Halloween fun

We had a blast trick or treating in our neighborhood! Sam was a fireman after some convincing that he had to wear the costume if he wanted to get candy (otherwise it is basically just begging!). Noah was a very happy bee.

Visiting the fire station

Our local fire house does an open house every year to teach kids about fire safety and give kids the chance to climb on all of the equipment and explore.  It is a great event and will become an annual event for us to attend!

Sam's favorite attraction was the ambulance and buckling himself into the stretcher...this was NOT our favorite thing since in July 2010, he was raced to the hospital in an ambulance with lights and sirens on.  It brought back some painful memories for us, but thankfully Sam has no recollection of it and he thinks playing in ambulance is tons of fun.

He also loved playing in the police car.  I told him that this was the only time he's ever allowed in the back seat of a police car! I never want to see him in the back seat of a police car again! : )

Sam discovered a fabulous remote control fire truck!

Sam sitting with Alicia, watching his best buddy Andrew learning to use the fireman's hose! GO ANDREW! 

Date Night - Cookology Class

Now that we're actually starting to hire babysitters, Brad and I are enjoying more regular date nights!  Last night we had a terrific time at the Cookology Class "Date Night" event.  We went with our friends Maria & Felix.  Maria and I are friends through a playgroup, Noah and Sam are the same ages as their youngest 2 kids.

We had a GREAT time!  Last night's theme was "Mystery Basket" - we worked in teams (us, Maria & Felix, and another couple) to prepare a meal using a mystery basket of ingredients.  It reminded us a lot of the tv show Chopped.  We were so proud of what we created!

Our final meal included:

• Salad: Arugula, grape tomatoes, shaved parmesan with a homemade vinaigrette (blended roasted shallots, mustard seed, red wine vinegar, clove honey, oil, salt, pepper)
• Pumpkin risotto with mushrooms and bacon
• Grilled filet mignon with red wine reduction
• Roasted potatoes with prosciutto
• Caramel creme brulee with candied apples and a caramel sauce 

We are VERY proud of our dishes (below).  We enjoyed making them and eating them! 

We will definitely return for future Date Night events! 

Noah at 6 months - sitting pretty and ready to crawl!

My beautiful baby boy is now 6 months old (this blog post is a little late, sorry!)

He sits independently, completely unsupported for as long as he wants.  Our beautiful baby boy is doing wonderfully!  He is ahead on many milestones and becoming quite verbal - he says "mama" and "hi".  He loves to blow bubbles, laugh, coo, play with rattles, play peek-a-boo, listen to music, read books, and dance with Sam.  He is mouthing everything and his first tooth is breaking through on the bottom left.  He weighs 16 pounds and is VERY strong.

He is a very happy little guy, smiles whenever he gets your attention and only cries when Sam takes a toy away from him or he's overtired/hungry.  He is eating 3 regular meals every day of baby food and has quite an appetite!  He is happy to eat pretty much whatever we give him and even tried challah for the first time at Rosh Hashanah.  We are holding off on table food...for now.

He loves to play with toys, especially opening and closing things (like books!)

He is ready to take on the world and loves to walk around holding our hands.  He is beginning to cruise a bit and holds onto a table or furniture to play with something on top of it.  

Holding himself up and playing!

He is anxious to start crawling, but isn't fully there yet (thank goodness! I'm not ready for him to be completely mobile!).  He is scooting, doing the army crawl, and rocking. 

Rocking on his hands and knees with Pa!

Here he started off on the playmat and scooted about 5 feet over in just a few minutes!

At his 6 month doctor's appointment, the pediatrician asked me if I had tried giving him a sippy cup.  I hadn't even thought about such an idea - he seemed so young!  But I figured, why not!? So, I gave him a sippy cup of water - and he immediately grabbed it, brought it to his mouth, and began drinking water from it like he has done it a million times.  Yes, I am raising a baby genius.  :) 

BUT - his favorite activity remains cuddling and talking to people - especially his family! 

He continues to be a terrific sleeper.  Noah goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps until about 730am.  He takes 1 big nap around 1230pm - which thankfully is the same time as Sam's nap!   We always laugh about his "old man" sleeping position - on his back with his arms folded under his head (see below).  He loves to hang out like this while we're changing his diaper, when he's resting/sleeping, in the car seat, etc.  

Now that he's sitting so independently, he loves to be in the grocery cart.  He talks and coos to all the other customers and LOVES sitting next to Sam in the double basket at Costco!

Bathtime remains one of his favorite activities.  He loves to play in the bubbles, splash, and blow bubbles to big brother Sam.   I'm so glad that he is comfortable in the water!

Now that the weather has turned colder, we've started to use some of the beautiful hand-knit sweaters on the chilly mornings.  

 The beautiful blue sweater that MY grandmother Mimi made for me when I was a baby.  I love that my grandmother made a blue sweater for her granddaughter - not all girls clothes had to be pink! :)  It meant so much to me to have Noah wear this sweater, made me feel like my grandmother was introducing herself to him.   Yes, I had an emotional moment.

Noah wearing the beautiful green knit sweater made by Brad's mom - Nana.