Happy Halloween!

Today was Truman's first Halloween! While neither Shea or I have ever been too big on the holiday, we decided T should celebrate in style, costume and all! As you probably saw in earlier posts, we purchased a cute pumpkin onesie for Truman to wear - we wanted something comfortable that he could be in for long periods of time without getting frustrated. Well, last week a coworker of mine offered us a cute bee outfit that was her son's a couple of years ago. It was more of a sack-type outfit, so while we knew T wouldn't be extremely comfortable in it we decided to borrow it just to get some cute pictures. Following are the adorable bee costume pics:








This evening, we decided to put T-man back into his more comfortable "plumpkin" costume as well as his cute "My 1st Halloween" bib, courtesy of Grandpa Bernard. As can be expected, more cuteness ensued!







All-in-all, we had a fun first Halloween! Our little boy makes everything more special :-)

Our Little "Plumpkin"

Just found this picture on our camera :-)

Hair

Something we haven't quite mastered yet is how to properly take care of Truman's hair. As you can tell by our pictures, his hair has started getting fairly long and his curls are getting tighter and tighter. We already went from 2 washes a week down to 1 and that has definitely improved the moisture level. Before we were doing a leave-in-conditioner/detangler 2-3 times a week and that was working pretty well. Swimming, however, has thrown a little wrench in our routine and has caused much more frizzing than we've experienced before. A coworker suggested that we might want to try using some hair oil after the conditioner, as the water and detangler (which has water in it) are probably stripping some of the moisture from T's hair. Today we tried the new routine for the first time - conditioner then hair oil - and I think the results were pretty good! We tried not to use too much oil, but his hair definitely seems smoother and the curls are staying tighter. If anyone has any other suggestions, though, we are always open to new ideas!

Swim Lesson #3

Today was Truman's 3rd swim lesson. Unfortunately, the regular instructor wasn't there, and his sub wasn't quite up to par. Regardless, Truman had a great time and is still loving the water!

Time to Lower the Crib...

Well, we knew this day was coming. Tonight we put Truman to bed. and about 10 minutes later he started talking really loudly. Shea went to peek in on him and discovered this:


So, it appears that after much practicing Truman has learned how to pull himself up! Doesn't he look proud? :-)

Halloween "Parade"

Today all the children at Truman's daycare had a little Halloween "parade", which basically consisted of children wearing costumes while going on a walk around the block. Well, we were lucky enough that Shea had some free time in his schedule today and was able to head on over to take pictures of this adorable event. Truman was one of 3 pumpkins in his class (though Truman's official outfit was "plumpkin" for somewhat obvious reasons!). As expected, the kids had a great time. Here are some of our favorite pictures from the parade:

Cutie!

So at Truman's daycare every baby gets a nickname - kind of as an initiation to the group. I've honestly been a bit nervous about what his chosen nickname would be because some of the current ones are a bit wacky (though said with lots of love!) Well, today our Sweet T was finally given his nickname - Cutie! We couldn't be happier or in more agreement with the choice. I was also told that Truman has now been declared the "little boyfriend" of one of his main teachers, as she insists on bringing him around with her because he's just so cute. Hearing all these kind words about my precious boy just makes my heart happy! He seems to be loving daycare and the opportunity to play with other children, and we love knowing that he is loved while there :-) We also love coming home with him and getting to play all night! Here are some cute pics from last night (you'll notice that he's getting very mobile - in a couple of the pictures he had crawled around collecting the clothes near him and then sat in a pile of outfits - so sweet)

Truman Laughs At Daddy

Truman Moving

Here is a video that shows some of Truman's "moving around" skills - including crawling and climbing!

Truman Claps!

I guess Truman's music lessons at daycare are paying off :-)

Exciting Car News

So as many of you may know, Shea and I have been thinking about getting a new car for a while now. Shea has a 12 year old Corolla - while it runs okay, it is very small (i.e. you have to push the passenger seat completely forward in order to be able to fit Truman's carseat in the back, thereby making it impossible for more than 1 adult to ride in it). Then, a few weeks ago, Shea went to open the door and heard a crack, with the result being that you could no longer open the front door from the inside. He was fine with that for a while, just opening the window and reaching his hand outside in order to open the door. Then, however, the window started sticking, so he would open the window in order to open his door but then be unable to close the window - not very convenient! Still, we were making it work. Then a couple of days ago Shea was driving home from daycare with Truman and noticed that the carseat was moving a little bit around. Apparently the seatbelt used for the carseat was having difficulties staying tightened - it stopped locking when the car was on. Well, we were willing to live with a little inconvenience to us adults, but an unsafe baby is not an option around these parts. Anyway, long story short, we decided to get a new car!

After a couple of weeks of looking at our options, we had it narrowed down to a used CR-V, Rav4, or Santa Fe. We are both very big fans of Honda's (we've always just preferred the way they drive) but weren't sure if we could afford the slightly higher payments. Then my mom casually asked, "Have you ever thought about leasing?" We both brushed the idea off, being very unfamiliar with the process. Well, a couple of days ago we decided to just see what leasing even meant. We went on Honda's website and saw that they were having a VERY good deal on 2010 CR-V's (probably trying to get them off the lot to make room for the new 2011's). We looked at our budget (yes, new daycare and baby costs have forced us to create an actual budget - blah!) and realized that leasing a new car would be more financially feasible for us than buying a used car - who knew? So today we went on down to the Honda dealership to look around, and after much back-and-forth bargaining and threatening to walk out, we ended up getting a great deal on a beautiful 2010 CR-V. Yay! I'm not sure if Shea and I had ever even sat in a brand new car, and then today we got to drive home with one - very exciting! We love the extra space we'll have (it will make traveling to NY with a baby much more comfortable!) and feel so much better about Truman being in 2 safe cars. Woohoo!

Wordless Wednesday

Special Boy

Truman had another great day at daycare today! He seemed happy to arrive and was eager to start playing with his friends. Shea said he was immediately laughing and smiling with the other infants. Then, when Shea picked him up this afternoon one of Truman's teachers said, "It must be so special to pick him up at the end of the day and get to go home with him." How sweet is that?? And yes, it is SO special!!!

Swim Lesson #2

Yesterday was Truman's 2nd swim lesson. Last time, I got to accompany Sweet T into the water, so this week it was Shea's turn. Well, as soon as we walked into the pool area Truman's eyes lit up and he just started leaning towards the pool. This kid loves the water!! I couldn't even get a good picture of him because he wouldn't look away from the pool :-)


Once again, Truman had a great lesson. He loved every second of being in the water, and Daddy loved it, too! Here are some fun pics of my two favorite boys in the pool: