.
- the baby animal building.
- corn dogs and hot dogs for breakfast.
- lots of lemonade.
- rides in the midway. Harper was too little for everything but the carousel. Riley loved the big swing ride.
- the hall of law.
- going down the giant slide with Daddy and Grandma Sheryl.