Pumpkins are Scary!

Today I took my students on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. We had such a great time picking out our pumpkins. Originally, I wasn't too excited about choosing one to bring home, as I'd already carved a pumpkin for Zoe last week. She's too young to really understand and enjoy the whole experience, so it was more for me. However, thoughts of Anne Geddes-type photographs entered my mind as I stepped into the pumpkin patch, and I set out looking for the perfect pumpkin. After some searching, I found one that I could envision myself hollowing out and putting Zoe inside of to take some pictures. Well, tonight after Zoe's bath, I put her on the floor with the pumpkin, in hopes of snapping some pics before I carved and hollowed it out tomorrow. Let me just tell you, to say she was scared of the pumpkin is putting it very lightly. I tried everything to help her to not be scared of the pumpkin. I tried sitting far away with her, slowly inching closer and closer, to no avail. The closer I got the more she screamed. I tried putting her toys around it and on top of it, so she would see familiar things and want to get closer. Nope, that didn't work. As soon as I pulled her away from the pumpkin, she settled down. I was sitting on the floor with her on my lap when the thought came to me...I could slowly slide her toward the pumpkin with my foot and snap a picture before she even realized she had gotten closer to it. As you can see, this did not work either. Yes, that is my foot she's holding on to. So much for my artistic pumpkin pictures! Just wait until I try to put her on Santa's lap at Christmas...oh boy!

Stairmaster and Horse Whisperer

Today my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Zoe was playing with her toys in the living room so I decided to go collect the laundry upstairs. Although I do have gates at all of the stairs in my house, I neglected to close the one that goes up. Zoe has never gotten near the stairs, and I was only going to be gone a minute. I kept listening to her play while I collected the clothes and put them in the basket. Suddenly, it got eerily quiet. I peered down over the railing and didn't see anything, but decided I best go downstairs to check it out. I didn't have to go far. Zoe had climbed up the steps and was only 2 steps away from reaching the top! I didn't want to startle her, for fear of her falling backwards, so I very quickly grabbed her to safety. I am still wondering how on earth she navigated those steps, curved and wooden, in such a short time when she's never climbed up one step before. Must have been all that practice on her slide outside last week! This is a definite lesson for me - never again will I leave the gate unlocked.
When my nerves settled down a bit, I took Zoe for a long walk. We went to the Kleinzoo around the corner. Zoe is really starting to enjoy looking at all the animals. She got a real kick out of the ponies today. She seemed to be talking to them - she'd make a noise, and then the ponies would make a noise. She was giggling so much over this! She was also able to "talk" to the goats - and she sounded just like them!

What A Wonderful Weekend!

Zoe and I had a fantastic weekend. The weather here is just perfect - and with the leaves starting to change, I want to spend every minute outside. Zoe has a new slide in the backyard that she's been climbing on for the past few weeks. This weekend, however, she actually went down the correct way. I had to help her up the steps, but once on top, she let go and slid down all by herself!
We went bike riding every day, and sometimes we'll stop and look at the horses or feed the ducks. I saw these beautiful blue flowers on a fence and decided to take Zoe's picture in front of them.
We were out and about all day, so Zoe was thankful to get home for a late lunch. She had her first hot dog - and she loved it!