Still Growing...

Last Saturday morning we woke up to a Mr. Mister who seemed to have grown up overnight. We couldn't really put our fingers on what exactly was different about him, but he seemed like such a big boy. Here are the newest happenings:

• He's 100% walking now and walks around like he's the king.
• He learns new words every day. His new favorite is no. We knew it had to come sometime. The cutest one is when you ask him what a doggie says, he says woof in the cutest voice possible.
• He is starting to climb. He loves to get up on chairs, he tries to climb in the bathtub even when it's not bath time, and he climbs into the drawer under the stove with the pots and pans (and then cries because it's not comfortable and he can't get out.)
• He's getting 3 molars. Maybe now he'll actually chew his food instead of just swallowing it.

Enjoy these pictures of our growing boy!

Showing off his untensil skills!

He knows where the cereal is at Grandma and Nonno's house and helps himself when no one is looking!

Enjoying the Cocoa Puffs that Grandma and Grandpa T sent. Isn't chocolate cereal what grandparents are for?

Sitting in the rocking chair and reading himself a book before bedtime.

Fun Surprises

Yesterday, we got a surprise call from Grandma T who happened to be stuck in the airport just 45 minutes from our house. She was flying through here on her way from Pittsburgh to a business meeting in Texas and missed her connecting flight. So with 5 hours to spend in the airport, she called to see if we were available to visit. I was babysitting my friend's son, but Daddy took Mr. Mister to see her. They went to a park on the river not far from there and enjoyed the fall afternoon. It was such a fun and unexpected treat for them to spend a couple hours with her!

Ironically, a couple hours after they got home, UPS delivered a box to us from Grandma and Grandpa T. It was a Halloween package and was so fun to open. It had some clothes for Mr. Mister (including a Steeler's outfit...the battle continues), an old fashioned Jack-in-the-Box (a great find...musical but not requiring batteries!), small gifts for Daddy and me, and a Jack-O-Lantern bucket with Halloween treats for Mr. Mister. But Grandpa resisted buying candy, knowing I wouldn't want to give Mr. Mister candy yet. Instead, the bucket had boxes of Cocoa Puffs, Teddy Grahams, Animal Crackers, and Goldfish....all perfect treats for him.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Football, Take 2

My mom read my blog post from a couple weeks ago about football and knew that it wasn't right for Mr. Mister to only have a Steeler's jersey. She fixed this undesirable situation by finding a pint size Carson Palmer jersey for him. In my opinion, he looks much better in orange and black.

I will admit, however, that if he chooses to be a Bengals fan, he may be in for a life time of disappointment. This past Sunday was a day that is usually much anticipated around here...the Bengals-Steelers game. With the Bengals still winless this season and feeling very unthreatened, Daddy allowed Mr. Mister to wear his Palmer jersey for the game. Despite our support (as you can see below) they still lost, now 0-7 for the season.

You may notice the difference in Mr. Mister's hair from the first two pictures to the last. He got a much needed haircut in between the time he first got the jersey and this past Sunday when we watched the game. It was starting to hang over his shirt in the back...much too close to a mullet for me!

We Did It!

My sister and I successfully ran the Columbus Half Marathon yesterday on a cold morning with beautiful blue skies. It was a great race and we had a lot of fun. The course is flat, a big difference from the hills we run around here, which made for a faster time than we had anticipated. We finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes, an average of a 9:30 pace (although our mile splits were far from consistent, ranging from 9:05 to 9:56). Our goal was to enjoy the race, soak up the fun marathon atmosphere, and have a good time running together. All were accomplished. A huge part of our fun came from the many friends and family we saw cheering along the way. Our husbands and Mr. Mister, our parents, and a bunch of friends provided great encouragement, as their cheering gave us the extra energy we needed to keep up our pace.

I especially want to say a huge THANK YOU to my wonderful husband who worked hard to make this happen for me. He watched Mr. Mister every Saturday morning for the last three months so I could meet my sister for long runs, and he endured a very crazy Saturday before the marathon which included packing, traveling, working out the details in a different city, and a somewhat sleepless night in a not so great hotel. And he cheerfully woke up early on a cold Sunday morning, carrying Mr. Mister along the course so he could see his mommy run!

Enjoy the pictures.

Still smiling, about halfway through the race.

Happy to be almost to the finish line.

Getting warm at the finish line.

At the finish without the goofy (but very warm) aluminum blankets.

Three of our cheerleaders....that's uncle N in back of Mr. Mister.

Mr. Mister proudly displaying mommy's medal!

Columbus Half

Tomorrow my sister and I are running the Columbus Half Marathon. Our weeks of training have been really good and we both feel confident and excited going into it. The only concern is that we both started feeling symptoms of a cold coming on last night. I got a lot of sleep though and am feeling better today. So hopefully we're healthy and ready to run tomorrow morning! I'll report back.

Family Pictures

We went to a park one afternoon last week and ended up taking some impromptu family pictures. Here are a couple fun ones...

Apple Picking

Last weekend we went apple picking with Aunt K and Uncle N. Despite the 80 degree weather and the low apple supply due to the recent windstorm, it was a fun afternoon. Mr. Mister did great riding in the backpack and enjoyed chomping on an apple the entire time (notice in the second picture that he and Daddy are both enjoying their fruit.) At the end he played on the slide with the big kids. I love this last picture...it almost looks like a senior picture pose!

Exciting Saturday Night

The life of a mom...on my Saturday night, I spent a half hour cleaning pieces of a shredded board book out of my washing machine. I did a load of Mr. Mister's wash and when I went to transfer it to the dryer, I noticed that everything was covered in pieces of wet cardboard. I was confused until I pulled a picture of a duck out of one of his shirts and then realized that his little board book must have found its way into the hamper, which then made it into the washing machine. It was a mess to clean up, but duty calls. I'm sure it won't be the last non-clothing object that goes through the wash.

Nigh Nigh and Other Cute Things

In the past, if I were to lay on the floor, close my eyes and tell Mr. Mister that I was going night night, he'd come over and bang on my head or bite/kiss my nose to wake me up. Recently, though, he started doing the cutest thing. When I lay down, close my eyes, and say "night night," he comes over and lays down, curling right up against me, says, "nigh nigh" in the softest, cutest voice, and then puts his thumb in his mouth. I enjoy the cuddling for about 10 seconds before he's up and moving around again. It really is adorable.

Other fun developments...

Lots of new words. Recently when I put carrots (which are always hot because I have to soften them first) on his tray, he said something along the lines of "hot" and then blew on them. It's amazing how much he picks up without me teaching him.

He finally does the sign for all done. I've been doing it every time I get him out of his highchair for several months. I never thought he'd actually do it because he picked up the other ones (more, water, eat) so quickly. Then all of a sudden, he did it the other day and now he thinks it's so funny.

He's a front facer in the car now! A couple weeks ago we finally got his big boy car seat so he can face the front. He is much happier in the car, which means less screaming and more enjoyable rides. Although now I can't eat or drink anything as I drive without him wanting some.

He's walking like a champ. He is learning to bend down and pick things up and then stand back up. He throws his ball, walks to it, picks it up, and then throws it again. I think he likes the practice. Now we have to get him to learn how to walk in shoes. He loves going outside, but hates wearing shoes. As soon as we get outside, he sits down and tries to take them off.

He loves books (yay!). While he often loses interest after a couple pages, he actually sits through entire books sometimes. That's a big accomplishment! The other day I was reading the book Elmer to him. There's a page that says "Boo!" in big words across it. I forgot about that and the whole time I was reading it, he kept saying "boo, boo, boo" and laughing. I couldn't figure out why. Then I got to that page and realized that he knew it was coming!

Okay, sorry this is so long. I need to be better about posting short, individual stories more frequently instead of letting them build up. Also, be excited for more pictures...I'm uploading some of apple picking, his angry face, and his new jersey.

Photo Contest

We entered a photo contest last week through Parenting magazine. The pictures are supposed to capture a snapshot of childhood and are judged on technicality, originality, and overall cuteness. We were allowed up to 5 pictures, so here are the ones we chose. Enjoy!