Happy Halloween!

Presenting.......the absolutely, positively cutest.....Mickey Mouse!!!All ready to go...Relaxing outside watching the other children in our neighborhood. It was a nice day today!Who know Mickey had such beautiful blue eyes?Mickey loves his Daddy...Trees are very amusing...Mickey and his Mommy...Daisy checking out this mouse crawling around the house...Better taste him...yum!We went to the mall on Sunday to meet other families in our infant playgroup. The mall had trick-or-treating. Here's Evan getting a treat...He doesn't quite know what to make of the "Grim Reaper"Evan and his friend Sofia (aka a Fairy Princess)Yoda (aka another Jason) wanted to take his picture with Mickey Mouse...Phew! I'm done with this costume! Can I eat the tail?Happy Halloween!

Happy and healthy

Evan had his 9-month check up last Thursday. All is well! He's learning, moving, talking, and eating as he should be at this age. We're going to introduce A LOT more table food over the next few weeks/months. Evan's pediatrician bacially gave us a list of foods NOT to feed him this young. Everything else is free game! Bring on the meat!!!! We're not disclosing his costume for Halloween yet, but we'll give you a clue...he tried cheddar and cottage cheese today...

As far as his measurements, Evan has slowed down gaining weight and started to lean out. This is normal once they start crawling/cruising/walking. He weighs 22 pounds, 12 ounces (80th percentile) and is 29 inches long (75th percentile). Even though he's leaned out, our neighbor noticed that Evan hasn't missed many meals!Evan still really loves this lion walker toy. Sometimes he takes off in a slight sprint and it makes us laugh (and scramble to catch him if he falls).He had his professional 9-month pictures this past week and the child would not smile normal. Evan either would not smile at all, would smile but wasn't looking at the camera, or would do the scrunched face smile.Ahhhh, life with a 9-month old! He keeps us on our toes!

I had my second cake decorating class this weekend. I don't feel my cake is as pretty as last week's, but it's definitely a learning process. Now all I have to do is practice all the time...who wants cake? We surely can't keep eating these cakes by ourselves or we'll be 1000 pounds by the time I've perfected cake decorating!

Movin' and groovin'

Here is a video compilation of Evan with his lion walker toy. Initially, he was quite wobbly and fell down often. But he always wanted to get right back up and walk again. Now, he's getting REALLY fast with this toy. The other day we saw Evan walking with only one hand pushing it. Someday soon he'll be on his own! Enjoy!

Sweet cakes

Curiosity is interesting. Evan figured out that the door stoppers make an unusual noise when you flip them back and forth. Daisy discovered this also while growing up and we just laugh when she bumps into the door stoppers. Anyway, if Evan is walking or crawling past a door, he tends to get distracted and play with the stopper...He's also sucking his lower lip a lot, which we think is funny...I took a cake decorating class today to brush up my skills (which was greatly needed after Jason's birthday cake didn't turn out very pretty this year!). It was fun and I learned quite a bit! I'm taking the second course next weekend where we learn additional techniques like making flowers. Here's my cake this week...They provided the plain cakes and we had to assemble, frost, and decorate. Then we get to take our cake home! Mine is a white cake with raspberry mouse and fresh raspberries in the filling. Covered in chocolate buttercream frosting. Yum!

Curly locks

Evan definitely has some of the Kurtz genes. As his hair is growing, you can see the curls springing off the back of his head. It's adorable...Goofing off and having fun! That's the name of the game every night with Evan...Not much new to add. Evan tried yogurt for the first time tonight and LOVED it! He's still cruising around the house and loves his lion walker toy. What really amazes him is the circulating fan we have in the living/dining room. Evan gets really excited any time he sees it. He's so much fun!

Welcome autumn!

We have a lot of pictures to post today, so we hope you enjoy this long post! Last weekend, Aunt Shelly was in town for a podiatry conference. She was able to steal away on Saturday night for a dinner out with the Mears family. After dinner, Aunt Shelly got to hang out with her niece and nephew at our home...Daisy and Evan are really getting along. Daisy is a lot more tolerant of Evan and LOVES to "get him"...Evan loves it too!Since Evan loves to cruise along the furniture, we decided to buy him a walking/riding toy so he can venture around the house a bit more. He likes to walk holding our hands as support, but this is much better for helping him walk around. This lion toy sings songs when Evan gets walking for a long period time. Evan really likes it and zooms around the house...This is fun!We took advantage of the beautiful fall weather today and took Evan and Daisy to one of the playgrounds in our neighborhood. Evan's been swinging before but I kept forgetting my camera. He enjoys it and cheesed it up for the camera a bit too!Loving it! (scrunched smile and all!)Wheeee!Can't hide the pure joy!Mommy had to steal a picture with her little man...Daddy too!Relaxing on the grass...Playing with my big sis!Look at those blue eyes. What a sweet child!Don't you just want to squeeze him?! We are having a blast with our son. He's the greatest!

Teeth + Food = Fun

With Evan's new top teeth, he's discovered new things to do with them. Mealtime has been interesting when he decides to clamp down on the spoon and refuse to open his jaws. He thinks this is a fun game and giggles after he releases. Mommy and Daddy try not to laugh.Today Mommy was eating a Honeycrisp apple (try them if you haven't already - they're the best!) When Mommy or Daddy eat something, the kids beg for it (yes, Daisy included)! Well, why not give Evan a tiny bit of apple to see how he likes the taste and texture. Honeycrisp apples are tart and crisp. We thought the taste test would be interesting...Mmmmmm...More please...He liked them! It seems like the only thing Evan doesn't like are peas. We think he gets that from his Aunt Jennie!