Smothered with Baby Love

Last night we had a nice adventure to the weekend hayrides in Exeter.  It became increasingly cold as the darkness came and none of us were dressed warm enough. The breeze wasn't helping either.  Thank goodness for body heat! But we were able to enjoy the (family friendly) hayride while it was still light out and not scary.  Lucian was really relaxed on the hayride and just enjoyed his time on it, even with the random chainsaw and horns (the not scary version- I know). Plus we were able to enjoy free cookies, cider, and cocoa. We went to this event last year too (also freezing). So we decided we just HAD to go this year to update the photo on our fridge.  See, every year they set up a photo station and take free fall photos of families, print them out, and supplement the package with advertisements.  I can live with that! So we end up with a new family picture, which I don't have to attempt to tripod and time (yay).  Voila, Family photo success. I'm sure I'll peak at the advertisements too before I recycle them.

While waiting for the hayride to begin, Lucian was just dying to go on the moon bounce. We were like "why not?" It's free and one other kid was there.  So we decided to give it a try and see how he does in that environment.  We couldn't go in with him so it was a solo act. Daddy popped his shoes off and helped him through the opening hole.  He was soooooo excited! He couldn't really bounce because more kids came in and made it unstable, but he was surely having fun.  He walked around, crawled around, sat while others bounced him.  It was cute.  Joe took some short videos on his phone; maybe I can attempt to load one again.  The last one I attempted wouldn't go through, I think it was too long. Oh well.

In the end we had a lovely day.  The best part of my day didn't come until right before bed. Lucian decided he was going to smother me with kisses. He would come over, kiss me and walk off.  10 seconds later he would come back over and give me another big smooch.  He did it over and over again - we were both giggling.  That made the perfect day for me.  He's so full of love and I love him more than he understands.
He even gave me more kisses this morning.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't like this new trend!

Birthday Ideas

Lucian's Birthday is coming up and here are some ideas for gifts:

1. Clothes - size 24 months/2T - Pants, long sleeves, tees
2. Socks - size 6
3. Large paper - poster size, he likes to color
4. A wooden ball - about 2 inch diameter to go with his hockey stick. We'd prefer wood because we'd like to also use it over the summer in the box hockey boxes, which typically use wood balls.  That way he won't steal the ones the other kids are using (which would require it be wood).
5. A Squirt toy/gun - We have a few small ones but he gets frustrated with them because they are crappy.  Maybe a better one that he would be able to operate? Anything related to water is good
6. Remote Control Car - A small one made for younger kids.
7. Phineas and Ferb - Season 1/2
8. Books - We have a lot and he is partially interested. He likes the touch and feel ones. We also make regular visits to the library and read him youth novels.
9. Gymnastics class - I'd like to sign him up for this year. Money towards this is always helpful
10. Gift Certificates - We typically shop online so a visa giftcard would be the best bet.  Target is a popular place for us as well (mostly because its close to the house and he likes to run around it)
11. Cash - Will either go into his piggy bank or towards a class for him to be social

As always I support reuse/rduce/recycle and welcome any hand-me-downs or used items.