Leaves leaves everywhere

The kids found the one patch of leaves in the back yard and raked them up.  The fun began when they started jumping in the pile and tossing them up in the air.

Haircuts x3

I have been meaning to get Evan and Annika's hair cut for some time now. Well, as soon as I woke up from my nap on Sunday I took them to the salon that was having a buy one get one free sale on haircuts. And there you go. Annika's is so cute. It is stacked a little bit in the back. Evan now has a "big kindergarten boy haircut". I had to label his haircut that way so he would cooperate. Kindergarten is 9 months away but hay it doesn't hurt to be prepared. And as for my haircut (bad picture by the way) I finally got all of my color cut out. It is short but hey it is easy.

10 months old today

I cannot believe it has been 10 months already. Ben is growing so fast. He is crawling all over the place and yesterday he actually pulled up on the couch. He wasn't my biggest baby when he was born but I do believe he may be my biggest 10 month old. I weighed him yesterday and he weighed 19 pounds 6 ounces. He feels like he weighs more than 20 pounds though.  
This picture was taken yesterday at Cahaba Lily Park. Lyn wanted to try Ben out in the sling. She is such a wonderful big sister. As I watch her with Ben and the other little kids I can see that she is acquiring some useful parenting skills. Whether or not she ever chooses to be a parent she has a good grasp on how to interact with little ones and meet their unspoken needs. I am so proud of her.

You're watching what?

What happens when the almost 10 month old wants to play at 4am and you have NetFlix streaming? You end up playing on the floor with the baby while watching MYTHOS. What is MYTHOS? Well, in this case it is a multi-series PBS documentary by Joseph Campbell about mythology and comparative religion. It is a little dry but I eventually want to get through all of the episodes. I will have to have a talk with Ben though. I didn't exactly want to watch them all at 4am EVERY Saturday....

Look what Ben can do

Ben is growing so fast. Poor thing has an infant / toddler developmental specialist as a mom. I am always looking at the new skills he is acquiring with a professional lens. Today Eliot brought out one of my instructional toys. I use it a lot with children who have low vision and / or low hearing abilities. It is a toy fish bowl that lights up and plays music when touched. It came with a couple of balls with sea animals inside. Ben is holding a pink ball with a fish in it. Evan tried so hard to "teach" Ben how to put the ball into the bowl and take it out again. He didn't do a bad job. Evan can be a very impulsive child so I was actually very proud of him. Ben was able to drop the ball into the bowl and reach in and get it out again. He did a great job transferring it from one hand to another. He also used both hands to hold the ball and bring it to his mouth. He had a lot of fun. I think his favorite part was just pushing and touching the bowl so that it would light up and make music.

Going for a walk

I am really enjoying this cooler weather. After church today we went for a walk in our neighborhood. I decided to try Ben out in the wagon this time. Usually I either carry him in the sling or push him in the umbrella stroller. He is making such a face in this picture but he did really well. His balance is good and he seemed to enjoy his new vantage point. Evan and Eliot both traded out sharing the wagon with him. He is almost 10 months old.

I did not feel like going inside when we finished our walk. So I spread out the blanket on the back patio and I sat with Evan. We watched Evan and Eliot play in the back yard until everyone ran out of steam. As I sat with Evan I thought of all those families that keep their infants from enjoying the outdoors. So many people feel that a little cool weather is bad for babies. Taking young children outside is so beneficial to their development. It is amazing how much calmer infants become as soon as they go outside. It never fails. If Ben is a bit fussy and we go outside and I sit him down to play he is so happy.

A Sunday hike

I wasn't really interested in staying inside and listening to the talk today at church. Hubby and I dropped Ben off in the nursery and while the other kids were in their classes we explored the nature trail on the church's grounds. The big kids have been on the trail before as part of their classes but I never had a chance to walk it. It wasn't bad. It was actually a nice cool day and we enjoyed a quiet moment.

We had a nice surprise as we made it to the top. We had a view of part of Birmingham. We could even see all the way to Walker County.

At the Railroad Park again....

It was a nice cool Fall day today. I drafted my mom to help out with the kids and we headed to the Railroad Park downtown. The little kids had a great time. Even Danny and Lyn found something to do. I was even able to get everyone to sit still for a second and take a picture.

Evan was his regular self. Anyone who knows him know he is a bit of a handful. Well, problem was solved today. He stuck to Connor like glue. Actually, they are a lot alike. They play so well together.

Ben had a great time too. He started out in the sling but then his Granny wanted to hold him. I asked Danny to pose with me and Ben for a picture. My goal was to show how cute Ben was in the sling and to show off how tall Danny is. I am about 5'7" tall. Check out how tall my 14 year old son is.

When Ben was ready to play on the ground I sat him down on the soft surface of the playground. That worked great. It had soaked up the heat from the sun and was perfect for him to crawl around on. When everyone else was playing in the grassy field I just spread out the sling and he had a place to play.

The season is over

Lyn's team had their last game tonight. They have been undefeated all season. It was close but they lost the last game. That put them in second place in their division. Lyn wanted a picture of all of her trophies from each season. So, there you go.......