Tiger

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday. Ours was very low key, but Zaney did dress up to hand out candy. We had a grand total of THREE trick or treaters....and that includes the neighbor girl who came over twice. Now we have a whole bowl of chocolate eyeballs, fingers, ears, and lips to eat all by ourselves.

 He's one cool cat!

Chicago

For the past 4 days we've been in the Chicagoland area enjoying a fantastic time with the Lueder side of the family and friends! Zane helped us pick out what we needed to bring and was a very efficient packer.

We arrived on Tuesday amidst some of the worst wind that O'Hare has seen in decades.  The airport was actually closed for a short time during the day and we were lucky to have gotten in at all. The descent was MUCH bumpier (and nausea inducing) than we would have liked, but the pilot got a round of applause when we touched down and Zane, who was being held tightly in my lap, looked from Mason to me and said "woa." Woa is right! After relaxing in our hotel room for a bit my Aunt Ann came to pick us up for an evening at her house. I don't know what I was thinking but I didn't bring my camera. There were several others in attendance so I'm hoping some photos find their way to me eventually (hint hint). Zane met his Great Grandma Lueder, Aunt Ann, Uncle Tom, Cousin Matthew, Aunt Kathy, and Uncle Garrett for the first time! He had a great time playing with (and drooling on) Matthew's toys, climbing the stairs, dancing to the singing Frankenstein, and staring at Kiwi the Cockatiel.

On Wednesday my parents arrived from Des Moines and immediately got down to business with floor time with Zane. Granmama got a special treat of Z's "I like you" head rub.

Grandpa Hal took him for a ride in his hot rod.

Wednesday afternoon my friends, Sheri and Anna, came out to the hotel for a visit. We'd originally planned on meeting at a park, but cold weather, high winds, and 3 little boys altered those plans. Sheri brought her 18 month old boys, Aiden and Oliver, to meet Zane and it was hilarious to watch all 3 of them explore the room, play, and "aggressively share" toys and snacks!!

Aiden gets caught turning on the dish washer. After he turned it on he stepped away from it and Z was left sitting there...sneaky Aiden!

We tried for so long to get a photo of all 3 of them together! Finally with the twins strapped in for dinner we managed this one. From L to R: Oliver, Z, Aiden. I like how Oliver his holding Zane's arm.

After breakfast on Thursday we hit up the pool. Zane is still our little fishy.

Remember a few months ago when I said Zane wouldn't take a spoon anymore? Well, Granmama has the touch because he was all about sharing her yogurt with her and sat patiently while she spooned it for him.

Wed. afternoon my friend Anne came for a visit after a rather traumatic morning of moving. Thanks for making it out Anne! Mason, Zane, Anne, and I went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and then came back to the hotel for a mid-afternoon happy hour. Clearly I have my priorities wrong since I took a photo of the wine and not Anne. Hehehe....Sorry Anne!!

 

Zane helped Granmama crochet that evening.

 Friday afternoon we went over to Great Grandma's house to hang out. Zane loved standing next to her coffee table (without holding on!!) and Mason and I enjoyed making velcro monsters.

 Great Grandma makes the best towers!

 A serious composer.

I think we have a musician on our hands. With some lessons from Uncle Chris he's sure to really blossom :)

Friday night we got together at Aunt Kathy's house and Great Grandma brought out her inner pirate.

 After all these years we still can't get a nice family shot of the brother and sisters...gee, I wonder why?

 Grandpa Hal does magic tricks for Matthew.

 Zane took control of Ivy after dinner.

Our flight on Saturday morning LEFT at 6:20am. That brought a 4am wake-up call for us. The travel gods shined upon us though because our first flight had 14 people on it. Total. Fourteen! We had so much space that Zane could crawl around, sit in his own car seat, play in the aisle, the stewardess took him to the front beverage station to look around, and he slept! 

 An aerial view on the way into Salt Lake City.

 Now that we're home Zane has been showing off with how well he can stand unassisted. Look out, little man just might be a bi-ped soon!!

A Fall Day

Since this is our forecast for the next 7 days we took advantage of the nice, crisp, dry fall weather today.

It's hat time, but clearly Mr. Grabby is not ready for a hat without a chin strap.

I was happy that I got to wear my fingerless gloves that Erica made me. Have I ever mentioned that these are my FAVORITE thing ever?!

Zane has taken a liking to walking his puppy. He grabs the leash whenever he gets the chance and sometimes just holds it, other times he thinks its hilarious. Today he was solemn.

After lunch we went out front to play a little ball.

Our neighbor dropped by and gave Zane a pumpkin fresh from his own garden. Zane loved it and for some reason kept putting his feet on it.

Going into rooms and closing the door is a new favorite game.

Pumpkin Patch

Today was absolutely gorgeous outside so we took a trip out to Sauvie Island to visit The Pumpkin Patch. There were so many fun things to do there, I can see this becoming a fall tradition! We walked around the market, took a hayride, and visited some animals in the barn. When Zane is older he'll be able to enjoy the haystack pyramids, the corn maze, the cow carts, and can pick out his own pumpkin!

Check out the size of this cabbage! We saw workers harvesting them from the fields!

There was so much activity happening all around us that Zane looked as if he was in a mild state of shock the whole time. I'd like to think that he enjoyed the hayride as much as Mason and I!

The tractor dropped us off in the pumpkin patch where there were rows and rows of all different sizes to choose from. We didn't pick one this year because we won't be home, but it was fun to watch Zane crawl around amongst the orange orbs anyway.

 He got himself wedged in between these two. Papa rescued him after we stopped laughing.

Rock n' Roll

Zane received a very special birthday card from his cousins, Nick and Kenzie. It has a pull out guitar and some hard core Happy Birthday lyrics...it's just like being on stage. They picked it out all by themselves especially for Zane and he loved it so much he had to stand up and dance!

Speaking of rock n' roll, Zane has been rockin' the ball pit since his party. The bottom of it doesn't hold air anymore and is low enough for him to climb in and out by himself. Throwing the balls is also a favorite...and he can get some distance on them so they're all over the house! At the end of the video listen carefully and you can hear him say 'woa' when he picks up the remote. Mason and I are calling this his first word!! He uses it often and in different contexts, like when Virgil is freaking out in the yard, when he drops something, and when he thinks something is cool or interesting. It sounds like he understands the meaning of it because he varies his tone and pitch (i.e. when Virgil it tweaking it's a very short "Woa!", when he drops something it's an elongated "wooooooa", and sometimes it's more of a question with his voice raising at the end). Mama, Dada, and Irgil (for Virg) are also in the making.

A Wild Party

Zane hosted his first party on Saturday! He invited everyone over for a nice backyard barbecue and spent the week prior fixing up the yard and patio. And on Saturday morning it poured, and poured, and poured some more. He took it all in stride and brought the party inside. He set up the ball pit in the TV room for the big kids and had a blast watching them dive in. Below Oliver demonstrates the proper technique for a shallow dive to Zane, Graham, and Langston.

Zoe the puppy pig.

Now if I ever found this little mouse in my house I'd just put him in my pocket and keep him forever. Wally is the sweetest mouse ever!
Happy Birthday to you....

He ate more of this cake than he did the chocolate green one from the photo shoot. Either he's more comfortable with the new food or he prefers vanilla over chocolate.

Zane schools Rob on how to jam cake in your face.

Annie pulls double duty with Maggie and Leo.

Despite our concerns, it really didn't seem too crowded and no one seemed to have a problem with sitting on the floor. That's why we're proud to call them all friends - they're easy going, fun loving, and just overall great folks!

Sara explains a tradition in her family of finding a child's life path on their first birthday. You give the child the option of a shot glass, book, rosary, and dollar bill. If he chooses the shot glass it's a life of partying, the book is scholarly, the rosary is spirituality, and the dollar bill means he'll be interested in money.

Zane chose the rosary (which was actually worry beads), followed closely by the dollar bill. Now we wait and see...

Mason gets ambushed by Jack while opening gifts!

Awe, looka little Leo isn't he cu....LEO, LEO LOOK OUT!! SHAAAAAAAARK!

It was a wild bunch! Thanks for celebrating with our little man everyone!!