New do!

Thank you to aunt Amanda (the real hair stylist in the family) for Declan's new do! He did a great job in the chair and sat very still for her:) Of course it was only a trim!!

Oh, our boo is 18 months old!

18 months old! That's a year and a half, only 6 more months til he's 2! Please, please let them go by slow:) Oh, there are so many things our boo is up to...his new favorite word is "clock" although most of the time the "l" is left out (as it was at the zoo the other night!), he climbs up on everything, the bench in the front walk room and the dining room chairs are getting a lot of use right now. He's loving the pool...we've gone a few times lately and he'll get out and jump (I mean take a really big step) to us and if we put a noodle under his arms and lay him on his tummy he'll kick his legs! Swim lessons start in January:) He loves to help me with the laundry, I'll give him the wet clothes and he'll put them in the dryer and then he'll take the dry ones out and carry them in our room (our laundry room is upstairs next to our bedroom)...he's not good about folding them, he just likes to pile them places! Declan has learned to scream...not because he's mad, he just likes to scream to hear how loud he is, it's wonderful. I asked him the other day if Santa was coming to see him and he told me "neh" (that's a no)!! He ate some bacon the other day, so maybe he won't be a veggie like me?! With Declan it just keeps getting better and better:) We love you boo!

Up on the bench with the clock behind him!

Sitting like a big boy at the table.

This is the sport headband he wore to the pool the other week:)

Penguins:)

Here's Dec and Dad with the penguins!

Boo at the zoo!

Last night we went to the zoo to watch our niece Kiana sing with her choir from school. She did a great job and it was fun to see her with her friends. After she finished singing we took Declan all around to look at the lights and animals. Of course he loved the ocean animals the best. He even tried to pet a shark! It was a little chilly, but he didn't seem to mind:)

Playdate

This past Monday we had 4 of my girlfriends with their little girls over for a playdate, which turned into a wonderful brunch! While munchin' on bagels, donut holes, fruit and fake mimosas (2 of the ladies are preggo) we made cinnamon applesauce ornaments:) The 5 little ones had a blast taking out all of the toys and strewing them from the living room to the kitchen. Declan did pretty well sharing, except for two of his toys (his light up drum and pull behind phone)...he did not want anyone else touching them! I didn't get any pictures of Tessa, but she was in on it too!

Milena on the tractor:)

Lizzie likes to take the books off the shelf too!

Laura and Mary cutting out ornaments.

Declan not sharing his drum!

O Christmas Tree!

I'm a little late in getting these up, but last Saturday we went to pick out our Christmas tree! BC found the perfect one and after strapping it on our car Clark W. Griswald style we were off!

By Sunday afternoon our tree was up, lit and decorated. Well, to be honest the decorating hasn't stopped...a certain little boo likes to take off the ornaments and hang them in different spots, so it's ever changing:) The best part of "lighting" the tree was watching Declan try to blow out the lights! He's just too funny sometimes! And no, we do not have a tree topper because we can't find one that we like!

3 Little Turkeys

For Thanksgiving this year we headed up to Fort Wayne to spend some time with BC's family. Terri had prepared a wonderful dinner, but after all of the pre dinner food, we could only eat so much! I made my first apple pie (from scratch!) for the big day...they say it was good, so I'll just have to keep baking:) Declan had fun with his cousins, although he and Erin both took naps during dinner! Here's the 3 little turkeys...Declan, Emily (3) and Erin (21 months) munchin' and with Grandad!

The Sock Bandit

We were struck by the Sock Bandit last week! As I was in the shower Declan decided that all of dad's socks should no longer stay in the sock drawer, but hang out by the toilet:) It was so funny to watch him walk past me with his arms full of socks and dump them in the corner. As you can see, BC has quite a lot of socks, so you can imagine it took many trips to unload them all. Declan was so proud and all I could do was tell him good job and clap for him!

Arm work out

Here's dad and Dec working out their arms with my exercise ball:) His little arms are so funny to watch!

17 months old!

Wow! Our little guy is 17 months old today:) He's at such a fun age and now that all 16 teeth are in our grouchy days are far and few between. Declan has been sleeping through the night (8ish to 7:30) for almost 2 months now, wonderful!! He has added blueberries, grapes and mango to his fruit list, still loves hummus, peas and boca burgers and he's even had some peanut butter on crackers with dad! He is signing for "more", "water", "eat", "cookie" and "cheese". He knows where his nose, mouth (he says "mou" for mouth), head, eyes, hair, tongue, teeth, feet, hands, toes and belly are. He'll tell you that a chicken says "bawk bawk", he sticks out his tongue for a snake and pants for a dog:) He likes to color, play with his tractor and farm animals and still loves reading his books. We love you boo!

Declan and the dolphins

I love the way he says "whoa" when the dolphins swim by!

Dec goes to Chicago!

This past week we went up to Chicago with BC (he had training for work) for a couple of days. The first day we were there Dec and I made the 1.9 mile walk to the Shedd Aquarium. It was a little chilly and he looked miserable, but we made it! Once we got inside and he was out of his stroller he had the best time:) He loved putting his hands on the glass to get a better look at the fish. He didn't like the dark shark tank to well, but had so much fun at the dolphin tank. The beluga whales were so awesome. Dec even took home his own beluga:) We spent about 3 hours there and could easily go back again. It didn't take him long to fall asleep on the way back, good thing he had beluga to keep him warm! That night we went to Rain Forrest Cafe for dinner. Declan loved the waterfalls and jungle animals. The aquarium next to our table was cool too. But the balloon animal dog was by far the coolest:)

The second day we went down to Navy Pier (Dec slept through it) and to the Magnificent Mile. We even visited the Lego store:)

We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back in December!

One more...

This is what happens when you tell Declan he can have one more...

(I wish BC would have told me my butt looked big in these jeans before we left!)

Boo's 2nd Trick or Treat

Last night was Dec's second Halloween! We went down to Lockerbie Square to go trick or treating (after we had some Bazbeaux's pizza of course). Declan was a train conductor and he wore his hat all night long, dad found him an Elmo bucket, which he didn't let go of!! He seemed to enjoy picking his own candy and putting it in his bucket, but next year we're going to have to have a talk about which candy he should choose...he kept grabbing Almond Joy bars...yuck!

BC even got his "Halloween Beer" again:)

Dec-o-lantern:)

Thursday night we carved up our pumpkin...Declan helped me design his face and then helped dad take out the guts and cut out the pieces! He liked to look into the pumpkin and put the lid back on, but he loved it when we lit the candle inside! Of course he wanted to blow it out! And after we left it lit on our front porch we went inside to watch The Great Pumpkin:)

Declan picks a pumpkin!

This past Sunday we took Declan to pick out his pumpkin! He had a lot of fun touching all of the pumpkins, trying to pick them up and smelling the flowers:) We came home with an awesome pumpkin!