A milestone for Scott!!!!

Scott stood up from the floor ALL BY HIMSELF today!!!! Usually, he has to pull up on a piece of furniture, and he'll take off walking from there. We've been working so hard to get him to use those core muscles to stand up on his own, but it's really hard for him.

Anyway, Scott was in the playroom, and I popped in a Baby Signing Time DVD for Juliet to watch while I put him down for his nap. He heard the music, and immediately tried to get up so he could go into the living room to watch the show. I watched him from down the hall, and he was trying so hard, the little guy. He'd get up on his hands and feet, and he'd try to use his core muscles to pull himself up to stand, but then it would be too hard, and he'd give out. He tried about three times with no luck, and then he finally did it! I was so excited, I started shrieking and crying, and I grabbed him up in a hug, and I think I scared him.

So it was an exciting day for us.

I am way overdue for a post, and I have tons of pictures I need to share. As usual, life has gotten away from me. Suffice it to say, the kids are good, Juliet is a full-time walker (have I mentioned that already? I think I have), Scott is doing wonderfully well at school, and we're preparing for his transition out of Early Steps with his third birthday.

Hopefully, I can get on and post some pictures tomorrow.

Halloween hangover

Yesterday was Halloween, and it was a busy day around here! We started our morning at our playgroup Halloween party, where we snapped our annual picture of the kids in all their get-up. It's getting progressively harder as the years go by to get a decent picture of our kids together.

This was the best we could do this year:

Here we have (clockwise) Scott the monkey, Brinley the kitty-cat, Tinkerbell Emma, Abby as Snow White, Paige as the uncooperative Abby Cadabby, and Cinderella Bethany.


Um, yeah. They weren't the most cooperative subjects. Notice Paige has exited the premises.



Here they are during our first Halloween party, two years ago. This was back when playgroup was quiet, and the kids stayed in one place, and all us mommies would hang out and enjoy our coffee and chat with one another. It's not so much like that anymore.

You're looking at Lindsey the ladybug, Paige the witch, Scott the Chinese Dude, Emma the pumpkin, and Brinley, the ladybug.

Can you see the long, black braid hanging from the hat Scott is wearing? Hee!



Juliet did not get to be in this year's playgroup picture because she had a bad cold and had to remain quarantined in the pack 'n play in the corner of the room. Here she is, gazing longingly at the Halloween fun.

She felt so crummy, I didn't even put her in her Halloween costume. We'll have a re-do later today.

We did sing Happy Birthday to her, though, so it's not like she was totally left out. I think she looks a lot like my baby pictures in this photo.


Later yesterday evening, I took Scott over to my friend Leslie's house for trick or treating while Travis kept sniffly Juliet at home. Our neighborhood doesn't have much trick or treating at all, but there were a ton of kids out in Leslie's neighborhood. Scott had a great time, riding from house to house in the wagon. I let him get out and walk up to several doors for candy, but Scott is a wiley thing and kept trying to run away from me, so back into the wagon he'd go. Plus, his monkey costume throws off his balance, and I was worried he would fall.

Check out our crew.

You're looking at Scott the monkey, Luke the cowboy, Theo as Robin, Jack (Theo's brother) as Batman, and Tank (Luke's brother) as a knight.

The weather was cool, which was a good thing, since Scott was dressed in 83 pounds of monkey fleece.


Check out the loot!

Travis and I have already eaten most of it. Ah, the joys of having children at Halloween.

Travis's parents drove their RV over to a local park for the weekend, so we're heading over there this afternoon for a family birthday festivus for Juliet. More pictures to come.

Juliet turned a year old yesterday!

My darling Juliet,

I can't believe you are 1 year old today! A year ago tonight, you were born, and it was absolutely thrilling. Your birth was one of the most surreal, amazing moments of my life - not to mention a most welcome reprieve from the DAYS of labor I endured beforehand. That's right, young lady. Days. I will be reminding you of that fact in the future, I'm sure.

You are starting to take your first steps, and it is delightful to watch! You will take four or five steps before you lose confidence in yourself and sit down on the floor, but I know you'll be running all over the house in no time.

You've recently started the most adorable, little baby jabber, and you are often carrying on conversations with yourself that sound like, "Bleh-bwee-bweh-bleh." It makes your daddy and me laugh to hear you "talk." You do have a nice repertoire of legitimate words, though, with your favorites being "ball" (pronounced with the most adorable Southern accent) and "kitty" (sounds like "tee"). You are always pointing out round objects and excitedly proclaiming them balls, including the dome light on the ceiling fan and the little crystals that hang from the chandelier in the foyer. And anything with fur is a kitty - from your stuffed animals to your Mimi's Puppy. You are also entertaining us with words like "uh oh," "book" and "baby." You love to sign "kitty," and you will often sign for your drink, milk, and - the most important sign of all - crackers. You are a demanding, little thing when it comes to your crackers.

You're a pretty good eater, with hot dogs and cheese topping your list of favorites (and cat food!), but you still depend on mama very much for your milk. You tend to be a busy, little baby and not the most snuggly, so I cherish those quiet nursing times you and I have together. You tug at my heart when you open and close your little fist while nursing - the sign for milk.

I am so grateful for your sleeping habits, Juliet! You go to bed at night with little fuss at all. We nurse, rock for a few minutes, and then into the crib you go, wide awake, where you snuggle up with your little, furry blanket, your stuffed kitty, and your pacifier. You gave up your middle-of-the-night snacks at about 7 months, and now you sleep all not long until about 7 a.m. (sometimes 6 a.m., which Mama does not care for in the least - I do not like to get up before the sun). You are still taking two naps a day, but you can sometimes be tough to get to sleep at naptime. You'd much rather be up and playing with your toys or torturing Tad Smith.

And speaking of Tad Smith (or "Tee!" as you call him), he is your favorite toy of all. You love to pat him, pull his tail, yank on his ears and grab hunks of his fur. Thankfully, he is a pretty tolerant cat, but he will nip at you to let you know when he's had enough. You take great delight in his reactions to you, and you giggle whenever he bites you. Which makes me nervous because HELLO, Tad Smith sent your daddy to the ER about two years ago. Still trying to figure out how to distract you from the cat.

You are such a monkey, always getting into things and climbing on everything. You adore crawling up stairs, and you especially love little chairs that are just your size. You will make a game out of climbing in and out of a little, child-sized chair, often diving head-first onto the floor in the process. I'm afraid you are going to be quite the daredevil.

Juliet, you bring a little bit of magic into my life. You are a blessing to your daddy and me, and to Scott. I love you more than words can say, my sweet daughter.

Love,
Mommy



This picture makes me laugh.


*I wrote this yesterday, but what with Halloween and all the busyness around here, I only got around to posting it this morning.

Afternoon outside

The time between afternoon nap and when Travis gets home is usually the hardest part of my day. The kids are whiny and bored, and I'm pretty much spent from dealing with them all day. So I'm always looking for entertainment during those witching hours. Today we hung out at my friend Celeste's house and played with her daughters, Abby and Lily, and their dog Sandy. The kids were happy and entertained, and I even managed to drink a glass of wine and chat with another adult. A successful evening, all around!

Juliet spent the afternoon playing at the sand table with Lily and Abby (you can see the back of Lily's head here). Check out the adorable black and white outfit she's wearing! Her very favorite (and only) aunt Angi, along with her uncle Jeff and cousins Lauren, Christan and Evan, sent it for her birthday. I wish I had a better shot of the whole thing because it's so cute, and I really do love it.


Woo sand table!


Scott chillin' on the swing.

Travis carves a pumpkin.

Travis decided at 10 last night that it was time to carve the pumpkin. It was very festive, what with him carving pumpkins and me sitting around in my pajamas and not helping.

He is such an artiste.


Stay away from my pumpkin. I'm not kidding.


The design.


Sorry, ladies, he's taken.


He's totally cute, isn't he?

Mayhem at the pumpkin patch

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch yesterday. It was not a hit. Scott hadn't napped (crazy kid sat in his crib for THREE HOURS babbling and playing by himself), and Juliet was being her usual, uncooperative self. Not to badmouth my kids or anything, but whatever. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Everyone started out fairly happy, when they had little mini-pumpkins to shove in their mouths. We later put those pumpkins back into the bin at the patch, which I'm sure is some sort of health code violation.


Then we thought, "Hey, we need to get rid of those stupid mini-pumpkins so we can get some pictures of our adorable children, all sweet and smiling and loving one another." Um, yeah.


Ahem.


This is pretty much the best picture of the day, even if Juliet looks like she just spotted Lindsey Lohan walking by (she's actually shouting, "Ball!" at all of the pumpkins). But Scott looks relatively pleasant.

What kind of idiot thinks it's a good idea to dress their kid in a glowingly white shirt for pictures? Oh, right, that would be me.

I don't know, I guess this one's not so bad.


"Word to ya mutha."


Watch out for the vampire.


Scott weeps at the injustice of not being allowed to bite his sister.


Juliet shouting her favorite word - "BALL!" - in reference to the pumpkin. She's kind of obsessed with balls.


Scott checks out a pumpkin.


This would be a picture of Scott throwing a tantrum in my lap. Fun times. I totally played it off, though, right? Like, No way, my kid's not writhing around in my lap in a desperate attempt to get away from me while screaming bloody murder! Pshaw! We're having an awesome time at the pumpkin patch!


But see, he can be pretty cute.


Wait. Never mind.

Check out the fat lip. That would be from Friday evening's incident at Trunk or Treat.



Juliet can't believe her good fortune - "balls" everywhere!


Travis attempts to contain his excitement about being at the pumpkin patch.


As you can see, an awesome time was had by all.

Walking!

Juliet is taking a few steps! Little monkey. We managed to (sorta) get it on video, although she was only marginally cooperative.


Um, and just so everyone knows, I didn't style Scott's hair that way because I think it's super awesome. He'd just gotten out of the bath.

We had Trunk or Treat with our MOMS Club tonight, and the kids had a good time. I don't have any pictures because I was there on my own with them for most of the time, which means I had no opportunities to snap a photo. And then Scott fell down and busted his face, and there was blood everywhere, and it was very upsetting, so yeah - no pictures. But bloody faces aside, the kids enjoyed themselves and looked cute in their costumes. I'll get pictures on Halloween, I promise. I can't believe it will be Juliet's birthday.