hello! sorry it's been so quiet around these parts!
life has really been anything but quiet over here on troutman street. alden and mama have been making sure to get out of the apartment every single day, rain or shine. lucky for us, it's been mostly shine. and cool shine at that! i think bun jr. might just agree that fall is by far the best season, as his park outings have been less fuss-ridden than usual. maybe he's just getting used to it? hard to say. anyway, we've been visiting with friends old and new and alden's been hitting some milestones that i think i've neglected to mention.

witness:

nobody handed that bag handle to our little explorer. he saw something he liked and he went for it. so bold! and check out his strong man outfit--thanks great aunt kathy!

not only has he been reaching for and grabbing things, alden's also taken to bringing said things directly to his mouth. this started with his beloved toy skwish, (purchased, along with LOTS of other useful and fun things courtesy of a gift card from great uncle dan, great aunt deb and second cousins lou and claudia!), which he can entertain himself with for minutes on end.

ok, so clearly the boy is a genius. but look! he's fashionable too!


here he is modeling our current favorite, given to him by his great grammie's cousin, mary jane. on his legs are our favorite pants-free option, stripey leggings from aunt josie!

uh...this post is a mess! sorry! we're trying to eat dinner and post and attend to the bun...more next week! after our trip to michigan!