Autumn is finally upon us here in NC and what a wonderful autumn it has been so far. Fall has to be my favorite season of the year. I love everything about it: crisp apples, tart cider, chilly evening air, the golden sun low in the sky lighting up the multi-colored trees. We've been blessed with a beautiful fall filled with sunny days and just enough chill to make you want to grab a sweater and a hot cup of tea. It's been so much fun to take Molly outside to soak up this wonderful weather. She's definitely a little "nature girl". She spends quite a bit of time outside each day crunching up leaves in the yard, rearranging the gravel in the driveway, and hiking around the house. For the most part, she's been walking around holding one of our hands, but just this week, she's started taking several independent steps in a row. She can probably go a distance of 6-8 feet completely on her own. Just based on the progress we've seen this week, I wouldn't be surprised if she was totally independently walking in the next week or so.
It's been so much fun to watch Molly really experience all the fun fall festivities for the first time. A few weeks ago, we went to a local pumpkin patch together and had a fabulous time.
Trying to pick just the right pumpkin.
"I think this is the one, Daddy. Yup, definitely a perfect pumpkin."
It was so hard to get a picture of Molly's face on the hayride because she was so enthralled with all the new sights, sounds, and experiences. She was constantly looking here, there, and everywhere...except at the camera.
The pumpkin patch had a cool maze through the woods. It took us a REALLY long time to get through the maze because Molly insisted on practicing her walking skills. Taking in life at toddler pace is really quite leisurely and enjoyable :)
For Halloween weekend, we made a spontaneous decision to make a quick weekend trip up to Pittsburgh to visit with Eric's family. Molly is FINALLY starting to tolerate long trips in the car (it only took 14 months or so for her to realize that carseats are NOT medieval torture devices). And, spontaneity will only be more difficult after February when there are two little baby Fruehs to pack for. So, we figured it was the perfect opportunity for such a quick trip. It turned out to be a fabulous weekend and Molly was a wonderful little traveler.
The saving grace of this car trip was her bag of books. She probably spent hours reading, re-reading, and flipping through all of her favorite books. For some reason, she prefers to read most of her books upside down. Silly girl! (When we read to her, we of course read right-side-up). 
We had a great time carving pumpkins with Eric's whole family.
Molly very much wanted to join in on the fun. This whole pumpkin-carving business was quite fascinating to her.
Uh, Molly, I think that one's a bit heavy for you!
The finished products! From left to right: Scary Witch (me and Eric), The Bride of Frankenstein (Jana), Spider Pumpkin (Stephen), Bats in the Belfry (Jonathan), and the Sad Jack-o-Lantern (Fred).
We were fortunate on such a short visit to be able to spend time with both of Eric's grandmothers. At Molly's Great Gramma's house, she decided to show off some of her favorite tricks. Here, she's showing us that she knows where her head is...
Couldn't you just kiss those little cheeks????
Monkeying around with Daddy.
She definitely looked like a little monkey when her Pop taught her how to eat a banana all by herself. She has always LOVED bananas so she's now thrilled that she has learned to eat one on her own. That's the only way she wants to eat them now. She even tries to snatch whole bananas and bite through the peel if we don't peel them for her. 
"Thanks, Pop, for teaching me such a cool new trick!"
Hanging out with Pop and her "aunt" Zinya. We were so pleased with how well Molly did all weekend hanging out with her Pop and her uncles. It was only a few short months ago that she was so afraid of men that just a wrong glance in her direction would result in shrieks and tears and holding her was out of the question. We are SO glad to see the "stranger anxiety" stage almost behind us. To all of Molly's loving male relatives, thanks for being patient. Now the fun part begins :)
The highlight of Molly's trip was being able to take a bath in her GG's super-neat tub. She had a blast splashing in the water and making faces in the mirror. She looks like a little mime trying to do her "box routine" on the glass.
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