Fun October

It's been a fun and busy October so far...we've been to the zoo with some friends:

 Aunt Laura came to visit! Drew had so much fun with her and I was happy to have the extra help of course. We did exciting things like play with diggers on the couch and go to Lowe's...Aunt "La La" was kind enough to not mind the lack of excitement:)

 Striped pajama night! They looked so cute and snuggly in their pj's...don't be fooled by the cuteness of this picture though...approximately 2 seconds later both melted down, a surefire sign that it is bedtime in this house!

 Sweet Harper continues to grow (as all babies do:)...here she is before her bath.

 We bundled up and went for a walk one evening...I love this time of year so much (not to betray my affection for summer but October is a great month if the cooler weather insists on arriving anyway). Andrew wore Nate's hat and by doing so aged 5 more years...where did my toddler go? He's growing up so fast too.

 Whenever poor Harper is just minding her own business in her little seat, Drew often comes bounding in the room and gets right in her face, saying, "Heeeeey, Harper!!!" Can you just hear it?

 I think she's trying to say, "Help Mama!" She's toughened up a lot in her 3 months of life with an older brother:)

As usual, we spend part of our weekends still working on the new addition of the house. Nate was doing all the woodwork around the windows and doors this weekend and Andrew was fascinated by the saw...Nate gave him a piece of scrap wood and he went to work with his own little toy saw!

 The other part of the weekend, we tried to get outside and enjoy this fall weather. We headed to Bernheim Forest again and Andrew hiked for the first time not in the backpack. Despite my irrational fears that he would stumble off of imaginary ravines, he did pretty well following behind Nate. We had to remind him to look where he was going as he tripped a lot on the rocks and tree roots, but he loved "hiking" the real way.

 Down by the creek, he spent a good 20 minutes throwing rocks in the water with Nate.

 This is how Miss Harper spent the hike. 

And here's a little video of our time in the woods:

This is the best I could do for a 3-month photo of Harper...I pretty much just put a bow on her and snap a picture right after her bath when she's pretty happy (and laying on the white towel for a simple background).

Meanwhile, this kiddo won't hold still long enough for me to take any pictures of him. This captures him best though...outside and playing with his toy construction equipment!

I've been meaning to write down some of the funny things Andrew says, since age 2 has proven to be the most hilarious of ages so far. While 2 year olds can be a little bipolar sometimes (meltdowns over the smallest of things!), this age just makes me and Nate laugh every day.

• In the morning before Nate leaves for work, Andrew says, "Have fun at work Dad!" or "You want some coffee Dad?" 
• He likes to say, "It's okay" whenever something "not" okay happens (throwing a toy, playing with his plate at dinner that then ends up on the floor, etc.)
• On Saturday mornings, when Nate goes to get him up, he says, "Dad, let's talk!" while they listen to the radio in bed.
• He likes to say "play with toys...just a couple more minutes!" or "Play out side, just a couple minutes." but has no concept of "a couple minutes" at all. When I tell him it's time to clean up or come inside after aforementioned couple minutes, he says "Just a couple more minutes, okay, Mom?"
• During the day, out of the blue he tells me, "I'm behavin' Mom!" Sometimes this statement is true but not always:)
• He has started requesting music from us. Gillian Welch and the Decemberists are his favorite. The second we get in the car he says "Down by the old main drag!" which is a line from a Decemberists song. Then he sings along the whole time which is pretty funny.
• When Nate comes in the door getting home from work, he says, "You want some dinner Dad? We're havin' chicken! (or pizza or casserole or whatever I've told him I'm making

So while 2-year olds are a handful, the crazy mood swings and meltdowns are certainly balanced out by the hilarious things they say!