October 2018

I’m going to cover our fall activities in a separate post, so this post will just be about the other stuff we were up to during the month of October:

We went to Sonic on October 1st for a sweet treat after supper. It was perfect weather for sitting outside.

Abigail wasn’t sure about the cold ice cream…we got some funny faces out of her!

It was a fun evening!

On October 2nd, I walked into Abigail’s room to get her out of bed and saw that she had pulled up in her crib for the first time!

“Why are you taking my picture, Mommy? I’m hungry!”

Not too happy to have to wait for photos ;)

Savannah really started getting into puzzles this fall. She can do most of them by herself without help now!

We spent a lot of time outside on October 3rd!!

I love how she was riding with her little owl backpack on :)

Savannah asked if we could eat a picnic lunch at the neighborhood playground, but we had to wait on Abigail to wake up from her nap first. Of course, that ended up being a day when Abigail took a LONG nap! (Doesn’t it always work out that way?). I think we didn’t eat lunch til 1 PM…but Savannah was excited to do something different and fun!

Abigail was happy to sit in the stroller and eat while we sat on the picnic blanket!

Savannah played for a few minutes before we walked back to the house…

It was a fun morning!

Cool kid ready for Bible class that evening :)

On October 5th, Brooklyn went to a birthday party for Maddie, a friend from Mrs. Patterson’s class at school. I won’t go into details, but it was quite the extravaganza, in my opinion, for kindergarten-age girls. Brooklyn had a fun time, but I was definitely glad when it was over! That’s all I’ll say about that…

Abigail was ready for the Bama game on October 6th!

Brooklyn brought home a flyer in September about participating in a national PTA art contest called Reflections. The theme was “Heroes Around Me”. Since Brooklyn loves to draw, I figured she’d be interested in submitting something, and she was! We talked about different types of heroes in our community, and then she got busy drawing…

L to R: a soldier, police dog, police car, doctor holding a stethoscope, and a fire truck…and a rainbow, of course!

Our huge back patio is perfect for sidewalk chalking :)

Making her bed instead of taking a nap? It’s hard to get mad over that! ;)

October 8th was Columbus Day. Travis had the day off work, but Brooklyn still had school…so they decided to walk to school that morning. It was a nice day for it!

It’s like a whole new world when they can get up on their feet and reach things they never could before :)

Little stinker!

She may be a little thing, but she’s not afraid to get in there with her big sisters and assert her will :)

Big sisters build…little sister destroys :)

It’s hard to hold this wiggly girl these days!

This dress has been one of my favorites since Brooklyn wore it. It’s pretty hilarious that it is 3-6 month size, and Abigail was wearing it at almost 14 months. Whatever works I guess!

Our coffee table is usually the central gathering spot for coloring, reading, and playing :)

This was Fire Safety Week at school. Brooklyn came home with her own fire hat and told us all the safety tips she’d learned. She looks like she is paying pretty close attention! :)

October 12th was the last day of school before fall break. That afternoon, we were busy packing to head to Trussville. Guess who didn’t want to get left behind!?

Traveling is tough! :)

Abigail decided to climb the stairs several times while we were at Paw and Rae Rae’s, It was the first time she’d climbed a whole flight of stairs before. Big girl!

It was a nice weekend for playing outside…

We also celebrated my birthday while we were in town. Brooklyn and Savannah helped decorate the cake!

Brooklyn worked hard drawing a picture of the cake for my birthday too…

My sweet girl :)

“Where’s Abigail?”

There she is!

We decided to stay in town until Monday so we could take the kids to the McWane Center. We thought it would be a fun thing to do during fall break. The girls always enjoy going!

Look at Daddy’s face :)

Making bubbles is always a hit! Check out the one Brooklyn made!

The water area in Itty Bitty Magic City is always one of the girls’ favorite areas :)

This was Abigail’s first time at McWane…she loved the water too!

She kept grabbing the yellow balls as they spiraled down :)

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day because it shows all 3 girls having fun :)

Paw and Savannah built some block towers together :)

Time to go grocery shopping…

…and serve food at the diner!

Sitting in the fire truck is always fun too!

After we left Itty Bitty Magic City, we ate lunch and then checked out some of the other exhibits. Brooklyn and Savannah love seeing the fish!

We’d never visited the dinosaur area before, but the girls loved “digging” for fossils! This will be a must-do next time we visit, I’m sure :)

After finally convincing the girls to leave the dinosaur area, we split up and Brooklyn went with Paw and Rae Rae back to Itty Bitty Magic City for a few minutes. Savannah said she’d rather go back to the some of the first areas we’d visited, so Travis and I went with her.

It was a really fun day!

Just as exciting, Paw and Rae Rae invited Brooklyn and Savannah to stay for an extra couple of days at their house. They were thrilled, and Mommy and Daddy were pretty excited too ;) I don’t have any pictures, but they had a great time, and we enjoyed a little extra peace and quiet at home too.

I think Abigail enjoyed being an only child and getting some one-on-one attention!

Rae Rae brought Brooklyn and Savannah home on Wednesday the 17th, and on the 18th we went to Let’s Play Huntsville with Alison and her kids (Jacob and Hannah).

This was our second time there, but it was the first time that Abigail wasn’t napping the whole time. She had fun in the toddler area!

Abigail was fascinated…

The theme of the morning was Savannah mostly stuck close to Abigail and Mommy. Brooklyn was off on the other side of the place making friends and playing hard!

See what I mean? :)

Savannah was excited to hold Abigail on the carousel. It didn’t go very fast, so I was okay with it. Thankfully nobody fell off!

Wheeeeee!

Brooklyn was having a blast!

By the time 1 PM rolled around, Abigail was so tired she fell asleep sitting up :)

We had a fun time!!

This girl and the stairs. Whew! Daddy doesn’t want to put up baby gates, but it is a struggle to keep her off the stairs. She is constantly trying to sneak up them without us seeing, and she still hasn’t figured out how to come down safely. I will be so glad when she can go up and down without me worrying about her busting her head open on the wood. Also, I am so glad we didn’t live in a house with stairs when Brooklyn and Savannah were babies. I’m not sure I would have survived this 3 times over.

Brooklyn called me into Savannah’s room the next morning and told me she’d gotten Savannah dressed all by herself…haha!

More morning playtime at the coffee table :)

Sharing some cake with Daddy at Sunday lunch :)

Not sure exactly what Abigail was trying to do here…haha

Brooklyn is starting to sound out words and try to spell them. Can you tell what some of these words are? (Ten, eleven, fourteen, one, zero, one hundred, ??? and bone)

The week after fall break was Red Ribbon Week at school, On Wednesday, the kids were supposed to wear their house colors, so of course Brooklyn wanted to wear a red shirt AND red pants :)

Later that day, I went up to the school to help with duty free lunch. Brooklyn enjoys buying her lunch and would choose to do that almost every day if we let her! Lunch is $2.65, which isn’t a lot, but it does add up over time, and I feel like I can make her lunch at home cheaper than that. Right now, we are letting her buy lunch 3 days a week, and that seems to be working well :)

The girls had fun at the playground that afternoon with Jacob and Hannah!

On October 25th, we went to the Monrovia library for storytime. The theme that day was Night Animals. I thought Savannah’s hedgehog turned out cute!

Poor Abigail puts up with a lot from her sisters…Savannah is putting goggles on her in this picture ;)

One of the funny things about the way Abigail scoots around (instead of crawling conventionally) is that both legs often end up in one leg hole!

I definitely prefer walking in the afternoons, but car line is great for when the weather is cold or rainy.

Abigail was wishing she could sit at the big kid table at Cici’s!

On October 29th, Travis left town for a 4-day business trip to Missouri. Savannah and I went outside that morning to see if we could see Daddy’s plane fly overhead. (We live pretty close to the airport and see planes flying over our neighborhood constantly). A few minutes after we went out there, a small plane flew by, and Savannah said, “Look…Daddy’s plane!” I said, “No I think that one is too small to be Daddy’s plane.” She replied, “Yeah, I think Daddy’s too big to fit in that plane. He can only fit in big planes. Not small planes”. Haha! :)

Lunch time!

Abigail found a new hiding spot that afternoon :)

I am SO glad we decided to try out walking home in the afternoons from school this year. We have made some great friends (both mommas and kids) in our neighborhood. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone better over the coming years.

October 30th was Tacky Tuesday – every day that week was a different dress-up day at school. I let Brooklyn choose her outfit, and this is what she came up with (cat ears and all!) :)

That day, we met Rebekah Faris and her kids at Creekwood Park and let the kids play on the playground for a while. It was a beautiful day and a good reason to spend some time outside!

I think this was Abigail’s first time to swing at the playground. She didn’t love it, but didn’t seem to hate it either :)

Savannah had fun on the see-saw!

Savannah just loves being a big sister :)

Abigail went through this phase for a few weeks where she would take out her paci and turn it around and pop it in her mouth backwards. It was hilarious, especially looking at it from the side. She definitely has a silly side to her coming out.

 

Quotes and Notes from October:

• 10/4/18 – Brooklyn asked Abigail to hand her something she was holding, and she did it twice in a row. Then we all cheered and she clapped for herself! :) It was one of the first times we’ve been sure she understands what we’re saying. She has started trying to put her paci in my mouth sometimes also. She loves to toss her pacis out of the crib and throw them across the room if she doesn’t want them. This girl has some personality!
• 10/6/18 – Abigail pulled up to her feet in the crib several days ago and then didn’t do it again until yesterday. Since then, she’s pulled up 3 or 4 times all by herself!
• 10/8/18 – I had a parent-teacher conference today with Mrs. Patterson (I think there is usually one in the fall and one in the spring) – she was scheduling the conferences all this week prior to report cards going out. She said Brooklyn is doing great! Apparently she is well-behaved, shares and gets along with others. It made me so proud to hear that! She said Brooklyn is NOT one of the dominant personalities in the class, which surprised me. She is laid back and go-with-the-flow. I guess she’s only bossy at home? :) She is learning so much and is starting to do phonetic spelling (where she sounds out the word she’s trying to spell). She read a sentence in her library book on Friday all by herself. She said the main thing we need to work on is getting Brooklyn to spell her name NOT using all capital letters…haha. She said she told Brooklyn, “You’re not a typewriter!” :)
• 10/10/18 – Savannah has gotten so independent lately. She wants to do everything herself—work the TV remote, fix her toast for breakfast, make her lunch, etc. She even told me yesterday she didn’t need me to tuck her in for her nap. “I can give myself hugs, and I can give myself kisses!”
• 10/10/18 – Abigail will now clap if we ask her to (most of the time). She also claps when I ask her to wave…haha. She also will definitely repeat “bye” or “bye bye”!
• 10/10/18 – Abigail’s 5^th tooth (upper left) is coming in (#6 upper right not far behind)
• 10/12/18 – I caught Abigail on the 3^rd step at our house…first time she’s ever climbed steps (then, the next day, at Paw and Rae Rae’s house she climbed the whole flight of stairs multiple times!)
• 10/12/18 – Savannah will tell me she wants to give me a BIG kiss…and she’ll take a big deep breath and then give me a little peck on the cheek :)
• 10/14/18 – Abigail likes to play peek-a-boo by hiding behind her bib!
• 10/15/18 – At the McWane Center, Savannah’s favorite things to do were the water area in Itty Bitty Magic City, blowing big bubbles, and digging for fossils in the dinosaur area. Brooklyn’s favorites were digging for fossils, everything in Itty Bitty Magic City, and seeing the fish/sting-rays/sharks in the aquarium area. Abigail loved all of the water areas and the bubbles the best!
• 10/24/18 – Abigail went “fishing” in the potty this afternoon before Savannah flushed. Luckily, she didn’t catch anything, but it was still gross that her hand was in the water!! She is also starting to get into mischief like unrolling the toilet paper rolls and making big messes in her room by getting out toys and books :)
• 10/28/18 – Abigail’s 6^th tooth is coming in (upper right). She will have 4 on top and 2 on the bottom!
• 10/31/18 – I was really dreading Travis going out of town for work, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The hardest part was just getting everybody up and loaded up to take Brooklyn to school in the mornings. I’ve gotten spoiled this year because Travis normally takes her in the morning, so I don’t have to get the other girls out of the house so early. So, it was a little crazy in the mornings! It helped that we had leftovers most nights for supper, so I wasn’t doing much cooking either. I was definitely glad when Travis got back home though. Being a single parent is tough!

Thanks for reading!