Halloween celbration

Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but when I was a kid, I remember donning my costume one time: for trick or treating.

You are about to see the first of many opportunities for our boys to put on their costumes, to Zach's delight and Charlie's dismay. Zach would wear his costume every day if he could; Charlie could do without the hood.

Our friends the Brodds throw an excellent fall "celbration" (nope, can't miss an opportunity to remind Adam of his spelling mishap). We had another beautiful sunny day, lots of good food, good friends, and an ever-expanding pack of kids running amok. We try to manage the chaos with activities like pumpkin-carving, wild wagon rides (generally for the kids, but not always, as you'll see), a bonfire, and the big hit - the pinata. This year there was even a movie showing, projector and all!

Unless you are a big Mario Brothers fan, you are probably wondering about Zach's costume. This is the second year he chose his own costume, and we went through many options, almost all of them from the Mario Kart game. He did not want to be Mario or Luigi, the most recognizable characters; don't ask me why. First he wanted to be someone called Waluigi, but we had a hard time finding that costume. Then it was Toad, who is a mushroom (again, don't ask me why). Zach eliminated that option when I asked if he'd actually wear the big mushroom cap on his head. Then there was Yoshi, a dragon/lizard creature... cheapest costume I could find was $100 - not gonna happen.

So he picked Wario. And even let us draw on the mustache. So while I may not know who the guy in purple overalls is, my kid is happy. And on Halloween, that's pretty much all that matters!




^ The two smallest party-goers; Violet & Theo


^ The Rose family finding a quiet moment; more small party-goers: Reagan with dad Rosie; Charlie with Scott, and Eliza with mom Tara.


^ Buzz (aka Sawyer) climbing his way to infinity & beyond; Zach was actually involved in carving his pumpkin this year.



^Pinata time! Notice #73 off to the left? That's Sidney, doing his best to patiently wait his turn, which is always last since he's the guy who takes down the pinata every year!

Kwinkos

A few weeks ago I asked Zach to sing one of the songs his class was going to sing in church. He launched into a song that repeated something that sounded like this:

See ya ha-ah kukanati kwinkos

Uh, what? What language is that??? Zach informed me it was African. And here I thought they were learning Spanish in school!

Zach's teacher was able to provide a little more information - it turns out the kindergarteners were learning the same song that the preschoolers were going to sing, but in Zulu. And the wise teachers knew that if the preschoolers heard the very unique-sounding language for the first time in church, they'd all collapse in piles of giggles and would forget to sing their English version. So Zach heard the older kids practice a few times, and learned some Zulu by absorption.

The fun game in our house now is to try to sing the song, but we get the sounds all wrong. Zach thinks it's hilarious we can't get it right. I always get the "kwinkos" right though - what a great word!

The translation, which the preschoolers sang, is "We are singing for the Lord is our light." They did a great job, on both songs they sang. As you can probably see in the pictures above, Zach takes this job seriously - he sings his heart out and does his best to get the movements right. And while I know the second picture isn't great, since it's a little blurry, I absolutely love the look on Zach's face. If he applies that much enthusiasm and determination to everything he does, this kid is going to go far!!

Shooting hoops

We signed Zach up for another pee-wee sports adventure, to see how he'd like basketball. I'm starting to wonder if we'll find a sport he doesn't like.


^Introducing himself - "My name is Zach and my favorite color is gold." While shooting was obviously Zach's favorite activity, we were pretty impressed with his dribbling skills.


^ Dad giving him some pointers on his form - looks good!


^ The Green Crocodiles

The Willard brothers

I am trying to catch up on my pictures; the ones you see here have been taken over the last 6 weeks or so. I discovered I have a few decent ones of the boys together! Our boys... aren't they cute?

No one can explain to you exactly how wonderful it feels to see your kids playing together, laughing together, loving each other. It has got to be one of the best feelings in the world. Nothing makes me happier than listening to my two boys giggling together, with Charlie throwing in his trademark squeals.

No one can explain to you exactly how frustrating it feels to see and listen to your kids bicker. And yes, an 18-month-old can partake in bickering! As a younger sibling myself, I fully expected to spend a lot of time trying to keep Charlie away from Zach and his toys when he is deep into some sort of game/role-play. And that has certainly happened, as Charlie tends to think whatever Zach is doing must be the coolest thing to do. The typical tag-along little brother!

What I didn't expect was how often I'd have to tell Zach to leave Charlie alone, that Charlie doesn't want to play right then! It's typically in the late afternoons, when Zach is tired of entertaining himself and wants a playmate. But it happens any time of day, since Charlie can easily get engrossed in pulling a whole shelf of books down, tossing them aside until he finds the ones he wants to examine. And he'll contentedly sit there for quite a while... unless his big brother comes around, trying to tempt him into some sort of active play.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes Charlie drops his books and toddles off to chase his brother around the kitchen island. Sometimes it results in Zach tackling Charlie, since simple persuasion hasn't worked. It almost always involves Zach whining "but I want him to play with me!!!" I hope I'm still hearing that 10 years from now. :)
In a couple of these pictures, the boys are sitting on a train and/or a rocket. I invite you to come by our house any afternoon between 4 and 5 PM. What you will find is a game the boys love, and I am doing my best to tolerate. It involves Zach riding the train as fast as he possibly can, tearing around the corners of our island and kitchen table, with Charlie either chasing him or being chased (depending on your perspective).

This game is loud, fast, and a little bit dangerous for all of us. Yes, including me, since I'm usually in the kitchen trying to make dinner, simultaneously trying to keep my toes from being squashed! It's one of many times I have to take a deep breath and remind myself little boys are supposed to have a lot of energy, make a lot of noise, and take some minor risks with their own safety. I also remind myself to enjoy watching them having fun together, something you hope brothers will do! I guess I can put up with the chaos.

One point five

Our littlest boy is one and a half. Happy "half birthday" Charlie - we love every bit of you:

The goofy part:


The delighted to explore the world part:


The effortlessly happy part:



The independent part:


The stubborn part:


The adventurous, fearless part:

And we really, really, love this giggle:

Update: at Charlie's 10/26 doctor's appointment, he weighed 23.01 lbs, was 31 1/8 inches tall, and his head measured at 19.5 inches. The height and weight continue to be in the 10-25th percentile, while his head is near the top of the charts. :)