The Pumpkin Patch

This year we planned, and cancelled, at least three trips to the pumpkin patch.  We finally decided to tough the crowds and go on a Saturday because it was the only day there was going to be a break in the rain.  It turned out to be a lovely day, on the verge of being warm and cloudy with sun breaks.  Unfortunately, it was a Saturday, the first nice day in over a week, and the only day it wasn't predicted to rain buckets.  We, along with all of Kent, Renton, and Des Moines converged on the Carpinito Bros. Pumpkin Patch.  Seriously, I have seen crowds at the pumpkin patch, but this was an entirely new level.

So optimistic at the start of the maze! 

Begging to be carried

This is true love: an auntie that carries my hefty child around the maze! 

Mom status: Achieved!

Alright, we found marker 1 without too much trouble.  Granted, it wasn't quite where we thought it should be, but we were still optimistic that we had this maze figured! 

She was NOT thrilled with me for telling her she had to stay dressed in the corn maze.

This girl and the "punkins"

Roasted corn: A Patch tradition!  Thank you to my sister for braving the line and bringing this back for me!! 

This guy! He's a big fan of food. AAAANY food! 

Trying to figure out how tall they are! 

Tradition, Tradition! 

Sibling love? 

Lucy was much less scared of the animals this year! The goats were still her favorite. She was pretty bummed that she couldn't make them come down from the top of their pen. 

Watching the geese migrate by the thousands

The Many Faces of Lucy Lu

Oh, my LuLu!  She's such a character!  I just want to bottle her sweetness at this age so I can savor it always. I want to bottle her energy so I can have half of it.  I want to bottle her whining and throw it away. ha! 

I took these pictures across the span of about a minute. Daddy helped with the latter pictures as the result I got was the first picture. This so sums up her little personality right now! So quick to tears, quick to joy and laughter. I love her for all her spunkiness, but man is it exhausting! 

Lucy's thought process kills me.  Her imagination is really taking off and she's verbalizing more of what's happening in her head now and she keeps us laughing.  Recently she told us she was going to "Niveah" (Ninevah).  She called "dintie" (auntie) on a leaf that she used as a phone.

On the way home from church one day:
"Oh no. Our house broken."
Me: "It's broken?" Lucy: "yep."
Me: ???
Lucy: "It turned into a diaper. It a diaper now."

"When auntie come...at some point...bring a present. For my birthday.  Dat be a special tweat!" (Everything is about special treats these days).

Lucy: "I go in my yoom, get fussies out, then I come out here and be cheerful"  She went in her room and wailed for a couple of minutes, then came out and said she was cheerful and asked to do blocks with me.

Potty training continues to be a slow process.  She is pooping on the potty without incident, other than that it still stresses her out a bit (but sometimes we get an easy occurrence, so light at the end of that tunnel?!).  She's having more accidents now as she's getting more wrapped up in play and imagination. We're working on reminding her to go every hour or so.  She's getting better at holding it/peeing away from home, though, so again, we're making progress.  It's just slow. And I hate it. BUT I wouldn't want to go back to diapers for the world, so there you go! ;)

My little sunshine on a rainy walk 

Crazy face.

Little Miss Mischief

Isaac and I got the rare opportunity to spend some one on one date time with our best girl a couple weeks ago.  We took her for ice cream, and she looooved all the attention (and sugar). 

This girl is her daddy's mini me in energy and brilliance.  I think she may be a scholar one day like he is.  I caught her comparing her two kid Bibles for the story of Jonah. :) 

Nursing her baby Rachie 

I love that she still needs her nap.  She's growing so quickly, and I love that she still has that bit of babyness left. 

Checking her heart with the shower hose

Chatting on the phone

A peak at the teen years

My little photo bomber! She loves to be involved in all things "broyer" 

Malcolm at 5 Months

Where did my little baby go?  There's nothing little about this chunk these days!  I love every squishy, chubby, roll and dimple.  He's just a love!

What? Five months old, you say? 

My chubby little man! 

Theologian in training

Malcolm just discovered he can growl, and growl he does.  All day long.  A few days after discovering growling, he realized he could shriek, coo, and generally talk.  He loves to talk to himself, to his toys, to the TV, sister, but not the camera! Isaac was able to capture this video after much trying:

Malcolm loves his toes, just like his sister did at this age.  He can roll from his tummy to back and now back to tummy.  Most exciting of all, he can find and put his paci in his mouth all by himself!  If you've had a paci baby, you know this is a BIG DEAL!

Mmm, toes!

Malcolm is still exclusively breastfed.  He usually goes to bed around 7pm, wakes up around 11 or 12 and every 2-3 hours thereafter, before being up for the day around 8am.  He takes two long naps each day (if we're home for him to do so), one in the morning about an hour after he wakes up, then again around 12:30, and sometimes there's a catnap around dinner time.  Lucy still naps, so most days I try to get them down around the same time for midday naps, and I get an hour or two of sanity-giving quiet time!

FINALLY starting to sleep on his back

Overall Malcolm is a really happy guy! He's not shy about letting me know he's hungry, though.  If I'm holding him he'll start gnawing on my face or "kissing" me. If someone else is holding him, he'll turn until he spots me, then make eye contact and holler until I come get him.  He then likes to nurse for a moment, pop off and chuckle or smile at me with that sweet milky face, then get right back to business.  How can I say "no" to that, even if it happens more often than the hoped-for every three hour span?  He's got rolls to maintain! ;)

When he's not drooling, he's spitting up. 

Malcolm still loves tummy time with a couple of toys, and is now starting to roll to reach toys that are just out of reach.  He can push himself up into a pike position on his hands and feet now, and is working on sitting up unassisted. He can hold himself up for a moment now before he topples.  He loves to hold onto our hands to stand up, too!

Scholar in training

He's still in (mostly) 9 month clothes, but that's mostly because mama can't quite bear the thought that he's ready for 12 month clothes!  This week will probably see him graduate up, though. He's in 12 month jammies already, and the rest are not far behind.

I love watching Lucy and Malcolm interact.  She starts every day asking for "broyer" and she gets so excited to see him!  He lights up when he sees her and gives her the biggest, drooliest grins! She gets him toys, brings him pacifiers, "reads" to him, tries to undress him and change his diapers...  She's my big (and sometimes overly exuberant) helper!

They adore each other! 

And then there's daddy and Malcolm.  They're always getting up to some kind of shenanigans. 

Standing up like a big man! 

One more video for good measure. THIS was a big, and much-anticipated milestone: