October

So, here's the rest of our life from October:

When I got back from Indiana, we stayed at Joe's oldest brother's house and hung out with their younger 3 boys while the parents were in China. It was fun. The boys loved having BJ around! They even took care of him for an evening for us. The boys did a great job with meals and cleaning, and I really felt my presence was superfluous, but it was fun anyway.

The little guy had his 2 month check-up and got shots. The shots weren't too much fun, but he did well. He weighed 12 pounds, 11 ounces (I could have sworn he was up to 15 pounds) - 75th percentile, and was 23 inches long - 50th percentile.

We went back up the mountain for another fun afternoon of polka with Joe's older sister Suzette, and her family. BJ finally got to meet his cousin Josh, who, for some odd reason, had been a little MIA around family gatherings since July.

I did catch this picture of cousin Megan holding the little guy. This was right before Joe got all of us up to do the Chicken Dance.
It was a fun evening with the Asplund clan. They pulled out a mean tail-gate party. It had felt like such a long time since I had seen them, so it was fun to reconnect.

I captured these pictures of the sunset as we were heading home.

The pictures don't do it justice - it was a beautiful sight!

Here's the little one all bundled up for the mountain top.
It had definitely gotten colder since our last polka experience, but it was definitely the warmest Oktoberfest ever, considering there wasn't any snow.

The next evening, I was able to join Joe again up the mountain to finish up the Polka season. We were able to ride the tram up with all the other performers and those involved in Oktoberfest.

Here's Joe at the top

It was a really fun evening with delicious food. We got to sit at a table with the rest of Joe's band. There were "thank-you's" and toasts and just an enjoyable time. I'm grateful the little guy behaved for his cousins while we were gone. It is nice to have Polka season over with; I get to see Joe on the weekends, he gets a weekend, and as he put it: he "gets to be Mormon again!" Next order of business: I want to learn to play the accordion!

The rest are just some cute pictures of the most popular member of our family:

I know it's a little blurry, but I just love his smile!

Got the flash going and those bright, shining eyes again.

He's laughing. It's adorable!

Showing off how far he can lift his head. He's got some strong neck muscles.

Almost 3 months. Wow, time flies! This was October 18, 2010.

I was watching another little boy several days a week. He was 8 months old. He just adores BJ! He could be screaming and mad at me, but the minute he saw my little guy, smiles and giggles erupted. For being such a hard baby, it was pretty endearing. Before our trip to Indiana, BJ wouldn't even acknowledge his existence. And anytime this little one got near BJ, he immediately went for pulling hair, poking eyes, or hitting. I know he didn't mean to, but it's what he did, so generally he wasn't allowed to be very close.

But when we got back, he seemed a little different. Without realizing it, I let him down after his nap, forgetting that BJ was doing tummy time on the floor. And this is what happened next:

It was super cute!

BJ finally acknowledged the lion by doing the only thing reasonable - pulling his hair.

Showing off during tummy time again.

"Mom, why do you always put those things in my face?"

Capturing his smile and sweet personality

This is what we usually get once he realizes we have a camera:

I sure do love my boy!