Fall in Minnesota

Fall is in full swing here. We had a beautiful week last week and got to enjoy the outdoors. We did some jumping in leaves and also got to enjoy a beautiful day at Afton Alps Ski Resort where Jeff had a Cyclocross race on Saturday.

Jeff jumping barriers:

The next Ingham cyclist:

Connor in his race:

Porter had his 12 month check up not long ago, and is now 23lbs 6oz which is between the 50th and 75th %, he's 31in long (75-90%) and 18 3/4 in head (75%). He measures about a pound heavier than Connor did at 12 mos, and I think the length and head are about the same. He's still not walking, but will stand alone briefly and cruises around everything. He'd much rather crawl since he is so fast. When we try to get him to walk he sometimes will do it while holding our hand, but if he's not in the mood he goes all jelly bones on us. He's definitely got an opinion about what he wants to do. He has started saying baby, and said puppy once or twice for me. He makes a woof woof noise when he sees a puppy or just about any other animal as well. He has also said "Miaa" for a kitty but also says woof woof. It's getting a little frustrating sometimes because if he wants something he just says "ME ME" or points at things. If he's trying to tell you about something he says "Didi". He occasionally says Mommy or Mi-ommy, but says Dada a lot. He's has cut his first 1 year molar last week and is battling a cold right now.

Connor & his lovey "Puppy"

Baby Jedi:

Connor is doing well in kindergarten. He seems to be learning a lot, and is constantly asking how words are spelled, or what the sum is of 2 numbers. He seems to be making friends at school and likes going. He is looking forward to starting hockey soon, and loves being outside whenever he can. He competed in the kids race on Saturday and did pretty well, though he had a hard time lifting his bike over the barrier.




We are looking forward to Halloween on Friday. Connor is going to be Indiana Jones and Porter is going to be the Incredible Hulk. I'll post photos after the big day.

Little Monkey

Here are some recent photos of my little one year old monkey. He's a sneaky little devil, and I have to be on top of him every second. When Jeff's mom was here, we were talking in the living room, and he snuck into the pantry and helped himself to his Puffs!

A nice photo of Porter with Grandma Ginny:

Here is a photo of Connor with the giant bear that Porter got from Uncle Steve and Aunt Peggy:


Connor had his last day of soccer practice for the season today. We got some action shots, and some photos of Porter feeding Jeff a goldfish. He loves to feed us stuff lately.

Don't you wonder what they were talking about??:

My sister Molly and her fiance Jim were here for the weekend. My brother Steve had his big annual bonfire out at his farm this weekend. It was a fun time. There was a brief bit of rain and lots of distant lightning and thunder adding a bit of drama to the night sky. Porter did finally fall asleep in the sling, so we were able to stay a little later. I don't have too many photos from the bonfire though, but my sister got one of me holding Porter in the sling that is cute. I'll have to post it if she sends it to me. We also went to Stillwater for lunch on Saturday with my mom, Molly & Jim. Jeff had bike races both Saturday and Sunday, so he missed out on lunch at the Freight House. It was an absolutely gorgeous day that felt more like July than October. We had fun watching the boats on the St Croix, and even got to see the Lift Bridge go up and down.

Aunt Molly & Connor:

The 3 girls:

Pensive boy:

Lift Bridge:

Grandma Joanie & Connor:

Molly & Jim:

Happy 1st Birthday Porter!!!

Birthday Boy & family:

The Birthday Boy & Mama:

Porter's Cake:

Get this thing off me!! Porter with Greta & Connor:

Still a little unhappy:

Mmmm frosting:

Porter's 1st birthday has finally arrived! We had a fun party at our house joined by 2 of my brothers and their families, my parents, our good friends the Holly family, and Jeff's mom, brother Dave and sister-in-law Yuri all came from Chicago. The weather was beautiful for a fall day in Minnesota, and the food was great. Jeff made his famous pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans and some great cole slaw.

Uncle Steve, Katie, Aunt Peggy & Grandma Virginia:

Crazy Uncles:

Uncle Dave & Porter:

Grandma Joanie & Porter:

Porter was a bit overwhelmed by all the attention and company at our house. He liked eating the cake I think, but seemed to be very neat about it. He doesn't really like getting too messy though. He really liked the little Blues Clues dog and got mad if we tried to take it away from him! He also like the noisemakers (not sure if that is what they are called or not).




He really liked all of his presents, but especially the Fisher Price puzzles from Aunt Jana, Uncle Marty, Jaclyn & Matthew in Seattle, and also the drum & musical instrument kit from Aunt Angie, Uncle Steve, Jonathan & Allison in Chicago. They were both big hits. He also got a gigantic stuffed bear from Aunt Peggy, Uncle Steve, Katie & Peter, and he loved that as well. He had lots of fun opening his presents and playing with all the stuff. So did Connor, who seems to be enjoying Porter's presents every bit as much as Porter is!

Fisher Price puzzles from Aunt Jana & Uncle Marty:

Connor showing Porter how to play with his toys:

Looking at books from Aunt Molly:

Playing drums with Henry:

Catching up!

Porter 11 months

Feeding himself:

Wow, life seems really busy lately with work and Connor being in school every day. I'm not sure where the time goes some weeks! I can definitely feel it when I look around my cluttery house. Jeff is starting cyclocross racing season now too, so our free weekends will be filled up with bike races. Some of them are actually pretty fun to go watch, and they are usually only around an hour long, so at least they don't take up the whole day.

To catch up with the last several weeks, Porter turned 11 mos old on Sept 4th, the day after Connor started kindergarten. Porter loves taking a bath, and you will see my attempts at putting his age up in foam letters are becoming more futile. He loves to stand up in the tub, which is one of the only ways I can really scrub him well too! He also likes to throw stuff out of the tub, usually half-full of water. He thrashes and splashes and just has a really good time. His favorite things to do are to bang things together to make noise (coasters, measuring cups, blocks, or whatever he can get his hands on, the louder the better), he loves to get the remote (which we often take the batteries out of so he can play with it) and the phone. He has started saying "Hi Da" when he picks up the phone, and knows to put it up to his ear. He is also learning how to feed himself with a spoon which has been a messy task. He's very proud of his accomplishments though. He has been doing great drinking from a cup now and only rarely gets a bottle anymore. Just in the past three days I have cut down to only nursing at bedtime, getting ready for the big wean when he turns one (only a week and a half away!!). So far I am not feeling any sad emotions over weaning, I think I am pretty much ready to be done. I am definitely glad to have reached my own goal of nursing for a year, and feel good that I have been able to do this for both kids. It's time to be done though. I haven't needed to pump at work for the past couple of days, so it's been great not having to drag my pump back and forth to work too! Porter is still not taking steps on his own, but is cruising around everything and pulling up on everything. He has started to stand for a few seconds on his own though, so I don't think it will be too much longer until he is walking on his own.

Porter's big party is going to be on his actual birthday, October 4th, which happens to fall on a Saturday this year. Jeff's brother Dave and his wife Yuri are coming up, and Jeff's mom is coming up from Chicago too! I am so glad she is coming to visit, especially since October 5th is her birthday, and we will be able to celebrate with her as well. Dave's birthday is the 1st, so we will celebrate his too. My sister Molly is on the 8th, our nephew Tyler in Texas is on the 6th, and our nephew Danny here is on the 15th! Lots of October birthdays in our families!

Fall is arriving in Minnesota too, which is really one of my favorite seasons. I love the changing leaves, love going to the apple orchard, getting ready for Halloween, celebrating Oktoberfest, and just love the tiniest feeling of crispness in the air. I'm not thrilled about winter approaching, but I do love autumn.

Connor is doing pretty well adjusting to kindergarten. His teacher sends a communication sheet home back and forth each day and puts a smiley face, straight face or a frown on each day. So far he has gotten one straight face each week, for a variety of reasons, talking too loudly, not keeping his hands to himself and running in the classroom. So far this week 2 smiley faces, so we are shooting for a whole week. He's starting to figure out what the kids names are, and I think he is making some friends. He already has been to one friend's birthday party too. He started soccer a few weekends ago, just on Sundays and it will only last 3 more weeks. I think it will be good to keep his weekends free for a while until hockey starts up again in November.

Mutual admiration society:

The boys brushing their teeth:


Porter & our babysitter & friend Greta:

That's enough catching up for now! I will probably post again after Porter's birthday!