Harvest Festival

In better late than never posting, we had a particularly busy weekend the weekend before last with the Haunted Hike on Saturday and a Harvest Festival on Sunday. The Harvest Festival was put together by the Louisville Science Center and the new park out on the east end of town (The Parklands of Floyds Fork). It was pretty cold and the park land itself issn't really developed yet, so it was  a little sparsely laid out (and most of the displays were for an older age group). Still, we did take their hike and had fun letting Lew run around and swing on the swings. :) AND the Lil Cheezers food truck was there, so I was finally able to try the fancy grilled cheeses that Kevin had talked about (mine was awesome!). So it was a fun (if chilly) way to spend a Sunday morning.

 Learning about pumpkins

 

 

 

 Whee!

Then onto the 'hike' which was just a walk down this road and back:

 :)

 

 He didn't want to ride in the stroller but got tired from walking (and was pokey), so we traded off holding hands and carrying him.

Or Lew also wanted to help push the stroller (he became really good at steering it off into the woods).

 Taking his sweet time

 Dad trying to speed him up!

 Wild Man Lew

 Hitching a ride up high

  

 

 Checking out a tractor before we go

And then a grilled cheese for the ride home!

20 Months Old aka Older Than Dirt

20 months?! Wow, that sounds old!

20 Months Old

His stats (from BabyCenter):
Height: 35 inches (between 90th and 95th percentile)
Weight: 29.5 pounds (between 75th and 90th percentile)
Head Size: 20.5 inches (above 95th percentile)

So that's no change in his height or head size this month and a loss of .8 pounds. Kevin did weigh him the other day, and he was 32.5 pounds that day--he must have been having a fat pants day that day. :)

What he's doing this month:

• Talking more and more each day! He still does a lot of pointing and Nah!-ing (instead of Dah!-ing), but he has clearly said: Mama, Dada, Ball, Bowl, Brown, Black, Broom (we were on a B kick one day), Vroom, Dog, Woof, Yes, No, and Jeep (he yells out Jeep! when we see one in a parking lot). He is getting close with Plane and Bus--they are Pluh and Bah, but he uses them in context so I know what he means. He WANTS to say Tractor and Car, but they sound nothing like what they are supposed to just yet.
• He is Mr. Independent when getting things in/out of the fridge. We made him his own shelf at his eye level, so now he can go and get his water, milk, strawberries, or other food when he wants them. It is a blessing and a curse--when he was first opening and closing the door to get things, my reaction was to lock down the doors (and I did with safety straps). The straps got in MY way, though, when I needed to get things out, so I took them off. If I'm trying to cook dinner or he's just opening it too much, I do attach the strap again just for my sanity (and tell him it's 'closed' for now).
• He's making more and more connections about which things go with which/what things are supposed to do. 
• For instance, he will get my hair dryer out from under the sink and reach the plug up towards the outlet for me to plug it in. 
• While we were camping this weekend, he took Ben and Adie's keys and went over to their car's keyhole and tried to put the key in the keyhole. 
• He (ewww!) grabs the toilet brush and tries to clean the toilet. 
• He will put his burpcloths away when we're putting away laundry! (They have a drawer, and he will take them over, open the drawer, and put them inside--awesome! I no longer use them for eating, obviously, but I do use them under his bum on the changing table so I don't have to change the cover itself as often.) 
• He just grabbed the Q-tips this morning and held one up to his ear, like he was cleaning it (I kept a close eye in case he accidentally jabbed it too far in his ear.) 
• He's also getting much better at puzzles.
• He is still obsessed with the Cars movie and Thomas the Train stuff at Target. We've borrowed Ben and Adie's copy of Cars for now--we might take it with us on our car trip to Michigan in a few weeks. I found a few Cars books at a garage sale last week, so we've read the whole story (I think) and  also a book just on Mater, so we are learning the story and characters with him. [Side note: Kevin does a hilarious Mater voice when he reads to Lewis--it's awesome.]
• He is still obsessed with cars, planes, buses, Jeeps, planes, tractors, etc. in all of his books and out in the world.
• He is getting much better eating with a spoon and fork, and he is starting to take small bites off of bigger things (toast, pizza, banana, etc.) instead of us always cutting things up into smaller pieces.
• He dances quite a lot--usually in his high chair. His signature move is swaying his arms back and forth (like 'Throw your hands in the air and wave 'em like you just don't care'). Sometimes he also shakes his head or claps his hands. I still need to get video of it!
• Sort of along the lines of dancing, he has started going this funny little scoot with his feet. I call it the 'Truffle Shuffle,' but it doesn't look like the one from The Goonies. It's just his feet--he'll just shuffle them and kind of smile to himself--almost like he's found a much better/more fun way of getting from Point A to Point B.
• Just this morning, he started spinning in a circle (and eventually falling down from dizziness). Just one more way for him to get some bumps and bruises! :)
• He has become a lot more steady on the stairs, going both up and down. We still trail him, just in case he slips, but he'll really gotten surefooted on them.
• After Kevin reads to him at bedtime, he'll tell him it's time for bed, and Lew walks over to the crib and grabs the railings (ready for Kevin to boost him over the side). We've been a little out of sync the past few weeks with naps (and some early wake-ups) because of allergies/a cold, but things seem to be getting better the past few days.
• He has not made any more escape attempts since the Great Toddler Bed Debacle, thankfully. I still put him in a sleep sack at naptime (with his t-shirt underneath), but we are putting him in footed pajamas at bedtime and he has been fine (hasn't escaped yet). So hooray for that!

Haunted Hike at Creasey Mahan

Saturday afternoon we headed out to Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve for their Haunted Hike--they had a great turnout and did a really nice job! The haunted trail was full of cartoon characters (and not scary), and Lewis enjoyed running along the trail and getting candy along the way. They also had booths, a hayride (with a long line...we skipped that), and an area with bigger inflatables (we skipped that, too),

Mom and Dad decided that morning to come down and join us, so we were glad they were able to go. We also met up with Tonya from Mom Group and her son, Carlton, and husband, Bo. The weather was perfectly fall-like for most of the time--then it really chilled down while we were eating dinner. I was glad because I'd worried that Lew's costume would be too warm, but it was just right. :)

 Dada with Lewis the Lion

 Roar! 

 

 The tail! Oh, the tail...

 

 Checking out a (fake) spider 

  :)

 

Lewis says, "Hi, Carlton!" 

Along the haunted trail, they had one inflatable that Lewis could run around in--I wasn't sure how he'd do, but he loved it! He could have stayed in there for hours--we had to have Kevin go in and get him because he couldn't/wouldn't leave on his own. :)

 

 

 

  

  So much fun!

 Running ahead on the trail...

  

He was skeptical about some/most of the characters. 

 And excited to find a few construction trucks next to Bob the Builder. 

 Not sure what to think. 

 Ride 'em, cowboy!

(The bull was taxidermy-ed, in a bucking stance.)

 Who the heck are you?

 

 Halloween 2012

 Raptor Rehab had a booth with 3 owls on display, so we stopped to talk to the girl for a bit (and learned quite a lot!). 

 Barn Owl

 Eastern Screech Owl

 Great Horned Owl

Her name was something funny like Hagitha, and they call her Hag. She's apparently not that friendly, and I think the girl said she's 16-17 years old. So, an old hag. :)

 Carlton, kicked back and relaxed watching the Barn Owl. :)

 What a fun afternoon! 

 Thanks again for coming down, Papaw and Gramma!

We have plans to get to the zoo for their big Halloween Party one weekend this month, too, so Lewis will get to wear his costume at least 1 more time.

Goodbye, Tomatoes...I'm Not Sure I Ever Want to See You Again

I slaughtered the tomato plants this morning. To say it was satisfying is an understatement. :) They'd slowed down production the past few weeks, and the cherry (tomato) plant was starting to block the sidewalk where the garage's side door is. It was time. :)

A few last shots of the cherry (hiding the 2nd tomato plant somewhere in there), in all her glory:

 

 If you can't tell, she is planted on the left end and has spread allllll the way to the right end of the raised bed.

 Mighty root ball (of the cherry)

And after the slaughter:

 

 Lewis, helping me scoop the dirt out, one handful at a time, onto the patio...

Three lawn bags full

I really hope all of the rotten tomatoes that dropped don't try to come back next year. I'm not sure that I want that many tomatoes ever again.

All that's left now is a sweet bell pepper plant. I thought those were a 'summer' thing, but they've just shown up over the past month or so. I guess we'll taste them soon and see if they are any good. I would say the garden's successes were tomatoes, zucchini, and basil (and maybe bell pepper). The failures were peas, green beans, and strawberries, all of which were shaded out by the cherry tomato plant.