Fairs and Carnivals and 14 Months Old Girl

Dear Hannah and Nathan, 

The weather this week has been pretty awesome for hanging out outside. On Thursday, we met up with Nathan's old time friends (and their little sisters) at Pedernales State Park. We arrived and had a nice picnic lunch in the shade. 

 Then you guys ran off to do some exploring. Nathan, you found a good spot to throw rocks to make big splashes.

 Hannah, you also did some exploring of your own. You explored rocks + gravity.

 We then found a good spot with a nice steady flow of water for all of you guys to dip your feet in. At some point, all the diapers and undies came off and there was just a bunch of naked tushies splashing around. Too cute!

 The hike back took about twice as long as it did going down. We had to take a picture to keep spirits up.

 And we were very thankful for all the cool logs that we could rest on along the way.

Needless to say, a long morning in the sun led to amazing naps in the afternoon. 

On Friday, the elementary school across the street had their annual fall carnival. Nathan, I am so proud of you being able to ride the barrel train by yourself. 

 And we tried the football throw, it took you a few tries (and very close proximity) before you finally launched the football into the hole.

 And then the corn hole toss, you kind of cheated there as well.

And then the man at the ring toss let you have pretty much infinite numbers of turns and tries.

 I tried to let Hannah down by the petting zoo and as soon as I started to unbuckle you, Hannah, you fussed and shook your head vigorously. You wanted to be safe in the stroller so those evil chicks and lambs don't come and get you. I completely understand.

On Saturday, we hosted an Iron chef party. You guys were so well behaved and tried lots of pear foods. When it was time to go to sleep, Hannah went down without a peep and even though Nathan was allowed to stay up a bit later, you chose to go to bed.

Auntie Momo also came down to visit. You guys had lots of fun playing together this weekend. We went and got some Ramen, which both of you slurped up like crazy!

But to work up an appetite, we attended the annual Texas book festival down by the capital. We went on Sunday when it first opened, so it wasn't terribly busy like most family oriented events are these days. 

We walked around the capital grounds a bit and took some silly pictures:

 And we even got a chance to go and explore inside an ambulance. Nathan, you did a good job asking the paramedic lots of questions about the function of pretty much everything inside, followed by "Why?"

 At the kids tents there were white boards for drawing,

 or just playing...

 Lots of coloring stations,

 And various book readings. We even heard an author read a story that we listened to during story time at the library!

 After the busy weekend was over, we settled back into our daily routine. Nathan showed Hannah the correct way to eat raspberries. Soon, both of you guys finished off almost half a pound of raspberries! Those were pretty good.

Basic Raspberry Eating Technique

Advanced Raspberry Eating Technique

 For craf-T Tuesday, we made some baby chicks and Nathan did some painting. While Nathan painted, Hannah loved popping the pom poms into the container. After every few pops, you would put your arms in the air and wiggle with joy as if you were saying, "This is awesome!"

 Nathan created a paper plate fall wreath. (Note: he's wearing undies..)

Morning naps are a bit tricky with Hannah. You are able to make it for about 5 hours before you crash for a nap, but when you don't take a nap in the morning, you only sleep for 1.5 hours in the afternoon and since it's earlier than normal, you wake up about 30 minutes after Nathan goes down for a nap, not giving me much time to get stuff done. Well, I guess I lucked out for a year with simultaneous PM naps (for the most part).

Nathan, you have been showing some attention seeking behaviors lately like calling us "Mama, and Dada" in a baby voice, or biting other kids' clothes. I think I just need to spend some more one on one time with you. We tried having a movie night on Friday, we watched Mulan, but you got scared and didn't seem to enjoy the movie too much. We thought that out of all the disney movies, this one would be the least scary. but you are an emotional boy and when Mulan's dad had to go out and meet the emperial messengers, you started to cry. We also talked about what it means to be brave and to help others in need.

One thing that completely surprised us the other day was when we were in the car and were asking you why you were mean to another kid at the playground. As if scripted, you said, "He not like me, that why I not like him." Woah!!! Where did this come from?!?!

(Actually, as I am re-reading this maybe you are not a racist after all.  You are simply reciprocating someone else's feelings towards you.  I had thought you had meant, "He does not look like me, I don't like him." but instead, I think you mean, "He doesn't like me, so I don't like him too." We'll get this straightened out after nap)

Well, that's about it for now. Until next week,

Love,
Mommy