Happy Halloween!

Finally a timely blog entry! Halloween was only last night, so while I'm still on a sugar high, I'll show you some fun pictures from the big day. We didn't get nearly as many trick-or-treaters as we were expecting, so we had a little bit of leftover candy. Luckily we decided to use it up by playing a candy-eating game (think drinking games with candy...). Or wait, that's not right, we actually just ate the candy AND played games. And life on Halloween night was good.

Anyway, the Halloween festivities started the night before with the pumpkin carving session. Even though it was warm enough to be outside, it was too dark, so we set up newspapers in the kitchen and got to work. First, Hayden tried out our pumpkin as a seat one more time. (and yes, she has a bit of a runny nose these days. That's something they don't warn you about when you have kids - the amount of mucus one little kid can produce...)

We soon got down to the business of digging the guts out of the pumpkin. Hayden was excited to help. She kept grabbing my spoon, which made it hard for me to scoop the innards - eventually we just got one out for her to use. I thought it was funny that basically Hayden put her whole arm into the pumpkin, and she still couldn't reach the bottom of it. That didn't stop her from trying! I'm not sure she ever really touched the pumpkin guts - though she did get seeds stuck to random body parts.


Even Blizzard joined in the fun by eating a pumpkin seed and then trying to lick the pumpkin guts off my hand. (notice the tongue!) I guess dogs don't discriminate between jack-o-latern pumpkins and pie pumpkins. They all taste good!


Finally, right before bed, our work was complete. We put a candle inside and showed Hayden the finished product. We also did the obligatory child and pumpkin pose. I just love those pumpkin-n-kid pictures!

The next day was Halloween and Hayden's daycare did a little parade around the Penn Stater. Hayden got to dress up as a Nittany Lion, thanks to the donation of one of Jason's co-workers. Needless to say, she was adorable and the costume was a big hit with the crowd. Hayden rode in the stroller, while other friends in the class got to ride in the big daycare wagon. Even some of the adults gathered to watch the parade got dressed up - Hayden's favorite was the person in the big banana costume!

Back at school, the class tried to do a group photo. I'm not sure one year olds really get costumes yet, or Halloween, or group photos. Many of them are not happy (including Hayden) - but the costumes are cute!



After a long day, we made it back home and set things up to receive trick-or-treaters: turned on the porch light, replaced the doorbell battery, put candy in our pumpkin pail. Around 5:30 pm, our friends - Brittany, Sarah and Brad - came over. We hung outside for a bit and Hayden had a great time wandering around. She's started this new thing of running in place when she gets really excited and happy - she might be dancing, or just being silly. Whatever it is, it's super cute and she's usually got a huge grin on her face. Amazingly, she even did this silly running-in-place dance next to the jack-o-latern! Notice the knee up as she moves her feet super fast. I don't know who's got the bigger grin!

Once back inside, we had to put the Nittany Lion costume back on. A kid has to wear a costume on Halloween night - plus everybody wanted to see it in person. Hayden tolerated it quite well as we bribed her with goldfish.

All in all, we had a great Halloween. Hayden didn't mind dressing up (though we didn't go trick-or-treating). Blizzard didn't completely lose her mind as small children in strange outfits rang the doorbell over and over. (plus we didn't make Blizz wear her Darth Vader costume!) Brad and Sarah managed to make a game out of refilling the pumpkin pail with candy - basically chucking candy at whoever was holding the bucket. (Hayden thought they were hilarious!) As an added bonus, once the trick-or-treaters had disappeared into the night, and Hayden was tucked into bed, there was still plenty of candy left to fuel a game of Sorry AND a game of Canasta.

The scariest part of the whole day wasn't even when we watched someone eat a rattlesnake on TV. It was probably when I donned a costume in the afternoon since Hayden sure looked at me a little funny when we picked her up from school. Oh wait, that's right, it wasn't a costume - I just got a haircut! Let's hope it's not too scary when I wash it and let it curl! :)

Happy Halloween!!!

Fall Fun

It's October and that means it's officially fall. We've been lucky enough over the past week or two to have some really beautiful fall weather, which is well timed with the changing of the leaves. I just love the bright fall colors up against a vivid blue sky. Ahhhhh! All together, it makes being outside quite delightful, and we've really tried to take advantage of the nice weather while it lasts. (It has snowed in October before!!!)

A week or so ago, my dad came up to State College for a conference. (how great is it that he has a conference in State College! What are the odds?!!!) It was wonderful to have him visit and see all of Hayden's new tricks - even though she wasn't running at 100% due to a nasty cold, at least at the beginning of his visit. On the last day of the conference, dad played hookie and we went out for a hike, heading up to walk Jackson Trail off Route 26. The trail was a bit rocky, but relatively level since it follows the mountain ridge - nice when carrying a 23 lb baby on your back! We went as far as David's Vista where we took a few pictures and let Hayden try to do some rock climbing.
We even managed to get all three of us in a picture together. Can you believe that everyone is actually looking at the camera?!!! Now if only Blizzard could stick her face up next to ours! Even though Blizzard missed out on the group shot, she still had a good time scrambling over the rocks, investigating smells and climbing on logs. Yep, that's right, our dog can climb trees. When we made it back to the car, the clouds had started to disperse and the sun was coming out. It wasn't completely clear, but we still had a pretty good view down into Happy Valley at Jo Hays Vista. After waking up from a little catnap on the return trip, Hayden was in good spirits and managed a cute little smile on the bench looking out over the valley. (but she wasn't very impressed with the view.)
She eagerly took some water when offered it (it's hard work riding on someone's back!) and was happy to help carry Blizzard's leash and her cup back to the car. Thanks for the great visit Poppop!
Our next fall adventure was last weekend when we decided to experience the Fall Festival at Way Fruit Farm for the first time. It was a very busy that day because the weather was absolutely gorgeous - 70s and bright sunshine! Even Sarah Palin stopped by in the morning, though I can't say that I was excited to hear the news. We brought Brittany along with us and bumped into Kathy and her kids, and our neighbors -Mandy, Scott and Noah! Such a popular Saturday destination!

First we went on a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. Hayden thought the tractor was pretty cool, and enjoyed the ride.

At the pumpkin patch, we searched and searched for the best pumpkin to take home with us. Hayden (and Mommy) were a little bit overwhelmed by all the choices. They all looked great - so nice and round and orange...

...luckily Daddy stuck with it and picked out a great one. Brittany was drawn to a non-traditional pumpkin - one that was still green! We thought it was a good lesson for Hayden to learn that pumpkins come in all different shapes and colors. :)

Brittany was also nice enough to take a family photo. Aren't we cute?!!
Hayden had a great time sitting next to Brittany on the ride back from the patch. Once back at the farm, we let Hayden wander around the pumpkins set out for people who didn't feel the need for the pumpkin patch experience. She liked using the pumpkins as a drum and trying to pick them up to practice her weight-lifting.

Hayden discovered that the best thing about pumpkins was that they make perfect seats! She sat on all different pumpkins - finding a good one, turning around and backing up to it oh so carefully, then kind of wiggling/bouncing around to get comfortable. Who knew pumpkins are such good places to sit?

Being Silly

While having a one year old can be challenging and frustrating (like wrestling her during diaper changes or dealing with her newly discovered protest skills when she doesn't get Cheerios from the box she pulled out of the pantry), it can also be a WHOLE lot of fun. Hayden is getting sillier by the day -Jason and I are loving every minute of it! Here are a few examples...

Eating jello. Who knew Jello could be so much fun?! I love how the picture demonstrates her developing utensil skills. Emphasis on "developing" since she's holding the spoon but eating with her fingers! (She is making progress. She did actually request a spoon to eat baked beans the other day - and with my help for scooping, she did a pretty good job!) And how she got Jello in her dimple! Ha!


Peek-a-boo. Another silly development is Hayden now sometimes initiates peek-a-boo with us! She hides her face (sometime peeking out) and then spreads her hands wide and smiles as we say "Peek-a-boo!" My favorite is when she does this in the car - when I can only see her in the mirror! So silly!


Loving Blizzard. And of course, she's silly with Blizzard. Luckily, Blizzard tolerates her fairly well. Even when she climbs on her back and then smushes her to the ground. Make sure you imagine Blizz's errr-errr-errrr noises as you look at the pictures! Makes it a more authentic experience!

I love you Blizzard!

Silliness that remains uncaptured by camera - Hayden trying to jump, which consists of her bending her knees OR lifting one foot high off the ground in a big stomp; Hayden starting to enjoy games of "chase" and running around some circuit while screeching and giggling; Hayden learning the word "scream" and screaming when we say scream. Sometimes softly, but usually she likes screaming so much it quickly escalates into a LOUD scream. Hayden constantly asking for more music if we're listening to kids' music (Raffi is a big favorite these days, or her music class CD). Hayden grabbing a pillow off the couch, carrying it across the floor and then flopping on it. Hayden saying "WHEEEEE" on the slide, or on the swings. She's one silly little girl!

Are these two cute or what?!

One Afternoon of Fun

A couple of weeks ago (yes, it's becoming apparent that I'm not a very timely blogger), it was a lovely afternoon when Hayden and I were home together. We decided to go outside to enjoy the day and explore the great outdoors. Since it was such a pretty day, I brought along the camera to document and ended up with some pretty cute pictures.

We started out on the back patio. Hayden spent some time climbing on her picnic table (thanks Aunt Brit and Aunt Megan!). She then moved onto climbing into and out of her child-size patio chair.

We very quickly moved off the patio and into the backyard. Hayden had fun squatting and looking for treasures in the dirt. I think she found some beat-up acorns and a couple rocks - she was quite pleased!
Even with dirt and child-sized furniture, the backyard just wasn't interesting enough, so we headed down the back path, heading towards the ponds to look for ducks. Going down the path (which has a slight slope to it) at speed is great fun to Hayden - not so much to me since I'm slightly terrified she's going to take a tumble and bash up her face. Oh the joy of Mommy worry!
Hayden seemed to have met her match at the top of the stairs - here she looks down at the great descent. But with a steadying hand from Mommy, she actually negotiated them quite well.
We lucked out - there were ducks in the first pond. I like this picture because it captures Hayden responding to my question "Where are the ducks?" She can't quite see them, so she throws her hands up in response "I don't know, where are they?"
Looking at ducks is only exciting for a little bit, especially when they aren't nearly as tame as the ones on Aunt Lori's old pond so they swim away to the other side of the pond. We decided to loop around the pond and see what we could see. Hayden found a lovely little plant that was producing berries. She worked on her pincer grasp while I walked the fine line between taking a neat picture and keeping her child from eating a poisonous substance...

We pointed out the different flowers that we saw - purple and yellow. And the bees and dragonflies, but I don't think you can see that in the picture! :)
Back up on the path, Hayden practiced the magical move all children can do (but very few adults) - squat very, very, very low to the ground. How do they do that?!
Exploring the great outdoors can make a little girl kind of tired - so on the way back, Hayden got some love from her belly and thumb. Ahh, the soothing powers of a self-belly rub.
We finally made it back home and headed around front. Hayden indulged in one of her favorite activities lately - sitting on the stoop. She often points for us to sit down next to her (I think that's why her right hand is pointing). As soon as we sit down, she's up and off to check out something else!
It was quite a lovely afternoon exploring the great outdoors. Feel free to come join us any time! (Though I recommend coming before the snow sets in...) After all, who wouldn't want to spend an afternoon with this smiling face?!