the first of a million belated posts: Halloween

trick-or-treating at the library - we ran into a John Deere tractor and had to take a picture of the two DeKalb kids! 

 Pretending to be the pumpkin - and each other

 trick-or-treating on our block - the only kid(s) who were out this year!

Pumpkin Run day.

Jason did the Pumpkin Run at Pumpkin Fest again this year -- Lorelei and I cheered him on and then had pie to celebrate!

That afternoon, we headed out to the Nature Trail to watch leaves float down to the river (an activity Lorelei figured out all on her own)

17 months old.

Can you believe it?

On Lorelei's 17 month birthday, we had a picnic at the park (it was 80 degrees on October 24th -- seriously) with friends Maia, Leo, Natalie, and Jack (and their moms too).

 Umm, Leo...what are you doing to my cup?

 Not sure what is going on in this picture, but it's pretty great.

 Isn't Lorelei's hair growing in so darn cute?

The it was off to Sycamore for the kick-off of Pumpkin Fest with a little "trick or treating" at the downtown shops. A bit overwhelming for our little corn cob, but she looked darling. Jason was a good sport and wore a costume, too -- I dressed up as the farmer of our little corny family.

What to tell you about her on her month birthday? She's growing by leaps and bounds -- trying to say lots of words and signing even more, scampering around and climbing on everything, and spending most of her time being exceptionally sweet and cute. One of my favorite stories about her from the past month (no pictures, sorry) is when we went to a petting zoo at a local nursing home and rehab center. It was a wonderful time of interaction between toddlers, animals, and elderly patients, and Lorelei was so enamored with all of the animals, but especially the goose! She's really into them right now and ran right up to see him -- and nearly jumped out of her skin when he started honking, then burst into tears! She spent the rest of the time fighting the urge to run over to him again and also the urge to cry. It's an adventure every day, that's for sure!

Gramma B comes, Mommy and Daddy leave.

Gramma B came to town -- which meant Mommy and Daddy got to go to Chicago for the weekend by themselves! So much fun for everybody. Even Ross and Meredith came out to play one afternoon for some fun at the pumpkin patch.

And a required photo of Jason with his beloved gourds:

out and about in autumn.

[Really behind on these posts -- sorry! Mostly pictures with little text to try to get caught up.]

Out for pumpkin ice cream while wearing a pumpkin hat:

Watching Daddy play tennis:

Jumping in the foam block pit at Energym, where all the other moms say she is very brave:

At the Midwest Museum of Natural History (best parts -- climbing in the turtle tunnel and seeing the real giant tortoise named Hercules):

Honking at the geese by Altgeld Hall:

Lorelei, movie star.

Do you remember when I told you that Lorelei was going to be in a movie? Well, it just got released, almost exactly a year later!




Please ignore the fact that Jason and I look so goofy and tired (also, Jason said WAY more intelligent and profound things than I did -- I'm bummed they didn't make the cut!) and focus instead on Lorelei's amazing chubby cheeks! Awwww, I miss those.

ahh-hees.

Did I mention Lorelei is obsessed with onions? Here she is reading one a story.

She got that Halloween-y headband at Target along with two others and loves trying them on in the mirror. She also enjoyed trying on my apron:

afternoon delight.

Really, really, really missing my awesome DSLR these days -- especially on one recent afternoon when the sunlight through the window was unbelievably beautiful and Lorelei's sweet little blond head was glowing as she concentrated on the important task of putting a straw back into a cup.