Trick or Treat?

Ah, Halloween. There's so much I could say about this "holiday". And most of it wouldn't be kind. For starters, I'm just not a big fan. Like at all. Like there's absolutely NOTHING appealing to me about 1) Getting dressed up, 2) Getting mostly chocolate candy from strangers, or 3) Scary ghosts and goblins and all that jazz that goes along with Halloween.

Pre-marriage and definitely pre-Everett, I used to think, "Ok, so I'm not a fan now, but surely once kids come along, I'll get into it. Surely their excitment will rub off on me." Now that I'm married to Will (who, incidentally loves Halloween) and we have just experienced Everett's first Halloween, my line of thinking has changed. Now I think, "Maybe once our kids are old enough to "get" Halloween, I'll get excited about it." Cause let me tell you folks, our first Halloween experience with Everett leaves MUCH to be desired!

One of our main issues was Everett's early bedtime. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, LOVE that Everett's such a good sleeper. But having a kid with a 6 pm bedtime makes any Halloween festivities rather difficult. And of course, on Tuesday, he was ready to call it a night at like 5:30. But my mom went through the effort of buying Mr. E a super cute spider costume (great minds must think alike, Heidi!), so we were going to try our best to take some pictures of Everett in full regalia, even if trick-or-treating was completely out of the question. And so, I give you, Everett's 1st Halloween:

Torn between being unhappy that we're trying to change him and trying to pose for the camera. That's why we have crying eyes and an open mouth that, given a few more seconds, would turn into a smile.

Almost fully dressed, except for that darn hat.

Getting frustrated that Dad's taking too long.

Ta da! I present, for your viewing pleasure, Everett "The Spider" Giddens.

And yes, full costuming only lasted a total of 1.2 seconds.

He was content, for a few minutes anyway, to play around in the costume. That counts as actually using the costume, right?

And about five minutes after this picture, he was...

Whoa now!

I know this blog is about Everett, but I just thought this was too thought provoking to be left alone. This video is crazy! May all of us try to be more diligent about appreciating our real beauty and not let the media's distortion get us down on ourselves!!

Strike a Pose, There's Nothin' to It

"Don't just stand there, let's get to it. Vogue."

In a word, that's exactly what Everett is. Vogue. Not to be confused with EnVogue, which is something totally different. Anyway, I digress.

Apparently, we have a budding male model on our hands. This entire "photo shoot" was completely Everett's doing. Mom and Dad didn't pose him or encourage him in any way. I guess we've simply got him trained to work it?!?

My personal opinion is that Mr. E was feeling especially sassy in his new "big boy" outfit. Everett says, "No more onesies for me! I've graduated to regular, button-down shirts just like everyone else."

See for yourself how the camera loves the kid, but be forewarned, he's positively oozing with personality.

Ok, so does he look waaaaay older in this picture than in the previous one or what?

How does that happen?

E's "thinking" pose

I love that he's looking away from the camera in this one.

Like he's really trying to show off the clothing or something.

Who loves ya baby?

Swing a Little Swing For Me

Everett and I have been hitting the playgrounds quite a bit as of late. And although our little chubster isn't walking just yet, he does enjoy a good swing.

(Be sure to check out his cool kicks. I love how the combination of the shoes and socks make his legs look extra chubby. As if that were possible!)

Born to be Wild

So a couple of weeks ago I made the mistake of asking Will to fix Everett's hair. What I meant was, "Will, could you comb Everett's hair?" What Will heard was, "Go crazy! Do whatever you want to our precious child's coif!" Before I knew it, Will had introduced Everett to the world of male styling products and gave him a gel-lified mohawk. Because that's what every 11 month old needs, right?

A serious mohawk for one serious eater.

I'm glad it didn't matter that Everett barely has enough hair to do anything with.

"Whatcha lookin' at, huh?"

Say "Cheese"!

Definitely. This picture definitely goes in my top 5 favorite taken of Everett. Ever.

G is for Grass

Everett's Tips for Sitting on Grass:

1. Always act startled when you first sit down. This scares away the bugs.

2. Immediately upon sitting, give the grass a stern talking to.

This lets the grass know who's boss.

3. If the grass seems impertinent, make yourself seem larger than life by throwing your hands and feet into the air.

4. Never shrink back in surprise. The grass will take this as a sign of weakness.

5. Use caution. Sometimes grass itches.

6. Realizing the grass is only thisbig aids in feeling more comfortable.

7. Eating the grass is strictly prohibited.

And finally, Everett's last rule for sitting on the grass:

8. Don't forget to sit back and enjoy!

Swing into Fall

Last week when we were house-sitting, E and I got to play in the Dean's HUGE backyard. We really lucked out with this gig since the Deans have several grandchildren of their own and are fully equipped for little ones. The perfect evidence of this is the way neat-o swing set in the backyard. Since the weather has been so beautiful, sunny and not nearly so humid and hot, I took Everett outside for a little swinging time and the kid had a blast! As the pictures show, a swinging baby is a happy baby.

The original bucket seat.

We, fortunate though we are, were able to get quite of few of these up close and personal shots. Keep scrolling down for more...

Does this face say, "Well, Mom, what are you looking at?" to anyone else?

E's serious, contemplative look.

"Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!"

He may look pretty relaxed, but check out the death grip of his right hand.

And as fun as it was, Everett's attention span is still relatively short. He's already looking for something better.

Everett practicing his Santa "ho, ho, ho"

"I'm not going to look at her..."

"I'm not going to look at her..."

"Yup, I'm definitely not going to look at her."

"Alright, Mom, party's over. I'm hopping outta this joint."

He's Baaaack!

Mr. E is back in all his grinning glory. After a week-long sabbatical of house-sitting (oh yes, we have pictures), we're back at home and back to blogging. Thank goodness, right?!!? :-)

Here's our little guy showing off his two bottom teefies. The top two are in the midst of poking through his gums, so I'm sure we'll have some pictures of that momentous event very soon.

And what playtime is complete without playing with Dad's golf ball? Seriously, it's become one of his favorite things to play with. And by play, I mean slobber all over and try to eat, naturally.

Our little cutie pie totally posing for the camera.

Drivin' Along in Mom's Automobile

Every so often, in our errand-running, fun-having filled days, Everett decides to call it quits and enter Snooze City right there in his carseat. In an effort to capture the moment, I've taking to snapping pictures of him enjoying his little catnaps.

There's a reason he doesn't have any clothes on in this picture.

I mean, I'm positive there's a very good reason.

I just wish I could remember!

Ahh, it is a talented baby indeed who can continue to tightly grasp his orange ring AND noisy ball and still catch some shut-eye.

Notice the tuft of hair on top. Just more evidence to me that although it sometimes appears otherwise, yes, his hair is growing.

Only 10 months old (as of yesterday!!), and already they're naming streets after him!

Sleepy Time is All the Time

Will and I have been extremely fortunate in that Everett absolutely LOVES to sleep. As a shower present I received the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It is awesome! I highly recommend it to any parent, especially those with children who don't seem to be sleeping well. I've tried to be diligent about Everett's sleep schedule and the combination of my diligence and his natural propensity to sleep have developed the following scenario:

Wake Up Time: 6:30 a.m. - 8 a.m.

1st nap: 2-2.5 hours after wake up time

2nd nap: 3-3.5 hours after wake up from 1st nap

3rd nap: Sometimes - usually 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Bedtime: 5:45 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

We certainly are lucky to have such a good sleeper on our hands - a fact that almost everyone who hears about how much Everett sleeps is quick to point out. We snuck in on our favorite little guy last week because he'd been asleep over 2 and 1/2 hours (his 1st nap) and while we love him to sleep, sometimes errands need to be run. When we crept into his room, this is what we saw:

In his favorite sleeping position: In the far corner of his crib, on his stomach, hands under his tummy, bum in the air. Doesn't look very comfortable, but this is the positon we find him in 99% of the time.

We love you Mr. Sleeps-All-Night-And-Half-The-Day-Too!