CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR (OLD) NEW YORK BLOG!!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Fall

As aforementioned, Fall is weird here. I have this feeling we will wake up one morning and all the leaves will be gone and it will be winter. So, wanting to soak it all up, we went out for a family run this morning. Running is not so great where we live, so we drove to Washington Park, which is both a park and an area of town. The outer loop of the park is closed to traffic about about 2 1/2-3 miles long. Perfect. Andy was pushing Judah and I was running alongside Gabriel on his scooter. The weather was perfect for running and the leaves looked to be on fire all around the park. It was gorgeous, really. Even Gabriel commented "Mom, it's really nice out here" :)

We ran and Gabriel scootered 2.4 miles. Pretty good for both of us, actually! I am way out of running shape and Gabriel did well to scooter the whole time (not that we didn't stop along the way to look at geese and dogs and sticks, but you know). We finished up near a playground, so Gabriel and I went to play while Andy took another spin around the park with Judah.

We also couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some shots of the boys. Gabriel was his usual jubilant self, but Judah was quite reserved (much to my chagrin) ... so he doesn't look very engaged in these photos (although I assure you  I was jumping around and being silly behind Andy taking the pictures to try to get him to at least crack a smile. Stinker).












   


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Eleven Months

Here we are, one month shy of being one. Judah's personality is really shining through, and he continues to be a pretty laid back little boy .... although, he can throw a good tantrum when he wants to, I'm talking throw himself in the floor, bang his legs on the floor and scream. Thankfully these are pretty infrequent and the majority of the time he is a joy to be around. He is a Daddy's boy, just like big brother! I love to watch him light up when Andy walks through the door, he practically lunges toward him. I know it's a boys club in the Goodwin household, and I am cool with that. 

Judah's voracious appetite be beginning to catch up with him, his latest moniker is "super chunk". He will eat anything, anytime for as long as you'll shovel it in. I hope this appetite endures through toddler hood. I think he weighs about 21 pounds (based on a sick visit a couple of weeks ago). We'll see next month where he officially weighs in at his one year well visit. 

A brief (well, for me, ha!) run down of Judah in a snapshot:

- He has not learned anymore baby signs, which we think is deliberate because he can mock any other body language like nobody's business, especially Gabriel's (when we try to encourage a sign, he screams until you give him what you know he wants)
- Still sporting Da-Da, Ma-Ma, Milk and More (and No of course, always accompanied by the head shake)
- LOVES Gabriel, wants to be where he is and do what he is doing all the time
- Just started a bit of separation anxiety :/
- Is on cow's milk! Yep, that's right we finished our last can of formula at 11 months 2 days, so cow's milk it is!
- Crawls on all fours really fast and pulls up and cruises, but is still a ways from walking I believe
- Still naps morning and afternoon , about 2 hours each (yes!), and sleeps from 7p-7a
- Until recently was obsessed with taking things apart and taking things out of their containers, but now has started putting objects in a container. He also loves to put together and pull apart blocks. 
- LOVES getting into the pots and pans cabinets (grrr)
- Tries to swim when we take him to the indoor pool at the rec center (maybe I should find one of those baby swim classes?)
- Favorite toy is a wooden ball tower and the four balls that go with it, rarely will you see Judah around the house without at least one ball in his hand
- He is a climber, he will climb on, over, under or through a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.
- His fave mischief location is the bathroom, we have to keep good tabs on the bathroom door because he knows he's not supposed to go in there so when he spots an open door he speed crawls (he likes to try and climb in the tub, play with the toilet screw cap covers (eww) and unroll all of the toilet paper and rip the holder off the wall (yes, this happened)).
- Just as he has nearly his entire short life (absent a couple months when he first learned to roll over) he likes to put himself to sleep, which is nice most of the time to just lay him down, kiss him and walk away, but I do wish I could snuggle with him and rock on some days. He won't allow it.
- This boy does not like books, much to my chagrin. I have tried many times to read books to him and he wants nothing to do with it, just go, go go. Gabriel loved being read to, even at this age, so I hope that improves Mr. Judah. I am glad he is so active, but I want him to develop a love for books too!
- Speaking of go, go, go, this boy will not stay on the changing table, it's like wrestling a greased piglet to change a diaper and get him dressed. Sheesh!
- Still has 8 teeth, but I think some more are on their way as he has been drooling and gnawing on his fingers a lot lately.

Ok, I'm finished. I think. Enjoy the 11 month shots!









Sunday, October 14, 2012

Pumpkin Patch

Some friends invited us to go to a local pumpkin patch this afternoon, complete with bouncy castles,  face painting, petting zoo, hay bale maze and of course the requisite pumpkin patch. We have been longing to get out and enjoy Fall here (although the weather is not a NY Fall or even an East coast Fall ... it's snowing one day, 80 the next, and then suddenly the leaves are turning...weird), so this was the perfect opportunity. 

We had kind of a rough start in getting there (wrong turn, lost in a huge shopping complex looking for an atm to pay the toll (which is processed by license plate it turns out!), and a 15 minutes wait just to ENTER the farm). Wow. So crowded. Apparently the Fall weather is so finicky here that when you get a "good" Fall day,  the free world takes advantage of it! We finally got parked ad started walking towards the festivities, but I kid you not the constant stream of cars did not stop the entire time we were there. Nearly two hours. 

All bumps aside, Gabriel and his friend Arden had a great time playing and running around together. I don't think they stopped going the entire time. Right at the end we entered the actual pumpkin patch a selected a few pumpkins.

No, it was not our usual Fall outing (by the way those turning leaves I was mentioning were no where in sight, this farm was in a dust bowl without a single tree in sight ... so much for enjoying Fall foliage) but it was fun for Gabriel and we got to hang out with friends too and relax. Well, sort of. 

PS - Judah was present, but he was in the Kelty on Andy's back the whole time ... no pics of him :(  

Bouncy Castle Fun!

Running on hay bales with Arden


Fierce competitors


Huge inflated slide ... all by himself!


Enjoying a blue raspberry sucker


Gabriel + Arden

Arden: "Umm, Gabriel, I don't think that's how you pick it..."

Friday, October 5, 2012

Denver's First Snow!

Ok. It's October 5th. We woke up to snow this morning. Hello Denver!

Gabriel was out playing in it before 7 AM.






This is the first time, in my ENTIRE life, that I have woken up to snow and not been excited about it. Maybe it was because Gabriel was asking me to suit up before 7am, maybe it's because I'm still getting used to living here, who knows. But I was thrilled to watch my sweet son play with such exuberance. Pure joy.  

Friday, September 28, 2012

It's about the Process, right?

I know, I know, I know ... at Gabriel's age it is most definitely about the process not the product. It is not in my character to allow a mess just for the sake of allowing a mess, but I resist the temptation for all things orderly and end up having a really wonderful experience in the kitchen with sweet Gabriel :)

I was making protein bites (thank you Pinterest) and Gabriel asked if he could help ... sure, why not?


Being very deliberate about the process :)

His vs. Mine ... not bad G!!