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Creeping, not Crawling

I believe he's making his favorite car noise here. When he puts his mouth on your arm and does this, we call it a raspberry or a zerbert. He finds it very entertaining. :-)

More bbbfffsssttt noises...

Brett's been scooting around all over the place. One morning a couple of weeks ago, I sat him in the middle of the living room floor while I brushed my teeth. When I walked back into the living room, I couldn't see him! That was the first time he'd made much 'forward progress.' He was just up next to the couch, but I flipped out for a second. He can now go from one room to the other in no time flat. He's not technically crawling yet. (You know, on his knees and moving one hand with one knee and all.) I saw an illustration in What to Expect the First Year that shows what he's doing and they called it 'creeping.' He pushes off with his toes and pulls with both hands at the same time. He sort of flops on his belly with each move. He's very good at it! He likes to explore new and exciting territory...like the walkway between the couch and the bookcases and the hall next to his room. He hunts down loose carpet fuzz, cat tails, and unattended shoes. He especially likes Daddy's remotes, his phone, and the cable box. Forget boring things like the conglomeration of toys Mommy spread out on the rug for him to play with. He's got more interesting things to do and see.

Alligator Alley

This lovely stretch of pavement is referred to as Alligator Alley. Brett and I enjoyed driving it today--twice. I scheduled a photo shoot for Brett with an awesome photographer who was filling in her empty time slots for free 'modeling sessions.' We get the rights to one image for free. You know me and a deal. I couldn't find a catch here, other than her trying to sell you more photos, so I bit. The only unfortunate thing was that it was in Fort Lauderdale. Okay, I said to the lady on the phone. How far could it be if it's in south Florida? I wasn't really even intimidated when I looked on map quest to see that it is two hours and nine minutes away--on the opposite coast. I just didn't realize that more than half of the time would be spent driving through the Everglades.

I don't recall ever seeing one of those "Last Gas for 50 miles" signs until today. There were a couple of rest stops. Lucky for me, the one I chose was totally out of water. (i.e. no restrooms) Many of you know what an ordeal it is to get a baby out of the car, put him in a stroller and 'run' to the restroom. I am just learning these fun facts, and was thrilled to have done it all for nothing.

If someone had told me about how long and empty the road was, I would have decided not to make the trip alone with a 7 month old baby. But Brett was a dream! He didn't have a meltdown cry the whole day! He slept most of the drive, and I chunked toys back to him the rest of the time--which he promptly chunked to the floorboard.

I hardly noticed the natural wonder I was driving through on the way to our appointment. On the Naples side, there are many more trees, and you can't see such a great expanse of . . . whatever it is that makes up the Everglades. (I need to polish up on my south Florida nature knowledge.) But on the return trip, I saw these great views! You can see the diaper bag reflecting in the window in one shot. Brett was asleep, so I didn't dare roll down the window and risk waking him up for a better shot. My favorite thing is the sky. I've only lived here for two and a half months, and I've already gotten used to seeing clouds for miles and miles. It's so beautiful!!! I love God's creation!

Bless his little heart. He's just changed sizes, so we had to play dress up yesterday to see what would fit for the photos!

Somebody just woke up from a nap.

As soon as he was fully awake, he was off. The above pictures were the only ones I could catch him sitting in. He creeps (or scoots) ALL over the place now!

This picture was taken tonight just after bath time. Such a sleepy boy!

Little Giraffe

We had a great trip to Alabama and to Kentucky to visit Ruth. I have many pictures and stories. Maybe I will publish them someday. But for now...Halloween.

Ayi Ruthie suggested we check out Wal-mart's infant Halloween costumes some time ago. They hadn't even put them out yet down here, but the nice lady who worked in the children's department went to the back and brought out Brett's size in several costumes. I couldn't decide between the giraffe and the frog, so she suggested we get both, ask Daddy's opinion, and return one. We did. They are both so cute, but quite hot. Brett has really enjoyed playing in them--inside. Would you believe it was 102 degrees yesterday?!? My car only registered 99 after Bible study today. They've been saying the heat would let up. And so it has.

Now since I bought these costumes sometime in AUGUST, I did not have the foresight to know Brett would grow out of the 9 month size so quickly. He'd be hard pressed to fit in either of these costumes two weeks from now. So I actually plan on dressing him as something else--to be announced later. Whatever he dresses up as MUST be cool. But he is absolutely adorable in his hot furry costumes!

We plan on going to our church's Fall Festival on the 31st, but it's in from 3-6, so it will still be pretty hot. I also can't wait to visit our local 'pumpkin patch.' I guess not too many people have pumpkin farms in Southwest Florida, so they shipped some in and created a cute little patch at Lakes Park in town. I saw pictures from they day they opened and there were pumpkins strewn all over the lawn. It was so pretty! We should have gone. Last night they showed it on the news. It's so hot that they've moved all of the pumpkins into piles under tarps to keep them from cooking! I still plan to take Brett. We'll just buy a pumpkin from the nice cool grocery store.

Peek a boo!

Now giraffes like leaves, right?

That is NOT what I expected leaves to taste like!

Maybe they'll taste different this time.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!