Pumpkin Carving

Willow seemed to enjoy carving her first pumpkin. She didn't even have any hesitation about digging her hand in to pull out the seeds!

Happy Halloween!!

(No costume pictures this year. We were 0 for 2 in our attempts at a ladybug and angel.)

Bubbles and Queso

Willow looooooves bubbles and queso!

More pumpkin picking!

We took another trip to the pumpkin patch with Nana. Willow wasn't as energetic as the first trip, but still seemed to have fun.

She looks so grown to me in this picture!

The dirt was equally as exciting as the pumpkins.

Somehow this is the "best" picture we got. I'm not sure how accurate the height is compared to last year.

"Can we take this one?"

Apple Picking

We had a girls trip apple picking with Aunt Kim and Nana. Willow tested out the apples in the orchard....shhh, don't tell!

"Let's take this one home!"

7 lbs of apples was a little too heavy for Willow.

We couldn't forget the apple donuts!

Thursday Nights

Thursday nights are always special because Auntie Kim comes over after work to play! Willow LOVES her Auntie Kim! When she came through the door tonight we were eating dinner and Willow promptly pointed to Auntie Kim's seat at the table.

Lots of love for Auntie Kim!

Love for Dada, too!

"Haha, made ya look!"

This has been Willow's favorite song this week:

PS - Although we love Chad, we hate the thought of Auntie Kim moving to Roanoke this Spring. If you'd like to join the "Make Chad Move to Richmond" campaign, membership is FREE! The only requirement is that you constantly remind Auntie Kim of how much Willow is going to miss her.

Pumpkin Patch

Our church went on a playdate to the pumpkin patch and our friends Jeanne and Mckenzie came along, too! This years' trip was a lot different than last year!

In awe of the tractor

Willow was more excited about the horses than the pumpkins when we got off the hay ride. Guess who wants a horse for Christmas?

Unprovoked hugs....love 'em!

I've never seen Willow hold anyone's hand while walking (except my own), but she wouldn't let Mckenzie's hand go!

Lovin' the corn-kernel box! Mckenzie modeled a somersault for Willow who then tried one for herself!

A couple hours at a pumpkin patch will wear a girl out! She fell asleep on the car ride home.

Ready for School

Willow's done a great job adjusting to "school." She looked particularly grown to me on Thursday morning as we all grabbed our bags to leave.

Here are some notes that her teacher has written on her daily sheet:

- So talkative today. She would carry on a conversation with Nico. They would laugh at what each other was saying, but I couldn't understand a word.

- She had fun on the playground. She was sitting in the car and a little girl started to push her around the bike trail and they were both laughing and talking to each other in their own little language.

- She has been waving at everyone and giving them hugs.

This is an email I got from Chris this week while he was working from home:

"She's been quiet for a few minutes so I just went to find her, and she was in her room, sitting in the chair, reading her Bible. She just looked up at me, smiled, and went back to her reading..."

Visitors!

Willow enjoyed a long weekend with her Gramma and Grampa!

Relaxing

We've had some nice fall weather lately which has been perfect for enjoying some time in the hammock!

16th month

Here are a few firsts and new developments from September, Willow's 16th month:

- blowing kisses

- walking up and down the stairs using the railing (not crawling)

- using the sign for "all done" and "more"

- started saying "more." Willow and I were coming home from eating Wendy's for lunch one day and I had taken my fries to go. Willow is not given fries often but has learned that they are delicious and irresistible. I wasn't opposed to her having some on the ride home because I was terrified of her falling asleep in the car, then not taking a nap when we got home. I couldn't help but be proud when I would hand her a fry, then 20 seconds later she'd say "more," followed by another fry, 20 seconds later I'd hear "more" then pass another one back.

- started "school" (aka daycare)

- saying "bye bye" to people (she's said it when cleaning up her toys, but now she says it regularly to people...or planes...)

- stomping

- running

- throwing a ball

- different styles of dancing. There's the bouncy-knee dance, the slow-head-nod dance, the clapping dance, the turn-around dance, and the head-dance (side-to-side). My personal favorite is the slow-head-nod dance to country music that sent shivers down her daddy's back at a BBQ restaurant we went to with Aunt Kim.

- cleaning up after herself. She made her parents especially proud when she accidentally kicked Alli's water bowl when she was throwing something in the trash and the water got on her foot and the floor. She looked at her foot. Looked at her daddy. Looked at the stove. Then promptly went to the stove to get the kitchen towel. Cleaned up the water off her foot and the floor. Go Willow!!

- mimicking things we do. We couldn't help but laugh when she picked up a receipt, squinted her eyes, and pointed at the print on the paper with her finger like she was reading it. She also enjoys holding our keys and trying to put them into locks. She's also observing us do things that we don't even realize - like where we keep the padlock to the side gate when it's open.

- Willow continues to babble a lot and often looks at you after saying something very intently as if we should understand what she said. We really wish we knew!! She's said a lot of things once (nana, toes, keys, blankie, bear, up) but is still waiting on making them part of her daily language.

- I'm proud to say that we ALL survived Willow's 4 molars coming through! That was a summer-long process!