Thankful Turkeys

Tonight, we did a family craft. We made turkeys out of our hands (well, actually, we all used James' hand) and wrote what we were thankful for on them. This activity kept Little Man occupied for much longer than I expected. Here's what they look like:

Little Man is thankful for candy, colors, family, and outside.

I am thankful for my family.

James is thankful for Mommy, Little Man, Duane/Jimi (as in Duane Allman and Jimi Hendrix), and his guitar.


And here's a video of Little Man from this week. He learned to tippey-toe and what a baby says.

A Very Harry Halloween

Halloween is way fun when you have kids. I just decided that. And I've also decided that we should have Halloween at least twice every year. It is way too fun to have to wait all year!

Little Man dressed up as Harry Potter this year. I made his costume myself and my friend Jodi let us borrow the glasses and the wand. Personally, I think he's the best Harry Potter there ever was. I'm think about sending a headshot to Warner Brothers.



Little Man actually got really into the festivities yesterday. By the end of the day, he was saying "Trick or Treat" and "Potter." He was even waving his wand at people and casting spells on them.

We took Little Man downtown yesterday to go trick-or-treating at the stores on Main Street. Everyone that saw him just gushed over him and said that he was the favorite costume of the day. It made me wish I'd entered him in a costume contest!

We made lots of visits to family and friends yesterday. Little Man got candy everywhere he went. "Candy? Please?" was the most uttered phrase of the day.


My niece (who was a scary black cat, not a cute black cat) was not having as much fun as the rest of the kids.Posing with the Jack o' Lanterns after all of our visits.
Hanging out with Mommy at our friend Liz's.
Little Man had his first high-level dose of sugar this weekend. My goodness, that kid is a candy fiend. He was bordering on obsession. My favorite candy moment of the weekend happened on the way home on Friday. He had gone trick-or-treating at daycare and threw a fit when I set his pumpkin bucket next to him, not in his lap. So I caved and let him hold it, thinking he couldn't possibly do any damage. Within thirty seconds, I heard a squeal of laughter coming from the backseat followed by a shriek of "Candy!!". He had managed to get a Twix bar opened and was shoving the whole thing in his mouth.

Boy Genius

In the last few days, I have become convinced that my son is a boy wonder. He is learning so much, so fast. Things I don't think kids his age should have a grasp of yet. Here are a few examples:

• Earlier in the week, when he had a sore throat, I gave him some chocolate milk and he learned to say "choca". Last night, we had gone to the store for a treat and ended up with some mini Hersey bars. James gave Little Man a small piece of one, and he said, "Mmm... choca." I thought it was amazing that he recognized the flavor of chocolate in an entirely different form.
• During this same chocolate episode, when he was done with his piece and wanted more, instead of yelling at us, he simply said, "peas" (please). We gave him some, of course, then he said "tanks." Amazing!
• Tonight, I was looking at a book with Little Man. At the end, there is the music for the song that goes with the story. When we got to the page with the music, he pointed to it and started saying "Daddy," then took the book to James. He has figured out that James knows what to do with all those lines and dots!
• Also, he is extremely interested in the potty. He can say the word "potty," he asks to sit on it (although he has yet to actually do anything on it), and he knows what mommy and daddy are doing on it. This makes me very excited!
  

For reals, though, is this a normal amount of smarts for a kid his age or do I need to start saving for the Ivy League tuition now?

Sick Day

All weekend long, I watched Little Man rub his ears and jam his fingers in his ears. Then, he woke up with a slight fever this morning, and that was all the excuse I needed to take a sick day! Turns out, he doesn't have an ear infection, but he does have cold sores on the back of his throat. He's in some pain (he won't eat anything!) but he's still pretty cheerful, so it wasn't a terrible day. We had macaroni and cheese (with hotdogs!) and chocolate milk for lunch, played in the leaves outside, and even squeezed in a quick Family Home Evening lesson before bed.

I'm not sure if it's because I've now spent three solid day with him, or if it's because he hasn't been feeling well, but Little Man is suddenly very... enamored... with Mommy. He will not let me out of his sight! He's constantly grabbing my hand and dragging me off to "pay" (play) and even when I'm sitting right next to him, there is a constant stream of "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?" coming from him mouth. I love him dearly, but I was ready to hide by bedtime tonight!

And here are some pictures from the weekend...

Last night, my mom and dad came over to help decorate Halloween cookies. We all had lots of fun. Here's Little Man sneaking a taste.


Every night at bath time, Little Man helps take his clothes off, then puts his dirty clothes in the basket (his future wife will thank me!). Here he is with his shirt stuck on his head. When you take his hair away, he sure looks different!

Little Man loves bubble baths! Here he is posing for the camera.
Even though there was no water left, he was determined to keep enjoying the bubbles!

Busy, busy, busy

Sorry for taking so long to update here. Life is busy! I've been working six days a week, 10-12 hours a day, just trying to keep my head above water at school. Blogging has fallen to the bottom of the list. My few hours of free time every day get devoted to spending time with James and Little Man. Have I mentioned how much I love my family? They get me through it all...

I don't have tons to mention here, but I did want to share something that happened at church today. It was probably my all-time favorite thing Little Man has ever done, and I hope the feeling translates as I try to put it into words. At the end of sacrament meeting, Little Man starting giving kisses. He'd give me a big kiss, then give James a big kiss, then he'd push me and James's faces together until we kissed. Then we did it all over again. We did this half a dozen times, all the while trying to contain our giggles and not interrupt the singing. It was so, so sweet. We are a family and we love each other. And Little Man really gets it, without ever being told.

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a scene from our house last weekend.

Progress

Wow, a lot has happened since last time I posted. It's kind of been the best of times and the worst of times around here. My family has been going through a... transition. It's been hard and sad. I'm not going to talk about it here, but I'm hopeful that things will work out ok in the end.

A lot of happy things have been happening, too. Little Man is learning so much these days. It seems like he learns a new word everyday. He has a whopping 10 teeth now. (That means that 5 teeth have erupted in the last 6 weeks or so, which might explain why I wanted to sell him to the circus for most of August.) He also started at his new daycare last week, and it's been wonderful. The lady we picked is fabulous! Since he started going, he's been eating, sleeping, and... wait for it... he kicked the binky habit! She doesn't let kids use them at her house, and we tried to cut it back to bedtime only, but it was just too hard on him to know that it was in his crib and he couldn't have it. So it went bye-bye. The first two days were a little rough, especially at bedtime, but it was way easier than I thought it would be. And did I mention he's eating? He's eating! He's actually become quite adventurous in his food choices. He's been trying lots of new foods and has finished his dinner every night. James and I just stare at him and wonder where our kid went, because the change has been so sudden. We're not asking questions, though. Maybe he'll put on a few pounds and get back on "the curve!"

Here he is eating a bowl of cold cereal in his new booster chair.

School started for James and I last week, too. James is being challenged by his classes, but he seems to enjoy it. And I love my new school more every day. It's such a different atmosphere than what I'm used to, and that's a good thing! The staff is great, the kids are great, my department it great. I'm in heaven.

Also, in other happy news, we've been enjoying the fruits of our garden this week. Our green beans are finally ready and we even picked a zucchini last weekend. Our pumpkin plant has 3 lovely little pumpkins that we are really hoping are ready in time for Halloween. And remember the great tomato massacre of earlier this summer? Well, I'm pleased to report that one plant seems to have made it and it even has a blossom. Whether or not I ever get an actual tomato or not remains to be seen, however.

If you know James and/or his family at all, you will not be surprised to hear that Little Man has some OCD tendencies. One of his new obsessions is coloring. He does it for hours a day. At daycare, the other kids have started to bring him a crayon when ever he cries. He's usually pretty good at keeping the crayon on the paper, but every once in awhile, he extends his artwork to other areas. Here is one of his masterpieces.

Little Man in also obsessed with sprinklers. It takes us 45 minutes to walk up the street and back because he has to stop and touch every single sprinkler that he sees.

James's new obsession is Harry Potter. (Oh, he's going to be so mad at me for telling everyone!) I read all the books over the summer, and am more than a little obsessed myself, and I challenged James to try them. He said he'd read 50 pages and now he's already well into the 5th book. Here he is looking particularly engrossed. (He was finishing the 4th book. If you've read it, you know why he's on the edge of his seat.)
Here are my boys enjoying their daily cartoons-and-cuddling ritual.
More to come soon. Here's to a happy Labor Day weekend!

Making Mischief

It's never a good sign when Little Man is quiet for too long. This afternoon, I went searching for him, and this is what I found: (Please ignore the camera strap in the pictures.)

(What does it say about me as a mom that instead of getting mad, I pulled out the camera?)

I guess I'm mostly glad that he only scribbled on himself and not the carpet or walls or something. A quick shower with Daddy took care of most of it, but I'm afraid it will take a few days to get it all off.