Say, Cheese!

So, M tried to capture a picture of me hanging upside-down off my lego work bench, but as soon as she said "hold still and I'll get the camera", I jumped off my precarious perch and went in search of my own toy camera. This is the result! (I like to face the camera towards me so I can see the red light flashing. Wouldn't you?!)

Today, M drove me to a county outside Peoria so I could receive the H1N1 vaccine; Peoria didn't receive their shipments, so all their clinics were cancelled. I loved climbing up into the different chairs in the waiting room while M filled out the paperwork, but I didn't have long to wait as the line was non-existant. (Unlike horror stories we had heard about on the news in other places.)

I had some neon green poop today! Yep-cool stuff! It was either from the orange icing on my Halloween cupcake from the library's program, or from the blue raspberry flavored Twizzler I was teething on last night. Either way, it gave M quite a fright!!

M made me a "Max, King of the Wild Things" costume to wear, but I'm not crazy about trying it on. It's really cool with a wolf's tail, pointed ears, and claws. Maybe, just maybe, I'll put it on later this week for a picture.

I've got attitude these days - I can cross my arms across my chest and make a pouting face when I want to. But, I make up for my contrary moments when I gently reach out and hold M or D's hand and lead them over to a toy I want to play with. I certainly know how to get my way!

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

At the library, we sang a cute little rhyming song about pumpkins. Well, that got us in the mood to do some pumpkin exploration on our own at home. I really liked stabbing with my curvy knife into the pumpkin, but as you can see from the picture, I wasn't really crazy about pulling out the gooey pumpkin seeds. However, after we roasted them in the oven, added some butter and salt, I sat with the bowl in my lap and couldn't stop eating them!

In other fall news, I helped rake up some leaves with my little, purple toy rake. Our next door neighbor wanted to play hide and seek; guess where her first hiding spot was? Yep, buried under the leaves. Well, I had to jump right into the fun too, only I didn't want to lay down in the leaves. So, the girls just piled the leaves all up around me. I stood very still as they worked. Later, I threw the leaves up in the air and ran out!

The itsy bitsy LADYBUG climbed up the water spout

I woke up from my nap yesterday and I wasn't sure which planet I was on....ladybugs were flying all around the place. They loved the sunny side of our house, especially the water spout and window frames. One landed on my coat collar and tickled my ear. Oh, and ladybugs aren't the only insect hanging around our house these days; I found a "walking stick" that once placed on my knit cap wouldn't come off no matter how much I swung it around. And I've spied a very, very woolly caterpillar already too! Guess what that means!?!

The fall yard clean-up is in full swing. Raking leaves is so much fun! I can hide my sandbox toys in them, throw them in the air and crunch them under my feet. Mason next door passed along a small skateboard to me that he's out grown, so I can even roll along into the leaves if I want to!

I'm helping, Mom!

So, since the weather has turned chilly the dogs haven't gotten as much exercise outdoors as they have become accustomed to. Gertie was definitely showing signs of cabin fever - barking at us every five minutes or so if we didn't play with her. Well, I thought I'd help out. I love "walking" Gertie in circles around the house and up and down off the couch. This retractable leash works best so Gertie has a little more freedom to do her own thing. Oh, Gertie, I love you! (Even if you did finish off my cherry sucker this afternoon!)

I've been waving like autumn leaves and reaching up high in the air to pick apples in the tiny tot programs at the library. Pumpkins, caterpillars, and piles of leaves have been some of the other subject material recently. However, despite all the festive signs of the season, I've got racing on the brain!! In preparation for this weekend's Sturmfest, I've been revving the engines of my John Deere tractor around the house. I'm hoping someone will need a mechanic at the races because I'm planning on bringing my toolbox - D justed added a real metal wrench to it last night as I didn't have one, and the storybook we were reading referred to one. :-)

H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O

What's the chemical compound for water?.....I heard it's H to O, so that's H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, right?! Here I am at the car show on the Peoria Riverfront pumping some very cold water into the tub with a plastic river otter. I worked up a sweat but never filled the bucket as quickly as the engine-driven pump. Oh, well, I sure had fun! In fact, I wore myself out even further bouncing in the blow-up cage with other kids, watching a clown make balloon sculptures and a lady face paint. Here I thought we were going to the car show for D's benefit only - I was surprised at how much fun M & I had too!

Let's see, did I share with everyone how I enjoy walking on my tippy toes these days? I can do the splits on cue too. Oh and watch out for anything that resembles a curb; I love to show off my attempts at jumping!

Today, we ventured out to a library program in the city since it was a rainy day. I carried the umbrella all by myself and then found some puddles to stomp in on the way. I was very attentive during the program highlighting stories and songs about apples. Afterwards, I munched on Apple Jacks cereal and tore off the leaf on the paper bookmark shaped like an apple with a removable worm coming out of it.

Back home, it's a great day to sit in front of the window with my stuffed animal friends, sippy cup of milk and my remaining Apple Jacks while watching the construction workers battle the reappearing water hole in the street. The noisier they are the better, I say!