October Playgroup

We had our monthly playgroup today & all of the little ones wore their costumes. To say that Joshua was unhappy would be huge understatement. He screamed & kicked the entire time! I think the costume made him hot & mad. But he also wanted to run around & got mad whenever I would turn him around to go back to the group. Needless to say, we did not get any pictures with the other kids sitting in the hay with a pumpkin. The only ones we managed were in the parking lot in stollers (which also made him very unhappy). There were a few other little ones that showed up after these pictures were taken. I wish I could have gotten some pictures of them as well, but I was way too busy chasing mine around!

We had a bumblebee, a dog, the cookie monster, a pumpkin, and a bear.

Our Pumpkin

Our second year to carve a pumpkin:

Zoo With Daddy

John's first time with the Lorikeets. He loved it, and Joshua was so excited that he forgot to try to touch them. That is actually a good thing, though! At one point John had about a dozen birds all over him.

The best picture I could get of these two. The tiger is right up at the glass on the days I forget my camera, so we were glad that he somewhat cooperated the day I had my camera!

The carousel was decorated for Halloween & was running backwards. The ride seemed to last forever (& I was watching from the outside)....John was a little disoriented when he came off. I mean, it really ran for like 3 entire songs!

Carousel

He loves the carousel!

Playgroup at the Zoo

They've grown up so much since last year when we went! Below is a picture from last September.

Then & Now

Pumpkin Patch October 2007

Pumpkin Patch October 2008

It's amazing how fast things change! This year we had a hard time getting him to sit still long enough to take a picture.

The Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch again this year. We decided to venture into the petting zoo...though I think they called it a "Learning Farm". Joshua loved it! They had bunnies, a pig, a pony, an alpaca, goats, sheep, chickens, and a calf. The goats were very hungry...they tried to bite our pants & stroller!

Our best attempt at a family portrait. Joshua just wanted to run around. He loved running in the teepees they had set up.

Becoming Friends

I think Belle has finally decided that we are keeping Joshua. She still doesn't like him most of the time but is starting to tolerate him a bit. If this was a video you would probably hear growling!

No Veggies!!

So, we have been dealing with Joshua not wanting to eat vegetables for a while now. I know its pretty typical for toddlers, but really...he needs some vegetables every now and then. He thinks he can live off of mac & cheese and teddy grahams, but I'm not so sure. I have found a few tricks that work with him, so I thought I would share.

1. Take frozen vegetables & put them in your blender until they become a powder. Put the powder back in the freezer, and you can use it to add to mac & cheese or other sauces. Joshua didn't even seem to notice when I put it in his mac & cheese!

2. This sounds crazy, but his pediatrician recommended it when Joshua was around 10 months old & refused to let me spoon feed him anymore. Give him frozen peas. Don't cook them....just give him the frozen peas. I had not done this in a while, so had really forgotten about it. I tried it the other night and he loved it. It doesn't work all of the time, but he will usually eat at least a few. Maybe he likes them now because he is cutting his molars (still) and the cold peas feel good??

3. The cookbook, First Meals by Annabelle Karmel, has great suggestions on some pasta sauces. One uses butternut squash, which Joshua loved. Now, a lot of these recipes take some time & effort, so I often don't use them until I am desperate, but the butternut squash pasta sauce was pretty easy.

Maybe he will get back to eating vegetables other than sweet potatoes one day...though I don't expect that day to come any time soon!

Happy (Late) Birthday Uncle Jason!!

My brother, Jason, moved to Philadelphia 6 months ago. His birthday was last week...I meant to post this then but am just now getting around to it! Anyway, Joshua loves his Uncle Jason....he always points to his picture the most in his book of family pictures. Hope you had a great birthday Jason! Joshua is cheering on the Phillies!