The days leading up to Halloween were beautiful. This is one of the most gorgeous Autumns I have ever experienced. The leaves slowly changed over the past month. And we have enjoyed the vivid colors and sunshine.
On Wednesday evening, Sage and his Dad carved their pumpkins together.
Sage was a good helper.
He tried to feed Matt the pumpkin seeds!
The tiny pumpkin was Sage's.
The big scary one was Matt's.
On Thursday, Halloween Day, I snuck out of work for 2 hours to take Sage trick-or-treating in Old Town. AND WE HAD A BLAST! This will no doubt be an annual event. At 10am, hundreds of children filled the streets of Old Town. Businesses set up tables outside their storefronts. You could roam in any direction collecting candy and other trinkets. Sage scored some really awesome stuff - including an eco-friendly wooden wiggle worm toy, and a set of water colors!
He event met Big Bird!
We could have continued trick-or-treating for another couple hours, but I wanted to make sure Sage took a good nap that afternoon. So at 11am, he and I stopped at the Tasty Harmony (all organic, all vegetarian) restaraunt for a little lunch. (Sage and I were on a date!) I then dropped him back off at daycare around 12:15pm for his nap. Just a perfect morning!
Halloween evening quickly arrived. After work, we ate dinner as fast as we could and then prepared for another round of trick-or-treating. We took Sage to 3 houses in our cul-de-sac.
We then spent the rest of the evening answering the door. I think Sage enjoyed that part most of all! We had monster mash party music playing all night. And as we answerd the door, Sage would stand in the background, in his head-to-toe monkey suit, and dance! All the neighborhood kids got a kick out of it! He loved the attention. And as the trickor-treaters left the front porch, Sage would run to the door to wave an elaborate goodbye.
On Friday, the local library system was having a used book sale. I was pretty proud of my keen rummaging skills. I dug through boxes of books to uncover the lot below. Several Harry Potters and some illustrated kids books - only $15! A steal of a deal!
On Saturday, we all spent a lot of time playing outside.
I packed up Sage in the bicycle trailer and headed to a nearby park.
Sage has turned into a pro-climber over the past couple of days. He got to show off his skills on the playground.
Sage also discovered the slide. And his perferred style is head first! He did this all on his own several times. I simply stood at the bottom to prevent any possible big spills.
On Saturday night, we busted out the finger paint for the first time.
It was a little overwhelming for Sage to have so much brightly colored gunk on his hands. He wasn't really sure what to do with it.
On Sunday, we gave Sage a new big-boy toothbrush and flouride-free training toothpaste.
I also finally completed the insallation of Sage's new big-boy convertible carseat. The Peg-Perego. An Italian-made luxery (expensive) carseat. He can stay rear-facing up to 45 pounds! We can then turn it around and he can use it up to 75 pounds! It took me two days to install it. But I'm very happy with the finished product.
Later that day I was in the mood to do some baking. I managed to entertain Sage for a good 45 minutes with playdough, a couple straws, and a piece of aluminum foil.
Genious! (Me...not Sage.)
In that time, I managed to make an apple raisin bread pudding, with a caramel drizzle sauce. It came out amazing! So delicious. Perfect texture. A holiday tradition has been started!
Sage was running around the kitchen like an idiot - wearing this oversized New Years hat. He couldn't see a thing. But that didn't stop him from running in any and every direction. He ran into a kitchen cabinet at every turn. Would cry. Then put the hat back on and do it again.
On Sunday night, we brought out the drums for a big family session. We do this quite often. Sage is getting better and better.
I mean....look at his form!
"Hello......?"
Double time!
Look at that face - pure joy.
A mom and a baby. In love.
Sage on the iphone.
Milk and cartoons in the morning.
We have a saying in our house, "Life is good for a Sage."
Sage had developed some new skills.....again.
(I feel like I say this every week!)
He has learned to say a new word. And it's a good one. It's "no." I'm pretty sure he hears this a lot at daycare...and home. So of course it is one of his first, right along with "whoa," "uh oh," and "this." His "mom"s and "dada"s are as strong as ever too. Slowly but surely that vocabulary is growing!
While his speaking skills are still quite minimal, his listening and understanding skills are very impressive! I can tell him to "give daddy a kiss," and he will run to the other room and do it. I can also ask for a kiss myself, and I will have a wide-mouthed baby in my face in just seconds. (All of Sage's kisses are open-mouthed. He does not pucker his lips.)
He has also learned the world "gentle," and this could not have come any sooner! Sage hits and whacks everything. People, cats, TVs. But now, when we say "gentle, please"..he pets and caresses instead. It's a magic word...instantly redirecting his energy.
