Skip and Zadie

I like this picture for many reasons.  First of all, I like the way that Skip is looking at Zadie.  Although they are often quite competitive with each other, they also do have a very deep connection and much prefer to be in one another's company than not.  When we put them to bed at night, they laugh and talk to each other for about 30 minutes (or sometimes longer) before falling asleep.  And in the morning Skip always wakes up first and yells for Zadie to wake up.  They can't actually get out of bed until their little alarm clock lights up, so then they lie in bed talking and playing for a little bit longer.  It's pretty cute (except when it happens way too early and also wakes Charlie up).

Zadie is definitely the prototypical oldest child in terms of how she bosses and cares for Skip, some of which he completely disregards and some of which, surprisingly, he really seems to appreciate.

I also like this picture because I like both of their outfits, but Zadie's in particular.  I can't remember where we were going on this day, but it was a beautiful and sunny day and Zadie was stylish in her little jumper.  And Skip is quite a looker, too!

Rainy Morning

When the kids woke up this morning, Tori said, "Guess what?  It's RAINING outside!" and they squealed with delight.  On rainy days,Tori lets them watch movies, which is a very exciting occasion in their lives.  It's quite exciting for me, too, because then they just sit happily on the couch and watch Kipper on our laptop while I get to read the paper and drink tea.

It has rained all morning and the kids watched two episodes of Kipper (my sister gave me the tip about that show because so many of the other kids shows are way too annoying, like Barney or Caillou), played a board game with Tori, and then basically ran out of indoor activities.  I suggested watching more Kipper, but Tori got Skip and Zadie all bundled up in rain jackets and boots and she took them out for a wet adventure.  They stomped in puddles, found new waterfalls, and generally mucked around in the rain.  They were gone for about an hour and just came back for a nice warm bath.

The rain stopped just now.  It's been a fun morning!

Charlie Loses His Curls

Charlie has very, um, distinctive hair.  It's red and curly.  Not tight curls but long curly locks.  We were kind of attached to his curls, so we didn't get him a haircut for a long time.  Recently he started to resemble Bozo the Clown with the curls sticking out on the sides, so Tori took him to get a haircut.

I'm wondering if Tori asked the lady to cut his hair just like hers.  The similarity is remarkable -- they both have pixy cuts!

Halloween Photos

Finally getting a chance to post some photos from Halloween.  Tori did a great job on Zadie's costume -- she was Pippi Longstocking -- and Skip's costume also turned out well.  He ended up being a farmer/cowboy, even though originally we were going to make him Pippi's friend Tommy.  And Charlie was Pippi's monkey, which worked out well since it kept him warm on a fairly cold (for California) trick-or-treating night.  So we didn't pull off a theme like we try to every year, but they were still pretty cute.

And I was particularly proud of Tori for telling the kids they could eat an unlimited amount of candy that night IF they ate all their dinner.  We stuck to our promise and Skip, in particular, completely gorged on candy.  I don't think he's ever experienced anything remotely like that.  It's kind of funny for me to think about how all his food is so tightly regulated and healthy and then all of the sudden his parents dress him up in a funny outfit, tell him to go knock on people's doors, and he gets to eat all the candy he's ever wanted.  Seems kind of overwhelming, but he adjusted just fine.

It was a really fun night and one of those times when I tried to stop and pinpoint why exactly I was having so much fun with my kids.  Frankly, I wish I felt that way more often (instead of being tired or hurrying or nagging) and so when it happens I really try to figure out what is making me so happy and how I can replicate it in the future.  I think it was fun not to have any rules and just let the kids do whatever they wanted.  It turns out that I enjoy my children way more when they're eating tons of candy.  I'm sure that goes both ways.

Fall Weekend w/the Grandparents

We're fortunate that we get to spend a lot of time with my parents, but I guess because we see them so frequently we always forget to take photographs.  So I made a special point to get at least one good photograph for the blog this weekend.

This is a photo of my parents taking our kids to a little pumpkin patch in their brand-new MOTORHOME!  They drove up to see us Saturday afternoon and spent the night in their motorhome nearby our house.  It's a special treat because they haven't really had any incentive to come visit us in L.A. since we don't have any space to accommodate them.  Now that they have this motorhome, hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more of them.  

We went on a mini-road trip with them today to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and the kids got to run around in nature for a little bit.  The kids were very happy cruising in the motorhome because it has a television and so they watched movies the whole time.  The best part was that we didn't have to pull over when they had to go to the bathroom!

Charlie's First Words

As odd as it is, I would have to say that Charlie's first word was "uh-oh."  I wish that it was "mama," but although he can definitely and occasionally does say "mama," he doesn't really say it with the proper context.  On the other hand, he totally understands the uh-oh concept and says it at the perfect moment.

The other word that he has just started saying is "bye-bye."  Once I thought he said it when Zadie was making him wave goodbye, but maybe that was a coincidence.

He really is hitting all kinds of developmental milestones lately -- my favorite is that he now uses the proper sign for "more" instead of just screaming like a wild man.  That is a huge relief and hopefully he'll learn some other signs, too.

I'm eagerly waiting for him to start walking because I think that will be really fun (hopefully I don't eat my words).  But he's rather on the heavy side, so it will be nice when he doesn't need to be held all the time.  And I also know that he'll have more fun keeping up with his siblings once he can walk.

I seem to always be creating these light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel scenarios, so my current version of that is that our lives will be soooo much easier once Charlie can walk.  Fingers crossed!

Flashback to Port Angeles Trip

I finally downloaded photos from my camera and found all kinds of fun memories from our trip to Port Angeles, WA this summer to see Grandma Linda.  

It's great to have a yard.  Makes parenting much easier and less stressful!

 I love this red table.  It was great for having a sunny breakfast together or a quiet cup of tea.

 Two of Zadie's cousins slept in the backyard in the tent (we had lots of people visiting Linda's house) and so of course it was quite the fun place to hang out.

Love this photo of Zadie with her Grandma Linda.