Apple Picking (an oldie from September!!!)

Back in September Grammie and Grampie took R apple picking at the orchard near us. They had a BLAST, especially because they went before all the Halloween festival stuff was put out so it wasn't crowded and this orchard is awesome--there is so much to do all around the grounds!
R's favorite activity, it seems, was running from one picture cut out board to another!
J and I kept meaning to go to the orchard ourselves but it wasn't in the cards this year. We can, of course, still go to the orchard but there are no more U-Pick Apples and the Fall Festival ends on Halloween (today!)

Happy Halloween!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween. R had a great time trick-or-treating. The kids both got decked out right after dinner for a photo shoot--it's harder than you might think to get two kids to look at the camera and smile!I was all set to delete this picture from the camera--R is getting upset with RUS because he was grabbing at her wings--except for the fact that I fell in love with RUS's smile in it. I have a hard time getting pictures of him with this smile, and he smiles so much you wouldn't think it'd be that hard!All along she's been adamant that she wanted to be a butterfly for Halloween, and because J and I like to get the kids involved in "making" their own costumes, we had her make her wings. J cut out the shape from foam board and R decorated them herself with markers and glittery glue. Here's a video of her decorating them! For awhile she also wanted her BLUE butterfly to have an orange mask, so J made one for her out of orange felt and pipe cleaners, but all 3 times we got decked out in the costume, when it came down to it she didn't want to wear the mask. I wrapped pipe cleaners around one of her headbands to make antennae, and the tutu I ordered online, I just love it! It's going to be a great addition to the dress-up box post-Halloween.

We got Boo'ed!!

We were finishing up dinner when J heard a knock at our door. We weren't expecting anyone so I had no idea who it could be, other than perhaps some solicitor. R overheard some of the conversation and got excited and ran out to see who it was, and that got me curious, so I unstrapped RUS from the high chair, shook about 4 cups of rice out of his pants, and walked over to see what was going on.

Turns out it was our neighbor and his daughter. We had just gotten "boo'ed"--they were passing around a basket filled with candy. The idea was for you to take one piece and then take the basket to another neighbor's house and leave it for them-- i.e., "boo"ing them. J and R walked over to what they thought was the address of another brand-new neighbor who had just moved in. They've got 4 kids--3 teenagers (16, 16, and 13, I think) and a 6-year-old. I hope they found it!

Here's J and R all ready to head out to go boo'ing!

A Couple of Jokes

J: Knock, knock
S: Who's there?
J: Duck
S: Duck who?
R: Duck Pocha!

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J: Why did the chicken cross the road?
R: Because it jumped on the car!!

I'll Come Find You

R has taken to coming out of her bedroom after we've said good night for the night, often with totally random requests.

"I want Daddy to put my blanket on my back."

"My cow fell on the floor."

"My leg hurts."

We (really, usually J, because I can't see her in the dark to understand what she's saying) always walk her back to her room and give her one last kiss and hug and tell her to go to bed.

Last night she came out three times in a row. After the third time J told her, "I'm going to go to bed now so you'll have to stay in bed because if you come out you're not going to be able to find me."

R says, "Then I will knock on your door."

Halloween Sneak Peek

More sneak peeks while I gather up time and energy to make fully detailed blog posts. Today the kids participated in two Halloween parades--one in our neighborhood complete with party in the park and one downtown with tons of big band action and politicians' floats and trick-or-treating at downtown businesses afterwards. This is a pic just before starting the neighborhood parade.

Everything is Out of Order This Month

But I'm posting what I feel like when I feel like it . . . here are some more photos, this time from our Japan trip. Remember that Friday 15 October was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day? Well, on Friday 15 October we -- me, J, Grandma, Grandpa, Geg, Local Hero, Local Heroine, A, M, and Local Heroine's parents -- were all at the shrine where Local Hero and Local Heroine were going to get married. They had a wedding run-through and had to go over some paperwork and review plans etc.
While we were walking around the grounds, we happened upon this area here. I noticed the stuffed animals and bottles of milk and formula on a shelf and asked Local Heroine what it was about. Turns out it was a prayer area for babies who have died, and you could pay 100 yen and light a candle and burn some incense and pray for their souls to go on up to heaven (or wherever). So we lit a candle, burnt some incense, and all stood and prayed for baby Alex and Surf and Cali and Little T.

A Sneak Preview of RUS's Birthday Party Pics

Welcome to Fall!

Here's R with the scarecrow she made with Grammie at our city's annual Community Day Festival.

Copycat

R loves to copy whatever RUS is doing. In this picture you see her sticking her feet in her mouth after watching RUS do it. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to get the picture while he still had his feet in his mouth, too.

RUS 12 months

Dear RUS,

I am still in shock that my baby is 1! Looking back over this year, you have been the smiliest baby ever. You still sleep through the night. In fact, you are a perfect angel when it comes to nap times and bedtimes. When you're tired, and we carry you into your room, you are practically lunging for your crib. You roll over, put your thumb in your mouth, and put yourself right to sleep. For awhile--when we were trying to transition from holding you until you were asleep and laying you down, back when you were 9 months or so--I established a good night routine that involved reading Good Night Moon and occasionally Baby Cakes or Jamberry, and then laying you down. But you don't really need the routine. You're tired when you're tired, you recognize your angel dear zebra lovie (we have the tiger one at day care), and you're ready. If you're not ready for a nap, you signal your displeasure by crying the minute we try to put you in your crib. I don't even fight it, because I know you'll sleep when you are ready, so if you cry I pick you up immediately.

You've got seven teeth now--four on the bottom and a third one poked through on top just a week or so ago. The way you've been gnawing on your toys, we think a fourth one on top is about to come through.

During your well-baby check up at the pediatrician's office, you were 20 lbs. 4 oz. (about 25th percentile) and 30.25 inches long (about 50th percentile), and he pronounced you in perfect health. We also had a check up with the pediatric cardiologist about your VSD. The hole is still there, but the cardiologist is not concerned at all. He still expects that it may close on its own, hopefully before you start school, and there is nothing we need to do differently--you don't even need prophylactic antibiotics before dental work (which was a previous practice for children with heart defects that I think is being discontinued because of lack of proof that it is effective).

You are babbling and talking more and more and more every day. You sign "more" regularly at the table and say "na-na-na" for banana although this is inconsistent. You babble ma-ma-ma and da-da-da all the time and it never ceases to melt my heart. You use exclamations--"DA!" or "BA!" in reaction to your toys and to us, and you love to blow raspberries. Grampie taught you to stick your tongue out, and to say "uh-oh!" both of which you do all.the.time. We always know exactly when you're angry or don't like something, because you immediately start crying, and once we give you what you want, you are our little angel again. This happens most often in two situations: when you want a particular food that you can see in front of you or when you do NOT want your diaper changed.

You are cruising like mad, although when you want to get somewhere you immediately start crawling. You're a regular Speedy Gonzalez on all fours! You love to crawl all the way down the hallway and start banging on one of the bedroom doors--usually R's bedroom, because you know there are lots of toys in there for you to get into. But if we were given 3 guesses as to where we could find you playing at any given moment, our first guess would almost always be in front of R's play kitchen, opening the cabinets, pulling out the sink, and dumping out all the play food. You could entertain yourself for hours with that thing!

When playing, your favorite things to do are to climb and to open and close doors. If there's something you can try to climb, you are trying to do it, like a fearless alpiner ignoring potential obstacles ahead. And if there's a door that can be opened or closed repeatedly, you're on top of it! You continue to love the Roll-A-Round Dinosaur, and we've recently been pulling out stacking blocks and duplos which you are really enjoying discovering. One of your favorite toys is this book--a vtech Rhyme and Discover book that R received from Great-Grammie and Aunt L for her first Christmas. You push the buttons and open and close the different pages and just seem absolutely enthralled with it.


Happy birthday, sweet, sweet boy!!! We are so looking forward to another year with you and continuing to watch you grow and change.

Love,
Mama

RUS is 1!!

And he's been 1 for a week! Can you believe it?

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

I copied this from Cali's Facebook status:

October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day across the world. Please take part in the global 'Wave of Light'. Simply light a candle at 7pm and leave it burning for at least 1 hour to join us in remembering all babies that have died during pregnancy, at, during or after birth.

Precursor to Our Japan Adventure

J and I are leaving for Japan at the crack of dawn on Wednesday, and getting really excited for the trip!

Here's what Local Hero sent all of us a few weeks ago to help us get prepared. It's going to be SUCH a good time:

"Local Heroine wants to let you all know how excited we are to get to see everyone in less than a month for the cultural celebration held in Okayama, Japan. It will feature a scenic drive from the airport you fly into to the hotel via a lovely spacious shuttle bus (it may not be lovely or spacious). Then you can relax in the hotel accomodations that have been prearranged for you to enjoy. By not picking the hotel you can complain all you want and blame us for screwing it up, our gift to you. The following day will begin with a trip to the shrine where the wedding will be held and there will be an opportunity for sightseeing and marriage practice because we all know you need to practice if you want to be good at anything. After that we will give you the choice of what to do that afternoon before the rehearsal dinner. There are some neat sightseeing areas which are fun, the hotel is next to an amusement park (not quite Cedar Point), or if you are still really jet lagged we can lay you down to rest in a field somewhere and come get you later. That evening my friends should be showing up from Kadena and we will have a nice dinner which will be very Japanese so bring your 'I am gonna try new food and like it' hats. They will be needed for the whole trip. The rehearsal dinner is not formal so anything you feel comfortable in is fine. Also for people who are worried about color choices (Mom) you can wear any color except hot pink and highlighter yellow. For the wedding we are also not judging fashion so if you look nice good on you and if you look like we normally dress on Christmas break then, ok, you are probably my blood relative and welcome again. I can tell you this though i will be in a badass kimono looking like Tom Cruise in "The Last Samurai" so prepare to be shown up. After that we will go back to the hotel for the reception it will be like a lunch 12-3 time frame. Know that we don't have a lot of stuff planned and its really tough cause her family speaks as much English as you guys speak Japanese so this may go over like a fart in church but we are gonna have a good time anyway. For everyone staying longer we will have time to go see some neat areas of Okayama but more on that later. I hope this gives you a little idea of how things will go."

I'll keep all of you posted!

Some Tidbits From Today

R told me today that I should be a unicorn for Halloween and that J should be a bunny.

She also backed off of wanting RUS to be a bee (which was her original idea) because bees sting. Now she wants RUS to be a caterpillar. I can't help but wonder if J had anything to do with her change of heart . . . as we had already been talking about RUS being a caterpillar to go with R's butterfly costume--we haven't made it yet so I don't know how it's going to come out but we are all very excited. She's been very adamant that she wants to be a BLUE butterfly with an ORANGE mask.

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At one point during dinner R said, "I was thoughting . . ." J told her it was "thinking" but I still think that is the cutest word I've heard in a long while.

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On my way in to drop her off at day care one of her classmates and her mom were walking in front of us. Her mom was dressed in awesome 4 inch tall red pumps, and R totally noticed the shoes. She said to me, "Look! Look! Maddie's mommy has shoes like yours!" (For the record, I was wearing very ordinary black shoes with a big square heel). I laughed and said to R, "Yes, Maddie's mommy's shoes are awesome." Then she says to me, "Mommy, your shoes are awesome, too!"

Little Frog and R

R absolutely adores her cousin Little Frog. She talks about her all the time--several times a week she asks if she can go to Little Frog's house or maybe Little Frog is going to be at Grammie and Grampie's house and can she go there?

She's frequently very optimistic: "Little Frog can stay at Grammie and Grampie's house for FIVE DAYS!" she will tell us, very emphatically with several nods of her head. We tell her that maybe sometime Little Frog will stay at Grammie and Grampie's, but that she's not there right now.

Little Frog did come down to visit last month, though, and while R and I were reading Alice in Wonderland last night before bed, R tells me, "Little Frog and I went to Alice's house!" They did, indeed. At the Philadelphia children's museum, called the Please Touch Museum, there is a replica of Alice's house and various scenes from Alice in Wonderland that R and Little Frog absolutely loved playing in.

First, they took the sweets that said "Eat Me" and were too big for the house
here you can see Alice and Grammie joining them in the house (apparently Little Frog pulled Grammie in and insisted she come in, too).
Then they tried the bottle that said "Drink Me" and were too small for the house. R dressed as Alice and Little Frog was one of the playing cards.
Then they had tea with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare
And took a ride on the Dodo Bird!

Five Teeth!

RUS has five large and very visible teeth now. They completely change his look!

Community Day 2

Our city has an annual "Community Day" which is totally awesome. There are tons and tons of booths and tables set up and people walk around doing crafts, activities, getting information about all kinds of things. In fact, it was at Community Day that we learned about the dance class we signed R up for (see video below) and R got to decorate a mask and make a mobile and . . . with Grammie, make a scarecrow.

RUS and I just hung out and watched the activity going on.
He had a blast picking up and playing with the straw, and was in a pretty chipper mood because he'd just woken up from this:

I can't believe she's only had three lessons so far!

Excuses, Excuses

R does not love helping us clean up after dinner and before bed. Even though we tell her that cleaning up is her ticket to being able to do something she wants to do--such as read a book or watch a video--she will say anything, or dillydally endlessly, in order to avoid it.

Tonight I asked her to help clean up by picking up clean laundry that had spilled out of the laundry basket and put it back in the basket. She said, "I can't do it, Mommy." I said, "Why not?"

And then she says to me, while holding her hands up limply in front of her body, "Because my hands are so very very very tired, I can't do it. I can't pick all those clothes up."