xmas pics, coming soon

We made it home! 

Someone had to be dragged kicking and screaming off the plane.  And it wasn't Steve. 

cousins

I love watching them together. 

watching daddy work

It's the tippy toes that get me. 

Thanksgiving

Seb was thankful for (in this order):  applesauce, Charlotte, backhoes, the moon, Grandma. 

It was fun.  The boys are old enough now for a kids table, and we were joined by Seb's buddy Nate and his parents. 

Cyrus wrote Seb and Nate letters the following day. 

Somehow, I'm glad Sebastian was not singled out for opprobrium. 

Seb enjoyed not only Thanksgiving, but leftovers in the backyard.  We're having unseasonably warm weather. 

And of course, Thanksgiving would not be complete without the turkey trot.  The women ran -- me, Aunt Betsy, Sue -- with Seb in the jogging stroller for the first mile (until the playground, where we passed him off).  Then I spent the rest of the race passing people.  My last mile was more than two and a half minutes faster than my first -- now, that's a confidence booster.   

 

at charlotte's bday party

fuzzy truck jammies!

yup, Eliza.  4T.

Halloween -- with a happy ending

 So as previously reported, Seb refused to wear the monster vacuum cleaner.

Sunday we tried again, the backup costumes. 

No monster. 

No hamburger.

Yup, those are real tears.  So we gave it a break.

We thought daycare might have better luck, so we sent him in with the hamburger costume.  He wanted nothing to do with it.  Wanted nothing to do with any of it.  Except for the raisins that were mixed in with the trick or treat candy.  He liked pretending they were blocks and stacking them up. 

He did start to become fixated on the vacuum cleaner, but "Mommy wear it.  Mommy wear it."  So that's what I was for halloween.  A monster vacuum cleaner.

Halloween day.  Last chance.  We put him in his plaid shirt, handed him a leftover hat from his birthday party, and I distracted him with stickers while Steve surreptitiously got his play tool belt on him.  He's a contracter! 

Still, he didn't want to wear his black jacket, and cried all the way up the block to Charlotte.  Only then did the tears stop.

So off we went to a party and then a trick or treat bonanza.   And then the lightbulb clicked on.  Trick or treating is fun!  And it wasn't even about the candy, it was about yelling "Trick or Treat" as loud as possible.

So we came home with a happy, wired, toddler.  The end.

we've still got two counting days to go...

"No costume, no costume, no costume".

And no, it wasn't just because it was a vacuum cleaner.  He didn't want to wear any of the backups (the monster, the hamburger, not even his sweatshirt in fear that it might be a costume). 

So I wore the vacuum cleaner monster to the neighborhood party.  And by the end of the party he'd even hold my hand while I wore it. Which is better than last night, when he was afraid of it when it was just on the other side of the living room.

We still have two days for him to decide he wants to wear a costume.  Or not.  I'm ok with it. 

That's my boy.  Scared of the vacuum cleaner.  And yet, these guys crack him up, no matter how scary they were trying to be.

  

(Charlotte was Foofa, from yo gabba gabba. Seb cared not a bit that he was one of the only kids not in costume.  Here the two of them are, transfixed by the Day of the Dead dancers).

singing

Big boy stats at two years!

37.9 inches, 36 pounds, 14 ounces

"I wanna sit on grandma's lap"

Birthday party

Backhoe cake!  I was pretty pleased with myself, I have to say.

We were going to have the party outside, but just as we got all the decorations up, the skies turned really dark.  We moved it inside, just in case.  And of course then it didn't rain.

Joe and Grandma stapled all the pennants. 

Seb wondering when everyone's going to get here.  And if he can have some goldfish now please

 

   

Kitchen!  Thanks Cyrus, Aunt Betsy, and Uncle Al! 

And a motorcycle from Dylan and Nikki and John.

It was cozy!

No silly hat, no no silly hat!

Ella blew out the candles for Seb.

The cake was a hit.

Ya think?

At least Dylan wanted to wear her backhoe hat.  She knows from stylish.





He started off his twos by asking "Why" for the very first time.  Oh boy!

Looking a little like Grandpa in his extra wide new balance shoes, khakis, and by request of the birthday boy, "car shirt". 

My boys.  Stooping it.