pumpkin carving

One night last week, after we put Alex to bed, the rest of the Moses family squeezed in some pumpkin carving.

V and Daddy started while I was still rocking Alex.

Excited about the pumpkins!

Daddy cut the top holes, and V's job was to scoop the seeds.

Scooping seeds soon morphed into a very V-like OCD exercise of separating the orange guts from the seeds. She was pretty obsessed good about making sure no seeds landed in the garbage.

Then I joined in the fun.

V eventually decided she needed to "help" with the carving part, too.

We carved initials into the two smaller pumpkins. When part of the "A" broke off (V is still telling everyone, "Mommy broke Alex's 'A'!" -- thanks, kid!), Daddy fixed it by reassembling it with a toothpick. And at one point when a stem fell off, Daddy decided to fix it using a Dremel. Extreme pumpkin carving at the Moses house!

Daddy carved the cheery face on the big pumpkin. The real fun was (to Mommy and Daddy) seeing them all lit up, and (to Victoria) blowing the candles out again.

first visit to the dentist

It was time for V's first trip to the dentist. Because our appointments were mid-morning, we dropped Alex off at daycare, and V stayed with Mommy. She was so happy on her way to Duluth: "babies don't get to go to work with Mommy, but big girls do!"

To make it a true Mommy-daughter morning, we stopped at Starbucks. 

She picked out a muffin and apple juice. With huge smiles!

Then, on to "Mommy's work," where she hung out at my desk, visited with the planners at morning coffee, and decorated herself with an entire package of stickers.

There is no such thing as too many stickers.

 

Then, it was time to go! She had gone to the dentist with both Mommy and Daddy 6 months ago to watch as we got our teeth cleaned, to help prep her for the experience. This time around, Mommy got her teeth cleaned first (V again watched, and we talked about the whole process), and then it was V's turn! She got cool sunglasses to shield her from the bright light.

She was opening her mouth before the hygienist was even ready.

They counted her teeth, polished them up, flossed them, and painted them with a little bit of fluoride. The only thing she didn't like was the gloves in her mouth ... so mommy had to help with some of the flossing.

She was such a good girl! Everyone at the dentist's office just loved her and kept commenting on how cute and nice she was.

For her efforts, she got a small bag with toothbrushes (A Dora one for her, and she insisted on bringing them home for Mommy and Daddy), a bouncy ball from their huge ball machine, and her choice of stickers. Like I said earlier, there is no such thing as too many stickers.

One more cute picture to share, from a day earlier this week, when she wanted to bring her dogs Hannah and Victor with us in the car. She decided that Hannah needed shoes, just like she did. Check out which shoes she chose for her Hannah dog!

the kidlets enjoying fall

Everyone loves playing in leaves!

Hanging out with these two reminded me of this day back in Fall 2011. Same spot, different baby:

9 month photos - outtakes

When we took a photo of Alex at 9 months, big sister had to step in to help ... and make sure she got in the pictures too (of course).

She actually didn't take up much more room in the box than her baby brother did!

And here is Alex behind bars ... one of our many attempts to get him to sit still.

my little pumpkin ... picks pumpkins!

Last Saturday, V and I stopped at a stand to pick out pumpkins and gourds for our house. She insisted we pick one of the big pumpkins (not the 3-for-$10 pumpkins). We had lots of fun choosing gourds, knowing that when the season is over they will go in the freezer for Piper's winter fun.

On a side note, it's been cold here and I had to take out Alex's winter hat. It is sooo cute on him and nice and warm! He doesn't look too thrilled that it's winter, does he? (he actually is just tired in this pic, but the look on his face is perfect).

 

Alex 9 months

The only way we could keep Alex in one spot for a picture was to stuff him and Abraham

in a box. A diaper box at that. Whose idea was this? Victoria's of course! What are big

sisters for?! 

Biggest new thing: It's a tie --

1. Mobility. His former mode of lunging and falling forward became a full-fledged crawl. A week and a half later, he learned to climb the stairs into our dining room. And about a week after that, he learned to pull himself up! He is unstoppable now.
2. Teeth. The first tooth, his lower right, poked through last Sunday!

New nickname: "Stinker Baby" (see "mobility" above). He gets into EVERYthing. His sister just peed in the potty chair? He will try to play in it. Left alone for 20 seconds? Beeline for the water dish. Moved the plant up off the floor? He will still find a way to pick off leaves. You just vacuumed? He will pick at the carpeting until he finds a loose fiber, and promptly stuff it into his mouth.

Mom's biggest fear: Choking. (see above).

Favorite toys: the music table and musical push toy. And anything with wheels.

Object most apt to carry around the house: Socks. From any family member (on a good day he finds them from all four of us).

Second most- carried object: Hannah's stuffed ball. Dog slobber, mmmm.

What he hates more than anything: having his face washed. Followed closely by anything that restricts him from crawling.

Most Pavlovian response: to the sound of the puffs container rattling.

Foods: still nursing, plus formula and puréed baby food, with the addition of more solids. He has tried graham crackers, squash, carrots, and blueberry muffins.

His feet: according to the doctor on Monday, they are looking great! Occasionally patients need future casting or procedures, but at this point there is no reason to think these will be needed. And he certainly stands on them just fine.

Sleeping: Bedtime is 6:30 - 7:00, and he sleeps until 5:30 - 6:30. He still wakes up twice a night, hungry little guy that he is. Thankfully Dad has been taking one of the nighttime feedings so Mom is less sleep deprived!

splitting wood at the hunting shack

At the end of September, most of the Reed/Moses clan went to the hunting shack for the day to split wood: Matt and I with the kids and our dogs, my parents, Adam and Molly, and Roger. It was a beautiful day to be out in the sunshine and fresh air ... AND it was Alex's first trip there. I'll let these beautiful pictures in Matt's photo essay speak for themselves ...