Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2007.

Halloween 2006.

Tonight, R and L experienced their first real Halloween. Last year doesn't really count since they were only 5 months old. They had a good time in their costumes. R even wore his Darth Vader hat for a short bit. L tried to go into a couple of people's homes and run out into the street a few times (fortunately we live on a very quiet, low traffic street). R even accomplished our goal of walking by Halloween. He did manage to take a step few steps on his own in his costume.

R as Darth Vader. He even has the voice thing down now, since he's been sick.

L as Yoda. He is about the right size of the real one. All he needs now is a light saber.

Daddy, L and R. I attempted to get a good picture of the boys together, but they would not cooperate, especially L.

This was after we got home and both boys were upset that we were trying to get them back inside.

First Halloween candy. R liked the Reese's Pieces, but L spit them out, so he settled on raisins.

1st Carved Pumpkin

We carved our first Halloween pumpkin tonight with R and L. They watched in their high chairs for a few minutes before they got bored. They did find the pumpkin seeds and innards somewhat fascinating. R even tried to eat some raw pumpkin, but we didn't think that was a good idea.



R practiced walking alot last night. Stephanie's parents were in town and they had a good time playing with the boys. Steph's mom inspired R to take 6-7 steps or more at a time. R also started eating with a fork last night. I had given him a spoon, but he wanted to spear all of his food with it, so I gave him a fork instead. Sometimes he will get the food on the fork and bring it to his mouth, sometimes he takes it off of his fork with his other hand and puts it in his mouth.

I forgot to mention that L called 911 at Cindi's last week. He got a hold of her phone and dialed 911. Why the numbers they picked for emergency are on the corner and therefore can be easily dialed by a child is beyond me (it should at least be something like 123 or 987). A police officer showed up a Cindi's and said that 911 got a call and they heard children's voices. L did that once before at home, but that time 911 call me back to ask if there was an emergency.

Tomorrow the boys will dress up in their Halloween costumes one more time and we'll let them stay at the door for trick-or-treaters. They will have a good time looking at other kids in costumes.

He Walks!!!...And Visit to the Pumpkin Patch and Boo at the Zoo

R finally started walking tonight!! He is such a catious boy, besides being part-monkey and loving to climb on everything. He has just needed to get his confidence up and take a step, which he finally did today. He only took a couple of steps, but it is a start.

Nana and Grandad joined us this weekend for Boo at the Zoo in Fort Worth. L dressed up as the cutest Yoda you have ever seen. R was Darth Vader, but he wouldn't wear his hat, so he looked more like a boy in black with a cape. If we're really lucky, I'll get a picture of both of them standing by themselves on Halloween. R had a great time riding on Grandad's shoulders all night and hanging onto his ears. L had a great time walking all over the zoo. I think he had to be the most admired costume there, I think we heard "Look at Yoda" a hundred times.

As promised, I've finally posted the Pumpkin Patch pictures. These are from a little over a week ago. The boys had a great time playing and climbing on the pumpkins.

New things this week:

Besides the great news that R is finally able to walk, he has the croup again. Either that, or he never got over it a month ago. I took him to the doctor on Friday because he is still hoarse. She ordered another round of steriods but said that if he is not better by Tuesday, she'd send us to an ENT.

L has been a complete spitfire lately, especially tonight. When he doesn't take good naps (like today) he acts at night like he's had a shot of my espresso. He was all over the place tonight getting into everything. While I was getting their bath ready, he threw a book and both pairs of shorts into the bathtub. Then while I fishing those out, he started unrolling the toilet paper. After his bath, he peed all over the carpet and Greg.

On a good note for L, he is able to say car and cross. I have a wall of crosses in my hallway and I was pointing them all out to him today, and he repeated it to me several times (although cross sounds alot like car). But he is able to point out pictures in books if you tell him to find certain objects.

I have posted alot more pictures on Shutterfly of Boo at the Zoo and the pumpkin patch. So if you're interested, here's the link: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b3549e55a4dd&sid=0AaNnLVs2bMmLDeA

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Sunglasses, Slides, and Toilet Paper

The boys had a pretty good week. R is feeling much better now, and is no longer quite as weepy as he has been. They got their flu shots on Wednesday, so I brought them to school before their appointment. L had a fantastic time walking up and down the hallways. One person said that he leads with his belly and a few kids mocked how he walks like Frankenstein. I took them yesterday to the local Methodist church's pumpkin patch for pictures. I need to go through them before I post, so check back with that later. The picture above is of the boys watching Sesame Street with their sunglasses on.

R has discovered his slide. The boys have occasionally tried to climb up the slide part before, but R figured out how to climb up the ladder and go down on Thursday night. This has turned into a great toy that has provided him with tons of fun. He is such a monkey. I find it funny that he cannot walk, but he loves to climb up on everything. I discovered him standing on our ottoman and reaching for a lamp earlier this week and Cindi has said that he is now climbing on her couch. He is so afraid to walk, but he wants to get on top of everything.

While getting bath ready on Thursday, R and L discovered the toilet paper. They have played with it a little before, but this night, they unrolled the whole thing and had a great time doing it. Greg thinks it is waste and I should have stopped them, but I think a few cents can be lost for their amusement with a toilet paper roll. They laughed the whole time they were unrolling it.

New things this week: R and L have a new favorite show, much to my disappointment. They love Wheel of Fortune. I personally hate the show, but they love watching the wheel spin around. It comes on at about the time I am getting dinner ready, so it is good distraction for them while I get it done (rather than them yelling at me through the gate). However, I am not going to encourage this new found entertainment, and we will either keep the TV off or watch a Baby Einstein video.

State Fair

On Saturday, R and L had the first experience of a state fair. Tim and Stephanie went with us for the day and we had a great time. Everyone else in the state decided to join us on the same day, but we managed to brave through the masses. Greg's favorite part is the car show. We spent a long time in there until I declared that I was car showed out and we finally moved on. We saw a dog show, ate a ton of food, went to the petting zoo and rode the big slide. L had a great time walking all over the place and R had a great time eating all of the sweets that we would let him. The boys had a corn dog, dippin dots ice cream, strawberry juice (the best thing any of us had the whole day), lemonade, and catfish. Greg tried a fried twinkie and I tried a fried latte (coffee ice cream with funnel cake pieces). Above are R and L petting a baby goat.

Here is L in the front seat and R and Greg in the back seat of a car at the fair.

L loved to knock on the side of the cars and try to open the door.

R and Greg in the front seat of a super huge old person car.

L trying to pet a baby pig at the petting zoo.

R and L eating a corn dog, their first fair food.

Today, the boys wore their second set of Halloween shirts. They had a pretty good evening at home, minus the refusal to go to bed tonight. Greg is off to New Mexico tomorrow, so we'll check back in later. Have a great week. Enjoy the last few pictures.

Mid-Week Pictures

It is way too hot here for the boys to be wearing long sleeve shirts, but it is October and they have Halloween shirts to wear. So today, we wore them with shorts. These are from Nana and Grandad and they came with cute matching socks.

L and his Boo shirt reading a Halloween book.

R, now feeling much better, in his Bat shirt and socks.

L loves to read. He is also so smart. Tonight I asked him to bring me "Owen's Marshmallow Chick" and he stood up and looked around for it, found it and then brought it to me (that's his favorite book). So we then went through a dozen or more books and he could find "Goodnight America", "That's Not My Train", "Cat Goes Fiddle-I-Fee", and so forth. R in the meantime was crawling around like monkey under the coffee table. But he sure is a cute little boy.

Greg had been gone for a few days and I swear that they behave better when he is gone. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather have him here. But they don't throw their food on the floor and they don't fight for attention as much. The boys love their Daddy and they are always so excited when he comes home. I love to see them so happy.

Rough Week #2

Both boys got really sick last week. On Tuesday, Cindi called to tell me that R had thrown up when he woke up from his nap. I left school immediately and went to pick them up. We wrapped a towel around him for the trip home in case he threw up again. He had already done so when I got to her house and he threw up on my dry clean only shirt. Anyways, R made it home ok, but L threw up twice all over his car seat. The three of us spent the evening in the living room catching vomit and calling the doctor (Greg was in Denver). I stayed home with them the next morning and we made it through the day ok. They were both fussy and lethargic, but no more sickness. On Thursday, I got them ready for Cindi's and we made it to her house on time. However, when she opened the door, she said that her daughter had just thrown up. So we left and spent another day at home. That worked out nice for the boys. They were able to rest and we had fun together that day (plus I got to stop by Starbucks on our way home). The real negative to all of this was that I was home alone. L's carseat had to be cleaned up and washed and I needed more Pedialyte, but the boys were in no condition to leave the house (plus L's carseat was out of commission). I had to call a friend who sent her husband over with Pedialyte and apple sauce. Good times!

New this week:
We are trying so hard to get R to walk. He is so cautious. When L walks around he falls over half the time. R would fall to pieces if he fell, which is why he chooses to crawl. I'm hoping that we can get him to walk by Halloween because his costume will look so much cuter if he is standing. But things don't look too good in that department right now.
L is talking, but we don't really catch what he is saying. I think he might have said banana this morning at Cindi's. He had the right number of syllables, but not the pronunciation. He has also been working on the word car.

We are going to go the State Fair this weekend, so I'll take some cute pictures there. Greg is off to New Mexico this week so we're on our own again. We'll be fine as long as everyone stays healthy.