9 months old

At nine months old, Danielle is really starting to communicate with the world. She says "Hi!" and waves, initiates peek-a-boo, will give a hug when asked, and just started offering up those big open-mouth, gummy-grinned kisses. So sweet! She loves to dance to music, crawls everywhere, pulls herself up to her knees and is trying hard to figure out how to get to standing.  She is curious and happy. She still doesn't have any teeth! For the most part she sleeps through the night.  She wants to be in the mix with her brother and sister, loves her baby swim lessons and bathtime. 

Object permanence is a concept she has grasped this month, and she has recently discovered the joy of dropping her toys/cup/blanket on the ground and saying uh oh (eh-eh) as it falls. :)  Nathan and Natalie are usually very willing participants in this game, picking up the item time and again to their baby sister's glee.

Her nine month appointment is later this week, so I will update with her stats soon!

Pumpkin Patch

The weekend before Halloween, we all headed out to the pumpkin patch for some fall fun. It was the first cold morning of the season, so we bundled up! Nathan's friend Eleanor had her birthday party there that morning, so we got to celebrate with her, and had early access to all of the fun stuff. This place is one of the most popular spots in town for fall fun, so it was really awesome not to have to navigate the crowds. I was even able to get all three kids looking approximately in the direction of the camera!

Natalie's Ballet Class!

As a reward for successfully potty training, Natalie got to start taking ballet class! I'm not sure which one of us was more excited. :)  She has class once a week, and the half hour class that is really fun and informal. For the first few weeks, as is her way, Natalie did more watching than dancing. I don't think it totally clicked that she was supposed to do what the teacher was doing. But when it clicked, she jumped in with both feet! I die of the cuteness that is 11 3-4 year olds laughing and dancing every week.

At the end of the first six week session, Natalie had a mini recital for the residents of a local nursing home. I wasn't sure how she would respond to performing in front of a room full of people, but she loved it! I guess she's her mother's daughter. :)

Halloween Fun

Lots of Halloween photos in this post, ya'll! We started the celebrations the weekend before Halloween, when Nathan, Natalie, and Danielle's friends Trey, Ty, and Harper hosted a Halloween party at their house. It was a perfect, sunny fall afternoon, and the kids had a blast.

This year's costumes: traffic light, purple butterfly, adorable baby in a tutu

The night before Halloween, we got down to some pumpkin carving business. Both kiddos were very excited to draw their pumpkin face carving plan.

Todd and I helped with the actual carving, and then it came time to scoop. Nathan was NOT into it. He didn't like the slime. His sister, however, was all about it. Natalie cleaned out her pumpkin and then helped Nathan with his!

On Halloween day, I went to Natalie's preschool for the annual Halloween parade. I love it because it is a bunch of little kids looking mystified by the fact that they are all dressed funny, all their parents are at school with them, and said parents are taking hundreds of photos. :)  Amazingly, there were no Elsas! Just one Anna.

Purple butterfly on the move

Natalie and her best buddy Riley

Preschool room girls

In what has become a treasured tradition, we went over to Suzanne and Bryan's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. Ellie, dressed as Audrey Hepburn, had already left with her group of friends by the time I got out my camera, but the younger ones humored me briefly before heading out into the COLD evening for trick-or-treating. Yes, my friends, although it was 70 degrees on Monday, but Friday's Halloween celebrations there was snow on the ground! Sigh. It's the only time I have found myself wishing that I lived back in the South again. I love having four seasons, but trick-or-treating in the snow is not much fun, at least for the grown-ups! It was marvelous to spend time with Suz and Bryan and their kids though. They are dear friends, and they only live a few miles from us, but busy schedules mean that we rarely get together. Thank goodness I work with Suz so I get to see her on a daily basis!