Happy Halloween from our lil stinker

11 months!

My little stinker is 11 months old! I can't believe that I will have a one-year-old in just a month. At 11 months, Frankie is...

-Walking. Not toddling anymore, but full-on, almost-running, walking. Everywhere! He is getting faster and faster. Sometimes he gets so wound up after day care that he will just walk around from room to room non-stop between dinner and bath time. As you can see from the picture above, it is getting extremely difficult to get a good picture where he is smiling, standing still, and looking at the camera. He also just recently learned how to stand up on his own from sitting.

-Throwing. He loves to throw the ball for Katy, and he loves to pick anything up and throw it.

-Bye bye. He loves to wave byebye, and he mouths "bye bye" and sometimes says it when he waves.

-Eating. A LOT! For awhile, there was nothing he wouldn't eat. But, just the last couple of nights, he has refused to eat broccoli, which used to be one of his favorite foods. I hope this is not the start of him refusing to eat veggies. He still gets three 8-ounce bottles a day.

-(Knock on wood) Has not been to the doctor in 2 full months! He has been sick during that time, and he actually has been coughing for more than a week now, but nothing serious enough to go to the doctor. This is his first two-month stretch without a doctor visit ever.

Frankie still loves to go outside, and he loves to play peek-a-boo and to "chase" or be chased. He is super ticklish, and we love nothing more than to hear his sweet laugh. He can be rough, but we are trying to teach him to be gentle. I love this little boy more than anything in the world. Happy 11 months little buddy!

First school pictures!

A couple of weeks ago Frank's day care had school pictures. That day I was actually very sick with a stomach virus, but I drove him all the way up there so that he could get his picture taken (and so that I could rest alone at home for a few hours). They came out so adorable! I had to scan them in here, so they are a bit grainy, but you get the idea! His teacher put his hair up in the mohawk, and it is so adorable. She said she put it back to normal in the last photo because she wasn't sure if I would like it up like that.

Here are the rest of Frankie's first school pictures:

Pumpkin patch photos

Last weekend my sister and I took Frankie up to the Dallas Arboretum to visit the pumpkin patch. I had been to the Arboretum a few times before (we had our engagement pictures taken there), but I had forgotten how stunning it is. The fall flowers are all blooming, and they probably had 10,000 pumpkins on the premesis. It was simply amazing. It is getting harder and harder to get Frankie to pose for pictures because he constantly wants to be moving around, but we did manage to get a few good ones. I am loving the cooler weather, pumpkin spice, and everything else that fall brings!

Here are some pictures from our visit to the pumpkin patch:

not quite sure about this hay

where am I??

this is yummy!

hmm...

just chillin with the pumpkins

hanging with Aunt Allison

not happy about taking pictures!

posing with mommy

this is where Frank and I took engagement pictures a whopping 6 years ago

finally, a smile!

cutie pie

i'm gonna get you!

yay!! let's clap

fun at the pumpkin patch

First Aggie game

Well, I am super behind on posting and pictures, mainly because my camera USB cord stopped working, and it took me a long time to go get another one. Also, I have been extremely busy at work, working almost every night after I put little buddy to bed. But, last weekend, my family came to town and we took Frankie to his first Aggie football game. Frank was working at the air force all weekend, so he was not able to come. Honestly, Frankie hated it. When we were sitting up in the stands, he was scared by all of the strangers sitting around us, and he was mad that he was confined to my lap and could not get out and run around. At half time I took him down to a lounge area where he could roam around, and he was much happier down there. Of course, that meant that I did not get to watch a single minute of the game, because I was constantly chasing him around. But the Aggies lost anyway, so that's okay! On Sunday, my parents came over to watch the Cowboys game, and it was another heartbreaking game where our team lost at the very end. Such a disappointment!

Here are a few pictures of my little A&M fan at the Aggie game, and my little Cowboy fan watching the game at our house:

watching the game on Grandpa's lap

watching the Aggie band with Mommy

eating my hand with Uncle Tyler

upside down baby!!

my little cutie

stink face!

uh oh

Curriculum night

Frank's day care had a curriculum night program for parents on Tuesday night, so I went up to the school to check it out. I actually got there about an hour before the program started, so I spent some time in Frank's classroom just playing with him and the other babies. Then they did the curriculum presentation, and it was honestly fascinating to see how they structure all of the babies' activities to teach them skills that will help them succeed in school later. They said they base their play around the creative curriculum that is used by many private preschools. I really like Frank's day care, and I absolutely love his teacher. She has a degree from Texas A&M and you can tell that she really cares about the babies and also really tries to be creative in the activities they do. She gave me a couple of good resources for ideas of things I can be doing with Frank on the weekends and weeknights that are productive as well.

In other news, Frankie is still moving full steam ahead. He is now pretty much exclusively walking. It is so funny to look up and see him come toddling into another room. He also just learned to nod his head "no," although he does not know what that means. He is still clapping a lot, but he cannot walk and clap at the same time, so he will walk a few steps, stop to clap a few times, and then walk again. It is the cutest thing! He also likes to carry objects when he walks, and he loves throwing the ball for Katy. He is making a lot of new noises lately too, but we cannot figure out yet what he is trying to say. He is growing and learning new things every day.

He still seems to be experiencing some separation/stranger anxiety, but it is very random. Two of my neighbors came over last week, and both times he burst into tears and got very upset when they tried to talk to him. We cannot figure out if he is shy, or scared, or what causes his little outbursts sometimes. I am hoping this is a phase!

New teeth & clapping

Can you spot Frankie's new teeth?? It is so hard to get a good picture of them, but he has three new teeth on top! They all broke through at the same time last week. Little man is growing up too fast. On a completely unrelated note, Frankie also started clapping today. His day care teacher had told us that he clapped one other time, a few months ago, but I had never seen him do it. Then, today, he decided he wanted to clap non-stop. We went to The Ranch for dinner, and he literally sat in his high chair and clapped for 10 minutes straight. It was sooo cute. I am so proud of him! Here are a couple more pictures from this week:

little cutie

yummy cheerios!