Happy Halloween!

We have many Halloween adventures to update you on, but in the meantime, Happy Halloween from our two treats!

Future buddies?

As Zach has gotten older, it's been fun to watch him begin to actually play with other kids. And he's always had a good time with Kasey, our friends' daughter (who is a year younger than him). Last Sunday we had the opportunity to see if the next "generation" would get along too:


^Reagan (4 mos) & Charlie (6 mos)


^What is that stuff on the top of your head??


^Checking each other out



I think these two are going to be quite a team, especially when it comes to defending each other from the "big kids"! We're looking forward to watching them grow together.

More laughs

I hope this never gets old.

A Fall Celbration*

The last few years our friends have hosted a fall party, and this year the celebration seemed bigger than ever (perhaps because of all the new babies). Here's some of the fun we had:

^ Zach's quarterback form; showing off his push-up skills to Kasey???

^Carving Zach's pumpkin. Zach didn't want to get his hands dirty, so he did about two scoops with the spoon before he was done cleaning it out. Same with carving... the second picture shows his interest level. I carved the circular eyes he requested before I remembered I've already carved my share of pumpkins. So now we have a jack o'lantern with just two eyes. I like to think it's spooky.

^Wagon rides! Check out how strong Evangeline is - she's not much bigger than the two in the wagon!

^And then there was the pinata - a huge hit! Most amusing to most of us adults was watching the kids try to line up by size, and then attempt to patiently wait their turn. But no one got whacked with the bat or trampled in the race for the bounty - success!

^Perhaps in a few years Zach's pumpkin will look more like this one!

*Yes, I do know how to spell celebration (and use spell-check). This misspelling is intentional, now a bit of a tradition with our friends; basically a way to never let one friend forget that once upon a time he made a typo.

Six months

I recently read a book in which the female heroine, a woman without children, declared her disdain for the things all parents seem to say. In particular she was amused by the way every parent would exclaim about how big their kids were getting, how quickly they were growing. The book put it more eloquently, but basically she said - what do they expect? That their kids are going to shrink? Stay the same?? Take 3 years to grow an inch???

I was reminded of this as I looked at my now six-month old baby and thought... really? Halfway to a year already??? Yes, it's a cliche, but c'mon, cliches exist for a reason. Six months ago Charlie was unable to control any muscle in his body, doing nothing but eating or sleeping 23 out of 24 hours per day, not really caring who was holding him as long as someone was.

And now... he can use his muscles to roll over, reach for and grasp an item, bring same item into his mouth, bend his legs so that he can suck on his toes, support himself on his legs for quite a while, and sit up on his own for short periods of time. And when you consider how heavy his head is compared to the rest of his body - being able to balance that melon is quite an accomplishment!

And then there's the social stuff: he definitely recognizes his family - his little wiggle and squeal when he sees me from his crib is enough to make me smile the rest of the day. Charlie's eyes follow Zach wherever his big brother goes, usually with a big grin on his face. And he knows Daddy is the one who makes him laugh by wiggling his eyebrows or throwing him in the air.

So really, that is a lot to accomplish in a few short months. And when I think about where he'll be six months from now - not only sitting up, but rolling in both directions, then crawling, maybe walking, and stuffing actual food into his mouth with his own hands, including the frosting on his birthday cake - I do have to marvel at the miracle that is our baby. And as much as I LOVE what's coming next, I can't help but get a little teary too.

A few laughs

Here's a short video of Zach making Charlie laugh - by doing nothing particularly funny! You can barely hear Charlie over Zach (why do I think this isn't the last time I'll say that?), but it's still cute to see Charlie's reaction to his big brother.

Pumpkins

We took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather (84!) on Saturday and visited a nearby farm to pick out some pumpkins. We decided to avoid the hoopla this year... no long lines to go on tractor rides, to pet goats, wander through a corn maze, etc etc. Just a local farmer with a nice pumpkin, and as it turned out, cabbage patch. Keeping it simple.


^Charlie, the original cabbage patch kid!


^Zach searching for the perfect pumpkin. See the hot-air balloon in the background? Another advantage to living close to the St. Croix river - we see them all the time these days!


^My attempt, once again, to take a nice picture of the boys together. I can't wait until Charlie can sit up on his own - maybe that will help?!!?

Clowns

Last weekend I took Zach to the circus, with our friends Matt, Jenny, Kasey and baby Reagan. I won't go into my rant about it... let me just say while I understand circuses have a tradition of showmanship, they really need to do some modernizing. And remember that it's about the kids. No kid (or adult, for that matter) needs to see a man in skin-tight black leather, tossing his over-processed bleached blond hair from side to side while thrusting his hips any time his tigers jump on a stool. Oh, wait, I've started my rant. I'll stop.

The kids did enjoy the spectacle*, especially the clowns and acrobatics. They were the cutest clowns though:

^Cheesy smiles at the cheesy circus


^What happens when you ask them not to do the cheesy smiles. As you can see, Kasey got it eventually, Zach... not so much.


^The kids had as much fun in the skyway walking back to our cars as they did at the circus. Check out Target Field in the background! Oh, and the first picture is the kids posing with Joe Mauer, not the trash can.

And here, for your amusement, is our little clown at home. He was ready to go outside in this outfit - he even put his shoes on. I think he gets his fashion sense from his dad.


I'll end with some recent quotes from Zach:

(as we pull up next to a black car with a man driving)
Z: Mom, is that dad?
Me: does it look like dad? (for the record, the correct answer was no)
Z: Yes - he has hair on his arm, so it must be dad!

Me: Why do you like birthday parties? (expecting to hear about cake)
Z: That's just how I work.

Zach's way of asking if his milk, which has been left out on the counter, has gone bad: Is it worser?

Zach's latest excuse for not wanting to go to bed: I can't think when I'm sleeping.

*Please don't mention to Zach or Kasey that we left at intermission. Thanks.

Adventures in preschool

Did you know...

Noah built an ark?

there is only one god?

that Jesus died on the cross?

That last one Zach asked as we were playing basketball, apropos of nothing. He said it in the most somber, grave voice - I had to do my very best not to laugh, and just went with my typical response of "yes, I did know that."

These are just a few examples of the things we are hearing from Zach since he started preschool. He is learning plenty of secular things too; he can sing both the days of the week song and the months of the year. He's getting better at writing his name as well as many other letters, constantly wants to know what the date is, and likes to classify the weather. He keeps asking when we can go to see the capitol building, which is funny to us since we've been pointing it out to him for years and he's shown no interest until now! And he shares all sorts of the social-type things he's learning, like following directions, listening to the teacher, following the rules, etc.

But, by far the most interesting to me is what a sponge he is when it comes to the bible stories. We have never discussed or read any bible stories with Zach, and have not had any real religious conversations with him (no, we don't go to church.) So it is a very new experience for us to hear Zach talking about all these new things he's learned - completely from someone else.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have any concerns about him learning about the bible and Christianity in general. But what makes me laugh a little is that while he can probably regurgitate the story of Adam and Eve to you, he doesn't really get what a sin is, what paradise is... any and all of the things that make the bible stories meaningful. And he certainly doesn't have any idea what he's saying when he talks about Jesus dying on the cross!! (Although apparently he realizes it's very serious, judging from the tone he used). To him they are just stories - nothing more, nothing less, and I assume that's what is appropriate for kids his age. And he does love a good story!

The pictures are from Zach's pajama day at school. He got a kick out of that, picked out his "super hero" pjs to wear that day. But what he's really looking forward to is when it's his turn for show and tell. It's been fun to hear what the other kids have been bringing so far; he was very impressed with someone's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle truck, although he had to ask me what a TMNT was. He was less enthused about the Tinkerbell doll another classmate brought. While I don't want to make any sexist assumptions, I have the feeling since his class is extremely girl-dominated, he may be learning quite a bit about Tinkerbell in the future.

Sunday we had a new adventure - Zach's preschool class and the kindergartners got to sing in the church associated with the school. I was so focused on getting him there on time (we were close), and making sure I remembered the video camera (I did!), that I didn't really think through the fact that after the kids sang to kick off the service, they would then have to sit through the hour-long mass until it was time for their second song at the end. So I didn't have anything to entertain Zach with - no food, books, nothing. Not my best mom moment. So he spent a lot of the time asking me when we could go home, especially when he remembered his dad was there (with Charlie as he napped). To occupy Zach, we (quietly) played a few games of I Spy and looked for words he knew in the bulletin. But several times I had to tell him what would happen before we could go - the sermon, the offering, a prayer, then he would sing and THEN we could go home.

The video is just of the first song the kids sang. While I remembered the camera, and had even remembered to charge the battery, I did not check the length of the remaining tape, so of course it ran out at the beginning of the second song (another bad mom moment). You'll see several minutes of tape before they kids actually sing, but I had to include those... if you're wondering why Zach keeps looking down and moving his feet, it's because he's making sure he is standing EXACTLY on top of the piece of tape with his name on it. :)

The second song was cute, since it involved some hand gestures and parts where the kids had to get louder. But that isn't why I'm kicking myself for not catching it on tape. What I'm mad I missed is when the entire congregation got a laugh at the end of the song, in the quiet lull as the kids' voices faded, when Zach announced "NOW we get to go home!"

Cutest baby ever

Cutest baby ever... I think I said the same thing about Zach. But I'm sure I'm not the least bit biased when I marvel at just how cute this baby is:


Another Twins fan*; charming smile.


A very thoughtful boy; Charlie's signature wide eyes

Toes are so very cool; as are his own fingers.

Kicking back and relaxin'

Rolling over; more big eyes

The big eyes from a different angle; another big smile

Some non-pictoral updates...

Charlie is soaking himself in his own drool regularly, but still no obvious signs of teeth. He mastered front-to-back rolling over last weekend, and rolls onto his sides all the time when he's on his back, usually when he's hanging on to his toes. He's almost face-planted in the tub a few times trying to get to those fascinating toes!

On the food front, he's now had rice cereal, pears, applesauce, and squash. His instinct is still to push it out with his tongue, but he happily opens his mouth when the spoon comes in his direction. He also still likes to blow it out; this baby is obsessed with blowing raspberries. He thinks it's hilarious, so we often have "conversations" that sound like blyyyyth, dsssshhh, pythhh. What can I say - it makes him laugh.

You may have noticed my many references to Charlie's eyes. They are definitely the most distinctive feature on his face, partially because they are so darn expressive. His signature look is definitely the wide-eyed wonder look; we get constant comments when we're out and about, since his eyes are always HUGE as he looks around absorbing the sights. And they are definitely changing color; while I think we can rule blue out, it's too soon to call the exact color.

We are still working on sleeping... I'll spare you the details. Better, but still not good. 'Nuff said.

In addition to the rolling over, it's so obvious he's getting stronger and stronger every day. He can hold himself up pretty well when in a sitting position; we can let go for several seconds before he topples forward or back. But no more head wobbles, just working on general balance. I'm so looking forward to when he can sit up on his own!!

*Thanks for the hat Uncle Mick!!