It's fall, y'all

October is here, and boy do I love it. October says, "Summer is over -- fall is in full swing." Everything is pumpkin flavored, the oppressive heat is gone, football is everywhere, and scary movies pervade television. I start thinking about costumes with panic. The holidays seem just around the corner. I spend more time outside. And we always head to Knoxville.


We forewent our season tickets this year in light of a.) Annabel and b.) the lack-luster home schedule. The SEC has a rule that everyone, regardless of age, must have a ticket. This puts a damper (or maybe more accurately, a price tag) on bringing an infant to games. However, we couldn't make it a season without at least one game. So we chose the Georgia game.



We had a blast taking Annabel around campus. We took numerous pictures in front of the Torchbearer. We showed her Humanities Plaza. We showed her several Tailgates. We took her to the University Center. I ate my favorite Knoxville treat, a Petro, in front of her.


Unfortunately, the game was a night game. So, Fox went to the game with a friend, and I took Annabel to my Aunt Ann's house for dinner and sleeping. My aunt had not gotten to see Annabel since she was two months old, so she was in for a major treat. I haven't told you yet, but three days after my last blog post, Annabel took off crawling. She was just sitting on the floor with her toys, Owen walked by, and she took off after him. I don't know who was most surprised (I know who was most terrified -- Owen). She's been all over the place ever since. She's superfast, and she giggles the entire time she crawls. So needless to say, she is really fun to play with now, and my aunt was amazed at how much she's grown and changed in seven short months.




We also got to see our good friends the Mortons. Auntie Ann graciously watched Annabel (during NAP time even!) so we could all go have a nice grown-up brunch together at Sunspot. The Mortons then got their Annabel on. She showed Keith all her toys and even displayed her cat-chasing skills on Ann's cat Babette. One day she is going to catch a cat and have no idea what to do with it.

Last weekend, Annabel and I went to a swell pumpkin-carving party. Let me tell you, it is way harder to carve a pumpkin with a baby. Though it was done hurriedly and distractedly, I'm still pretty proud of my creepy coffin creation.

Annabel is showing lots of interest in being outside, and I'm encouraging it as much as I can. We're really enjoying Aunt Jordan's sweet castle swing set (even Banjo gets in on the action). Bless her heart though, she got my irresistible-to-mosquitoes gene. Every time we are outside, she gets at least one giant bite (on the plus side, I'm getting bitten less -- I feel mean for even saying that, but it's true). Ahem.. changing the subject. Speaking of Banjo, four years ago today we adopted him from the Humane Society. Yay! Please adopt pets.

So, there you have it. Tomorrow, Annabel will be nine months old. NINE MONTHS. Three fourths of a year. The last single digit month birthday. Boom!