Other indoor activities include . . .

Bowling. This is one of Quinn's favorite things to do. He loves setting up the pins (we have two different sets of pins, so he can set up a ton at a time), and then he bowls over and over. It's so cute!

He's really gotten into coloring now. What I love is how he'll scribble and then tell me what it is. Of course, it all looks the same to me, but it's really cute to see how his brain works.

My personal favorite new activity is Play-Doh. I LOVED Play-Doh as a kid, so I love playing it now. Making "noodles" and then cutting them into little pieces is what we do a lot. :)

And when all else gets boring, tearing apart your room and reading is always fun too, right? Quinn loves reading in his room by himself, and it cracks me up how he always wants to remove the cushion on his chair first. I had to take a picture of how he knocked over the ottoman and fan and removed the cushion and almost a whole shelf of books before settling in. :)

How We're Keeping Busy

It's funny how in September, the first time the temperature dips below 70, it feels freezing cold outside. Now, if it's about 35 and sunny, we're going outside!! And the thing is, the temperature doesn't seem to affect Quinn at all--it's ME who has to really bundle up and endure being outside!

Since we don't have anything too exciting to take pictures of, I thought I'd just post some everyday-life pics to show you what we've been up to.

Here's Quinn pedalling his trike. When I first got this at a garage sale in October, I thought it would be quite awhile till he could pedal, but literally all of a sudden, he could do it. He looks like such a big boy riding a bike. Usually he wears the helmet that came with it at the sale, which makes me look like quite the protective mom but really is his favorite part of riding a bike because 1. big kids wear helmets when they ride and 2. football players wear helmets too. :)

This is the early (over a month early!) birthday present I gave to myself, oops, I mean Quinn! Isn't it funny how toys are just as much for the moms as they are for the kids because they give moms the gift of TIME?! Not that I need Quinn to go away and leave me alone; I just need some uninterrupted play time to get dinner started, return a phone call, or just not time where I'm chasing him off of something he's climbed! :)

So, this is the Little Tikes Sizzle n' Serve kitchen. I spent a lot of time researching and reading reviews on kitchens. I knew he'd love one because he mimics EVERYTHING we do, and he loves the kitchen his cousins have. Just when I'd settled on a Step 2 kitchen, we visited Andy's cousins, and in watching him play with their kitchen, I realized what other features to look for. Basically, I love this kitchen for its gender-neutral, decor-matching colors; its grill; its pot hooks; its coffeepot; and its pass-through. That's what made it better for me than the Step 2 kitchen. That's just a little review for any of you that might be considering buying a kitchen for your little one. It is easily, hands-down the best toy I've bought thus far.

And It's November . . .

So, we've entered the season I've been anxious about. The it's-rained-for-five-straight-days, can't-go-outside, oh-my-goodness-how-do-I-keep-you-occupied (and not climbing things!!) season. It's been a week of this already, and actually, we've survived quite well, but I have very little to blog about! We've explored coloring and Play-doh with success. I also gave Quinn an early birthday present (I'll post more about that later), so that's helped. Moms of toddlers, please feel free to pass on suggestions of fun winter activities. I'm up for the challenge and we are still having fun; I just want to keep it going! :)

Last weekend we visited Quinn's second cousins. He had such a blast being thoroughly entertained by everyone.

What do you do on rainy November days? You go splash in puddles!! This is made possible by the wonderfully adorable raincoat-rainboat set Grandma Mary gave us. Thank you so much!!
One thing I've realized with having a toddler is not only does he need appropriate outdoor play gear, but I do too! I'm digging through the closet this weekend, hoping to find items to keep me warm and able to play outside as well. :)

Halloween

What a fun Halloween! This was basically Quinn's first Halloween experience, since last year he couldn't walk or talk yet. He's been really excited about it. We've been reading books about Halloween all month, since Quinn loves pumpkins, and I've been explaining away all things ghoulish (witches, ghosts, tombstones in people's yards--I hate those!!) as simply Halloween stuff. It's funny how you see things differently when you have a child. Andy and I both aren't really big fans of Halloween anyway, and I've always hated decorations that are scary, bloody, and death-related. Now that I have a little guy, I realize how it's everywhere and quite scary! If you ask him where you see "scary mans", he'll tell you "Walgreens" because we were just assaulted with rows of horrific masks and wigs when we went there the other day to pick up pictures. I really had to watch where we went so he wouldn't get too overwhelmed with all the scary stuff.

But anyway, the fun side to Halloween is, of course, the cute costumes and the candy. I gave little thought to costumes this year until my sister offered this one for free, so giraffe it was!! Giraffes are my favorite animal, and Quinn has a 5-foot tall stuffed one in his room, so it was very appropriate. We practiced all week saying "trick or treat" and then "thank-you", so we were ready. He didn't realize that candy was involved, though, until our neighbor gave him his first treat. I'm not a meanie-mom about it, but I give Quinn very little sugar, so he was quite amazed and thrilled when he got a lollipop, hence the picture below. The funny thing is, he never did end up eating any. He just liked holding it and sucking on it through the wrapper. Works for me!

How adorable are my "Super Nieces"!! The whole family, including the dog, had matching superhero outfits.

Quinn and Will are best buddies and neighbors, so we got them together for a picture. They were both so fuzzy and cute!

The best Halloween treat of all was Uncle Johnny flew in from Florida for a visit and arrived just as trick or treating started.

Aunt Carolyn came over too and taught Quinn how to pose for the camera. I think Q should get into commercial work! He'll do anything you ask him to.