These two

Leo and Livi are the best of friends!  They have a love/hate relationship and most of the time instead of breaking up fights we are breaking up hugs...I find myself saying "Leo, no more hugging!" way too often when we are with Livi!  He just adores her and calls her "my Livi".  I am glad that we live close enough to at least a couple of cousins for his sake.  He asks to go play with Livi almost every day!

One day we picked Livi up from dance and on the way home stopped for frozen yogurt...I just love their expressions in these pics!  You can totally tell that they just love each other!

The Little Gym

When school started this year, Leo was pretty confused and disappointed that he didn't have anywhere to go.  I started to investigate different opportunities for him and we tried a free class at The Little Gym.  To be honest I wasn't completely bowled over with the class...maybe because we are spoiled with having a great nursery?  But Leo LOVED it and kept telling me that he loved it in "his class"...plus the gym does have a lot of cool equipment to play with!  After a quick chat with Dad, we signed Leo up and he was thrilled.  He loves having days we go to his gym ("my little gym") and is doing really well there.  He is one of the oldest in the class (it is still Mommy & Me style until he turns 3) and although he is not the most daring, he definitely can do anything they ask.  He especially loves the bubbles and stamps at the end :)

He loves walking on the beam and is so thrilled that he looks like the commercial before Daniel Tiger on PBS :)  He is getting braver and can even go on the high beam without holding on to anyone...on a brave day!  We have learned how to go forwards and backwards on the beam, as well as wheelbarrow style where he just walks his hands on the beam while I hold his hips up in the air.  He has even started climbing up on the high beam like the older kids do and not using the little stairs that are out for the little kids.  I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but he isn't a daredevil and it is exciting for us to see him get more confident.

Bars are fun to swing on and he is finally coming around to idea of flipping over it.  And just this week he finally tried walking on the lower bar while he holds on to the higher bar, back and forth.  He did awesome! He is getting better at somersaults and rolling too.

We are always SO excited when the rings are out- the equipment changes from week to week depending on what the big kids are working on and Leo is always disappointed when the rings aren't out.  He loves to swing on them and thinks it is hilarious to let go and plop down on his bum.

His gym class has been a fun addition to our routine.  He loves his class time and the open gym time too.  He likes singing songs and playing with the balls and parachute...and it is helping us both get to know other kids and moms in our area.  Leo loves his teacher, Miss Kierstin, and can't wait to tell and show her things each week.  He even insisted we take her a Halloween cookie when I said we were making them for our friends.  And I am excited that he is getting comfortable in the gym so he will hopefully make a smooth transition to going to a class alone in just a few short months when he turns 3!  My little baby is growing so fast! :)

Pumpkin Patch

We are lucky enough to live really close to this little farm that has a pumpkin patch (and where you can go cut down your own Christmas tree soon!)  Nick and I couldn't wait for the first Saturday in October to take Leo to his first real pumpkin patch experience.  It was still pretty hot but we sweated it out to see the pumpkins and, most importantly, ride the train.

The hayride was also a hit...although not quite as great because we had to sit on scratchy hay.  We have the most finicky 2 year old!  We sat up close to the tractor and eventually Leo ended up on Nick's lap, both of which made the hayride a bit better.

 Seeing the pumpkins really wasn't that high on Leo's to-do list...there was a train don't forget!  But we convinced him to check out a few piles...

He was far too nervous to climb on the pumpkins like all the other kids, but was eventually persuaded with a lot of help :)  He is one cautious little guy!

He had fun chasing Dad around this giant spider...

He couldn't wait to get a wagon to pull around...however he picked the smallest pumpkins we could find!  We looked at lots, but he kept insisting they were too big.  We eventually found some tiny pumpkins by the check out and he was more than happy to pull them in the wagon...all the way out to the car!  

He was happy to pick out 3, one for each of us, and wanted to hold them the whole way home :)  Although it didn't really feel like fall because it was SO hot, we were happy to welcome in my favorite season with something that will definitely be a tradition for years to come!