Baby's 1st Halloween!

Dear Chuy,


This past weekend we celebrated our first Halloween with you on the outside.


You were totally in my belly last Halloween, which made me extremely tired and hungry for candy...


This year, you're out, so, it was time for pumpkins, costumes, and pint sized Halloween parties!


First up, they had a little party for you guys at your escuela. It was super cute.


You made your costume, although, you didn't seem very fond of wearing it...




You made a little Trick or Treat canister too - I didn't even know about it - it was an awesome crafty surprise!

Ozzy was very fond of the contents of the canister - sugar cookies wrapped in plastic bag... cat favorite...



They took school pictures that day too - I thought a tuxedo t-shirt and driver's cap were in order...

Such a handsome man!



So, that night, we carved our pumpkins - I actually just drew your design on yours - after Daddy and I carved our giant pumpkins, our hands were tired and we didn't feel like carving another...



You'll just have to get bigger so you can carve your own!



In the meantime, I drew a lion pattern on your pumpkin - cause you love the lions!

The next day was Halloween and we attended a Pint Sized Halloween party thrown by our friends Jen, Chris, and Tallulah...



We were the Family Wolf...

You and Daddy had a good time wolfing it up...

All your baby buddies were there...



We took another pic of you, Clover, and Tallulah on the couch - man, you guys were all so much smaller last time we did this...

When we got home from the party, I thought you'd be stone cold tired and ready for a big nap, but you were wide awake and ready to play!



So we took a stroll around the neighborhood...

Then we lounged and watched the Halloween episode of Yo Gabba Gabba..

Halloween night, your Dad and I handed out candy to the neighborhood kids and watched a scary movie... you were finally ready for your big nap...

All in all, I think it was the best Halloween ever and I'm a little sad because we're never going to celebrate your first Halloween ever again...

The Pumpkin Patch!

Chuy and I met up with some of his baby friends (and some of my mommy friends) at the Pumpkin Patch this past weekend.

I thought it would be a perfect time to show off his skeleton outfit and candy corn shoes and get some awesome pics with my new fancy camera...

Little man still refuses to look at the camera or look happy in any pictures, but the lighting was nice and the background was very... Halloweeny...

Check it out!

Oh well... someday maybe he'll look at the camera - heck, he might even smile for it once in a while... he's still cute as can be and we definitely had fun at the patch - although the photographic evidence of said fun doesn't exist, so, you'll just have to take my word for it...

4 months old!

Dear Chuy,

One year ago today, I wasn't feeling very well - tired, hungry, nauseous, etc... so, I went to Target on my lunch break and bought a pregnancy test... and then it came up positive... and then I texted your Daddy that he might want to come home from work early because I had something to tell him... yes, I told your Dad that we were pregnant through the magic of texting.

I can't begin to explain the journey that began that day, but what I can say is this - I'm so very happy that two pink lines turned up on that test that day and am even happier that you made it to the outside world safe and sound...

So, now you're four months old and have already started to get your first tooth! What? Huh? Tooth? Really? Yes, I said tooth!

You've also moved into sleeping in your crib at night - which is going far better than I expected it would - it's still a little weird putting you down and leaving the room, but you seem to be doing just fine with it.

In other news, your Halloween costume is complete! I won't spoil the entire outfit here and now, but will give a sneak peek at how cute you look in the hat portion...



Speaking of hats, I tried out working with fleece for the first time this past week - whipping up not one but two warm winter hats for you - here's the dinosaur hat...

...and here you are in your skeleton outfit with matching pirate hat that I found in the dollar spot at Target - wow, keep mentioning the Target here on this post today - it's quickly turning into my favorite store...

Are you almost smiling while you look directly at the camera? Weird... are you okay?

Love,

Mommy

My little strong man...

My buddy Vickie Howell has just launched a new bi-monthly column over at PBS Parents! It's called Craft Apparent, and this month, it features four completely awesome baby Halloween costume ideas that go easy on your budget as well as your time and skill level!

Baby Quinn was asked to be a model for one of the costumes... Baby Strong Man...

I love that all the costumes featured in the column start with a plain white onesie. This one was dyed with coffee for the 'skin tone' effect! A little embroidery floss for the fake chest hair, some glitter cheetah fabric, felt, yarn, and fabric paint for the barbell and bing-bang-boom - baby strong man!

Getting a mustache on Mr. Man turned out to be a bit of a challenge, but we worked as a team and figured it out!

Head on over to PBS Parents to check out the rest of the costumes, you'll be glad you did!

No papparazzi, please...

My in-laws always joke that if you even so much as remove your camera from it's case around me, I will automatically pose and smile for it. Maybe it's all the theatre I did as a kid, maybe it's my Leo nature, but I never met a camera I didn't like.

My son, on the other hand, has a mission - to never ever look directly at a camera and to certainly never ever smile for one. It's become his life's work and he's very dedicated to his cause.

Over the weekend, I decided that since it's officially October now, that we could start dressing him in his Halloween pajamas. He looked so cute and was so smiley about it, I grabbed the camera. What followed has been documented below...

















I swear to you, he would be looking, posing, smiling, etc. right up until I would click to take a picture, then he would turn his head away lightening fast... like an anti-picture ninja...

Hopefully this is just a phase? At least his Daddy and I know that he is a smiley happy baby - we just don't have photographic evidence to back up our case...

17 weeks!

Dear Chuy,

So sorry for my radio silence lately - I've been a very bad blogger and need to just jump in and start again - whether I'm feeling bloggy or not...

You are 17 weeks old this week and oh my gosh - are you a different baby. It's like somebody turned a light bulb on in your head. You are noticing everything, wanting to touch everything, wanting to put everything you touch into your mouth - it's awesome. You're smiling, laughing, even getting scared at things - which I find cute even though it makes you cry. I just love that you're so aware...

You started at your new escuela two weeks ago... so far, so good! You seem to really like your teacher and your baby friends there. You've been doing all sorts of crazy activities - from painting pictures (with paint and pudding), to getting to feel and play with whip cream.

Miss Linda keeps you busy over there and I couldn't be happier! Even their viruses are kinder and gentler - you only got a goopy eye and a chunky cough this time around - no hospitals or meningitis... yay!

In other news, we all attended Sylvie and Pen's 1st birthday party - it was monkey themed and I think you had a good time. You certainly looked sharp in your matching shirt with Daddy... oh, and check out those awesome hot rod shoes you're wearing... I made those for you!

Speaking of shoes, I also made you a rockin pair of fake snakeskin shoes... but you don't seem to be a fan of those yet...

At our monthly dinner party, you and Clover both decided to coordinate the matching zebra outfits... you guys have secret talks about stuff, don't you? Is that why you don't want to use the pacifier anymore?

Last week, the temp dipped below 90 for a couple of days, which, here in Texas, is known as 'winter'... so, I had to rush to your closet and bundle you up before you caught a chill. You look so handsome in your hand knit sweater made by a friend of ours... such a good lookin little man!

Very soon you are going to be four months old, and very very soon, we are going to have to make the move from the bassinet to the crib... in your room... by yourself... all night. I'm sure you'll be fine, but I'm all in a tizzy about it.

Too fast! Too fast! I want to savor these moments!

Love,

Mommy

3 Months Old!

Dear Chuy,

Man... so much has happened to you since I last wrote. Where to start? Where did we leave off? Oh yes, day care...

You attended that particular day care for less than two weeks. I didn't mention this to you earlier, but the director of old day care sold it to some random people one week before we started taking you there... and never mentioned it to us... pretty lame, huh? Well, it gets worse.

Your first week, you caught a virus from one of the yucky kids there. Unfortunately for you, your virus turned into viral meningitis and you were hospitalized for two days. I was completely freaked out and took the next week off from work to take care of you.

The last place I ever wanted to return to was that place, but your Daddy and I thought that perhaps the worst is over - kids get sick - yada yada... So, we went back.

Your second week, the ladies that usually take care of you there weren't working one day. Instead, the new director and her assistant were in the baby room. Once we arrived home, I discovered that they hadn't changed your diaper THE WHOLE TIME YOU HAD BEEN THERE... all day... 6 hours... WTF.

So, we're done. We're not going back there ever again, and yes, I did report them, thanks for asking!

But Mom, where am I going to go now?

Don't worry boy - I have not one, but two fantastic new options for you - just trying to figure out which one is more awesome, but I assure you, people will be changing your diaper all the time from now on.

In other news, we went to your buddy Evan's 1st Birthday party. It was a tiny mustache party...


Oh, and I got you a jumpy seat... which seems to be mysterious to you...

It's been a crazy few weeks - I hope I never have to see a nurse put a spinal tap in your back ever ever again. But you've bounced back and are bigger and stronger than ever!

Love,
Mommy