Brilliance

Just a peek into what David is learning these days:

• He can count to 10 by himself. Sometimes he gets stuck on four or six, but for the most part he sails through. And he knows how to count objects, too. Sometimes kids learn to count as a rhythmic pattern, but David has taken it a step further and he can count objects.
• My favorite phrase from David is "piddy ride bat"--translation: "piggy back ride." With such a cute way of asking, he gets one every time.
• David knows his left from his right. He consistently gets it correct--and tonight when we quizzed him, he was sitting on his left leg. We asked him where his left foot was, and  he had to pull it out from underneath himself to shake it at us while he said, "weft poot" followed by "wight poot."
• David has finally found his love--even an excitement--for reading. He brings us books to read ("ead boot") until we have made it through a considerable stack.
• David can label many of his body parts--including hard ones like his elbow ("belbow"), chin and cheek. The other day I asked him where his thumb was. He opened his mouth and pointed inside. Hmmmm. Maybe that's the root of his thumb sucking--he thinks his thumb belongs inside of his mouth.

We, in our very un-biased way, happen to think our son is brilliant.

Purple

Thank you, Great Gramma Allen for "Purple."

David loves his colorful, cuddly friend!

Apprenticeship

After 15 months with a broken dishwasher, we finally replaced the vintage appliance. David was very excited to help Daddy.

 Do you see that sweet affection--David leaning his head against Daddy's arm? David absolutely adores his Daddy. And Daddy lets him show it, even when he's trying to install a new stubborn dishwasher.

In the end, the project was all-hands-on-deck. The pipes had been left unused for so long that we found ourselves running to Home Depot to replace parts of the plumbing. We started installing it one evening, thinking it would be done in a few hours. It took 3 days of running back to the store, calling the manufacturer, and doing research to figure out how to make it work. Of course I was expecting it to work any minute during those 3 days, so I didn't stand there and do too many dishes in that time. By the time we had a working dishwasher, we had 3 full loads to run. We finally found the clogged part, and our new dishwasher is whisper quiet.

Ward Halloween Carnival

We took David to our Ward's Halloween Carnival on the Saturday before Halloween. We enjoyed hot dogs, a cake walk (David didn't quite know how to choose just one number when the music stopped) and watching everyone else trick or treat. This year I didn't give David a trick or treat bag--simply because he seems more than a little indifferent to candy and I didn't want it around our house. It's true, we were the ones to take pretzels for our "treat." I know some people would want me strung up for such an idea--but hey, it worked out! At one point, someone gave David a dum dum sucker. That lasted about 12 seconds, then he wanted to find the "trash" to throw it away. I'm not going to push a sweet tooth on my son, so we obliged, and that was the end of the candy for the night.

In fact, on our way home we went to the store to pick up a few things to make milkshakes with friends the next night. As I sat in the candy aisle choosing a candy bar to mix in, I saw the irony, "Who does this? Who leaves a Halloween Party and goes straight to the store to buy candy?" It seems that we were very successful in meeting my goal to not bring home extra sugar on Halloween.

Apparently we wore our monkey out by the end of the night, because as soon as we stopped to chat with frends, he found Brother Nye to cuddle up to. I think they both enjoyed it.

 This skeleton went from scary

. . . to curious

 . . . to downright silly in the end. 

And just for the record, David loved his monkey suit long after the festivities were over.

Here's what I found one morning after I came home from my early morning workout:

That's our monkey!

Halloween Festivities

This year we celebrated Halloween on the Saturday before, because of the 31st landing on Sunday.

David and I began our day by making cupcakes for the cake walk at the Halloween Carnival that night.

I really didn't think David would be interested in licking the beaters because he doesn't seem to have much of a sweet tooth. Clearly I was mistaken--and David definitely approved of the chocolate batter.

  After we were done with our own baking, I took our little monkey to Great Harvest Bread for their annual Halloween Fest. Each child was given the opportunity to decorate a cookie or make a bug bread--and then (and this is the best part)--each child was given a coupon to come back and get a free loaf of bread.

 Here is David's finished product (with a little help from Mom).

 He really liked his "bud."

 And here is the setup at Great Harvest--they turned their usual baking kitchen into workspace for hundreds of children in a 2-hour period.

Smurfette is our friend Kirsten, and her husband was dressed as Papa Smurf. (She works at Great Harvest Bread here in town.) Jessica is on the right, and her entire family of eight was dressed as characters from Harry Potter--with amazing handmade costumes that she created! She inspires me to want to create family themes around costumes in the future.

Our Monkey

David, Is Daddy a monkey?

(With scrunched nose, cocked head, and a nod) "Noooooo."

Is Mommy a monkey?

"Noooooo."

Is David a monkey?

"Noooooo."

Who's a monkey?

"I am!!!"

 David liked the ears, the tail, and the soft fur on his monkey suit.

 His favorite part, though, was having four thumbs.

Because if two thumbs are good for sucking, then four thumbs are great!

Kenai River--Drifter's Lodge and Upper Kenai Trail

The Kenai River is known  for its salmon fishing. The largest salmon ever recorded came from the Kenai River in 1985--at 97 pounds! The first time I saw this gorgeous river, I decided instantly it is one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. Carving its way through firs and birch, teeming with wildlife, and the most crystal blue water I have ever seen in a river.

We went down on Friday night to Cooper Landing, the first little community along the Kenai River. We were able to stay in cabins--with real beds, shower and a bathroom, and a kitchenette--at the Kenai River Drifter's Lodge. It was a very different experience to stay in comfort--we loved it! On Saturday morning we packed up and left for a hike.

This was the first time we put these "L-Bow" gloves on David. They have a sleeve attached that reaches clear up to his shoulder--they go underneath his coat. I love these gloves! They actually stay on toddler hands. David tried pretty hard to get them off--but he was only successful once or twice in two hours.

We hiked along the "Upper Kenai River" trail and it was gorgeous.

I love this picture:

We were hiking with our friends, the Larsens, and they had two little boys in tow with them as well. So the hike was pretty simple. We really enjoyed the crisp autumn air, the views, the eagle and birds we saw and the hike itself wasn't as cold as it could have been for October!

We stopped on the banks of the river for a lunch break.

David had fun playing in the leaves.

This was our last big hoorah before the winter set in--so here's to waiting for next summer for more fun adventures.