11

i can't believe it. this time last year i was starting to waddle around and here we are approaching Kylene's first birthday.

at eleven months Kylene is walking and has just learned how to push herself up to a standing position from the ground. she LOVES to walk and is very proud of herself. up to this point, Kylene's prefered mode of transportation was walking around on her knees. she wore out quite a few pants and tights that way.

Kylene wants to be doing what Connor's doing and other big kids for that matter.

she is happy happy and such a pleasure to be around.

Kylene LOVES books and kicks her legs and claps when she is put on your lap to be read too. she loves having books in her crib to flip through before falling asleep (like her brother). her favorite story right now is The Very Busy Spider. I think she could listen to that all day long!

Kylene has become more particular about what she likes and has started shaking her head "no". she does this most often when food is presented that she does not prefer.

We feel Kylene communicates with us very well. when she wants her sippy cup, she comes over to the fridge and "asks" for it to be opened and then points to her cup. when she wants a book, she points to the book shelf and then chooses the book she would like and brings it to us to be read. we like her lots.

Kylene has really started "talking" to us and telling us all sorts of things. she seems to have quite a bit on her mind.

Kylene loves dolls and will sniff one out of a pile of toys where ever we are. {as a side note, my Mom called Kylene "dolly" when she was a newborn because we thought she was so perfect and looked like a doll. other people commented likewise so we felt justified in our name. }:)

what a love.

we attended our ward's Fall Festival last night and had a great time. i'm so proud of us that we dressed up! it all happened in a whirlwind about 5 min before it was time to leave. activities for the evening included a chili cookoff, games for the kids, dancing, and truck-or-treating. as we were leaving, Connor turned to me and said, "Mommy, this was the best day ever." i think that pretty much sums it up for us.

pumpkin patch

on thursday, Kylene and i got to go with Connor's preschool class to Mr. B's Pumpkin Patch in Graham, NC.

the most fun part for me, was seeing Connor interact with his classmates and teachers. i think his teacher's, Miss Melanie and Miss Kelly, are magical. what they said, the children obeyed. i need to watch more closely and take notes!

Connor seems to have hit it off the best with another little boy names Peter. i overheard a few conversations between the two involving workmen and construction trucks. a bosom friend for Connor, for sure. :)

part of the activities included seeing chickens, a cow, bunnies, a goat and a horse and getting to pet all of them. Kylene was VERY impressed with all the animals and even got brave enough to touch the cow.

all the workers there were very child-friendly and helped the kids have a great time stuffing a scarecrow with straw.

the Penguin class with their teachers.

this picture is at the end of the trip after the hay ride and walk through the "bubble" forest.

one little girl, Selena, seems to have a serious crush on Connor. she was always by him and wanting to show him things. whenever she lost him, she said, "Mom! Mom! where's Connor!" anything she found from a rock, leaf, flower and feather she wanted to give to Connor. he finally got tired of it and didn't want to accept the feather, but after she persisted, he turned to her with a big smile and said, "Oh thanks!" and took it. what a good guy. i was also pleased to see when she wanted to hold him hand he just folded his arms and said, "No thank you." can't believe the pursuit has begun already.

Kylene mainly spent her time eating gold fish and animal crackers.

we came home with two small pumpkins and Connor's very pleased with them both. yesterday he pushed the pumpkin he chose around in our umbrella stroller and told me his pumpkin was 3 like him and was named "Buddy". :)

I would call the outing a success.

halloween has begun

today was our first Halloween party of the season at our apartment complex. it was a hit.

we bought Connor's costume yesterday (motorcross driver, but he calls himself a race car driver) and he wore it all day yesterday and today. :)

Connor's first favorite activity was jumping on the "trampoline" better known as a moon walk. his good buddy Matthew (Spiderman) was right in there with him.
from there, all the kids ran around like mad collecting "Halloween Eggs" at the "Halloween Egg Hunt" (um, ok).

even Tigger (aka Kylene) spotted an egg she just had to have.

almost got it...

ahh, success.

our neighbor and good friends' son came as a lion. after looking at the two together, we realized all we were missing was the bear. :)

Connor's pounded down some serious sugar today and there will be more to come with another party and trick-or-treating. even Kylene got a wrapper opened today and crawled away behind the couch when we came to retrieve it. ahh, the power of sweetness.

first fish

we had a short trip down to the Kubik's this weekend for Conference. one of the things Connor got to do was go fishing with his Dad and Papa. all three of them were excited to bring home Connor's first big fish! he's caught a few small ones before but this was the first one big enough to bring home, cook and eat.

Byron ate the fish and asked me if i wanted to try some of his "delicious bass". (think Napoleon Dynamite).

baaa...

is what Kylene calls a balloon.

last week, the kids each got a balloon at the grocery store. Kylene was mesmerized by them and while i put the groceries away, she sat on her knees looking up at them.

that evening, when she got up to nurse, she spotted the balloons afterwards and became very animated, so Byron brought them over to her. she laughed and giggled and played with those balloons for the extra 30 minutes we let her stay up (how could we put her back to bed? we were having so much fun!)

byron and i were surprised and impressed to see Kylene grab hold of the balloon string and pull the balloon down hand over hand.

i LOVE this picture. to me her face says "Dad, WHAT are you doing?!?"

i don't know which one of them enjoyed this time more.

the next morning she woke up saying "baaaa" and looking for her balloons by looking up at the ceiling. now, if you ask Kylene where the balloon is, she look up. how cute is that?