Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday--after Matthew preached a great sermon at church--we headed to the pumpkin patch. I had been looking forward to this all month, and it turned out to be such a great time!
As you can see from Greta's attire, it was a very rainy day. When we first arrived we took in the entertainment for a bit: several big costumed "vegetable people" and a kid's band. Greta was really into the music. She bopped along quite happily until she discovered one of those vegetable people mingling with the crowd--once she saw Korny Corn she backed up from the action as far as she could. In this photo she is watching warily from a distance.
Here is an even safer, more comfortable spot to watch the show: with an apple, next to the big apple bin. Yum Yum! Greta discovered these apples and plopped herself down right beside them.

The apple really kept her busy during all the hustle bustle from the show, to the hay ride, and through the actual pumpkin patch. Every so often she would spit out a stockpile of apple peel that she didn't want to swallow...charming and efficient.
On the hay ride to the pumpkin patch there were more entertainers. Before the ride would leave, though, the entertainers had us all say loudly, "Yee Ha!" Greta did NOT appreciate this!
Surveying the muddy field.
I'll just stick to my apple.



A little worried about the possibility of "Yee Ha!" again...
Muddy!!!
We had such fun at the pumpkin patch. Later that day Matthew carved the pumpkin for us. We turned out all the lights and lit the pumpkin before dinner--thinking that Greta would love it! But...


Not so much...this was Greta's reaction!
We ended up having to hide the pumpkin for the rest of the night. I showed her where it was hiding too--because she kept looking around anticipating it would surprise her or something! This morning she motioned to where it was hiding, and then decided to offer it pretend food (she offers many things pretend food...). We brought it down to her level and she tentatively got closer to it from time to time, but when walking by it in passing made sure to give herself plenty of space from it! However, Matthew did tell me that this morning she decided to hastily and nervously kiss the pumpkin--she's trying to like it!
No haunted houses for her this year! :-)

Greta Language

Greta and Mama
Trying on Mama's bracelets! She did end up breaking one (not anything special...) and now enjoys picking up the beads and putting them into a container.
Up until the other day the only video Greta had seen and really watched is this Raffi concert from 1984 (Matthew and I could have been at it!) She loves Raffi's music, and so we checked out his concert from the library and she has now seen it several times over the course of a couple of months (we kept it for quite awhile...sorry library! good thing there are no late fees for children's materials!) The other day, though, I checked out the classic Disney Winnie the Pooh movie and turned it on for her while I made dinner. She was really into it! She didn't just sit and watch it, though--she played and jumped around (as you see in this photo) and sometimes stood close to the TV and stared at it. We are not wanting her to have much screen time AT ALL, but it sure was fun to see her so mesmerized by the images and the songs. The next day she requested it again, and called it "Boo Caca"! She has a Tigger image on her toothbrush, and after seeing Tigger ONE TIME in the movie she said "Hop Hop!" when she saw the Tigger toothbrush later that night. Now I can really understand how parents end up spoiling their children...it's so fun to see them enjoy something so much!

Over the past weekend we went to the 2 year birthday of a friend of ours. Greta had a blast there! They had rented out a big room with bouncy castles and cars and tons of balloons. Upon arriving Greta just raced over to the balloons and started taking them from children and saying "Hi". She ran and jumped around so much at this party--it was wonderful to see her mixing so well with the other children and "holding her own" just fine.

Some of you may know that Greta recently came up with a name for her Nanny Kathy (my mom) who she sees monthly: she calls her Nana Caca. Below are a couple of videos of Greta saying this...she mentions Nana Caca often and refers to random gray haired women as "Nana" or even "Nana Caca" from time to time. She loves Nanas!!

Greta Bess' Sibling

We've got 6 months to go before we meet the next addition to our family! At the end of November we'll get to find out if Greta will have a little brother or a little sister. The other day we asked her if she thought the baby was a boy or a girl and she said immediately "Boy"...we'll see!

Shaking Her Sillies Out

The Haircut

Two or three weeks ago we decided it was time for Greta's first haircut. Here is Princess Greta with her shaggy mullet.
We took her to a place on Granville Island that specializes in "first haircuts". They had trains and cars to sit in, a cookie for her, and even a movie playing! It's a good thing too, because even with all of that she barely sat still! She didn't get scared, though--she was just excited!



Chomping down on her "cook" (her word for cookie) while being styled and pampered.
Post-haircut: chasing the geese at the park on Granville Island. Matthew then went to buy some wonderful ingredients at the market there for a ravioli dinner! Our "dates" lately consist of sometimes putting Greta to bed early on Saturday nights so that we can eat a luxurious meal in peace :-)
Just look at that cute girl!
What a fashionable haircut.
This is the camera smile she has developed :-)
Greta and mama hanging out together after my workday. Usually Greta has just woken up from nap and we get to have the afternoon to play together.
By the way, since the last time I posted on this blog I started a new job AND have been going through my first trimester of pregnancy! For those of you who don't yet know, we are having another baby in mid-April. I've been feeling pretty sick and tired the last few weeks and hope to be better soon! Greta knows all about the baby and often pats my stomach and says "baby" :-)
On a beautiful fall day at Queen Elizabeth park.

My sweets!

Getting all dirty in the mushy leaves!

A mile in Greta's boots

Here is a picture from several weeks ago when we went down to Shoreline to spend a weekend with our dear friends Curtis, Julia, and their daughter Lillian. Greta and Lillian loved running around in their diapers together. Lillian is speaking sentences now, so she was able to narrate as they ran about in their diapers: "Both naked!"
This look flashes across Greta's face quite regularly these days. Its her "Oh-you-don't-think-I-can-make-trouble-out-of-this-situation?" look. She is definitely morphing into a toddler, and as such, she is constantly on the look out for mischief.
Here she is this past weekend, at Grandpa Dan and Grandma Linda's place. We went down to celebrate Dan's 60th birthday. Greta was humbled to walk a while in his shoes and realized that perhaps she has been getting a little too big for her britches lately.
This picture was taken while Mama and Papa went to Target to buy Greta a new wardrobe. (She really is too big for her britches, and the weather is getting too cold and wet for her current clothes.) Greta got to spend some time with just Grandma and Grandpa, she had lots of fun with them this weekend. She was quite excited to see all the new clothes and shoes we got her. She looked over all the new items very intently, and then looked at Megan and I and signed "Thank you." She is so sweet.


Lately Greta has taken to wearing my hat. Its fitting that the hat says "OBEY." She lets me wear the hat occasionally, but then the hat takes on an ironic quality - we all know who's in charge.
Today Greta and I went to meet Mama at her new job to see her classroom and meet the teacher she is working with. Greta got to check out the school and get lots of attention from the big kids and all the teachers and the secretary. (The secretary looked taken aback when I informed her that we were Megan's family. She said "I didn't know Megan had a life!" Never underestimate Megan. She does have a life.)
These are Greta's new boots. She loves her new boots. Whenever I put them on her she prances around saying "boots!" and looking so pleased with herself. In this photo I had asked her "Greta, where are your boots?" So she is pointing them out to me.
Well, off we go! Greta and the busy transition into a new job and another semester of school is keeping us on our toes. But, we'll try to post more photos again soon.

Visiting

Taking baby for a walk. Greta loves her baby dolls!
Relaxing with sleepy Papa
Last weekend we went down to Washington and stayed with mom and Shayne. Shayne took Greta and I to the Children's Museum in Olympia (mom was working and Matthew was busy...they really missed out!) Greta had a great time there! Here she is in the "lighthouse".
She loved climbing up and down these stairs to the lighthouse.
A dream come true! Tons of huge rocks (pretend--light enough to pick up...)
Enjoying the water table. Greta spent a lot of time here and Shayne and I had animals and boats floating down the current for her to try and catch.
A fun tent from Grandpa Shayne!
Playing the piano with Nanny.
Nanny gave Greta her first ice cream cone. At first she didn't quite know what to do with it...
Mmmmmm...now she knows! "Num! Num!" says Greta!
"Num! Num!"
Tired and overloaded on sugar...that's the way it's supposed to be with the grandparents!
All the ice cream is gone from the top...Greta persevered and ended up eating the entire cone and everything!
Nanny made Greta a kitty-cat smock with pockets and her name on it! Adorable :-) Greta loves to point to the cats and say "Meow!"
It looks like it's time for some gardening!
Wearing Nanny's glasses! Greta had so much fun with Nanny--when we got home she mentioned her quite a bit still, and pointed to her smock and the flower she had given her and said "Nana!!"
Also that weekend Greta got to meet her Great Aunt Wendy and Great Uncle Tommy for the first time! They were up for a visit from California, and we didn't want to miss the chance to finally introduce Greta to them. Greta really got attached to Wendy. Wendy let Greta wear her bracelets and she fed her water out of her sippy cup while holding her like a little baby! Greta loved it! It was so sweet to see them bond like that :-)
Tired tired tired. All that visiting really wears a person out. Time for some dragon and panda snuggles :-) Sleep tight sweet baby girl!