What happened to September...?

I'm not sure what happened, but one minute it was September and the next we're into October! September always goes a little faster than other months around here, because of football season. Yup, every Saturday, you can find us at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, cheering on the Ducks!
We also started out September with a certain someone crawling around!

Miss Avalee decided to (temporarily) give up on her dream of walking, and just go with crawling. I think she may have been secretly crawling for awhile, before we actually 'discovered' it, because she would oddly be on the other side of the room seconds after I left and returned. And, the first time she crawled, she was bookin' it! So, now she gets around a little too well. She can get from one end of the living room to the other side of the dining room in no time, which has prompted us to put up the baby gates and confine her to the playard at times (otherwise Mommy could never cook, clean or even potty!).




She is still trying to walk, and can successfully stand on her own now (her record is 5 seconds). She can actually stand up on her own too, but I don't know if she knows that. She will also walk with us holding her hands, and does very well. So, I don't know how much longer it will be before she takes her first steps, but I think it's getting close!


Miss Avalee has also increased her vocabulary! She now says 'brother' (ok, more like 'buu-buu' but cute nonetheless!), more (and signs it too!), Grandpa (sounds like 'bampa'), and she even said her buddy, Madi's name! She also said her first sentence; 'I love you.' She's actually said that a couple times, and it never loses it's cuteness!
And, in other news, we now have a new family member! Z has been talking a lot about our kitty, En Fuego, who passed away a year ago. He tells us he misses him and asks if he's coming back. We thought it might be a good idea to let him get a pet of his own, and settled on a fish. The nice lady at the pet store suggested a Betta, because of their easy care and friendly (it's a fish, right??) nature. So, Z picked out the “coolest” Betta he could find and we loaded up with all the gear ($50 for ONE fish...wha...??). Z had already named his fish, Cup, and try as we could to sway him, he wouldn't budge on the name. So, Cup, it was. Of course, Cup's care immediately fell to us, as Z went to bed before Cup was transferred from his...well, cup...to his new permanent, fancy digs. And, as it turns out, the process of transferring a fish to his new home is very ardorous and time consuming. But, it all paid off, when Z saw Cup all set up in his room the next room. Over the course of the day, he read Cup a book, played the guitar for him and told him stories. He loves Cup, and has done a great job of 'taking care' of him so far.


And, as I mentioned earlier, we've been going to lots of UO football games, and even took the kids to one a couple weeks ago. Z has been before; (actually he was there before he he was even born. LOL!) his first being just before he turned one. This was, obviously, Avalee's first game, and her appearance was highly anticipated. We have been sitting near a lot of other season ticket holders for the last 7-8 years now, and were excited to introduce them to the newest little Duck. They have all watched Z grow up, but we hadn't seen them since before Avalee was born (this really awesome couple who sit behind us, Kay and Joe, gave us some Christmas ornaments at the last game for the kids. How sweet is that??). We decided Z would sit with Grandma D (who sits a couple sections away), because he's too big to share our seats now. We took him over before the game started, so everyone could say 'hi', then he headed off with Grandma. Avalee didn't disappoint, and was a big hit with everyone! The only downside to the day, was that the weather was forecasted wrong and it rained through most of the game. Poor Avalee didn't know what to make of the whole thing, and seemed especially confused that she was just sitting out in the rain. Otherwise, it was a great day, and we even went down to the field afterward to have a mini photo shoot. :0)

"Oooooooo!"






Otherwise, we've been doing some work around the house and changing things up a bit. We're doing a little remodeling inside and will hopefully be done with everything by Spring, so we can start work on the outside (anyone know of any good landscapers??).
And, we, of course had lots of lazy park days, playdates and walks around the neighborhood. September was a great month, even if it did go by much too fast!
October is already shaping up to zip by too with Colin's birthday, our Vegas trip (during his birthday), Z's birthday and Halloween. Whew! Of course, I'll post more about all of that later!