Happy Halloween!!

Our little monkey. He knew what he was and "Eee, eee, ooh, ooh, ahh, ahh-ed" on demand. :)

The perfect monkey face.
After giving Kyle a tiny bite of chocolate to whet his appetite and knowledge for what holding "the bucket" meant, he was walking up to houses like a pro.



Sharing.

Fall and Friends.

We feel super thankful to say that we have several neighbor friends. Not just nice, friendly neighbors, but actual friends. These particular friends have two boys, both very close in age with the youngest just days older than Kyle. People have said that the Papa's look alike and that Kyle and Nick look alike, too. I think families with boys are used to high activity, because we get invited to lots of fun, active things with them. And our boys enjoy doing many boyish things together. This trip was to another pumpkin patch with mazes, bounce houses, train rides, and other carnivalish things.

Playing the pumpkins.
Running through mazes. Kyle knew exactly what to do without any prompting.



First, there was water...
Then, the train went by. Both boys were captivated. Look at Nick's cute tongue out!
Thanks, GSal for Kyle's adorable Halloween shirt. Oh, and check out Kyle's newest soft-soled, flamed Vans. A lucky find at a local, upscale baby thrift shop.
Kyle was chasing this wild peacock when he saw the choo-choo train go by. All of a sudden, he changed course and began to follow the train all the while making his motor noise with his mouth.

Everything about the season and coming holidays is so much fun now that Kyle is able to show an interest in things. Yay.

Outside

What kid doesn't like to be outside? Well, being outside is Kyle's favorite thing in the whole entire world. He signs it all the time, and is eager to lead us out the door the moment we say we're going outside. His favorite thing outside is going to the garage. In it, there are so many possibilities for fun and entertainment including his special stick.

I love watching K's excitement as we get ready to leave the house. He knows what we need to do before leaving and wants to help us so we can get out as quickly as possible. This includes bringing us his shoes, getting the keys and standing by the door! And although he's super antsy and doesn't want to be detained by anything, he does enjoy copying us. So brushing teeth is ok.

We are so pleased with how much he loves to ride bikes. He had been saying "bike" over and over and over!

Another favorite thing in the garage is sweeping. He's got several brooms. p.s. What a little stud muffin, eh?

Instead of eating, he likes feeding us.
Ru found this army man in a toy box at the restaurant. And Kyle was hooked, just like that. He says, "Man! Man!" over and over. Ru went out and bought him his very own that afternoon.

The Back Bay park.

Eating sand.

Laughing!

Chasing/copying Papa.

Water and outside, what can compare with you?? :)

Visitors from Illinois!

Thursday night we got a spontaneous visit from Aunt Donna and cousin Donovan who live in the Chicago area. Right away, Kyle loved having another guy around to watch, imitate and play with. It was really fun to have them over.

This is an early, early morning shot of the boys playing on Kyle's ramp Daddy makes for him with the extra leaves of our dining table. Since there was a two hour time difference for Donovan, Kyle had someone to play with shortly after 5am! :)

Donna and Donovan came to help me teach school Friday morning. Here, Donovan's showing the class where he is from on a puzzle map.
After class, lunch, and a nap, we were off to the Back Bay for a kayak ride and playing in the sand.

Kyle had been signing "water" ever since he saw the kayak in the garage and really, really wanted to go out on the water with Daddy. So next, K got his turn.

Then Daddy climbed a tree. And Dinker wanted up, just like dad. See him staring up at Dad?

Feeding the birds some leftover popcorn. And Dink was actually sneaking in some bites! :)

Then Dad climbed the swings. Both boys were in awe.

Ru taught a couple of neighbor boys and Donovan how to play some street hockey. Its really not popular here, to Ru's unbelief. So he took matters into his own hands and made sure the kids got their lesson and play time.

After the kids were in bed (!!!), some more cousins came for a fun pizza and game night. And I took the house down! :) Should have put money on the game! Really enjoyed getting to know them. Such fun, nice people.

Another early, early morning! But how sweet is this? The boys read together.

And played cars together.

We hit a nice garage sale and went to visit our local bunny friends.

The bunnies.

And we're pooped! Quiet family time that usually never gets documented like this. Thanks, Donna. Then, we were off to Back Bay's Nature/Interactive Center.

It was a beautiful day.