Halloween at the Park with Ani

My little monkey! John Patrick loves the song 5 little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, and he loves "nanas", so his costume seemed fitting!

Yesterday John Patrick got to wear his monkey costume for the first time. He loves it. He thinks he is a giant stuffed animal in it! He also thought his good friend Ani turned into one, and kept hugging her and trying to cuddle up to her. He loves soft, cozy animals! We took the kids to Glen Echo park for the Fall Frolic, and they got to march in the costume parade, decorate pumpkins, and run around with a million other kids in costumes. We are looking forward to tonight with Aunt Linda and Uncle John and cousins Madison and Mckenzie!

John Patrick, Ani, and Ani's Dad Shahnur. John Patrick wouldn't stop hugging Ani!

Happy boy on the swings!

Always chasing after dogs! He just loves them!

Coloring a picture and not happy that he can't have ALL the markers at once!

Cheerios!

John Patrick loves Cheerios. He now can say the word and asks for them in the morning as his pre-breakfast appetizer. This morning he was so funny- he wanted to read the back of the cereal box. It didn't look all the interesting, but it sure did keep him entertained!

Big Boy Chair and my cute jammies..

We picked up this great antique toddler chair at our little shop we always go to in Front Royal. John Patrick isn't quite ready for sitting at the table without being strapped in, but it will be nice in a few months!

Annual October Trip to Shenandoah

We always go to Shenandoah for my birthday weekend as a daytrip. We mosey our way out to Front Royal for a fall festival and antiquing, and stop at pumpkin patches and farms along the way. On the way home we always stop at Three Fox Winery, which is our most favorite place to relax on a sunny fall afternoon. We had a lot of fun with John Patrick this year- he loved learning to skip rocks with daddy along the creek at the vineyard, swing in the hammocks, ad have a picnic.

Playing in Hay and Apple Picking!

About a month ago we headed out to Homestead Farms for apple picking and fall fun... with about a million other suburban dc families. John Patrick had a ball and went nuts over how many apples were everywhere! At the start of the visit he just called them "balls", but by the end, he learned a new word: "apple"! Now he asks for apples everyday and learns a few new words daily. Some of his newest words: airplane, squirrel, thank you, bubbles, I poop!, monkey, train, bus, choo choo, vroom vroom... so may more I can't remember them all! We are having fun with his linguistic development for sure!

Celebrating Mommy's Birthday

A favorite picture from a few weeks back- celebrating my birthday. More to come after a full night of sleep!

More 12 month portraits.

I really am so behind on family pictures. These are a few shots I took at my sister Linda's beautiful home back in September. She and her husband John have created the most relaxing, lush backyard, and it was perfect to snap a few quick pics of John Patrick! I love the last one with his cousin McKenzie. I think they are starting to look a bit alike! He loves his cousins!! Can't wait for Halloween with the girls this year!