JJ's First Halloween!

 Here are a few shots of JJ's first Halloween weekend. He got a head start on wearing orange because it was down in the 40's overnight Thursday, making for a very chilly Friday morning and a perfect opportunity to wear his snuggly Longhorn gear from Eric & Jess and his fuzzy frog slippers from Grandma.

 Saturday we released the tiger into the wilds of Springwood Park in north Austin!  We attended a Halloween party for our moms & babies group, and out of the dozen or so babies there were 2 tigers (and 2 Supermans, or, Supermen?).  Can you tell which one is JJ?

 An attempt at a group picture, but about half the babies had crawled off the blanket to locate their mommies.

 A close-up of the ferocious tiger:

 We had to stop by the swingset on our way out of the park.  This tiger cub loves to swing.

 JJ suited up again today to help pass out candy to trick-or-treaters.  We had about 65 kiddies ring our bell, so I guess the moldy jack-o-lantern didn't scare anyone away.  We noticed that several of the kids and parents referred to JJ as a "she" tonight.  It's the first time anyone's made that mistake; even when he was a newborn, he was never mistaken for a girl.  I guess this tiger costume is emasculating.  Sorry buddy!

 Hmmm, what kind of candy should I try???

Twix it is.  Happy Halloween!

A pumpkin for our pumpkin

This weekend we visited a pumpkin patch for some photo opportunities and to procure JJ's first pumpkin. I wanted to go to a real farm with a petting zoo, hay rides, corn maze, etc, but it's a 50-minute drive and JJ's probably too young for that stuff anyway. Instead we stopped at a garden center that carried pumpkins.  Stellar choice.  We got some cute pictures, but the batty owner talked our ears off.  She also insisted we put JJ on the counter for a picture with her.  This picture was taken shortly before she started telling us that her grandson was born with his intestines outside his body.  Thanks for the gory Halloween tale!

 

Andy did the dirty work of scooping out pumpkin guts.  We stuck JJ's hand in the stringy mess - we thought he would enjoy the slimy feeling - but he was rather unimpressed.  I toasted up the pumpkin seeds - mmm.

 

The carving was a joint effort (JJ slept through that part)

And here is a sneak peek of JJ's Halloween costume: a ferocious tiger. Rarrr!

JJ hosts his buddy Kierlin

Last weekend we were lucky to have Kierlin and his parents Monique & Cappy pay us a visit!  They came all the way from Atlanta -- now that is serious effort for a playdate.  Sadly JJ was a little under the weather and really wasn't himself.  He had a slight fever, a stuffy nose, and slept horribly.  All this added up to a lethargic JJ but fortunately Kierlin had enough energy for both of them.  Kierlin has 5 months on JJ so was able to show the little guy what he has to look forward to in terms of motor skills, speech, and food selection (Cheerios!).  Here are a few pictures of the two cuties together.

Dinner at Santa Rita

 Easing into the whole "getting dressed" thing on Saturday morning

 Playing in the front yard

Sharing toys

 Experimentation with the self-timers on our cameras. 

Monique did a much better job of centering us (second photo).

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa!

It's been a solid month since my parents came to Austin to visit, and I'm finally getting around to doing a post.  We have several great photographers in the family and ended up with a nice pool of photos.  I've selected a crop of my favorites.  I think this post will be heavy on pictures, light on commentary.  We had a lot of fun over the long weekend and JJ loved the attention of his doting grandparents :)

Shopping at the Hill Country Galleria on Friday:

Hanging around the house on Friday:

Lazy Saturday morning:

Lunch at Hula Hut on Saturday:

Pecan Street Festival on Saturday:

Brunch at Chez Zee on Sunday:

Strolling through Zilker Botanical Gardens on Sunday:

Hanging out at Jess & Eric's on Sunday:

Plus a video of JJ and Casey interacting.  Thanks Jess!



Bye Grandma & Grandpa! Thanks for visiting!!