Fall Books

October is the start of the holiday season, and in our house we have a special basket with holiday books to help us celebrate. Here are some of our favorites:

Where is Baby's Pumpkin? by Karen Katz. A lift-the-flap book perfect for the baby/toddler set.

Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins. We were introduced to this book at storytime last year, and loved it so much we added it to our home collection. It combines counting, animal sounds, and a poor farmer who just wants an apple from his tree!

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. I have loved this book since my friend Chiska introduced it to me in London about 9 years ago. A cat, a duck and a squirrel get together to make pumpkin soup...and learn something about sharing and friendship in the process.

A Very Hairy Scary Story by Rick Walton (who, incidentally, taught a picture book writing class at BYU that yours truly took years ago). A little girl lingers too long at a friend's house and has some scary (and hairy!) encounters on the way home.

Mrs. McMurphy's Pumpkin by Rick Walton. This is probably our most favorite Halloween book. Sweet Mrs. McMurphy is haunted by a mean pumpkin who threatens to eat her...don't worry though, the ending causes lots of laughs as we all shout the text on the final page together.

What are YOUR favorite Fall books?

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

My friend Becca wrote a book and it's fantastic.

It's out today. Go buy it. And then read it. You won't regret it.

Madeline: 5 Months

Baby Maddie is now a whopping 5 months old and is more fun by the hour. I love this stage--her personality is really starting to shine and she is an easy, happy baby.
**As evidenced by the previous entry, Madeline is now mobile. Luckily she has yet to venture out of the family room, so it's pretty easy to keep her safe.
**Maddie is very curious, and likes to investigate things by licking them. I don't mind this too much in the house, but when we go out in public, ick!
**She loves paper--crumpling it, eating it, usually a combination of the two.
**Frau Madeline speaks German. She has been practicing her gutteral sounds on us.
**She has discovered her feet, and apparently they are quite tasty.
**Madeline likes music--whenever she hears a particularly catchy tune, she cranes her head around, looking for the source of the music.
**She loves her new exersaucer, and enjoys when we stand her up.
**She is still happy to be dragged around, as long as she is either sitting up in the stroller or carried in the Baby Bjorn. She gets bored of her carseat.
**Maddie is still long and skinny--even the elastic size 3-6 months falls off her waist. I didn't notice this too much over the summer (probably because she spent so much time in onesies), but most of her pants fall down. It makes for easy diaper changes. :)
**It is getting hard to photograph her--all she wants to do is explore!