Half-pint Halloween...

This year, the Halloween season seemed to come earlier than ever before. I was shocked when the costume Half-pint was interested in was sold out in his size when I began the epic adventure of finding costumes for the boys-in mid-September! I thought, "we'll be able to find something...it's still early". Then, when I hit the search hard again in early October, I was stunned when literally all the costumes Half-pint was interested in were sold out in his size-even at the on-line stores. I was really feeling like a bad mother...I couldn't even find a costume for my little guy-what a slacker I was!?! (Quarter-pint's was easy...even got it at a discount at a consignment store...in mid-September.) After literally searching ALL the stores in the local mall AND the outlet mall with no luck we came home and hit eBay. I found one that he really liked, won the bid and we waited for it to arrive. When the green monster with 3 eyes (very adorable I might add) finally arrived, I could smell the stench of old cigarette smoke through the plastic packaging. I nearly pass out when I actually opened it! It went straight in the washing machine, but one trip through the wash cycle wasn't enough. Half-pint tried it on and to our utter horror, it was too small! I toyed with the idea of cutting it all apart, sewing hems on all the cuts and making a one-piece suit into three, but quickly decided that was entirely too much work. Luckily for Half-pint I got a great deal on-line on a pirate costume. I bought it with the intention of "dress up", but with the entire Halloween costume fiasco (which lasted a good 6 weeks) I decided to offer it up. He was thrilled and quickly decided that was the costume for him! Thankfully he's pretty agreeable about those kind of things!

(this little giraffe loves lollipops)

Then the week of Halloween, we were hit with a HUGE snow storm...HUGE...3 snow days from school-amidst 2.5 days of non-stop snow! (I nearly went CRAZY, especially because the timing of the storm was the first week back from a 2 week fall break!) Half-pint's Halloween party at preschool was postponed, and then cancelled due to the weather. The trunk'or'treat activity at church was a huge maybe right up until the 28th, and we were all praying that the weather would hold and the snow would stop in time for the actual holiday.

Thankfully, the snow let up and the weather warmed up enough that trick'or'treating was actually pleasant (I just wore a light weight jacket-no heavy coats!). The boys were excited about the annual tradition of trick'or'treating at Daddy's office. They get to see their cousins-that makes it really fun! Quarter-pint started to get the hang of the whole free candy thing. He loved it!

Then, on Halloween evening, we did more trick'or'treating at the church activity. All the way home, the boys ate as much candy as they wanted...it's it great to be a kid! We got pizza for dinner and Half-pint set his mind to man the door. By 5:30 he was sticking his little neck out the front door and yelling to anyone within earshot that we had candy and they should come to our door. He was actually soliciting trick'or'treaters!

I took the boys out in our neighborhood to fill their new candy bags (hand-made while waiting out a snow storm). When we came to houses with a bowl of candy on the porch, Half-pint would intentionally take candy he didn't like. I questioned him about it and was quite surprised at his response:

"You don't like that kind of candy."

"I know."
"You can pick a different kind, something that you like."

"I know, I want to take this one."

"WHY???"

"So I can sell it at home, to the kids who come to our door."

Wow, I was shocked...he understood it on some many levels...like we can take his candy and pass it out if our candy bowl runs out...what kid actually plans for that??? Is he a budding entrepreneuer?

As soon as we got about a block and a half away from home, Half-pint stopped going to doors to get more candy. He waited patiently on the sidewalk while I escorted little Quarter-pint to the door, then we headed home...we did not pass GO, just straight home. Half-pint was ready to eat his pizza and hand out some more candy. When we walked in the door, he quickly pulled all the "sell it" candy out of his bag-it went into the candy bowl by the door. He loves to man the door-even more than getting the candy himself (of course he has access to the entirety of our candy while manning the door-smart kid!)

So, Halloween was a success after all, despite the costume fiasco in September and the weather the end of October. They can't wait to do it all again next year!

Half-pint's Sayings...

Recently, Half-pint has said a few funny things...

A few days ago, while driving in the car, Half-pint was unusually quiet. When I asked him what he was thinking about, this was his response...

"What are you thinking about?"

"What we talked about this morning"-very matter of fact.
"We talked about a lot of things...which one?"-I honestly had no idea what he was referring to...
"I want to sell my money and buy new money."

"Really? What kind of money to do want???"

"Green money. I don't want coins."

That makes sense- "What will you do with your green money?" Now I'm pretty curious.

"Put it in my piggy bank"

Duh Mom!

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Today while at the grocery store I took advantage of the seasonal flu shot at the pharmacy. I had the boys get flu mist about 6 weeks ago, and Daddy got a flu shot at work, so it was just me left...and I kept forgetting to make an appointment. The boys were not waiting as patiently as I would have liked, but when it came time for the pharmacist to actually administer the shot, both boys were quite still. Just as the needle touched my arm, Half-pint yelled "Mom!!! RUN!!! Run from the shot!!!" He was quite serious and worried for me. It's a bummer that he'll have his kindergarten well check in a few short months-that means shots! Poor kid! He has no idea what's coming!

Quarter-pint Makes A Mess...

***WARNING***

***THIS IS A POTTY TRAINING POST***

About a week ago, around lunch time, Quarter-pint took his shirt off. I was a little surprised, but didn't think much of it. A little while later, he took his pants off. Still didn't think much of it-my boys like to take their clothes off (see past posts about this topic). About 2:00 I found Quarter-pint playing in the bathroom. To my surprise he was completely naked, sitting on the cold tile floor playing with his little potty. To my horror he was sitting in a puddle of pee. As I began to clean up the floor, he sat on his potty, peed, and then tried to empty the bowl from the little potty into the toilet...and he missed. That meant more pee on the floor. I quickly put his naked little body into the tub so I could clean the pee off the floor-and to keep him contained, if only for a few minutes. While I went to work on the floor, Quarter-pint pooped in the bathtub. As I began to freak out at the situation, he then accidental stepped in it. I couldn't believe the whole scenario! Needless to say, as soon as I had Quarter-pint wiped down, the bathtub cleaned up and the floor taken care of-the boys were promptly put into the (clean) bathtub upstairs. Oh, the joys of precious little boys!

No More Quarter-pint Containment...

It's a sad, sad, sad week at our house. This week Quarter-pint has MASTERED climbing out of his high chair (even when buckled in), AND his crib. I'm not ready to have the busy little man loose around the house with NO containment options! My life just got more stressful!

Half-pint Happenings...

I know, I'm a little behind; these are some of the things Half-pint has been up to recently: It's been a busy past few weeks for Half-pint! He started preschool this fall-at the same school he attended last year-with all the same friends and a few new ones. He was so excited to go and this year it's old hat, so there is some comfort in that for him (and me).

We took the boys on their first camping trip in August. Half-pint was so excited to sleep in a tent that it didn't matter that Quarter-pint kept us (mostly me) awake most of the night-both nights. Half-pint LOVED roasting marshmallows over the fire and playing with Aunt C6-they had secret forts under the low boughs of the trees between the camp sites. We also took Half-pint spelunking. He was super excited to go into a "spooky cave". He practically ran up the 3/4 mile (switch back) hiking trail to the cave entrance.

He took one look at the entrance and freaked out! There was NO WAY he was climbing into that hole-into the dark! Daddy and I spent a few minutes of talking, then bribing and he eventually decided to try. Once he got in he was a champ! We had a hard time keeping a good hold on him-he was trying to lead the whole group around in the dark. He even used a rope to climb up a few steep, slippery, muddy slopes. He crawled on his hands and knees, and generally loved the whole experience. We were so proud of him for facing his fear of the dark, cold cave!

Half-pint also tried his hand at fishing (another first) before we left the beautiful Sylvan Lake State Park campground. I don't think they caught anything though. We still had a great time with family for a few days in beautiful surroundings!

On our way home, we caught up with Grammy and Grandpa C in Dillon. We stayed another night there and the boys rode the alpine slide for the first time. They had a blast! Half-pint wasn't even afraid of the chair lift ride to the top. We also rented a pontoon boat and spent a few hours on the lake. The boys took turns driving the boat with Grandpa. They thought it was great fun!

Over Labor Day weekend we were back in Dillon. We took the boys on the train in Leadville (elevation 10,200 feet). Quarter-pint kept saying "Hoo-hoo!" (choo-choo). We ate popcorn and enjoyed the scenery. Then we took a "short cut" back towards the house-we went 4-wheeling over Mosquito Pass. It's notoriously very rocky. We bounced slowly along and both boys eventually fell asleep. After we reached the summit and started heading down the east side, the boys woke up. Half-pint chimed in "Daddy, let's go home. There's lots of rocks on this road!" Then he said "this thing needs new shocks!!!" The shocks on the jeep are fine-it was just REALLY rocky! We got out to look around an old mine-then near the bottom we explored the mine's mill house. Half-pint really wanted to go up the rickety, half decomposed, wooden steps to explore the top two levels-he just wanted to see it all! (I think he gets that from me-I really wanted to explore it ALL too, but it obviously wasn't safe.)

Now we're back into the swing of school and speech therapy schedules and just a regular routine. It's kind of nice (at least for me) to know what the week will hold-but we still have one weekday each week that's totally unscheduled-today we're headed to the zoo!

More Quarter-pint Mischief...

Just this morning (it's not even noon yet), I've caught Quarter-pint tearing pages out of library books, playing with the handicam, playing with my heat laminating machine, picking on his brother, playing with the extra car keys-setting off the car alarm (with the car securely in the closed garage), turning up the volume on the movie the boys were watching so loud that I could hear it upstairs while I was in the shower, tearing apart my spider plant, continually opening and closing the freezer, and generally causing havoc.

This is a fairly typical day with Quarter-pint; sometimes I'm nearly consumed by trying to keep him out of trouble and from getting hurt. I am SO happy for his afternoon nap time that I can barely contain my excitement. Aren't busy two-year-old boys fun?

Quarter-pint Mischief...

Quarter-pint has officially entered the "Terrible Twos". Thank goodness it's not generally for screaming tantrums (although he does do that on occasion), but more for all the mischief he gets into. On several occasions recently (especially since his birthday) I find him doing both naughty and funny things. We were having a difficult day (Quarter-pint was whining and into everything, and I was trying to keep my cool) when I thought a little distraction might be a good idea. He likes to help me, especially when I'm doing the laundry and it just so happened that I had a load of laundry to move from the washer to the dryer-perfect for him to help me with! He happily followed me tot he laundry room, pattering his little feet the whole way. I opened the dryer and then turned to open the washer. When I turned back to the dryer (literally just a few seconds) this is what I found...

...and I couldn't get him out. I grabbed his little body, but he grabbed on to anything he could. It was a tug-of-war match for a good minute or two before I emerged triumphant and he was freed from the bowels of the dryer. Thank goodness he's not strong enough to open the dryer door by himself!

A few days later, I was washing dishes in the kitchen sink while the boys enjoyed cartoons on the couch. Half-pint was tired, so I was glad they were sitting quietly (there had already been a lot of crying and whining). All of the sudden Half-pint let out a wail that nearly shook the house. I quickly assessed the situation, while still standing at the kitchen sink. As I moved back from the sink so I could see both boys, I nearly laughed out loud (but I didn't because I knew it would only encourage the situation). There was Half-pint on one couch, holding his hand to the top of his head in pain, and Quarter-pint on the other couch, his slender little index finger pursed to his lips desperately trying to shush his brother. Quarter-pint knew he caused the wailing when he threw a toy that bonked the top of his brother's head.

I'm sure there are many more examples of Quarter-pint's mischief, but for the life of me I can't think of the others! He keeps us on our toes-and I'm sure he always will.