Happy Halloween!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this little guy?

We have been doing so many fun Halloween activities!  Little man is obsessed with "cooks" (pumpkins) so I made sure we took him to the pumpkin patch to pick out his own.  Then on Saturday we went to the Pumpkin Parade where Little man got to trick or treat, look at jack-o-lanterns, pet a bunny at the petting zoo, and go on a hay ride.  We also found the headless horseman (who gave the kids candy) and little man got to play with a water globe. 

Although raking leaves isn't my idea of a fun way to spend the afternoon, I do love that the many trees around our house mean that I have all the fall colors right outside my door.  Here's how it has looked all week:

Then we woke up to a surprise yesterday morning:

It's melted now, but let me tell you that little man was NOT impressed.  When I first opened the door and showed him the snow, he cried and ran for my arms.  I took him out and got this reaction:

Mama and Daddy aren't big fans of snow either.  It's going to be a long winter for our whole family....

Last night we had a Halloween Carnival at our church.  I have been so excited to put little man in his costume, I knew he'd so cute.  And he didn't disappoint!  He was the most darling dinosaur ever and although all the noise at the carnival was a bit overwhelming for him, he enjoyed fishing for chocolate, eating a hot dog, winning a cupcake, and finding his little friend.  :)

My baby loves balls so much.  He finds them everywhere.  Anything that is circular causes him to shout with enthusiasm, "ball!  It's a ball!  It's a ball!"  It's become a fun game to try and figure out what "ball" my little man is seeing at any given moment. 

Finding these balls outside of Target made my little man happy for the entire shopping trip.  So thank you, Target!

Little man has now discovered the joys of stickers.

(I know this last picture is disappointingly blurry but he's got a sticker "beard")

This weekend when Mama decided she needed to get out of the house for a while, our family went to the mall.  We forgot little man's stroller but luckily he's still pretty light and carrying him wasn't a hardship.  :)

The mall has a fun play area for kids and we let little man run around and play for a while. 

I think we might be spending a lot of time here in the winter when it's too cold to play outside!

Have I told you that my baby is also a puppy? At least, that's what he seems to think....

The other day while at the store, little man decided he wanted to play peek-a-boo.

He grabbed that scarf off a nearby rack and began pulling it over his face and telling me, "boo!"  Such a cute boy.

We've made some more Halloween decorations!

Little man was in charge of using orange crayons to color the pumpkins in.  He may not have gotten the whole thing but....I think any artwork he does is just the best!

I've discovered that my baby can sing more than just Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  After hearing a song by Colbie Callait on the radio the other day, he began singing it to me.  He also sang an N*Sync song that he heard me talking about one day. 

Oh and he likes to use the kitchen whisk as a microphone.  What a doll.

Little man is still trying to find ways to get outside on his own.  The other day he took my keys off the table and tried to unlock the door.  He's just too cute!

Yesterday little man and I went to the zoo with my mom, brother, and sister.  We had a blast looking at all the animals.  Little man especially enjoyed looking at the gorillas and the giraffes.  There was even a baby giraffe! 

Little man didn't just love the animals though.  He also enjoyed:

a random vent

the water globe

dirt

and the "gucks" in the construction zone.

Who knew the zoo could provide so much entertainment beyond the animals?!

I found a fun way that little man and I could decorate for Halloween.  I traced his foot (not an easy feat!) and we made ghosts.  Little man decorated them.  :)

I think they are by far the cutest ghosts in the world.  My mom told me to keep them forever, and I just might.  They will be a sweet reminder of my little man when he's not so little anymore.

I made little man a hat last winter.

He was very happy to find, and be reunited with, that hat last week.

Little man has found there is a better way to get around the grocery store than in a shopping cart:

This weekend our family watched the LDS General Conference.  I received the spiritual strength that I needed by listening to my church leaders.  But 6 hours of meetings over two days is a lot for a baby.  I did what I could to prepare him.  I got out fun toys and snacks and let him have free reign over the house.

He did pretty well up until I tried to encourage him to model a new hat I had made.

Don't worry, I didn't make him wear it after that!

One thing I really love about my little guy is how good he is about helping me clean up (as long as it doesn't involve the vacuum...he hates that thing!)

Every night, as part of our bedtime routine, we pick up all his toys and put them away.  He knows just what to do.  I say, "it's time to put your toys away" and he literally goes around the room, picking up every toy and putting it in his toy box.  He knows we are done playing and he puts things away.  I know I'm very blessed to have a child that will do this, rather than pulling everything back out of the toy box.

He understands the concept so well that....one day while I was in the bathroom doing my hair, little man started pulling things out of the cupboard.  When I left the room, I called for him to follow me.  He didn't come immediately and I went back in to find him putting away everything he'd pulled out!  It was darling.