Wonderful Fall!

What a wonder-fall it has been!  The trees outside my kitchen window are golden and flaming orange and red, the air is crispy and hints at the holidays to come, and my home is brimming with warmth, and cozy delight!  I think joy comes in the fall!

The delight that is spilling over comes from the two cutest little boys and my wonderful sister whom I get to spend every day with.  I won't even think of how lonely and quiet it will be when they are gone, because they have filled my home and my life with such fun and joy the last couple months.  Fall is even more fun when you get to celebrate it with two little boys!  Except that my little boy is not so little anymore!  His most recent visit to the pediatrician (15 month visit) let us know that he is getting tall and lean--94th percentile for height and not much weight gain!  He is taking after his grandpa!

Our little guy brings us so much entertainment.....sometimes it is a comedy around here as he jabbers on to himself and anyone who will listen, makes silly faces or does something silly and makes himself laugh.  Then other times it is an action flick in our home with Super Ben the Incredible!  He loves to climb up onto things now, and into things.....

...and over things.  He will chase us, loves to be chased, giggles and "runs" away with this shaky penguin waddle that often has him toppling over.  Sometimes he recovers nicely and just keeps on going, and other times his aim is dead on and he hits the edge of the ottoman or chair, or counter, or table, or door jam....yeah, he has had a few bruises lately.  And sometimes the mood around here is just right for a good over the top drama.  Much like a soap opera with instant tears and theatrical wailing, my son puts in a good performance when he wants the attention, or wants to gain the upper hand.  Much to his dismay, the big people in the house always win.  Aw shucks, thwarted again!

Ben seems to be on the edge of a learning explosion--all of a sudden he seems to be catching onto things.  Out of the blue, after a month or two of trying every night, he now willingly and joyfully lets us brush his 11 teeth (yes, 11!!).  We can sit on the floor and ask him to go get a book and he will pick out his favorite, bring it back to us, hand it to us and then back into our lap to sit down and be read to.  He turns pages in the book when asked, and occasionally will try to mimic the animal sounds or words we say.  I am still waiting for "please".  A sign for it, a word even remotely close....we have been trying so hard for so long to get him to do anything to communicate that word and either he is more stubborn than I realize, or it just hasn't sunk in yet.  It will be a happy day in the Norsworthy house when he figures it out.  He has figured out where his ear is.  I know, a brilliant and amazing child we are raising, huh!  We made such a big deal when he pointed to his ear after we asked "where is your ear, Ben?"  and then again when he pointed to Wes' ear and Nala's ear (the dog), that now when we ask him to point to other body parts, he points to his ear.  And when we ask him to say "please" he points to his ear, with this little look on his face that says "You guys made such a big deal about the ear thing, so will this do it for you?"  Close, kiddo, close.

Cousins checking out the new rocking chair (not so new, actually, it was mine when I was a little girl from MY grandma!).

This month also brought the big milestone of Ben's first haircut!  I loved that I was able to take him to our dear friend, Amy, who cuts both my hair and John's and has become so special to both of us.  She did a great job and charmed little Ben and he didn't cry a bit!  And now he looks so much like a little boy and not a baby anymore!

 

Ben has discovered a love and passion for cleaning tools.  Not cleaning, or being clean, or helping to clean....just the tools.  He gets SO excited when the pantry opens and has an opportunity to try and get to the broom and vacuum.  He will play for an hour with either one, walking around with them, pretending, and just having a ball.

 

Yes, they are just in their diapers, and yes that excited look is because he figured out how to turn it on.  And no, my vacuum doesn't have very good suction so he was in no danger of hurting himself or losing anything important. :)

Wes couldn't wait to get a part of the action

Ben had his first adventure at the zoo!  We went with some friends of ours and had so much fun looking at all the animals.  Ben really seemed to notice the animals that were up close and would get excited to see them move and make noises.

Ben and his friend Liam

Ben was watching some monkeys hanging on a vine....maybe learning some new tricks to try when he got home :)

(Left to right) Nimi and her daughter Olivia, me and Ben, and Sarah Bowman and Liam (whom she was babysitting)

we were watching the elephants, who were showing off some dance moves!

This scene made us laugh--this duck was hanging out next to the flamingos and was a trying to be one of them!  He was standing on one leg with his head back in his feathers like the other flamingos.  Then when the others decided to go down in the water, he stepped back on two feet and waddled after them!

Every year one of our favorite family activities with our friends is our annual pumpkin carving night at the Harsh's house.  We have dinner all together, carve pumpkins down in their garage and make caramel apples.  The kids have a blast and the parents and adults have even more fun!

Daddy "let" Mommy do the cleaning and prep :) but what she really loved doing was the carving!

And Ben loved tasting the bits that were cut out.  Yes, he loves raw pumpkin....strange kid!

This year we started what will hopefully become a family tradition: the pumpkin patch!  There is a great farm nearby that has so many great attractions and activities for families.  We were amazed at all they had to offer and had so much fun seeing all the animals and playing around!

Mmmm, homemade apple cider doughnuts....thanks, Dad!

These poor kids having to put up with their mom's taking picture after picture...."just let us have fun with the pumpkins and quit flashing that camera!"

Could the sign have been any more perfect?!

My favorite scene of the day

And finally, the highlight of the harvest season for us is our Harvest Party, complete with the famous costume competition.  This year the room was packed with kiddos and it was so fun to see all the costumes that incorporated the whole family.  We have some very creative friends!

The Kids shot--always funny because usually half of them are crying and no one is ever looking at the camera!

The Norsworthy Family came as Gilligan's Island (John: the Skipper, Sarah: Maryanne, Ben: Gilligan, and Wes, as a last minute addition, was our S.S. Minnow!)

One of our favorite costumes of our friends: Sarah and Nick as Jack and the Beanstalk!  Sarah was the bean stalk and was actually on stilts!  She is a professional stilt walker from her days at Disney World!

Ben thought she was amazing and kept smiling up at her!