H-A-LL-O-W-EE-N

I am so glad it's Halloween. I have been waiting for Harry and Jack to wear their costumes for like 6 weeks. Also, Harry has been driving me nuts lately, and Jack's teeth have prevented him from napping and sleeping very much, so I really needed some cute, plush costumes to make me relish the adorableness of my children again, you know?

It's beautiful here today-- in the mid 60s-- and both boys were hot in their heavy Halloween get-ups. The sweat and red cheeks just made them cuter-- also more irritable. We got to go to Harry's school for a party with tons of kids and their parents. harry was very weirded out to have us in his classroom. He was super screechy and bossy, but he seemed to be proud of his little brother, whom he pretended to eat "just for petend."

Before today, It's been so darn cold--we thought a skeleton snow man was apropos.

Jack will go anywhere-- even outside in the windy cold-- as long as he can sit up

Harry made a couple of pumpkins. And when I suggested that he paint one, I meant like paint a face on it. He had a more artistic interpretation




Jack began his Halloween morning playing with some plastic Christmas cookie platters.

Harry started his day with a (reawwy scawwy) monster bagel.

Then they both donned costumes for a special Halloween bash
Jack was a banana


And Harry was a monkey. He had to remove his monkey fingers to eat his monkey snack.

A rock star monkey




He was so bossy he even ordered himself around.

We're rounding out our Halloween with jack o'lantern pasta (thanks Grandma J) and some trick-or-treating (with an afternoon trip to Motherhood for some nursing bras and Sephora for eye shadow). Harry is really excited about going inside all of his neighbor's houses. Clearly, he has missed the finer points of the trick-or-treating explanation...

GO TO SLEEP! Please?

Something that's just coming back to me about teething: It's a slow process. DMV slow. Close reading of Aristotle's Rhetoric slow. 813-mile car trip slow.

6 weeks of Little Gym, and this is his big trick. Laying on the mat.

No wonder he's a Bug again in the spring.


Jack could watch Harry play all day. All night even. In fact, sometimes that's the only thing that stops the pre-bath crabbies.


What Harry's doing to Ben's face in this picture? Really hurts because Harry will not let us cut his nails anymore. He screams and twists and screams, so we just stopped trying. On Friday night, we attempted to coax him into a pedicure because from the looks of his toenails, you'd think he was part werewolf. He said that grandma could cut his nails on Saturday, so of course we suggested that as a fun grandma-grandson bonding exercise, and the little jerkface sat there happy as a clam (a traitorous clam) while she trimmed him with scissors.

Much better.

They didn't actually sleep together. Harry loves to climb in bed with Jack after we've given him the okay (or the yes, you've finally woken your brother-- go ahead and say good morning). He screams, "Good morning, Jack! I use your covers?" He also used to shout to his goldfish (Goldie), but Ben and I discovered her belly up the other night before bath. We were like, "Dude, that was an extreme alternative to the bath and bed routine," and flushed her. So far? Harry has not noticed she's gone which is good because we have no clue what we're going to say when he does. We were going to get him a hamster, but not only did we realize what a bad freaking idea that was in terms of cleaning the cage, Ben saw a hamster massacre at Pet Smart while he and the boys were on their petsravaganza. An apparently unprovoked rogue hamster bit its cage mate's jugular, and Ben said there was blood in the wood chips and all over the sides of the habitrail. A seven-year-old girl screamed in terror. Ben wisely bought a fish, who lived just a few days longer than her 2 week warranty. Of course she did.


So, back to Drool Bucket who, by the way, has gained 2 pounds since he started eating solid food. He has a teeny bit of tooth poking out of his bottom right gum, and the bottom left side has a tooth ridge lurking just beneath the surface. Which means he might have a tooth by Christmas.

Jack and Lucy

Lucy and Jack

Jack and Lucy

Lucy and Jack

Jack and Lucy

Lucy and Jack

Jack and Lucy

Lucy and Jack

Jack and Daddy-- betcha didn't see that one coming.


And here's one for the baby book: Jack cut his first tooth today! Which made me cry a little because there's something so sweet about a gummy smile.

Pathos

Oh my goodness-- most pathetic Harry story ever:

Yesterday, I had to take Jack to the doctor, and Jamie couldn't come over to watch Harry, so, rather than disturb Harry's nap with a trip to the pediatrician, Ben came home for a couple of hours while I took Jack for his 6 month check up.

Harry woke up from his nap just as I was calling Ben to tell him I was on my way home, and he was pleasantly surprised to see his dad. Ben and Harry played in Harry's room with his Little People farm, which, sadly, was invaded by pirates, until Ben heard the garage door open, signaling my arrival.

Harry, however, did NOT hear the garage door, a fact that becomes pathetically obvious in a second.

Ben said, "Okay, buddy, I'm going back to work."

Harry looked at him in horror and asked, "You go back a work right now?"

"Yeah, but I'll be home in a couple of hours."

Harry's eyes got watery. "I come with you, Dada?"

"No, buddy, you can't come to work with me. I'll see you later."

Harry's chin got all quivery. "Okayyyyy," he said. "I go in my office, Dada."

Then he went in his toy closet and shut the door. Ben was thinking how cute it was that Harry was so sad to see him go, until he got halfway down the stairs and heard Harry sobbing. He dashed back up the stars and into Harry's office, where he found Harry standing in the very back corner, holding his Mickey Mouse back pack in front of him, shivering and crying because HE THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO BE HOME ALONE WHILE BEN WENT BACK TO WORK!!!

How freaking sad is that??

I mean, the whole exchange lasted like 2 minutes or less-- just long enough for me to haul me, Jack, and all of our peripherals in from the garage. Ben explained that he was only leaving because I was home, and then he handed Harry over to me, and a tear-streaked Harry squeezed me tight with his arms and legs and then he ate some milk and cookies and was absolutely fine, but I was so sad for him. He's so sweet and little.

I sometimes forget how sweet and little because he's also so damn bossy.

Is anybody else like oh my gosh I can't believe it's Thursday already? Because this week flew away from me. If anybody needs me, Ill be on my office working on a midterm. Or maybe at the park-- depends on the wind.

Fall and Big Stuff

How beautiful was the park last weekend, huh? Well, it's all brown and crusty now. Autumn here is spectacular-- so brilliant it actually makes me gasp when I walk outside, so surprised and delighted am I to be greeted by rust, gold, and burgundy everywhere I look. For two days. Then it's cold and gray and barren. Until June. No wonder I get fat in the winter.

My parents came to visit, and we had a lovely Saturday afternoon/ Sunday morning with them. We went to an old favorite restaurant Saturday night that was so good we can't believe we haven't been there in 2 years. This realization, in turn, made us marvel at how long we've lived here-- that we can have neglected old favorites already. Ben and I had a brief afternoon date-like childfree encounter, which was novel. Then, on Sunday, we finally got a Costco membership.

That's where the big stuff in the title comes in. I don't need 5 pounds of Oreos or 350 linear feet of Glad Press and Seal wrap, but I am sure happy to have them.

My parents bought me a really cute Juicy sweat suit (it does NOT say juicy on the ass-- that would just be yucky) at Costco (which has the BEST random stuff in addition to all the outsized cans of tuna and vats of mayonnaise), and when I got it out of the dryer this morning, Harry, hands on hips, said "I don't like that Mama. It's really dorky."

"Really dirty?" I asked, hoping I misheard him.

"No. Really dorky."

Where did he learn that? Also, who taught him to say he was digging for treasure when he picks his nose? Because he doesn't understand that's just an expression, and he's really into pirates these days, so every time he gets a wad of snot on his finger, he contemplates it sadly and says, "It's just a booger." Then he shoves his finger-- up to, like, the second knuckle-- back in his nostril to try again. Dreamy.

These pictures are all from my mom's camera (and she emailed them to me using iPhoto-- nice work, Mom!) because my internet is down at home (grumble, grumble, you suck Charter Communications), and I am doing this from the lovely, peaceful, grown-up quiet of my office.


Harry is still mastering the art of drinking from a straw...

Harry happens to be eating the best cookie in the world here-- I used the recipe on the back of the Nestle chips bag, but I added a bag of butterscotch chips, a hearty sprinkle of cinnamon, and an extra teaspoon of vanilla. Very fall-ish.

While Ben and I enjoyed a couple of hours at a coffee shop where we could both catch up on work and use two hands to type emails, my parents apparently let Harry play some indoor baseball.

Harry has a running inventory in his head of all his teeny little Matchbox cars, and from the crabby look on his face, he was probably playing with this one in lieu of another that he couldn't find. Probably the taxi. He loves his taxi, and he's always stashing it somewhere weird.

Oh! And this has nothing to do with fall or big stuff, but here is a picture of Harry in a similar position from March of 2007

Okay-- back to our weekend:
Jack had a snack

And a moment with his Grandma over some rice cereal and prunes

Ha! What a mess!

This kid has been waiting to rake leaves since the first ones fluttered off the trees a week or so ago. Every damn day, he would say "Mama may I please make a leaf pile?" And every day, I'd tell him to wait for Saturday when there'd be more leaves on the ground. The part I didn't tell him? Yuck. There are totally spiders in there. Also leaves stink. And another thing, I don't want to rake them, so wait until your dad's off, and please don't track little crumbly leaf pieces all over the house. Anyway, I think it was worth the wait.

So cute with Grandpa in the leaf pile

Not sure what he's doing here, but I love how bossy and self-possessed he looks

Jack sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time

He liked it, as you can see

Ben and I had a super fun time with this things. Like so fun we might come back to this park without the kids...

Harry was being Diego in this picture-- note the rescue pack and the way we are waiting instructions. I had to be Alicia, Diego's sister, and my mom was apparently an animal in trouble. Harry is very bossy at the park-- he must begin each trip by locating his rescue pack, spotting scope, and camera. Then he swings on his tummy and claps his hands while demanding "Clap with me!" Then he screams at me to "Say activate, Alicia," and we are off to rescue animals and avoid the grumpy old troll who lives under the bridge. If Ben is with us, he gets to be the troll, and Jack occasionally makes a cameo as Diego's trusty sidekick, baby Jaguar.


I hope it is still gloriously autumnal wherever you are. I am going to go enjoy the brown view out my window and eat one of the 745 packs of Dora-shaped graham crackers we snagged at Costco. And also work.