Monday, October 17, 2011

Go Cougs! and other fun happenings

These are the weekends why I love fall! Gorgeous weather, leaves are turning, just enough crispness in the air to make you crave a pumpking spice latte. We got to spend some time with my family celebrating my dad's birthday, RONAN WENT TO HIS FIRST COUGAR GAME and  we went to Greenbluff. Seriously, this is the stuff dreams are made of. My dreams at least :)

We got last minute tickets to the Homecoming Game against Stanford. We weren't looking for a good game, just a good experience. Luckily we got both. The first half was actually pretty exciting as the Coug defense hung in there. Second half was a bit of a different story, but oh well. It was time for us to pack up our exhausted child and hit the road. Ronan was the cutest little Coug fan around ;) He LOVED the atmosphere, the marching band and all the people. And thank goodness for the little Cougar flags they gave each person. These were a lifesaver for Ro, perfect for waving, pointing, chewing on and poking people with.





Sunday morning we met up with family for an awesome, huge breakfast at Frank's Diner and then headed up to Greenbluff to pick up some pumpkins and apples. I love the madness of Greenbluff at this time of year. It's crazy and fun, but you can still find peaceful places to enjoy the moment and the amazing scenery.


This reminded me of another picture. We took the one below the day before Ronan was due (which turned out to be 10 days before he was actually born!). It is totally accidental that we have the same backdrop in both photos, we weren't even on the same side of the pumpkin patch. I kind of love it :)




Ronan was semi-interested in the pumpkins, but far more interested in the dirt clods. He kept giving them too me (he likes to give me trash he finds on the floor. fine by me, better in my hand than in his mouth!) Although you can see that theory didn't quite work out.





dirty, dirty buns



Ronan was into the miniature pony's. He loves making the horsey sound - I can't explain it, you'll know what I mean when you watch the video :)





Absolute perfection.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Date with Mom

Yesterday was gorgeous, so I took my favorite little man out on a date. :)

We (I) fueled up on a little coffee at Rockwood Bakery and then walked over to Manito Park to watch the ducks and geese. I think Ronan got a kick out of them. Except for this goose who liked to stray a little too close to the stroller.  I have to admit, he kind of freaked me out too.  I really didn't want a sequel to the goose biting incident with my younger brother.  Or was it a goat? Or both? Either way, we're looking to avoid animal bites of any sort :)

We also wandered through the perennial gardens which are so beautiful right now. It was the perfect afternoon outing.


I like this version too, so I thought I'd share.



Practicing standing. He's getting to be a pro

Ok, time to go home and take a nap :)

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Ronan has "doggy" on the brain. First word after naptime, anytime he hears Kohly outside, first thought when we get home. I think it's cute how much he loves the dog. He also knows the the doggy lives in the back yard. He points out the windows and says "doggy." I think he was pretty excited this morning when he discovered he has his very own window into the back yard :)  

Raspberry Season

Apparently my raspberries didn't get the memo. Instead of bearing fruit this summer, they started about 2 weeks ago. We've had our best season so far! It's fun to get fresh raspberries this late :)  I made a couple batches of the best cupcakes ever with raspberry whip cream filling. Mmm...good for the soul, not so good for the waistline...

We needed to get out of the house yesterday, so we played in the yard and picked a big bowl of raspberries. Ronan loves them. I tried to hide them, maybe save a few for daddy, buuut Ro caught sight of them and that was that. Yum!

oh, got a tart one


Umm, mom. Did you know these are all gone?

I'll just eat the bowl

Ok, I'll go find something else to eat. Like dandelions

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Learning from Mom

My son now knows how to talk on the phone. WHAT?!? Saturday he picked up my phone, put it to his ear and started talking. I thought maybe it was a fluke, but he does it all the time now. And apparently I answer the phone in a high-pitched voice...oh the things I look forward to learning from my little copycat :)

For the record, I really don't talk on the phone that much!

Friday, October 7, 2011

11 Months!

Oh boy, next time I write this Ronan will be 1.  Every month I say this, but how is it that time passes so quickly? I'm not a fan.  Sometimes we miss that little baby. I may be crazy to say this, but it doesn't seem fair that they're only babies for a few months. That's probably because he was so great. Ask me how I feel after the next one because I have a feeling we're in for it...

That said, we are absolutely loving every single day with Ronan, chasing him around, watching his personality continue to come out, having undecipherable conversations together. I LOVE being home every day and watching his life unfold. What a blessing.  Ronan is fun, wild, independent and (yay) getting more snuggly.  He loves when we play with him, but he is so happy to play on his own too.  This month Ronan discovered how cool his room is ;) The books, the stuffed animals, a dresser full of neatly organized clothes waiting to be destroyed. I love that he can crawl up and down the single step and right on into his room. We've baby-proofed, but he has quite a bit of freedom. And he enjoys exploring his world! Especially taking everything out of a box/basket/container and then putting it back. I love watching his mind work!

A few other milestones and thoughts for this month:
  • At the beginning of the month, he finally conquered the sippy cup! We are very excited he can finally hold it up to his mouth and tip it back enough to get a good drink.  About a week later, he drank out of a straw for the first time!
  • Just a few days ago, Ronan stood on his own for more than a just a second-more like 10 seconds! He seems pretty sturdy and quite proud of himself :) I'll catch him doing it more and more often, but always when he's chewing on something. I think he's too distracted to realize what he is doing.
  • Ronan is a talker. What, you're not surprised? Must be genetic ;)  He talks pretty much continually, pausing only to grunt and groan if he is exerting himself. Crawling must be easier now because he talks instead of grunting :)
  • Pointing is another primary method of communication. We love it! No question about what he wants or where he wants to go!
  • Still quite the eater! Still has food jealousy.  With Patrick getting home later, I'm finding it difficult to prepare dinner with a toddler clinging to my pant legs screaming "NA NA NA!" - Ronan speak for FOOD NOW! This starts as soon as he sees it or sometimes smells it. I'm working on getting dinner going much earlier than normal so he's not too hungry when we get start the whole process. This is a big change for us, but so much better for our evening routine!
  • "da-ee" has been added to the list of words (doggie). Ronan loves Kohly. This is now the first word in the morning/after nap.  Every four-legged creature is now "da-ee". Actually pretty much everything is "da-ee"!
We had an old door left over from our yard sale and it wasn't until I found a buyer that I realized I wanted to take Ro's 11-month photos in front of it. Of course, she was coming to pick it up at 5:00 on the 30th (his month birthday) and of course Ronan took the longest afternoon nap of his entire life. After he woke up, I scrambled to get him dressed and outside for photos. For some reason our front yard was a revolving door for about 30 minutes so i only managed a few shots. And he looks like a zombie! I think they are sweet, but we tried again a couple days later :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Airplane!

 
Everything is about pointing now.

 
Another airplane. He's making an airplane sound here :)

 

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Coffee Time

I think Ronan has picked up on how much mom and dad love coffee. He always goes straight for our mugs and so we are having to find creative new hiding places. We may need to install some high shelves!

We spent the weekend restaining/sealing our pergola and andirondack chairs. The stuff we used a couple years ago when we first built it did not work. At all. Hopefully this product will hold up better-it's supposed to. Ronan was pretty occupied rotating between his playpen and high chair. He explored the yard some too, stopping just enough for a coffee break ;)


Must have been a little left in the mug!
We had a pretty sweet set up outside. Wouldn't want to miss a good football game :)