Well, I think it's a pretty close match!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Halloween playgroup

We decided to dress the kids up in their Halloween costumes for playgroup this week - it was so cute! Here's the whole group (except Jayce wasn't there; he had a cold). Ava, Drew, Sofia, Reece, and Natalia:

After the group pictures were taken, they started checking each other out - Reece was very into this costume that Sofia was wearing!

And Drew was very into the princess's wand! uh oh!

More pictures of Drew - 8 1/2 months old already!

On Sunday we went on a walk around Davidson College. We were lucky enough to walk in on a basketball practice, so that was cool. Stephen Curry is our local celebrity, so it was neat to see him practicing.

And then here are some pictures of Drew playing outside in his new tennis shoes!

Busy, Busy

Give Drew a target, and he can MOVE!!

Drew has a new play yard, which takes the place of his exersaucer downstairs. He still exer-sauces (upstairs), but he prefers to be on the floor moving around - so this helps contain him while I eat or clean.

When we do put him down in the other rooms, he is on the go exploring EVERYTHING! Here's some pictures of him on the go.

We took Drew to a Halloween Spooktacular at a park tonight. There was food, games, a few rides, and lots of costumes. Drew liked all the people - and he even rode the carousel! There were a few nervous cries at first, but then he tolerated the rest of the ride.

He didn't wear his costume (which I made today!), but he sported the pumpkin bib!

Pumpkin Patch

We took Drew to a pumpkin patch while his grandparents were visiting. He liked the grass more than the pumpkins, but I still think he had fun. Here's some pictures - he's becoming quite the model! (poor guy!)

Here's Drew and his Granddad being silly! haha!

Drew also got a play yard today - we can cage the beast! Actually, he will have lots of room in it to play, without getting into trouble. Now I can use the bathroom, eat a quick meal or even leave the room for 10 seconds...and Drew won't have his arm stuck in the VCR! He's slowly learning the concept of "no" as we teach him what he can and can't get into. But he is pretty fast! Now he's trying to pull up on things - he can get up to his knees and then put one foot flat, but that's it.

Watch out, Michael Phelps!!

Drew LOVES his swim class on Tuesday mornings! Chad was able to stop in and take a couple pictures. Today was his second class, and he did less splashing and was more interested in the songs and activities. At the first class he wanted to look around the pool and splash with his hands. Next week he goes under water!!

Chase the ball!

Hi, Dad! I'm swimming!

Kick, kick, kick!!

Float, Drew, float!

Well, there's no doubt about it - he is crawling!! Watch out, kitties!

Happy MOBILE guy! He's going to need some knee pads!

He's waving!

Here's Drew's new waving skills. He'd randomly waved (probably by accident) before, but tonight he did it a whole bunch. We actually practiced waving today, and then when Chad got home from work he started waving at him. We reacted, so he kept doing it over and over. Sometimes he even waves at himself (like in the video!). HA HA!

Crawling...or is he??

Here's Drew this morning. He's been "crawling" like this for three days now...but we don't know if we want to call it crawling. He'll take just a couple "steps" before laying down or sitting down. He sure gets around, but not always in a forward motion. I'm excited for him...but also a little thankful that he hasn't completely taken off yet! :) I'm sure this weekend we'll work on babyproofing!

Thanks for the pumpkin!

Drew likes his pumpkin! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! Because of the flash, you can't tell...but it's completely dark outside and the pumpkin is turned on! He was very interested!

He's getting around

I just wanted to add that Drew went to his first gymnastics meet tonight - and he did so well! He sat on my lap and watched all the action for an hour and a half!! He used his new clapping skills too! He never squirmed or cried or ANYTHING!

Oh yeah, and our baby crawls backwards! haha He is going to be crawling forward VERY soon!! He gets around - and quick! - but not in a straight path. He'll go from sitting to hands and knees, turns, scoots backwards, turns again, sits... the problem is he scoots backwards and then sets his rear down to sit - and it's usually on top of something!! When I started typing this he was sitting next to me, trying to get the computer... and now he's pulling a dvd off the tv stand 10 feet away! uh oh!! Time to baby proof!!

Drew can clap!

Here's Drew's latest trick. When we were in Indiana, we discovered that he thinks clapping is hilarious - but we still had to help him clap his hands. But today he started doing it all on his own! He especially likes it when everyone says, "Yay!!" and does it with him. But he'll do it while playing by himself too. And it also tends to happen while he has two toys in his hands. It's pretty funny watching him react to Chad clapping and yelling at the NC State football game that's on right now - he stops playing and claps with him!

Another picture and video from yesterday

Here's what I saw when I peeked in Drew's room when I heard him waking up from his nap. Sitting in his bed, looking around! We put the mattress down to the lowest level later that night.

Here is Drew's first experience with grass. Since he wasn't putting it in his mouth, I let him go at it! Since he has such sensitive skin, I figured he'd be covered in a rash afterwards, but he was just fine!