Thanksgiving

This is one of several pictures my sister Theresa took of us on Thanksgiving.  We are going to use another one for our holiday cards.

My parents hosted Thanksgiving at their house and with all the siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews in attendance, it was a full house!  We did potluck and all the food was delicious.  Aaron played some games with his cousins and uncles and Audrey was passed around among relatives with almost no complaint, which is pretty good for her.

Early on, Aaron was playing Orchard with his cousin Alex and Uncle Jeff.  He apparently tooted without acknowledging it (I was in the other room and found out later).  After a few seconds, Jeff asked him what that was.  He thought for a second and said "I sat on a duck!"  When Jeff was explaining this to me, I didn't understand that Aaron had tooted.  I thought Aaron had just claimed to have sat on a duck.  So I asked "Did it quack?" and Jeff and Alex quickly said "Ooooooooohh, yeah."  And that's when I understood.  I think "sat on a duck" is going to become a new euphemism in our house.

Quack Quack

Aaron make a bird feeder at preschool out of a pine cone, honey and bird seed.  It's hanging outside the kitchen window.  This morning, while sitting in her high chair, Audrey was looking out the window and pointing.  I looked and saw a bird on the pine cone having a snack.  She said "quack quack".  I guess a duck sound is the only bird sound she knows.  She proceeded to quack whenever she saw a bird on the feeder.  Once, I looked out and saw a bird so I said "quack quack" and she turned to look out the window at the bird feeder.  I wonder what all goes on inside that adorable little head that she can't yet communicate.

Cuddle time

My cuddly little monkey

I'm ready for my close up

Thom saw a photo opportunity when I was cuddling Audrey this afternoon.  But once Audrey saw the camera, she forgot all about me.

Pop goes the balloon

We went to a family oriented fund raiser event last night.  We dressed Aaron in this outfit I bought at Costco last year.  It is 4T so I've been waiting for him to grow into it (and for the weather to cool off, which it finally has).  He was so handsome.

At the event there was a balloon man making balloon animals for kids.  When he came up to us and offered to make Aaron a balloon, I thought he'd ask Aaron what he wanted.  Instead, he took out a grey balloon and made him a sword.  I'm not a big fan of giving a 3 year old make-believe weapons.  We don't even have squirt guns at our house.  But the guy was trying to be nice and I let it go.  Although Aaron has seen other kids, especially his twin cousins, playing around with swords or light sabers, he proceeded to hold his balloon sword by the blade.

A minute later, he dropped it on the floor.  When he went to pick it up, it popped.  He burst into tears.  I felt awful for him.  I remember being afraid of balloons popping when I was a kid.  And this one popped right as he was reaching for it, so it was especially traumatic.  Thom was carrying Audrey, so I picked him up and we went over to where there was a quartet playing.  He sat on my lap and I was swaying with him to the music.  He was mostly quiet, but would periodically tell me things like "I don't like skinny balloons.  I only like fat balloons."  So I could tell he was still getting over the shock.  It was his first experience with the skinny, bendable balloons and I suspect he will not be a fan any time soon.

Chore day

Sunday is chore day.  Most weeks we try to pick up the floors and vacuum.  Thom usually does the vacuuming and Aaron always loves to watch.  We had this yellow stick vacuum in the back of the closet with a telescoping handle.  But if you don't pull the handle out, it is the perfect size for Aaron.  When he asked to vacuum a year ago, I let him try this one, but invariably he just wanted to watch me do it so I stopped getting it out.  But two weekends ago he wanted to vacuum with the yellow vacuum so I tried again and this time he did it all by himself.  He does a great job, even making sure to move the cord out of his way.  This past Sunday he wanted to vacuum again even though Thom wasn't going to vacuum.  So I let him.  No sense in discouraging an interest in cleaning up.

Election Day

"Look Ma!  I voted!" 

Audrey loves stickers and when she saw mine after I voted early on election day, she pointed and said "Uh uh uh" until I gave it to her.  She later pulled it off and put it on her brother.

I love her in these hand-me-down jammies from Aaron.  The dark blue brings out the blue in her eyes.

Dr. Audrey

After Halloween, Aaron's two doctor kits were out in the play area.  Audrey took great pleasure in putting both toy stethoscopes around her neck and crawling around with them on.  Sometimes she'd come up to me and put the stethoscope up to my chest and then her chest.  She really pays attention to how Aaron's toys work and does a great job imitating him.

Halloween

Aaron was a doctor for Halloween this year.  I don't believe in buying costumes and I don't know how to sew, so I tried to come up with something I could put together easily.  Since he had a doctor's bag and a real, child-size stethoscope (from Lakeshore Learning), all I needed was a white lab coat.  Unfortunately Thom didn't have a shirt that worked, but Kim's daughter had a uniform shirt that worked perfectly.  I printed out "Dr. Aaron" on a clear mailing label and his costume was complete.

Aunt Lily, Thom's sister, had sent Audrey a Winnie-the-Pooh outfit last year that was for this Halloween and it fit perfectly.  Aaron loves Winnie-the-Pooh, so he enjoyed her costume.

I'm not a big fan of giving kids candy, but we did do some trick-or-treating.  At noon, I took him up to the local Trader Joe's shopping center where the stores were giving out candy for trick-or-treaters.  Most of the kids were in store-bought costumes of superheroes and princesses and he got a lot of attention for his doctor costume.  Several people called out "What's up, doc?" as we walked along, and one woman in the grocery store asked Aaron to check her heart.

After dinner we hit 9 neighbor's houses.  He enjoyed trick-or-treating a little more than last year.  But unlike last year, this time he knew what candy was and he knew he wanted it.  I still managed to give away most of it and the rest we put in a candy bowl on the kitchen table.  He was allowed one treat after dinner each night.  One neighbor we knew well had given out baggies of home made cookies which he wanted the first night.  In addition to candy, he also got some Goldfish and Utz pretzels (in Halloween shapes) and he enjoyed those treats just as much, choosing Goldfish over candy one night.  After a week, I put the candy in the cupboard and he forgot about it for several days. 

When he does have a sugary treat after dinner, he gets hyper.  It's a myth that sugar doesn't make kids hyper and I don't need any more of it than necessary.  So we allow him some treats, enough that it's not something forbidden and therefore more desirable.  But we keep it to a minimum and make it something special.

Babysitter

A few nights ago, Aaron was sitting at the dining room table playing preschool games.  It was getting close to dinner time and he told me he wanted Audrey to play with his castle (a series of stacking boxes painted to look like a castle) and his kitchen (the play kitchen which we constantly have to stress is everyone's kitchen, not his kitchen because he never wants her to play with it).  I was pleased to hear him sound so willing to share.  He said he would watch her while I made dinner.  He'd be the babysitter, he said. 

Wow, that warmed my heart.  It's always hard to make dinner because I can't leave them alone together.  I have to put her in her highchair where I can keep an eye on her.  And even then, if Aaron is not otherwise occupied, he keeps getting in her face and I have to try to keep a sharp eye on them while cooking so he doesn't hurt her.  So if he were willing to play nicely with her while I cooked, that would really be something!

Well, it lasted for about a minute.  She started playing with his kitchen and he got down from the table to come play with her.  Then she reached for the timer on the table next to his kitchen.  The timer for goodness sake!  His precious timer that is counting down the hours until the "soup" in his oven is done.  (It used to be my kitchen timer, but I've let go.)  Well, he couldn't have her playing with that.  Then he'd never know when the soup was done.  So he went from loving brother/babysitter, to pushing her down as she reached for his timer.  C'est la vie.