Pumpkins, costumes, and birthdays

Last week, we went to the pumpkin patch at the church where Mama works. We got three pumpkins. A tiny one for Michael, a little one for Dillon, and a big one for Mama and Daddy.

 Dillon drew faces on all of them. His pumpkin got several faces.

 Last Sunday, we went to a carnival at Michael's day care. Michael didn't have a costume yet, but Dillon was Buzz Lightyear™.

 First, we had hot dogs.

 Michael had fun hanging out in the stroller and watching everyone.

 Dillon played in a bounce house,

 went fishing for candy,

 and made spin art. He had lots of fun.

 The big pumpkin was the last to be decorated, so Dillon gave it one. We're waiting a bit to carve it so it will last longer.

Mama's computer died, so we sent it to Tapa for him to fix it. When we got it back, Mama also got a new (to us) laptop.

 Michael liked it even before it was turned on. There was a really happy baby waving at him in it.

 Yesterday, after walking in Race for the Cure and watching the Hogs at Nana and Babba's house, we went to Mimi and Papa's house for October birthday dinner. Dillon had to help everyone blow out the candle.

 Michael had fun playing.

Somehow both boys ended up in a chair together. Getting them both to look at the same camera is nigh impossible.

Dillon decided Uncle Danny needed to read night-night stories.

 Tonight, Dillon decided that we needed to play hide-and-seek in the bathtub. There's not much place to hide there.

After Michael got out, he crawled back to play with brother some more. He does seem to like that big brother.

Boys

Life has been busy again, so here's random pictures.

Dillon knows all of his letters, and can say what all the letters in a word are. Now we just have to get all the letter sounds down.

 Both boys like wagon rides. Michael cried every time we stopped.

Dillon got a cupcake for Daddy's birthday. Something seems not so fair about that, especially since Daddy didn't get one then.

Story, Waffles, Crawling, & Razorbacks

Last Thursday, Cousin Rachel came over for a bit so she didn't have to go all the way home to Benton before she had to go to work. Also, she wanted to watch some dancing show...

 Little did she know she would have to read a bedtime story.

 It's a really funny book.

 Saturday morning, Dillon helped Daddy make waffles for breakfast.

 Michael helped keep Mama entertained by crawling everywhere.

That afternoon, we went to Mama's friend Ashley's house to watch the Razorbacks play. Between she and her sister, there were 4 dogs there, who mostly stayed outside. Here Dillon is sitting with Juno. Michael did not like the dogs. He cried every time one got near, or even when he crawled too close to the back door. We all had a great time, despite the Hogs losing.

Smiling, Alphabet, and Birthday Party

 Michael has started smiling for the camera. All it takes is one flash, and he makes this face.

Here is the "evolution" of Michael's smile.

 Last night, Dillon started playing with his bath tub letters, sticking them on the side of the tub. He would start to sing the alphabet song, and when he got to a letter he didn't have up yet, he'd repeat that letter a few times, then look around and say, "where is the __?" I guess Pre-K is actually sticking with him.

Then, he decided to make a "big 'samwinch'" with his letters.

Michael really likes splashing.

This morning, we went to cousin Spencer's birthday party at Funland in North Little Rock. He had a cupcake cake, and lots of Thomas decorations.

Michael wasn't too interested in presents. He did seem to wonder why he didn't get a cupcake.

Yum!

There was a train that went around the area. We had to wait for it a few times going to and from cars.

Dillon picked out a "Cars 2" character car for Spencer. He seemed to like it.

Spencer's granddad put him in one of the big bags. He didn't seem to want to get out once he was in.

Both boys had a great time with family we see far too seldom.

Little Eyes Watching

Dillon looking back at Chris and myself during the program.  He was skiddish at first to go sit, but he loved sitting with his friend, Anna Grace.

This past Sunday was Promotion Sunday at church.  Since it was 9/11, Miz Liz had a special speaker come in and talk to the children and youth (and some adults, too!).  Elizabeth spoke about how she flew C130s for the Air Force.  Before 9/11, Elizabeth had been a news reporter, however, afterwards she decided she wanted to help.  Her grandfather had been in the Air Force, but neither of her parents were in the military.  She didn't know her grandfather when she was older, but she has met a church member who flew with him, and so she hears story from him about her grandfather.  They looked at a globe that was laid on the gyn floor and "flew" all around the world.  In all honesty, it probably went over Dillon's head a little bit, but he seemed to enjoy it.  After the talk, Miz Liz gave each child an airplane with two Bible verses.  Dillon loved flying the airplanes - especially during church!

(Michael stayed in the nursery.  I knew if we brought him into the gym, the speaker would have help that she didn't need!)

This week at Pre-K has been a little harder than others, however, we're working with Dillon on listening and focusing.  I am sure it will get better soon!

Labor Day Weekend a Week Late

Michael has started to do the "Army crawl" that Dillon did right before he started to fully crawl. He has also figured out how to sit up on his own. We really have to keep an eye on this little guy, or he gets into all kinds of trouble.

 For the first Hogs game, the boys wore Razorback™shirts.

 Dillon likes giving his little brother kisses.

 Little Brother doesn't always like Big Brother′s kisses.

Dillon also got a new booster seat.

 That means that Michael has Dillon′s old one.

For the weekend, we went to Mt. Eagle with Mama′s best-friend-since-diapers Rachel for her family reunion. This picture is what you see out the back window of the lodge we stayed in. It was a bit hazy Saturday & Sunday, but Monday it cleared up beautifully.

There wasn′t a tub there, so Michael got to have a sink bath. Dillon took a shower, but didn′t like it.

The next morning, Michael woke up a bit sooner than Mama did.
After breakfast, we went to the outdoor chapel for some singing and Grandmommy Cruce′s devotional.

After lunch, Nana and Babba came out. Babba had to get some pictures with his new camera, of course.

We all had a wonderful time, and are already planning on going back next year.

School Time

But first, a picture of two loving brothers.

On Monday, Dillon started his first day of Pre-Kindergarten.

He was very excited, and a little confused why we couldn't leave for school at 6:30 am.

While we were waiting for time to go, we took some pictures outside and watched some of the sunrise.

He carried his backpack like a big boy. Shortly after this picture, Daddy ran into and knocked over a (unattached) gate that was across the sidewalk.

Dillon's new room.

He went right to work play.

He said he had a great day, and was so excited today, he woke up at 5am.

Clapping

 Yay!

I can clap!

And my cousin Rachel took some pictures of me, Dillon, Mama and Daddy!

River Market and Baths

Last Saturday, we went downtown and spent the afternoon at the Little Rock River Market.

After lunch, we toured through the farmers' market.  Dillon helped pick out what we wanted.

After that, we went for a walk to the nearby playground.

Dillon thought this was pretty neat.

They had a really long slide.

Dillon sat at the top for a while, then decided he didn't want to go down.

Meanwhile, Michael tried to play with whatever he could get his hands on. This was mostly things his Mama didn't want him to have, though.

Sunday night, we decided that Michael was getting big enough and could sit up well enough to join Dillon for a bath.

They both had a blast. Michael found out that he can make pretty big splashes, and thinks it's hilarious.