Happy Halloween!

Teddy's first Halloween! On Saturday the 29th we walked down to the La Grange Halloween Walk. Whoa. A million kids and parents trick or treating from business to business. There were so many people that there was a line winding all through downtown.



Teddy had two costumes. His first was a monkey costume given to him before he was born from everyone at Eire. They really wanted us to have matching costumes. Me in my mom's 50+ year old hand made monkey costume and Teddy in his monkey costume. Unfortunately with Steve's injury he couldn't bring Teddy down to my office. My monkey costume stays at the office in a drawer and comes out each Halloween for our office costume contest. It took me a few years but I have won best costume for the past two years.

Teddy's second costume came from Aunt Kathleen (Jessica's sister). She got it at a used clothing sale and could not resist. It was a perfect fit.



When I got home from work I took Teddy in his giraffe costume to Grandma and Grandpa Swards and Grand Daddy and Grammy. They loved him.

Teddy also picked out a pumpkin from the farm stand on 31st street.

Teddy and his pumpkin.

Teddy eating his pumpkin!

So Many Firsts So Little Time

First Bike Ride 10/15, 5 months and 3 weeks....

First Real Camping , same day...

We had some great fall weather so we decide to take Teddy camping which included a bike ride to camp. We drove out to Channahon State Park which is about 45 minutes away. We loaded up the van with a lot of gear, but Steve was comfortable pulling it all on his trailer. We got to the trail head and Teddy was not in the best of moods so Steve told me to just go ahead so we could keep Teddy moving. The ride to the camp site is a little less than 4 miles so about 20 minutes. Teddy cried the whole time :). I was smiling and waving to everyone on the trail. I think everyone was amused by the two of us. Steve had an eventful ride too. There is a very steep incline to get on to the trail and as he headed up the bins fell off the back. All in all it was a good first family camp out.

Teddy is a good little camper.

Van full of gear.

Family photo.

Another first followed just four days after this photo. Steve's first table saw accident. He should make a full recovery but they did officially call it a partial amputation!

Ooops I Guess We Started Solids

We had planned to start Teddy on solid food at 6 months. About two weeks before I thought I would just see what he thought of bananas. I eat one in front of him every morning, so I stuck it in his mouth. He wasn't sure at first but then he started sucking on it. I did that for a couple of days. The I thought why not give him a little bit on my finger. He liked that but we had trouble with the transfer from my finger to his mouth. So I thought, maybe I should use a spoon. That was it. He couldnt get enough. So then we tried sweet potatoes and then avocado. He loves them all as you can see.

You see some videos of his first meals here.

Tooth Number 2

Tooth number two followed very quickly after tooth number 1(I think it was Sunday the 24th?). Two Tooth Teddy is taking his new teeth like a champ. He has had no issues while they have been coming in. I am playing catch up on these posts because Teddy's cousin Emmy has been in a fight for her life after she was attacked by a horrible bacterial infection. You can read about her battle here. A lot of our free time has been spent at the hospital. She is an amazing fighter and seems to be winning the battle, but it was very scary in the beginning.

Out with the Old in with the New

This week we said good-bye to the Tundra and the Jetta and hello to our brand spanking new (to us) 1999 Subaru Outback. We also said hello to Teddy's first tooth!! Pictures of both the Subaru and tooth to come.

New Direction

I have decided to turn this blog into more of a family blog since Teddy is so boring. Just kidding. He is a Ton o' Fun (at least that's what one of his sleepers says).

We had a big day last Saturday 9/10. Steve and I both swam Big Shoulders, a 5K swim in Lake Michigan. Ant Hil graciously agreed to watch Teddy while Steve and I swam (or should I say made our best attempt). Since the weather was looking pretty grim, cool and rainy, we dropped Teddy off at Hil's instead of bringing him to the race. Neither of us did a whole lot of training for this event but we both figured we could do it. It might not be pretty but we would finish. One of us did finish. I dropped out half way through. Luckily it was a two lap course so after lap one I ran for the shore and my hoody...and long pants and socks and a long sleeve t-shirt and a short sleeve t-shirt and a winter hat. I was freezing! Seriously, it took about an hour for me to stop shaking. Steve on the other hand did a bit better. He finished. Not at record pace but he finished.

In the afternoon we all went to Bob Vear's for an after party. We brought the Go-Crib and Teddy even napped. It was a great turn out and fun to hang out with the team a discuss the race. After that it was over to Dave and Lindsey's for a make your own pizza party. Everyone brought their own ingredients and Lindsey just kept the dough rolling. Check out the recap of the pizzas on Hillary's Blog. The Go-Crib came out again and Teddy went to sleep jammies and all. We left the Paulus's around 1230. With careful tranfers to the car seat and to the crib Teddy stayed asleep and slept through the night until about 530. I woke up and fed him then Steve took over for about an hour until he went down for his morning nap. Then I took over from there. I thought it worked out great! Let's hope we can keep this going.

Sleepy Wed

Teddy went to bed at 8 (Tuesday night) and slept until 610. I went and got him at 630, fed him and we played and he went back to sleep at 725.

He woke up at about 800 we played some more, he had a snack and went back to bed at 910. Maybe the cooler temps are making him sleepy.

Woke up around 11 ate some more then we packed up for an adventure. Teddy in the Ergo on my back and I put him there all by myself. First stop the bank. After 9 1/2 years of marriage Steve and I are getting a joint bank account. I guess we are officially tied together. Then Teddy and I headed over to Border's for its final day. Everything was 80-90% off and if you bought 6 books you got another 15% off. I bought 7 books. There was a very minimal selection but most things only cost a $1 or 2 so why not. We got home around 1 and I ate while Teddy watched then he ate and went down for another nap.

He woke up around 330. We messed around for awhile then decided to go visit Mere and the kids in the stroller. It was a good afternoon distraction and the Bolan's always love a visit from Teddy. Around 5 we headed home because Teddy was getting hungry. I fed him and we chatted with Dad for a bit. Teddy fell asleep eating. He rested for just a short time in my arms.

The rest of the evening was spent trying to distract him enough to make it to bed time. He gets kind of cranky and has a very short attention span. We made it to about 7 then I took him upstairs for a bath which is always good for about a half hour of distraction. He was asleep before 8. I wasn't sure if he would make it through the night but he slept like a champ and woke up around 6. Good boy!