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Oh no they didn't

Oh yes we did! This was one of Sarah's surprises for Evan... She used her school's library and printed out a larger-than-life Evan face in a dot pattern- one page at a time. I surprised Mike by hanging it above our bed. This is how much we are obsessed with our son. hehehe

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Fall Weekend at Mima & PopPop's


We visited Mima and PopPop this weekend and attended their end of summer/beginning of fall dinner. We hung out with Jack, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Mike, Aunt Sue, Uncle Paul, Granny & Grandpa Gifford. We had so much fun - especially Evan! I think he thought Mima and PopPop's house was the most awesome house ever and had a great time playing with all of the cool toys. He even cruised around in a walker for a bit. We had a yummy dinner and Evan got some great gifts from Paul and Sue (a set of blocks in different shapes that fit through holes in a toolbox), a little ghostie from Granny & Grandpa Gifford and a Jack-o-lantern candy holder that had a glow-in-the-dark skeleton sweatshirt (which you will see him in later this week) from Kelly, Mike and Jack (there was even candy in it for me and Mike!) Evan got a lottery ticket and little baby pumpkin from PopPop and Mima. The kid pretty much made out like a bandit. Evan had a great time playing with Aunt Sue, cracking up with Mima and eating toast with PopPop. Here are some highlights (I forgot to take pictures at the dinner, but we'll just have to snag some from Kelly).

Here's everyone when we arrived Friday night. Evan's wearing the pjs Jack picked out for him.



This morning Evan got up at 6am (yay) and we went outside to check out the sandbox on the deck. It was cold, so we were only outside for a few minutes. Evan started yelling when I tried to take him away from the sandbox. I promised that we'd come out again when it warmed up, so after breakfast we went out and played with Daddy and Mima.


Here's Mima blowing bubbles... Notice the big kid in the sandbox too. We had to shake sand out of Evan's sockies and shoes (and daddy's sweet sweatpants) after playtime.
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Halloween Fun at Burke Nursery

During our stay in VA, we went to Burke Nursery, which is only a few minutes from Mima and PopPop's home. We took a tractor ride through a haunted forest...



Oooooh- spoooookie! I had to hold Mike's hand. He was so scared. This is the scene right after the UFO/alien scene.


We met some monsters...




...And an adorable little vampire (cat?). We took him home with us.


Rode a pony... $4- what a rip-off - they only took Evan around twice!


...And rode a fake pony. It moved much faster than the real one and this one was FREE to ride.


There was this huge dirt pile called "Money Mountain" where kids could dig for prizes such as jelly toys, those little tiny farm animals, plastic spiders, etc... all great stuff that a baby could choke on. We dug out prizes for Evan and hid them in our pockets. When we left the Cronins, Mike had decorated the inside of my car with prizes. There was a candy corn man sitting on the speedometer.


We also rode the train.



We rode the Foot Truck too. It was really stinky. Oops... The "Big" in the word Big Foot was cut out of this shot. hehehe


We went down these big slides too... "Miner's Mountain" and another one that I can't remember the name. It was so cute watching Evan's hair blowing in the breeze as he went down!


You can see one of the slides here in the background. I wonder if Daddy and Evan know they are about to be swallowed whole by an enormous spooky ghost?!


Evan hung out in a "ghost" town...


And was thrown in jail for hijacking the Foot Truck.


We bailed him out and hung out in a REAL pumpkin patch. No, this isn't in the Acme parking lot this time!



We left and arrived at the grandparents' for a delicious taco fiesta with all the family. Here is the ONLY picture that we took during the whole thing. Aunt Kelly was wearing some very nice boots that you can't see in this photo. Woo! I'm outta breath from typing so much.
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Big Man on Campus



Evan and I visited Sarah at Cabrini yesterday and he was thrilled that the college has so many girls. He wants to know if he can visit Sarah more often. And you know how strict I am giving him certain foods? Well, no organic mush for him that day! He dined on pretzal nuggets and goldfish crackers. Later that night his usual favorite green beans weren't going over too well. We did have a great time and left Sarah to study and eat the homemade chocolate chip cookies my mom gave her. Oh ya! And Sarah gave us some presents too! One is a Cabrini onesie, which you will see him in later and another was something else... I can't say, because we're going to surprise Mike with it.

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Happy 9 Months Old!

We just got back from his 9 mo well visit and our boy is actually very long and lean. The doctor said probably due to the fact that he's so active... and that he looks great! Yay!

Height: 29.5" (87th percentile)
Weight: 20 lbs. 8 oz. (51st percentile)
Head: 18" (63rd percentile)

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NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!

A BIG milestone for us today.....Steph asked me to lower Evan's crib the other day? "Why now?!" I asked innocently. Here is your answer....

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Jin, Justin & Jacey's BBQ

Didn't I tell you the weekend wasn't over yet? Today Evan and I dropped off Mike at 30th St. because he had to take a business trip to Albany. We then headed over to the Captis' for their fall party. I AM SO PISSED AT THE CAMERA!!! The damn thing keeps corrupting the photos. I took a bunch of pictures today, including a 9 month bday shot of Evan and only one picture came out uncorrupted. I even tried another memory card. damn, damn dammit! At least the one shot that came out was so super cute - Miss Jacey Cakes!



Justin had just completed the back yard - it's so artistic - just like Jin and Justin. They had put cement in, but had these smooth rocks embedded throughout. They also had put up a wooden fence and the gate had slats that had been carved into leaves. It really was beautiful. They did it all themselves. Everyone in that family is so artistic - Jin, Justin and Jin's dad (who's an incredible artist - I think he created the gate)

There were 3 kiddies at the party - Jacey, Evan and a little 15-month old Zoe. And guess what - all 3 were wearing Puma track suits! Jacey's was pink and black, Zoe's was brown with pink and Evan just had on the top part and was red & white (Aunt Kelly gave him his). Evan and I were the first to arrive and the very last to leave. The kids seriously had so much fun. I have never, NEVER seen evan so social in my whole life. Lately, he's had a little bit of separation anxiety, making Mike refer to him as "mommy's boy". But not today! It was like I didn't exist! First of all, Jacey's toys are awesome. Evan thought he was in a Toy Kingdom and went from object to object to explore. And this is nuts... I picked up something and said "What's this?" and Evan said "Thissssss". I freaked out! And kept trying to get him to do it again. Jin's friend from highschool was there and was like "whoaaaa!". So we kept saying it again and again, trying to get him to repeat it. Then he just started hissing. Ssssss. Then that turned to raspberries - but hey!

We also jumped on Jin & Justin's bed. Jacey kept asking me to sing the "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" song and Evan tried to grab her as she jumped. He was laughing hysterically, trying to hug her legs! Incredible! She gave him kisses. awww! I'm telling you, they were so funny together. It's really the first time that Evan really played with a non-adult and could care less if an adult was there or not. Jacey's so incredibly smart too... She can count to 20, she knows her ABC's and has the vocabulary of an adult - and she's only 1 1/2! And it's cool because evan tried to mimic everything she did.

I just got off the phone with Mike, giving him the whole update of the day and I had tears in my eyes. I wish he could've seen our Ziggy in action tonight. I can't wait to pick him up from the train tomorrow night...
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Harvest Fest

Saturday we went to see Michael & Gisella's new baby boy - Mikey! Stupid us forgot to take any pictures. We were too busy chasing Evan around and checking out the new little Bugler... who is BEAUTIFUL btw! He was very alert and taking us all in. I feel like a total dummy for not getting a photo. After we got back, my ma came over and we headed out to a Harvest Moon party (my mom went shopping while we were gone). It was awesome! There must've been 200 people in Mike's friend Christina's yard! There was a bonfire, a dj, scarecrow displays, jack-o-laterns, kids, food, Food and FOOD! Evan was a complete hit and LOVED staying up to 10:30. He even had a soft pretzel. Before we left, I went in the house to change his diaper and put on his jammies and he took off! Changing Evan these days is like wrestling a wild hyena. I could only laugh as I watched his little naked heinie scooting away from me. When we got back, we put Evan to bed and my mom stayed home while Mike and I went out on a date. We went to Murphy's down the street and played photo hunt (bar computer game). Yes, it was another busy weekend, but it's not over yet! More to come...


Notice Evan's little sweater. It's from Peru and has little alpacas all over it. Mike brought it home from his trip. Also, notice my dark hair (if you haven't from previous blog entries). I dyed it dark!
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A day at daddy's new office

Evan woke up from his nap immediately after my Godparents left. Aunt Chicky said that would happen! When he woke up, we drove to the College Board so that Evan could hang out in his dad's new office. Here are some shots in Mike's temporary office (they're in the middle of remodeling). Evan took over Mike's job and did it BETTER! hehehe. Then we went with his coworkers to happy hour!




Evan's like 'who me?'
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A visit from Aunt Chicky, Uncle Ed & Kristen

My Godparents came over on Friday to see the house and hang out with, guess who - Evan! They watched him while Kristen and I walked down the street to pick up lunch. Evan loved it! These pics were taken just as I was about to take him up for his nap. Tired little monkey...


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Dinner with Aunt Ella

So I was finally able to download photos taken on my ma's camera since she came over last night to babysit. I found some good ones! Here's Evan with Aunt Ella (Aunt Ella gives her famous "spine tickers". She's been doing it since I was a baby!). Evan loves it - he arches his back and laughs hysterically. This is the night we went out to dinner at Dino's while the grandparents were out with their friends in Cape May. The last photo in this set is Aunt Ella yelling "Oh my God, he's walking away from me - I'm barely holding him!" That's our boy!



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Another broken camera

It poured and it was cold... the weather was so crappy, but it was warm and toasty in KOP mall. Evan and I met Marti, John and Jude. Evan's pants fell off then he pulled off his sock and stuffed it in his mouth when he was eating green beans. Notice no pictures? Now Mike's older camera isn't working either! Evan and I also colored today and now I have crayon on the floor and the wheely thing that holds the computer... but it was worth it! Evan was so amazed by crayons- it was like they were magic! Yesterday we ran down Forbidden Drive with the jogging stroller. When I say "ran". I mean ran, then walked, then ran again. I am so out of shape! This is the only the 2nd time I ran since Evan was born 9 mos. ago. But it was cool to take him out of the stroller and let him pull leaves and step on rocks. We found an earthworm and Evan picked out his favorite rock "Rocky" and brought him home. It's still sitting on our front porch. Again, no photos! I'm going to try another one of Mike's memory cards in the ol' camera and see if that works. In the meantime, here's another Acme Pumpkin Patch shot:
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False Alarm! Only 3 teeth.

Is it just me, or is our baby looking more and more "little boy-like". 9 month photo coming up next week!



I knew I shouldn't have listened to the shoe guy. It looks like four, but it's just a swollen gum. Once I had a chance to feel around, I only noticed 3. Pooop. Oh well. Here's our little guy after a full breakfast this morning. He's been eating like a little piggy now and is nursing less and less. He's eating a double portion of oatmeal in the morning and about a full container of organic fruit (sometimes I use my "Magic Bullet" to mush him up some bananas or nectarines or something). He loves these sweet little corn puffs too. He tries to feed himself, but ends up eating his fist. He gets frustrated because he can't get the food out of his tight little grip. When he does, I have to constantly remind him to "chew Chew CHEW" so he doesn't swallow it whole. Today he took the spoon filled with blueberry pears and shoved it in his mouth. The fact that the spoon had food on it was just a cooincidence since he puts everything in his mouth, but I'll chalk it up as feeding himself. For lunch he usually has a veggie and a fruit. Yesterday I mushed up some canned beans for him, which he LOVED. Then dinner is a multigrain and a veggie. He pretty much eats everything, including my face and Mike's face. We like to call that "kisses". BTW, the Phillies hat is no more. He tossed it out of the stroller one too many times and now it's gone forever. Cooincidently, on the day the Phillies lost the chance to go to the play-offs or something. It was very symbolic for Mike. Now we need a new hat. Also, our baby waves. He waves to himself and sometimes mistakens our waves and claps, but so cute. PopPop calls it his little Polack wave. Our little one has Polish in him from both grandmothers!
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THE PUMPKIN PATCH.....at Acme

We can now truly be considered residents of Roxborough, as we used the pumpkin display outside our local Ac-a-me today for our pumpkin patch shots. They might consider us for City Council if we start walking the shopping carts home with us and letting them pile up in front of the house. Oh brother...We will find a proper pumpkin patch this weekend, I swear!



Mommy had him walking in the Acme once we got inside. Here, you can see his awesome clapping skills on display, as he is giving himself a well deserved round of applause for taking four assisted steps! And although that looks like Steph's Miss America sash, it's really the sling she uses to carry the little ankle biter around. By the way, he really is biting ankles these days (and faces and arms and the couch and the remote control, and anything else he finds on his crawling treks) with his FOUR teeth. Yup, that's right....breaking news today on the blog. (Steph told me to tell you that the shoe repair guy on Ridge Ave. found Evan's fourth tooth today. I'm just as confused as you are on that one, dear reader, but one of the things I've learned in the past nine months is that sometimes it's just better to not ask follow up questions!) Anyway, four teeth in total, two up top and two on the bottom, to use to bite you too the next time he sees you!

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CAN IT BE FALL ALREADY??

The thermometer and my heart still say it's summer, but the calendar and the leaves tell a different story. This is Evan's first Fall, and with Halloween right around the corner, it's just one more season for Evan to be cute in.




Evan says, "Hola, Fall!"
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Manchester United, Send Your Offers!

Yesterday, we walked down to the Tow Path and decided to practice walking a bit on the soft surface.




Once he mastered walking, he wanted to start practicing soccer, to be just like his cousin Jack!



I think he wants to be a goalie!!