With cooler weather
And the promise of Autumn
We loved September
Our weekdays were fairly ordinary this month, but we took full advantage of the weekends! Charlie had to be away on business trips for half of the month, so we really tried to make the most out of our time together!
The first weekend in September was extended for Labor Day, and we filled it full with lots of fun activities. We went to Oklahoma City with our friends, the Elands, and had a picnic by the splash pad. The babies had a blast crawling around on the water and playing in the sprays.
We also had our new Korean group of students over for lunch for the first time. Even with somewhat of a language barrier, the conversations were great and we're loving getting to know this new part of our "family." We've decided to make Wednesday nights our weekly night to get together for dinner this semester - I'm really looking forward to it! They all give Bruce lots of extra attention, and he's crazy about them too!
The local natural history museum offers free admittance on the first monday of every month, including holidays - so we took advantage of Charlie having the day off for Labor Day and went to look at the "Chinosaurs" - the Chinese dinosaur exhibit. It really is an incredible museum with much more to explore than just the dinosaurs. Bruce absorbed it all like a sponge - especially the discovery room where there's lots of hands-on artifacts, themed toys, books and other things for kids to play with. I have a feeling we'll be going back as often as possible on the free days!
 |
| in the car coming home after a long day |
The following weekend we went to the Cleveland County Fair and had fun looking at all of the animals. Charlie really wants to enter our Polish chickens in the open class competition next year. We'll see. They could definitely win - it just seems a little ridiculous!
The next weekend we went up to Stillwater to celebrate Yvonne's 60th birthday. Although we came bearing Dove dark chocolates and a super-rich chocolate cake, I think bringing the grandbaby was the best gift - we really should try to make it up there more often! Bruce had a lot of fun checking on the cows and feeding the herd of cats. We attempted to go down to the river, but after meandering through a maze of thick brush and bramble, we discovered it was too washed out and we couldn't quite make it. Charlie did a great job navigating Bruce through it all though without getting a single scratch!
 |
| ducking under a tangle of branches |
The weekend of the 22nd we took our Korean students to the Oklahoma State Fair. It was Bruce's second time for this grand occasion, but this time, he got to partake in the best part - Fair Food!
Like I mentioned earlier, Monday through Friday this month we've settled into a nice routine. The days blur together somewhat and pass by quickly. We start the day between 6:00 and 6:45, play a little and have breakfast. After that, Charlie takes Bruce for a walk through the neighborhood to watch the school buses, find catalpa bean pods, acorns, pinecones, sticks, utility flag markers - you name it - and to see the litter of kittens around the corner. I think it's Bruce's favorite 30 minutes of the day! Then, Charlie heads off to work and Bruce and I feed the chickens and the cat, read a few books, and get ready for a nap. When Bruce wakes up, we play and have lunch and play some more, and then it's time for another nap! After that nap, we usually get out of the house for awhile until dinner. Bruce eats dinner around 5:00, then Charlie comes home and they explore the backyard. (Bruce's second favorite 30 minutes of the day!) Then it's bath, books, and bedtime at 6:30! I'm looking forward to when Bruce can stay up a little later without turning into Mr. CrankyPants, but until then, we're enjoying our kid-free evenings. Even if that means being homebound starting so early.
 |
| Bruce loves the giant fish pillow! |
 |
| trying to plug a USB cord into the lamp stand |
Bruce has gotten so much better at "free" standing and walking while holding on to things - including our hands finally! He has even taken a couple of independent steps! He's still not venturing away from his "grip"much though or really walking around by himself yet. I have a feeling it'll be coming soon though as he's growing real impatient when his push toys don't always cooperate. He definitely is showing his independence more and more with everything and pushing away my helping hands in the universal "I can do it myself" brush off. He's still quick to whine a bit though when he
does need my help afterall. So it's a delicate balance of trying to let him do things himself, but being ready to jump in when he's struggling.
At meal times Bruce is starting to show a lot more interest in using utensils now. He always needs to have a spoon to "practice," but mainly just stirs around the food. It's funny to watch him pick up a piece of food off of his tray with his fingers, and carefully place it on the spoon - he just won't attempt to put it in his mouth after that! He also has learned that he can spit things out. I guess that was a new realization for him. And boy does he love to spit things out now. If he has something in his mouth he doesn't like, or is tired of eating, he opens wide his mouth and shakes his head back and forth until the food falls out. And if it doesn't fall out on its own, he whines until I pick it off his tongue. Along with spitting things out, he also has gotten better at slurping things in! Before, if some food didn't quite make it in, he'd use his fist to shove it the rest of the way, but now his little lizard tongue has figured out how to help him out!
Bruce is getting better at independent play, but still would rather be "doing" whatever I'm doing - which means I don't get a whole lot done! I did manage to get all of the closets cleaned out and reorganized this month though, and Bruce had a great time "helping" with that. He'd much rather play with the can full of paintbrushes than any of his toys. Also, in the process of having all the contents of all the closets strewn about the house, Bruce discovered a passion for shoes and is obsessed with them now! Whenever he sees shoes, whether they're mine or Charlie's, he drags them over to whoever is closest, and "asks" them to put them on. And doesn't relent until
someone is wearing the shoes. Now that it's getting a little cooler, and Bruce is walking more outdoors, I finally bought him a pair of shoes - and he can't get enough of them! When I try to take them off, he whines, or holds his foot up "asking" for me to put them back on. I don't get it. Wouldn't he much rather be barefoot?
There's a lot of things I don't get about that boy. I don't know why he'd rather wear shoes. Don't they constrict his toes? I don't know why he loves wearing hats. Don't they make his head itch? I don't know why he enjoys playing in the freezer. It's the
freezer. Isn't it freezing? Sometimes I think we're so different. But then I think about how much he likes ice cream, and dancing, and animals, and being outside and I think, me and this kid are going to do just fine together.
 |
| trying to coax the cat to come in... |
 |
| jamming to music at Sam's |
His current favorite toy right now is a wheeled push toy that he got for Christmas. Up until now, he hasn't given it too much thought, but now we almost have to hide it sometimes because as soon as he sees it, he does a dive bomb out of our arms, or a beeline across the room, and immediately walks/pushes it over to the front door. We took him outside with it ONE TIME, and now he is determined that that's the
only place he can push it around. I guess I can't blame him - there's a lot more open space outside. It's just that we can't
always take it outside because sometimes it's too hot, or rainy, or dark - and there's no reasoning with a one year old.
When we do get to be outdoors, Bruce has turned his attention upwards this month. He now recognizes the sound airplanes make and tries to find them in the sky when he hears one. He also loves to watch birds fly around and perch on telephone wires. And for some reason, I find it fascinating that he noticed the moon all on his own. I've never really talked about the moon, or showed it to him in books, but in the mornings the moon is usually still out, and he always points it out for me. I wonder what he thinks about it.
 |
| yes, those are shoes over his footie pajamas... |
Bruce still really enjoys books too, and I can practically recite them all from memory by now. Added to his list of favorites are his two John Deere Farm ABC and 123 books,
Painting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert,
Haiku Baby by Betsy Snyder,
Time for Bed by Mem Fox and
Animal Kisses by Barney Saltzberg . The animal kisses book is one of those "touch and feel" books that have different textures on each page. One day, I thought it would be fun for me to make Bruce's feet touch the pages to shake things up a bit. Well. Now he has to "read" every time with his feet. He cracks me up! It's fun to watch him really inspect every part of the pages in books now too. He almost always points out the blue bird on every page in the haiku book, and for some odd reason, he always points out the crocus flower when we get to the purple page in the rainbow book. I really wonder what it is about that crocus that he loves so much. Maybe we'll have to plant some.
Speaking of which, we never got around to planting anything new in our garden for the fall, so we're down to just peppers and okra. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of the okra, so I can't really pickle any of it. And I always forget at dinner time that it's out there. The peppers are still doing great, I just haven't found much time to make any jelly. It's a shame really. I guess it's just not real high on the priority list these days!
 |
| almost full head puffs on our buff girls |
We gave half of our chickens away towards the beginning of the month, and are down to just six now. We have two of each color - silver laced, copper laced, and buff laced. We were suspicious initially that one of the copper ones was a rooster, but now we're also thinking one of the silvers might be too. We've heard some rather interesting pseudo-crowing lately, but haven't been able to tell which one is doing it. They haven't found their "big girl" voices yet, so there's a chance it could be hens testing out their vocals... but I'm doubtful... I'm betting in the next month we'll know for sure - until then, still no names. We don't want to waste a good dead aunt on a rooster we'll have to get rid of!
 |
| Bruce says, "Pack me, Daddy!" |
Charlie has a lot more work related trips on the calendar for this upcoming season. It's unfortunate that he can't be home more, but we're thankful his job is thriving, and he's getting the opportunity to work on a lot of interesting projects. I opened a skype account this month so Bruce and Charlie could talk to each other while he's gone - but that means that Bruce can skype with any of you also! I'm michelle.kolarik on skype - look us up and add us to your contacts - we'd love to chat!
