Carving Pumpkins

I’m as basic as they come: I live for fall, layered clothing, pumpkin spice lattes, carving pumpkins, and fall decor. Gimme some pumpkin pie, a blanket scarf, and a fire place and I am good to go. So sue me. But, my enthusiasm for all things fall seems to be totally acceptable because I get to pretend like it’s all for the baby. Because, guys, we have to carve pumpkins for THE BABY.

Life is cool with a baby because you get to experience everything for the first time all over again. Things we normally don’t even think about become these fascinating mysteries. Pumpkin guts? Tell me all about them. Let me see you squish it through your fingers, let me smell it, let me feel it. Everything we do we narrate for her, and in doing so, we rediscover what it is around us that we take for granted. Take baking cookies, for example. What is normally a five minute task (because, hi, store bought dough) became this half hour long task where I tell her everything I’m doing, I do it slowly, and I let her touch/see/smell the dough. It took a lot longer, but it was a lot more fun with a baby next to me.

And carving pumpkins? Forget about it. All the seeds, and guts, she was amazed. Not so amazed that she actually saw out the completion of the pumpkins (girls gotta sleep) but still, she loved it.

About five minutes after the above picture was taken, Temen started fussing because she was tired. It was like eight o’clock though, so who can blame her? I nursed her to sleep and finished my pumpkin without worrying about picking up toys off the floor that she “dropped” – no complaints.

Now we’re officially a “bake cookies and carve pumpkins while listening to Disney music” type of family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.