I have such fond memories of pumpkin-carving with my parents. It’s a tradition that I can’t wait to continue with Henry. I’m super excited for next year when he wants to put his hands inside and pull out of the gooey stuff.
Today we carved his first pumpkin. I took a cue from Young House Love and used Henry’s handprints for pumpkin eyes. See?
Here’s how we did it…
First, I convinced Henry to let me trace his hands onto paper. This is easier said than done with a 4.5 month old.
Look at that face. He was so thinking, “What the heck are you doing, momma?”
It wasn’t perfect, but after a few minutes, I had two little handprints.
I cut them out…
And used them as stencils to trace the handprints onto the pumpkin (after taking off the top and gutting it, of course). It was hard to carve out the little fingers, especially because I only have a bigger knife, but it worked.
Plus a smile!
Then, Henry took a nap, and I carved pumpkin #2 by myself. I went the more traditional route this time.
Such a fun activity. In general, although I don’t want him to grow up too quickly, I am really looking forward to the days that Henry and I do lots of art projects and science experiments together. And play outside, too, of course!
Lunch:
Just a tasty salad.
Happy (early) Halloween!
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{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
What a cute idea! Carving pumpkins with my parents and sisters was so much fun–lots of great memories. Roasting the pumpkin seeds was my favorite, though.
Cute idea!! Maybe I can do my dog’s paw prints until I have real kids hands to trace? ha.
That’s such a cute idea! I may go for a monogrammed pumpkin this year, but we’ll see. It’s our first halloween in our house!
Henry is starting to resemble your dad, it’s so cute!
Haha pumpkin #2 is exactly how all of mine looked growing up!
That is SUCH a cute idea!!!! Henry is going to have so many great pictures to look forward to when he gets older!
That is a GREAT idea! Super cute. And such adorable eyes he has!
That’s a really great idea! Very cute!
Love the pumpkins! Yes, pumpkin carving is a fond memory of mine as well
I can attest that, while babies are wonderful in their own way, having a “big” boy is SO much more fun. My son has been so much fun since about 3 years old (he just turned 5). I’m currently soaking up every minute of him before he decides his father and I aren’t his “best friends” anymore.
Henry looks less than impressed with the pumpkin carving, ha! The little hand prints are so cute.
You have one cute baby
Love that idea! Do you think my 6-week old will go for it? I’m too scared to attempt it… Here’s to next year! Henry is such a cutie, love his facial expressions!
if you hadn’t said so, i would’ve thought Henry’s pumpkin was Wilson from Castaway
That is such a cute idea with the hands!!! Good woman! We only started to get pumpkins as we got older but I’ll definitely be creating memories when I have my own kids!
I’ve never heard of using handprints for pumpkin carving like that–too cute!! I kind of wish my parents had done that when I was little, but we weren’t really into carving the pumpkins, just picking them. Haha.
And I love those photos of tracing his hands–good memories!
Also–great heel-click photo(s) in the previous post.
Henry is just ridiculously cute. Those eyes.
That is the cutest idea ever. I have to remember this for the future.
I normally do not comment but have read your blog for over 2 years now. I have a daughter that is 9 months old now!
I just had to comment on that last picture of Henry, it just cracks me up, I love the face he is making! He is really just so cute.
Also how do you take these pictures, is your husband home or on a self timer?
Self timer
I LOVE that idea of using H’s hands for the eyes! How cute!
Henry gets cuter every day. Using his hands for the eyes on a pumpkin is genius. Love the smile for the mouth too!
Super cute idea with the hands!
What an awesome idea!!! Cutest little pumpkin ever
Oh my gosh Caitlin, I can’t get over how adorable he is getting!!! So precious!
Aw cute! All I did with my pumpkins was sharpie them..
I just came across this fascinating article and immediately thought of YOU and your babe. So wild! http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-women-brain-microchimerism-20120926,0,6446716.story
We are doing ours tomorrow. I think we’ll have to try out the hands with our 7 month old!! So cute
You just made my night after a rough day. What gorgeous, happy happy pictures of you and your little boy. Such a little doll!! Love that face.
Henry is getting so freaking adorable! Such a cutie.
That is an adorable idea! So cute – and reminds me that I have a pumpkin that needs carving!
Just wondering, why do neither one of your pumpkins have a nose?
Hmmm.
OMG.. Your blog was part of a feature on our local news on how inappropriate Halloween costumes are anymore. I’m so proud to “know” you.
I have a super random question. Are you still using (and enjoying) Carbonite to back up your computer files? I’ve got twins due in a few weeks, and I know that I need to come up with a reliable, easy way to back up the millions of baby pictures that I’m sure to take. Just wondered if it was still working well for you.
Yes!!! We love it.
What an adorable picture of Henry!
Love the pic of Henry looking at the camera like, “Don’t know what Mom’s up to here, but I’ll go w/ it for a few more min…” Really cute idea!
I love pumpkin carving! One year several of us got together and helped one person’s mom make Winnie The Pooh pumpkins. I was in charge of Eeyore. Another year I did Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas and my partner did Totoro. They were both pretty epic. Sadly this year, like last year, we’re in a condo with no trick-or-treating so we haven’t had any carving activities. We just have a ton of decor around our place from our party on Saturday, including a couple of white pumpkins from my parents’ garden.
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