Skeletons Like Apples

Well, at least our little skeleton likes apples.  We hope you all had a great Halloween!  We had a lot of fun with Zach and he really enjoyed seeing all the different costumes come to our door.  He patiently waited for the trick or treaters to arrive.

 Here Zach decided to make a face as goofy as the ones we carved on the pumpkins.

 Back to the tasty apples to keep up his energy for the night.

 Keeping an eye out for the dressed up children.

 Rich ran outside to get the trick or treater's perspective.

 We got a lot of compliments on our pumpkins.  Oddly enough there weren't that many houses on our street that carved jack-o-lanterns this year.

 Zach finished the evening still manning his post.

Pumpkin Festival & Apple Holler

Last weekend we took Zach to a pumpkin festival.  A town just a little north of us has started having a festival each year with the goal being to beat the world record for the number of carved and illuminated pumpkins in one location.   It is actually quite impressive and really fun to see.  They block off the street for a few blocks and the whole town is lined with racks and racks of pumpkins.  I don't think these photos will do it justice but hopefully you get the idea. And of course we found a big pumpkin to put our own little pumpkin on.

This weekend we took a drive up to Wisconsin to visit Apple Holler.  What better way to spend a fall day then by picking apples and pumpkins?  Zach just really enjoyed the bumpy wagon ride and hanging out with his cousin Connor.  Oh, and the goats were pretty exciting too.

 Too bad he doesn't have the teeth to really take a big bite out of this apple.

11 months....for real this time.

We found our camera cord!  Woohoo!  So here are Zach's 11 month photos.  It was an immense challenge to get him to sit still long enough to get a couple of shots.

11 months!

Yay!  Zach is 11 months old today.  I was hoping to post our standard monthly photo but unfortunately we can't find the cord to connect the camera to the computer.  We took a couple of photos but I guess you will just have to wait a day or two to see them.  This evening has been a bit rough between Zach getting sick and then waking up screaming with teething gums.  Ick!  Basically we've had a lot of clean up and soothing to do.  Don't worry.....I made Zach help.  I snapped this with my phone and thought I would share.  It's never to young to pitch in on the household chores (especially if you are the one that made the mess)!

Chilly

The weather here in Chicago is starting to get a bit chilly.  The afternoons are still nice but the mornings and evenings are a bit brisk.  Anyway, I may have jumped the gun a little today with winter attire but it was only in the low 40s when Rich was taking Zach to daycare.  I couldn't resist a picture of our sock monkey in his down jacket!  Thank you Lynn and Sarah for the awesome outerwear.

 And I think Zach played hard today.  He was tuckered out on the way home today.

 He started out the day with socks on but he doesn't like keeping those on. Oh well....at least his head and upper body are warm!

Busy busy...

It seems like we have been busy lately and I've been a little lax on updating the blog so here are a flurry of photos from the past couple of weeks.  We've been having lots of fun with Zach.  He is certainly moving around much more these days.  He is crawling, pulling up on furniture, and jabbering non-stop.  I just wish I knew what he was saying.

Here is a quick shot I took after bath time one evening.  Yep...that's a ducky robe he is wearing.  Thanks Lynn!  He has almost outgrown his ducky bathwear.

While Nana and Grandpa came to visit we took a trip to the zoo.  It was a little cool and windy but we still had fun.  I'm definitely planning to take Zach back once he gets a little more excited about the animals. 

 Here is Nana and Grandpa with Zach during our trip to the zoo.  We took advantage of the beautiful skyline for a photo.

Zach and I walked to the Firehouse restaurant for a date night and had fun with the firetrucks.  Rich joined us a little later but Zach and I were on our own for a bit.  The waiter was kind enough to give him a truck to play with at the table. 

And of course we had to put him in the firetruck by the entrance. 

 This past weekend we had the La Vigne family over for a fun afternoon.  Here is Zach with his younger cousin Conner (6 mos) on a wagon ride to the park. 

Neither one of the boys could get enough of the swings.  They are just so much fun!  You should have heard all the giggling.

 Here is Grandma and Grandpa with the little guys. 

And last but not least.....Zach is getting used to his new toy bin.  He has figured out how to flip it on its side and crawl right in to get the toys.  He has so much fun with the simplest toys so far.

On the Move

This video is now a couple of weeks old so Zach is actually moving even better and faster now but here's a clip of his transition to full on crawling.  Thankfully he started crawling the morning that Nana and Grandpa were due to arrive.  He just barely avoided Grandpa's crawling bootcamp! 

He still pulls out the army crawl when he gets in a hurry but for the most part he is crawling on all fours and beginning to pull himself up with nearby furniture.   Eek!  I think Rich and I are in trouble.