Halloween Fun

When a child is one year old, dressing them up in a costume for Halloween is solely for the enjoyment of the parents. In the Guild household it is for the enjoyment of the mother. So, I picked this cute outfit that was not too constricting so he could easily walk around but had the appropriate level of "cuteness". A contemplative animal. Contemplating what item might be delicious to taste: leaves or dirt?
A loveable animal, isn't he? Although he is Mr. Independence at this phase in life, he still gives his mommy and daddy hugs and kisses.

This phase of Jonathan's life is quite enjoyable for me in many ways:

1. He entertains himself by simply walking around. Requires minimal toys and can be done in a variety of places.

2. He sleeps quite well and is still contained in a crib.

3. He is funny. He has started to develop his own sense of humor, and it really livens up the days.

Happy Halloween ~ S ~

Shower for the Clapps

Aliya Marie Clapp was born to Kyle and Angela on October 1st. They are good friends of ours, and I wanted to have a shower to celebrate. With all of our moving chaos it didn't work out until after Aliya made her debut. Take a look...

The co-hostess for the shower, Kris Gruenebaum. She is our wonderful, wonderful, wonderful realtor from before we moved. She sold our house in rapid time. We didn't realize how good she was until our experience here.
Kyle and Aliya. Isn't she a cute daddy's girl?
I would like to proudly claim that I put her to sleep. She is cashed out here.
Ang and her sister-in-law, Ranee. Ranee has a little daughter who is only 9 months older than Aliya. I'm sure that the two of them will have a wonderful time together.
Later ~ S ~

Away from Jonathan for the Night

Jonathan loves reading, and he loves climbing into things. A delightful combo of both activities in this photo.

The weekend was a splendid success. Jonathan behaved beautifully in the car, slept quite well (overall) and was a good boy for Nate and Carla.

Saturday we had a baby shower for my friend, Angela, who had Aliya at the end of September. Aliya is growing like crazy, and they all seem to be doing well. I'll put some of the photos up here later.

Jonathan was very good for Nate and Carla with the exception of a short wakeful time at 4am. Carla handled the mid-dream interruption quite well but I think she probably went to bed early on Sunday evening. Jamie and I had a wonderful time at a dinner theater that played a Norwegian Lutheran spoof... what a hoot!

~ S ~

Jonathan is...

1. Walking. He has been walking for about a month now, and he is getting quite proficient with it. He rarely crawls for anything, even if it means getting up several times on an uneven surface.

2. Saying a few words. He says "mama" and "dada". He has been saying dada for months, but mama is a recent development. There may be some other "words" that he is uttering but they are unintelligible to me.

3. Asserting his will. He threw something at me the other day when I didn't give him what he wanted. I'm sure we are just at the beginning of training this child, so I can only imagine what his frustration will look like in a year.

4. So much fun! One would expect me to say this since I am the mother but having Jonathan is much more fun than I ever expected. I was confident that I would love him, care for him, etc. I wasn't sure whether I would find it to be fun. More fun that I could have imagined. His laugh is contagious, and Jamie is a pro at getting him going.

5. Sleeping. Right now, that is. My sister and Nate are hoping that he sleeps well tonight. It is our first night away from the little man. I am so looking forward to an extended date with my hubby.

Have a good one ~ Sarah

A continuation...

This is the second part of two blogs about Jonathan's first birthday...
Jonathan and his Nike Shocks. He likes them as much as his daddy likes them. Bubble time... Jonathan blew lots of raspberries in an attempt to blow bubbles like the big kids.
Toy time with Aunt Carla and his cousins (Nic, Drew, Allie and Sofie).
The cake was fun to play with but Jonathan didn't really eat much of it. He did manage to cover himself in black frosting.
Jonathan and my dad reading one of his new books. This was one of the few shots we have of Jonathan sitting with just one person. Usually he is surrounded by the cousins or walking around.
A big thanks to Aunt Amy and Uncle Doug for hosting the party!! We had a great time and they were such gracious hosts to all of us.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Sarah

Cutie pumpkin pie

Jonathan's birthday celebration was a wonderful time with family in Iowa. He loved all of the activity, and we loved being able to see everyone. It is hard to believe that a year has passed since we welcomed the little man into our world.

My dear friend, Abby, showered Jonathan with new little Nikes - he enjoyed playing with them and carrying them around the house. Jamie loved the little Nike Shocks. Jamie has always wanted "cool" shoes for his little guy.
The pumpkin theme was great fun. This is Jonathan with his cousins playing with the pull string pumpkin pinata. He didn't get any of the candy (bummer for him), but he loved pulling the strings.
It was a gorgeous fall day in Iowa and we played outside on my sister-in-law's patio with bubbles. Jonathan was enthralled with the bubble-blowing process. He also thought that the scented bubbles might be good to drink so I had to be vigilant about supervision.
Jamie followed in his father's footsteps and decorated Jonathan's cakes. Didn't he do a great job? My man is such a great dad in so many ways!
My sister and Nate gave Jonathan musical instruments for his birthday. He loves the guitar. He carries it around the house while it plays music. Maybe he thinks he is like the guitar players at church?

More photos later - I can't leave out the cake-eating ones. There are also some others that I love and will share. For now - Jonathan has decided that he needs my attention so I am off.
~Sarah~

Grammar schmammar

I just want to mention that you are not allowed to criticize my typos when reading this blog. I don't proofread it before posting. I realized that I wrote "chose" instead of "choose" in the last blog. Nonetheless - no critiquing my grammar or spelling while reading.