Halloween warm-up

Kate has had no shortage of practice for Halloween considering all the times she's worn her ladybug and Spiderman costumes, but she had her first "official" Halloween party at school on Thursday. And, of course, she decided to go as a black cat. Actually, in the days prior to the party she went from wanting to be a ladybug, to wanting to be Spiderman with ladybug wings, to wanting to be Spiderman with ladybug wings AND a cat tail...at which point, I said "why don't you just be a cat?" For the day, that seemed to excite her, mostly because she got to wear a tail and she got to have whiskers drawn on her face (I had to very firmly explain to her that I was not using markers to draw on her face...caught her JUST in time!) Costume drama aside, the party was great. It was the first in a long line of school parties which, as I remember, are about the best part of school. Their teacher came up with a million games and projects that only preschool teachers can think up (I'm beginning to think that preschool teachers not only have the hardest job around but are complete geniuses). They got to decorate pumpkin cookies and make a "witches brew." They loved it all, and so did Will. I'm still not sure Kate gets the whole dressing up concept, though, because when people asked her if she was a cat she would just look at them and say, "No, I'm a kid." She'll have another chance to dress up tomorrow because it's the town Halloween parade which is about the best thing of the year, in my opinion. All the little kids in town meet at the park and parade through downtown, where all the shops hand out candy. I've heard a lot of shopkeepers saying it's their favorite day of the year. For now, Kate's going to be "ladybug girl" but this could all change by tomorrow!! In other milestone news that I must write about so I don't forget one day: I took Kate and Will swimming today and Kate swam on her own (without a flotation device) for the first time! So proud of her!! She's come a long way since the first swimming lesson, and it's fantastic to see her so happy with her success. Love my little ladybug/Spiderman/cat/kid!

Comments of the day...

Kate was on fire in the conversation department today. There were quite a few times I thought "I need to remember this one..." and, predictably, I can literally only remember a FEW of them. First, we went to an open gym at a gymnastics academy today, and both Will and Kate LOVED it. This was obvious from the way they were both running around, giggling and shrieking, but it got even better when Kate was in the big foam pit and was screaming "I LOVE THIS PLACE! THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER DONE!!! MOMMY, I LOVE THIS!!" Guess I know where we'll be going this winter. Second, we went to the park this afternoon and Kate was playing with a little boy who was four. He was running around, chasing Kate and making all the noises that only little boys make (not really identifiable but definitely a boy thing). Kate was obviously enjoying herself but she did sometimes give him a confused look when he'd roar and make random superhero comments at her. When we left she told me, "mommy, that boy was crazy but I think I liked him a lot!" Oh boy, is this what we'll be hearing for years to come?!? And, finally, I made some quinoa and roasted potatoes, brussels sprouts and carrots for dinner (hidden among other things because I knew she'd protest) but I wasn't expecting her to say, "I'm not sure what that is, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to eat it." Ha! Had to laugh at that one.

Splish splash!

Kate and Will still like to bathe together, but it's gotten a lot rowdier! They end up getting more water outside the tub than in it, but they do have fun. Grandma Connie got a big taste of this bath time routine last weekend when she watched both kids for two days AND A NIGHT. Yes, that deserves capitalization because it was my first night away from both kids. We've been away from Kate, but that seems long ago since it's been over a year since Ryan and I got to spend a night away. We went to Umatilla, of all places, to do a half marathon. The race was fine (not our best times, but good enough that I got 3rd woman overall and Ryan placed first in his age group), but the best part was that we got to have uninterrupted conversation!! I'd forgotten what it was like to have a leisurely dinner without needing to cut someone's food and hear "mommy, I need more milk," "mommy, I need....." Sure, we miss the kids, but nights away are vital for continued sanity! Thank you, mom! We'll let you do it again once you recover......:) For now I will leave you with Kate's weirdest/funniest comment of the day: (while brushing my hair) "mommy, we've just got to get these tangles out before daddy comes home because he sure doesn't want to come home to a messy wife." Who's been giving her lessons for the 1950s??? Sorry, Ryan, you get a "messy wife" quite frequently!

Will: So sweet, so BOY

I love these pictures of Will because they show his sweet, joyful side and his, well, just plain BOY side (not that nose-picking is an inherently boy trait, but it just seems much more of a little boy activity than a little girl one...) Nothing else to say about them, just that they make me smile each time I see them. Much like Will himself! I love you, my little boy!

Pumpkin patch 2.0

We have been seriously lucky in the weather department lately, high-60s and sunny. Autumn is definitely the best time of year when it's like this. So, to get ourselves a good daily dose of vitamin D, I took the kids back to the pumpkin patch today. On the downside, we didn't have daddy with us but, on the upside, going on a weekday means it's really mellow and empty. The kids still loved the playground (give Will dirt of any sort and he's good for hours) and Will still obsessed over the animals (while Kate continuously pointed out, "I sure hope a goat doesn't try to eat him like the last time...."). We were not attacked by any goats, luckily, and the kids had great fun chasing chickens and turkeys. This time, we actually made it to the pumpkin patch itself. When we got down to it, Will started clapping and making very excited utterances that sounded like they must mean "oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!!" I thought, "gee, he must harbor some deep-down love of pumpkins that he's just now fulfilling" (or something of the sort since he seemed awfully thrilled about something he'd never seen before). When I put him down, I realized that he was excited because he thought it was a field full of balls. He went up to a huge one and tried to kick it. When that produced no effect, he tried to pick it up. No luck there. He toddled over to a smaller one, picked it up, hurled it as far as he could and then clapped for himself while laughing hysterically. And on it went. Fortunately, he can't throw far or hard enough to cause damage to the pumpkins (also, we were pretty much the only ones there, so I didn't try to stop him). Kate enjoyed watching him do this, while shouting, "Will thinks he has big balls!!!" at the top of her lungs. Like I said, fortunately, we were the only ones there. Overall, lots of fun had by all!

Our first conversation about the afterlife...

...not sure we got this one down as this is how it went:

Kate: "Mommy, what's that place that Fly went to?" (Fly is Grandma Connie's dog who died last year)
Me: "Fly went to heaven."
Kate: "Oh, yep, heaven. That's where Skye goes all the time." (Skye being Grandma Star's dog)
Me: "No, Skye lives Grandma Star and Grandpa Bobby's house."
Kate: "Sometimes Skye lives there and then sometimes she goes to heaven and then Grandma Star goes and picks her up."
....silence...as I try to figure this one out...
Kate: "You know it's sometimes called heaven and sometimes it's called doggie daycare."

How we spent our weekend...

We took advantage of the really nice weather this weekend to hit the pumpkin patch! Kate loved all the playground-ish stuff they had, but claimed she "did not want to get pumpkins." Of course, she then asked why we didn't get any pumpkins as soon as we got in the car. Oh well...she was a cheap date! Will really got into all the animals and was trying to kiss them all, until a goat tried to eat him. I guess goats will eat anything! The other weekend highlights were homemade: Ryan built the kids a climbing wall for the play room and he made Kate a big slide in the backyard, which she went down in a plastic sled. He then endured an endless stream of, "I want to do it again!!!!"

Will got his first big bump on the head...an inevitable part of learning to walk. Obviously, he's broken up about it!

Kate's new favorite request: "daddy, I need some more foot holds."

And, as if to illustrate my point.......

THIS is where I found Will today....do they make dryer locks??

Will, you're wearing mommy out!!

I've now been trying to write one sentence on this post for the last 10 minutes and, in that time, Will has: "helped" me type, pulled the mouse out of the computer, climbed on the couch twice, dove off once and pulled over the tool bench (much to his delight, not to Kate's). I tried turning on a "Baby Einstein" movie to buy me a few minutes, but he turned the DVD player off three times, so I gave up on that. And he is like this all day long, which is why he's wearing me out. And why I hardly ever update this blog anymore...when Kate was the same age, I think I posted a lot more, but she was NOTHING like Will. In hindsight, she was super easy!!....BIG PAUSE....Okay, I wrote the above TWO DAYS ago, and I'm just now getting a chance to get back to it (and that's only because Will is in bed)...I gave up on the last post because he walked across the room with a toy hammer and started bashing away at the computer. As I was saying, this is a whole new world! It must be the difference between boys and girls because all my friends say their girls were like Kate (not destructive, not climbers, didn't require babyproofing). Boys, on the other hand, are a totally different animal. I left him for literally 30 seconds the other day to help Kate and, while my back was turned, he opened the dishwasher (he's figured out the lock, so that's no help anymore), climbed onto it and was drinking out of my coffee mug with one hand while trying to haul himself onto the counter with the other! At least the coffee was gone--clearly, he doesn't need a boost from caffeine! Basically nothing in our house is safe. Which is why yesterday was great because I took them to meet some friends at an indoor play place where he (and Kate) could run some energy out and play with new toys (always more fun than their own). Will LOVED the little car that you can climb in. He knew immediately to turn the wheel and honk the horn and go, "vroom, vroom." Boys seem to have the knowledge of car/truck noises as a genetic trait. Kate and her friend pushed him all over the place while he howled with laughter. As the weather turns, I think we'll be going there more as the weather turns--if for no other reason but to save our house from certain destruction!! All that said, Will is so much fun. I love that he's walking and starting to talk and giving kisses and hugs. I think one to two is my favorite age. I love that Kate still calls him little mischief, but that she also calls him "honey" sometimes. They are a busy pair who, in turn, keep me so busy that I'm probably not going to be updating this blog as much as I like, but we're here, we're happy and, hopefully, our house will still be standing as Will grows!

Best moment in the last few days...

...was when Will got a haircut and Kate provided the distraction for him (since he hates sitting still now that he's a walker!) Her form of distraction? Belting out "Enter Sandman." The shop got pretty quiet, and the woman who cuts their hair looked at me and asked, "is she singing Metallica?" Yep, that's my girl. The place really got rocking when she started in on "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." I used to think the love of these songs was a fluke, but it's been the better part of a year and she is still in love with the "big daddy man song." Oh, man, what does my future hold?!