Enjoying Another Fall Day

It is starting to get colder, so we thought we'd take advantage of an hour outside before it becomes unbearable. Today Conor wanted to ride his tricycle. At first, he didn't want to wear his helmet. Then after he turned too fast and fell over, he quickly realized he should have it on. After that, he wanted to wear it in the house for lunch, but I was able to distract him before we made it that far. (This is the tricycle I had as a kid, that I got when it was three years old...it still holds up pretty well, though it could use some WD-40!)

Autumn Leaves

We have had great fun in the last few weeks taking advantage of the fall weather. All the leaves seemed to fall off the trees at once, but we still had a little burst of sunshine and warmth, so we taught Conor the joy of playing in the leaves. He wasn't sure at first, but after he figured it out, he wanted to play out there every day...and night. We got some great pictures of him!

Our biggest struggle these days seems to be getting him to take a nap on the 3 days a week he stays home (Fri, Sat, Sun). He will sleep at daycare most of the time...and we do all we can to wear him out in the mornings at home, but he has figured out that if he keeps talking or singing and moving (even though he will usually stay in bed, he will roll around and kick the wall), he can prevent himself from falling asleep. We try rocking him, sleeping with him, leaving him alone, sticking to a routine and a schedule, but this is still a work in progress. Any ideas would be great appreciated!!

If he doesn't get a nap, he doesn't always even fall asleep early. Then in the mornings, he gets tired and crabby like this. And on this particular day, apparently cold...he wanted to have his hat on for breakfast!! Don't ask me :)

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!! Can you believe it's already here??

Happy Halloween

Halloween morning was spent cheering on the Huskies to victory at NIU. It was cold and windy but Conor did very well despite the weather and the delay in his nap. The one game we brought him to last year, we all left hot and sweaty. I'm not sure which was more uncomfortable for him...or a mom trying to entertain him while dad watches the football game down on the field :)
By the time we got home, after a short nap in the car, it was time to greet the trick-or-treaters. They started at 3:00 around here, and Conor was excited to see "all the kids come for the candy" and to check out their costumes. We soon had his Woody costume on as well, to help answer the door and pass out candy.

Didn't take long before he had the swing of things and was ready to go out to collect some treats of his own. Being the unorganized mom that I am, I had forgotten to pick him up one of those cute halloween buckets to collect candy in so he carried around a sturdy gift bag (which he later affectionately called his purse, I'm sure because it carried all his riches and treasures). Don't worry, since then a resourceful grandma and aunt picked him up a pumpkin bucket on the after-Halloween clearance rack (thanks, Mom and Laura)!

It only took him a few houses to figure out what this was really all about. When there were bigger gaps between houses, he rode in the stroller to give his little cowboy legs a rest.

He was so proud of the stash he came home with. Daddy even helped show him how to sort it (before Daddy stole a few pieces for himself).

He is really loving this candy!! Dad says he's just 2, I say he got Mom's sweet tooth! I hope Dad is right!!

Farmer in the Dells

Last weekend we spent a long weekend with my family (parents, sisters and brother-in-law) at Wisconsin Dells, the indoor waterpark capital of the midwest. (For those of you southeasterners who have never heard of the place, its great fun within a short drive of both Minneapolis and Chicago, making a great meeting place for a short family vacation.) As we prepared him for the trip, Conor kept saying how excited he was to go on the waterslides and see everybody at "the Farmer in the Dells". I thought it was pretty funny. Anyway, we had so much fun that I didn't get to take too many pictures.

Conor did take a nap in Grandma's lap in the lazy river and they read stories together at bedtime.

He got to eat his favorite lunch of french fries and chocolate milk.

He showed off his glow-in-the-dark Trick or Treat shirt, along with his cheesy grin.

And he modeled his Woody halloween costume next to the fall decor.

It was a fun trip, but of course, the short weekend went by much too fast.

Pumpkin Patch

We spent yesterday at the pumpkin patch for a family outing. Even though it was a little muddy, the sun was out, keeping the morning warmer than it otherwise might have been. Conor was a little tired so he was impatient and crabby at times, but overall we had fun looking at the pumpkins, feeding the sheep and goats, riding the pony, and enjoying the fall scenery.

Riding Black, the pony. He picked the black on as the one he wanted to ride.

Bathroom break :)

This was Conor's favorite part, he was so excited to feed the animals out of his own hand.

Conor and Mommy checking out the big turkey.

Happy Autumn Everybody!

Photo Shoots and Soccer Class

Conor was playing around with Daddy's robe one day when he got out of the bath, and he was pretending he was a king. He was so giggly that most of the pictures had too much motion to really turn out well, but this is a good one capturing him laughing!


Conor is starting to enjoy having his picture taken, but is into this cheesy grin that he thinks is what we mean when we say "smile" or "say cheese". It's pretty funny. To get the best smile out of him, we just have to get him to laugh.

Either that, or he acts all tough and stubborn.

Our little man!

Starting to look more like a boy than a toddler...

Conor started a weekly soccer "class" in September that he and Adam do together on Friday mornings. They mostly play games and do fun things to teach the basic principles of soccer, but essentially they are just there to move around and have fun. They play with the big parachute we all loved in elementary school gym class, they use bubbles and balloons, do "headers" and "toe touches". I love it when he demonstrates things to me when I get home :) He even got his own little uniform.

Big Boy Bed

So, yet again it has been quite some time and I am long overdue for an update...in fact, I am starting to get harrassed about it, so here you are!!!:

We have made the official transition from the crib to the big boy bed. Conor is very much excited about it, thanks to the "Cars" bedding from Aunt Leah and Uncle Andy, as well as the "ducky" nightlight Aunt Laura picked out for him before he was even born. Sometimes it is a challenge to keep him in bed at night, but naps are even worse--when it's still fairly light out despite the room-darkening shades, and he has a great view of his bookshelf and toybox. This kid knows how to keep himself awake! But overall he is doing pretty well with it. As much as he loves his "Cars" bed, he doesn't really like to stay under the covers, so with the onset of this winterish weather, we have stocked up on fleece footie pajamas as well!! :)

Birthday Party

Conor's 2nd birthday party was held at his godparents' house, who graciously offered the use of their home and pool. Conor loves to swim, and for the 2nd time this summer, he was jumping off the diving board (I'm still trying to have enough patience to download the video, it takes forever).


More presents!!! Lucky little boy!!

Happy Birthday Conor! He loved his Cars cake and blew out the candle on the first try!

Some of his new gifts: rollerskates (don't worry, we have since bought a helmet and pads for all you orthopedic practitioners out there) and Mr. PotatoHead, he also got Tickle Me Elmo, Hokey Pokey Elmo, an Elmo book, and a basketball hoop!!