An end of an Era....

One of the things that Dalen and I have been debating is when to move Westin to a big boy bed. Clearly, we are done with the crib. So for his birthday, we decided to get Westin all sorts of bedding for his new bed. And with G-pops and D in town, the ole switcheroo was much much easier. So in one day, we went from this......

to this......

Westin is so very happy in his new bed! The first night, Tiger ('Turgah') went AWOL almost immediately-highly traumatic for all involved. (All Dalen and I heard was 'Oh no, Oh NO, OH NO!)  After that, West woke up a couple of times and almost fell out, but night #2 was smooth sailing. Nap time has featured some jumping on the bed, instead of sleeping, but we are adjusting there too. The added bonus is that if I want to cuddle with West and take a nap...we both fit :)

Little Boy working next to Mama. My goodness what a Big Boy we have :)

Westin Turns TWO!!!!!

This last year has brought a lot of change in our little boy...key phrase, 'little boy'. There is no baby left in this kid. Yes, I will always call him my 'baby boy', but it doesn't change the fact the baby has officially left the building. West has new words almost everyday. He has started to say short phrases and chatters away, some of the chatter we are now happily able to interpret (at least we think that we can). West is just amazing.......

Awesome tricyle from Grandma and Grandpa Moore (Thank You!).

West broke into Noni's present (awesome jammies and a kewl Elmo outfit) a little early, and started wearing everything on his head! Why not? It's his Day after all.

I decided to make the cake. I know, it's a little Charlie Brown, but who doesn't love a funfetti cake with chocolate icing, especially with West's favorite 'burds' on top?? Incidentally, he was so excited by the 'burds' that he barely touched the cake :)

Even Pup pup got in on the Birthday action...

The wonderful blocks for Westin's present fortress were given by G-pops and D (Thanks!!). When we were itty bittys', Aunt Shannon and I had many many fun hours playing with very similar blocks.

West sees all the blocks and doesn't know which ones to knock over first...magic!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry, Aunt Shannon; Westin is NOT a fan of watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

 Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and it's not just the ton of food that you get to legitimately eat...It's the taking a moment or two to be humbly thankful for all of life's wonderful things: loving family, roof over our heads, food to eat, health, laughter and love. Only a few 'Thanksgiving' pictures, because as you will see in the next post, the day was definitely All About Westin.......

G-pops and D!

This past holiday weekend we have a lot to be thankful for.....especially for G-pops and D taking time out of their busy schedules to come spend some time with us and help us celebrate both Thanksgiving and Westin's 2nd birthday (All on the Very same Day!!!). Westin LOVED having his grandparents in town! Our little boy is one lucky guy; so many wonderful people who love him so very much.

Westin learning to 'ride the pony' and having way too much fun :)

West trying to bury D under his book collection. Funny little boy.

BOO!

Happy Halloween!! The weather was perfect. Slightly cool and clear. Westin chose his own costume this year. We wanted to dress him as an 'Angry Bird', his favorite app on Dada's iPad. He runs to the iPad screaming, 'Burds, burds'. He is also crazy good at turning on the iPad, unlocking it and finding his favorite things. However, when we showed him some of the costumes, all he could say was 'elmo, elMO, ELMO'. Clearly he wanted to be Elmo.....who are we to argue with someone this cute?!

So what's this whole trick-or-treating thing about?

Chatting it up with the neighbors

Mama with her little monster

Candy wasn't the only thing that we collected.....

Westin had just as much fun collecting beautiful leaves. We have lots of them this time of year!

OctoberFest!

Gearing up for winter!

 Wow, what a month! It's been a busy one:

Westin goes to Library Class every Tuesday (that he's not in Zoo Class). Last week, he was visited by the Cat in the Hat (!!!). He LOVES the Cat in the Hat (whom he calls 'Hat'). He was onto the library folks-knew this one was a fake--didn't get excited a bit.

Twice a month, Westin has Zoo Class at the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls. It's great! They talk about a new animal every week. They do crafts, get to meet animals and get to walk around the zoo like crazy monkeys. What's not to love? Here West is doing crafts with Dada.

Ostrich feathers!

Captivated by the penguins. (Westin's the one with the cap)

Extra excited about meeting a 'burd' during Zoo Class (theme, Owls).

Dakota Days!

We heralded October (umm yeah, weeks ago....) by going to the Coyote's Homecoming Parade, part of the massive Dakota Days celebration. I am hoping by next year that we figure out what 'Raise the Dust' means......Incidentally, while the parade was all, meh,

jumping in a random puddle was super duper fun! Especially when you have awesomesauce Thomas the Train boots! (Westin now says, 'Choo Choo', when he hears a train or sees a bunch of cars lined up).