As usual, I'm way far behind in my blogging. Somehow, October flew by and it's November. And really, not only is it November, but we're already a full week into the month. I have some catching up to do!
My sillies. They are starting to have so much fun together. Just when I feel bad about the fact that Jack doesn't get half as much attention from me as Claire did when she was his age, things like this morning happen. I could hear Claire and Jack playing in her room while I changed the sheets on our bed. Claire was telling Jack, "Now we're going to pretend that you..." and to be honest, I don't even remember what they were pretending. But she's sharing her imagination with him and teaching him how to play like a big kid. When Claire was 18 months old she just had me. Me, walking around the block with her endlessly while she pushed her little baby in a stroller. I loved it and we had fun, but she didn't have a little friend to pretend with, she just had boring old me. What Jack lacks in attention from Mommy is definitely made up for in imaginative play with his big sister.
What? You mean I don't really fit in this Lego box? I have no idea what you are talking about.
We painted our dining room, got a new rug, and a much-needed new table and chairs. Naturally, I put the kids to work waxing the floors.
It took way longer than we expected it would for our new table to come. As soon as we bought the new one, I sold the old one on Craigslist. You know, to help pay for the new one. We were without a table for about 6 weeks. For awhile we had two folding tables and 4 mismatched folding chairs, but I couldn't take it any longer! I decided that sitting in the living room on the floor or at the coffee table was a better option. Fun, but we are happy to not be picnicking with every meal anymore!
Being silly while doing her "homework" one night. Claire loves doing a little math workbook I got for her!
We went to the pumpkin patch on October 10. It was a beautiful day out and the kids had a great time riding the train, feeding the animals, running through the hay maze and picking out their pumpkins.
When it came time to pick out her pumpkin, Claire meant business! She was so cute, pulling the wagon and examining all of them until she found the perfect pumpkins to bring home. Two for Jack, two for Claire.
Jack is newly obsessed with my shoes, or really any shoes he can find. He puts his own little rainboots on over his jammies, wears my shoes when he finds them laying around, and brings me shoes from his shoe basket even when we're not going anywhere.
Of course, Claire had to get in on the fun, too! Nothin' cuter than little kids walking around in too-big shoes.
On October 15 I packed the kids up and we drove to New York City. Jeff had to work all weekend, so it was a good weekend for the three of us to get out of the house and do something special rather than stay in and annoy each other all weekend. Ooops, did I say that out loud? My kids never annoy me. Never. Not even when they whine and scream and fight over toys...
We were all set to eat at
Sweetie Pie restaurant in the Village, a cute little tea party-esque place with hot pink and white decor and what appeared to be a great menu, complete with a nod from Gwyneth Paltrow as "my favorite find for grown up/kid hybrid paradise". We got all the way there only to discover that they'd had a fire in the kitchen and were closed. Huge bummer! We ended up eating at a Mexican restaurant down the street instead.
We went to Dylan's Candy Bar, where I spent an inordinate amount of money on bulk candy. Swedish Fish, that I can get at Wegmans for $2.99 a pound were $13.99 a pound there. Of course I bought some. Why? I have no idea.
When he's not trying on shoes, Jack is definitely pulling all of my pans out of the cupboard. And I'm just training him for his college days by poppin' his collar. Gotta teach him early.
If ever I should forget this look, I'm sure it's the exact one I'll be receiving in 12 years when Claire is a teenager and I'm just the dumb mom who doesn't know anything.
Time to carve the pumpkins! We like to do one that says "Claire", one that says "Jack" and then a cute face or whatever they want on the other pumpkins. This year Claire got Cinderella and Jack got Mickey Mouse, or as he calls it, "Mou?"
In Jack's trifecta of love there remains one more thing: balls. He talks about them all day and gets very excited when he overhears a conversation involving, say, football. Since soccer season he thinks that Jeff's job involves balls only, and if I say "Daddy is working" he starts saying, "Ball? Ball? Way high. Kick. Ball. Ball."
Hard to see, but Claire's pumpkins. It was way too cold outside to mess with getting a good picture!
Jack's pumpkins.
All decked out for Halloween at school!
My Cinderella and giraffe, ready for trick-or-treating
Most of the Dunham Cousins, ready to get some candy! They had a great time trick-or-treating together and I hope this becomes a yearly tradition. We started our own tradition this year by making crock pot macaroni and cheese to have for dinner when we got home. It was freezing out but the kids had a great time. Very different from last year's trick-or-treating in Manhattan, the night before the NYC Marathon!
Thank goodness Aunt Alexe and Uncle Matthew came prepared with blankets in the wagon. Jack and Avery were cozy and warm!
Claire and Natalie loved holding hands and running up to all of the houses...except the scary ones, at which Claire was terrified and would not go near. They were so cute together!
Phew....we all survived that long post. Now to work on staying on top of November before it, too, is over!
