Halloween Weekend

during our search for the perfect pumpkin at the pumpkin patch

very cute Lion :)  Aunt Alison and Aunt Michelle picked a good costume!

doesn't look very scary to me! :)

going places, the costume didn't stop him!

trick-or-treating with his cousins at Great Grandma Ritter's house

celebrating Michael Hoffman's eleventh birthday!

Mr. and Mrs. Brian Ligato

Men in Plaid.

We spent this past weekend in Pittsburgh visiting with family and celebrating Brian and Alyssa's wedding.  We had lots of fun and Connor did a great job traveling!

Connor boy went to the doctor's this morning - he weighed in at 18 pounds, and is 28.25 inches long.  That makes him in the 10th percentile for weight, and the 45 percentile for height. :)

Nine Months

So the last week of being eight months was one big party! 

It started with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Hoffman who stayed for the weekend.

eating cereal with Grandpa

playing with Grandma and Daisy at the birthday party

Daisy turned one! :)  See her as a newborn here

family photo!

Connor also got to visit with Great-Grandma Barton and Great-Aunt Nancy on Thursday night.  They were traveling home from VA and swung by on the way! :)

more family photos!

Connor is now nine months old.  We go to the doctor's on Halloween... so we'll see how big he is then!  

For now, enjoy these hilarious photos...

here, let me help you with that Mom...

Can I get any closer!?!

this cracks me up!

SOOOOOO BIG!

Mohawk in the bathtub :)

Connor William ~ We Love You!!

Go, Go, Go

My life will never be the same.

I thought it had changed enough already...  but now he moves.  

Hold on folks... it's going to be a wild ride!!!

"Snuggle Buggle"

so... what seems like a long time ago (but really, it isn't) Connor was swaddled in a blanket to sleep.  He loved it - especially rubbing his face on the softness of the blanket, he would turn his face so that he could feel it on his nose. :)

February

February

He has long outgrown the swaddle for sleeping.

Recently, with the cold weather arriving, I have put a blanket down on the changing table.  

(because I guess I feel like that makes it warmer???) 

Connor has rediscovered his love of soft blankets on his face... 

I happily 'swaddle' him on the changing table and refer to him as my Snuggle Buggle.  

I know they aren't real words.  

But he loves it anyway!

Treasure

Hmmm... what is this?.

What do you think Mom?  Pretty cool huh?

It opens and closes!  Watch!

And like everything else... I'm going to taste it.  Just to be sure I like it!

Photo "dump" ~ leaves and Mr. Cool

Bill raked the leaves from our front tree into a pile so we could take some pictures!  

Here are the results of "playing" in the leaves...

The sunglasses from Aunt Michelle fit much better these days - and Connor actually leaves them on his face!  Yippee! :)

I see you...

"Who you looking at?"

Cold Snap

what do you do when it gets cold outside?  

Here at the Hoffman house, we've been hanging out in the basement... with the space heater on in the background  reading books and playing with toys.

Cinnamon has started sporting her sweater.  She snuggled up with Connor and I on the couch for some extra warmth - she even let Connor play with her ear...

In a last minute photo shoot with Daisy - we remembered the warm summer days... turns out that Connor and Daisy have 'matching' outfits!  The Patterson's were up to our house for dinner on Sunday so we took the opportunity to get a picture of the kiddos ~ because next time it's warm out, these outfits might not fit!! ;)

Photos and Videos!!

 Connor sat still long enough the other day for me to get some pictures!

He's so interested in the lens cap that hangs from the camera strap that as soon as he sees it normally he's immediately trying to get to it! :)  This time, I was up on the chair and he was across the room, so I managed to sneak in a few shots. Yay!

Okay, These videos aren't the best... but the first one is of him doing the ASL sign for "more"... which he still isn't the best at.... but he's learning!  

The second one is of an almost crawl the other night before the memory card was full on the camera and cut me off (oh. my. goodness.) but don't worry, right after that he went back to his belly and didn't crawl anymore... we're so close it's ridiculous - but he'll get it in no time and I'll be wishing for the 'non-mobile' days! 

Eight Months

mama... I really want that camera lens cap.  If I stare at it long enough maybe it will come closer...

Tried to get this in right before bed time.  bad idea.  Oh well...

This one shows two things - his love of emptying the toy bin, and that he can wave! ;)

Connor is Eight Months Old today!  Whew!

He is getting bigger every day and currently wears a size nine month shirt, but the nine month pants are just a little big around the waist.  He likes to feed himself at meal times (he thinks baby food is a waste of time, but don't worry - I squeeze it in between bites of "real food").  He likes crackers and puffs, but also has tried some grapes and bananas and chicken bites.  He makes lots of noises - humming and "complaining" and shreaking.  He can make the "f" sound and also blows raspberries.  

He can take steps forward when he is holding my hands, and has perfected the army crawl forward on his belly.  He rocks back and forth on his hands and knees.  He can pass things from hand to hand and loves to wave to himself in the mirror.  He would rather play with something that isn't a toy - kitchen spoons, yarn, my hand held mirror.  Just this week I went to get him from his nap and he had pulled himself up on the side of his crib.  Bill lowered the mattress for me as soon as I took Connor out! :)

He takes two naps a day and is sleeping from 8pm to 8am. :)  He likes to sit outside and play or go for a walk in the stroller.  He likes to take the pieces out of a puzzle, the rings off the tube, and the cups off the stack.  He likes to flip pages in books.  He smiles at pretty much anyone he sees - and they of course, smile back! ;)  

We love you Connor!  Eight months has gone so fast!!

Drinking and Eating

Connor loves his sippy cup... although he doesn't really know how to work it yet...

He loves "crackers" and puffs, and... anything else he can feed himself. :)

Such a big boy!

Creeping

trying to get to the camera lens cap...

Connor has been doing some new things lately.

He leans forward when he is sitting and puts his hands on the floor in front of him.  For a while, this was the end of it.  Well, now he has figured out how to go from that position, to putting his legs out behind him, so he's on his belly.  It's a slow process, and sometimes one leg gets stuck underneath him, but for the most part, he's got it down!

look Mom!  No belly on the floor!

He also has been teasing me with the crawling.  He gets up on his hands and knees... then he rocks back and forth... then - back down to his belly he goes! :)  He's working on making those tiny muscles stronger and stronger!

 He also has figured out how to push forward with his toes while he's on his belly.  He "creeps" around pretty well!

Creeping towards Dad :)

 Turn your volume up - he's dancing to "Larry Boy"

He doesn't look at the camera at all... but he loves to dance to music.  :)