Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

It's pumpkin season in the Gavin house! We have been having a ton of pre-Halloween fun and it seems as though Dessa can't get enough of the seasonal squash. Whether it's eating, playing, stacking, squishing or cooking, this girl is all about the pumpkin!

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I recently picked up a bunch of tiny orange pumpkins from our grocery store and they quickly became Dessa's favorite toy in the house. And really, what's not to love? They roll, they stack, and even though we keep reminding Dessa not to throw the pumpkins, they are forever getting tossed around our living room.

And can we please talk about these adorable skeleton pajamas? I grabbed them on sale at Carters and I've been putting them on Dessa every chance I get! She's the cutest little skeleton I ever did see.

As fun as those mini pumpkins are, it wouldn't be Halloween unless we cut open a few pumpkins for some sensory fun. Dessa was immediately intrigued with the stringy guts and seeds.

I knew that playing with pumpkin guts would be a great sensory experience for Dessa, but I wasn't expecting her to use all five of her senses. Poor girl has been teething on and off for a few weeks and she just wanted to sink her gums into the firm pumpkin flesh.

Dessa eventually moved on from the top of the pumpkin and focused her attention toward the good stuff inside of the fruit. She pulled, squished, scooped, and flung to her little heart's content.

Dessa even helped me clean up when things got a little too messy. I love this age so much.

Yup, she pretty much had the best time ever. And rinsing the seeds was also the perfect distraction to keep Dessa busy while I cleaned the floor around her.

One of the things I love most about staying home with Dessa this year is that I have time to do special things with her around the house – like randomly cutting open a pumpkin on a Monday morning. Or making pumpkin muffins, which was a fun seasonal activity we did a few days later. Dessa has a dairy allergy and we almost never give her sugary treats, but she needed to have a little taste of the season so I found a great low sugar, vegan pumpkin muffin recipe online that I was excited to make with her.

I wanted Dessa to be involved in the baking process, but I also needed the use of both my hands for the job so I strapped my little helper into our Ergobaby 360 carrier while we prepared the batter. The best part of making vegan treats was that Dessa was able to sample some of the batter while we worked (no eggs = no risk of salmonella poisoning.) I think Dessa would agree that it was the highlight of her first baking experience. She loved the spicy pumpkin flavor of the batter.

After I poured the batter into muffin tins, I gave Dessa a chance to lick the bowl while she played with a muffin pan and paper liners on her own. This one may have a promising career as a baker in her future.

Once the muffins were out of the oven, it was time to enjoy the fruits of our labor and give them a try!

At first my little skeptic wasn't sure what to think, but she begrudgingly decided to try the pumpkin muffin and quickly devoured the entire thing. She loved it!

As much as I have loved sharing all things pumpkin with my sweet girl, I am growing more and more excited for Halloween! Dessa is going to be a unicorn this year. She knows nothing about candy, but I am certain that she is going to love collecting those foil-wrapped treasures for Mommy and Daddy to eat later! The Halloween countdown is has begun and we are so ready for the fun!