Puddle Stomping

The day was cold and fairly clear, and we decided to go for a walk.  We wanted to mix it up, and since the slides were too wet to be any fun we made our way to a trail near our condo.  Lucy wasn't too keen on walking, as you can see, but she WAS excited about the many puddles we encountered.  She had her rain boots on, which means she was allowed to stomp to her heart's content.  

Hitching a ride with dada

The first of many puddles: they just kept getting bigger! 

There were mammoth puddles to be waded.  The first one Lucy took on and walked almost to the top of her boots before backing out and asking for help around.  The second she felt a little more brave and took right off.  Somehow I knew this was going to be worth recording... "It" just seemed inevitable. What was "it", you ask? Well, watch to the end and you'll see.  

Thankfully she's a good sport about such things and as soon as we told her she could ride home in the ergo she was a happy girl once more.  By the time we got home Lucy was laughing about her misadventure and asking to see the "beedeo" over and over again.  

 

Blurry, but had to capture the aftermath

Daddy cleaning up his girl

She got to wear mama's sweatshirt AND ride in the ergo: she was a HAPPY girl! 

Two studs! 

 I promised her a toy bath and warm cocoa (hot cocoa is intimidating, y'all).  She thanked me by spilling it all over herself, turning the bath brown, sobbing that her bath was ruined for the entire time it took to empty and refill it, refusing to drink any cocoa thereafter, and telling us she was "all done" in the bath about two minutes later...  At which point she started crying afresh because she was COLD, whilst simultaneously refusing and rebuffing all my attempts at dressing her. Gotta love toddlers!

Home for hot cocoa -- which she proceeded to spill all down herself, resulting in the need for a fresh bath! 

Malcolm at 6 months

Malcolm Man is SIX MONTHS old.  I nearly forgot it was his half-birthday.  It was late, the room was dark, but we managed to capture his six month old self.  Babies don't keep despite my attempts to bottle him up and keep him at this sweet, lovable, squishable, phase.  

Height: 29.5 inches

Weight: 20 pounds. 

Head: off the charts, officially. By a good margin. Does this mean he has the largest head ever for a 6 month old? 

So happy!

He is just the happiest little fella!  He lights up at the sight (or sound) of his sister.  She makes him giggle more than anyone else.  He's thinking about crawling.  He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth before plopping back down. He makes consistent backward progress, which is one of the few things that makes him rather grumpy. 

He loves to bounce and jump and will spend long periods of time bouncing in his jonny jump-up. He really, really loves it when we sit with him and he bounces in a circle and discovers we're still there with each revolution.  He sits up by himself and rarely tips over any more. He loves his new perspective! 

He has also mastered grabbing and putting in his own paci this month. I first noticed when I laid him down for a nap and tried to give him a paci only to discover he'd already found one and put it in his mouth. Sweet baby!  He loves to nap, and almost always goes down without a fuss. He does, however, like to get up on his hands and knees to watch me leave the room. Just to tug at the heartstrings further, he likes to whimper at me. Gah! 

He naps two to three times a day. He eats solid foods one to two times a day. He still nurses every three hours or so.  He rolls and pivots and makes his way around the house now, and it won't be long before he's chasing his big sister, getting into all her precious belongings. 

Baby model

Still a spitter! But a SEATED spitter! Sister is helpful with the pillows 

He can sit for long periods of time now! 

He does occasionally cry. It's so cute and sad. He gets lots of snuggles! 

Trying out sister's Paw Patrol hat

 It was dark because time marches on.  This so captures the craziness (and his sweetness) we were experiencing.  I realized just before bedtime that he was six months old today. We'd decided to list our condo for sale (more on that in another post), and I was trying to get our place ready for pictures. Pictures -- right. Malcolm. My son. My baby. I almost postponed for the next day when we had better light, he wasn't wearing his same pajamas that he'd been wearing for 24 hours, that had spit up and food stains on them... But I decided "this is us at six months." And this is him: so cheerful, even minutes before bedtime! I just love this chunka-man!

Look who can get his own paci now!

My sweet baby giant: finally took him out of the bassinet. *sniff sniff*

Happy Halloween!

This year we had two little monkeys visit us for Halloween! 

And we're done. 

My chunky monkey! 

This year we joined the Coury, Jones, Courtier, Bonnell crews for a trip to the pirate ship, good food, and Trick or Treating!  Lucy's short legs and awe of all the big kids meant we couldn't quite keep pace, but she had a great time nonetheless.  

Me and my monkey at the pirate ship
Malcolm was back at the Courtiers' with daddy, having a nap

 Most of the kids:

Lucy and Josie have the ultimate toddler friendship: they love to love each other, but not simultaneously. They equally love to hug the other, but not to receive said hugs. It's pretty entertaining to watch! 

 

Lucy and Jace watching the dancing skeleton band

 I think the only time Lucy cried the entire night was when I told her we were going to leave. She was mesmerized by the movie being projected: a skeleton band playing jazz music.

It didn't take long for Lucy to figure out Trick or Treating! Her legs might be short, so she hit about a third the houses that the rest of the kids got to, but that didn't phase her. After each stop, she sat down and examined her booty.  She did great saying "Happy Halloween! Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" at each house. She even disappeared at one point and made it to a door alone when Isaac and I stopped to admire a house's decorations!

It was a crazy whirlwind, but it was all worth it to us when we heard her tell Isaac: "I'm so glad you're here dada. I having so much fun!" And really, isn't that what's it's supposed to be all about?

First ever Trick-or-Treat prize! A full-sized Kit Kat.

Cutest little monkey! 

Malcolm's First Foods

Over the last couple of weeks we've had several conversations that went something like this: 

Isaac: "When are we starting him on solid food?" 

Me: "He's just a baaabyyyy" (snuggles Malcolm in close)

Isaac: "I think he's ready"

Me: "He's my baby!"

(Malcolm tries to redirect my spoon to HIS mouth as I'm holding him at dinner, cries when I eat the bite he had his eye on)

Me: "The doctor said we could wait until he's six months old. He just turned five months..."

(Malcolm crying and reaching for our dinners)

Isaac: "Yeah...  You see that he's ready though, right?" 

Finally broke down and listened to the men in my life... I give you: Malcolm's first solid food:

"Whatcha got there, mama?" 

"Allow me to help you out here, mama"

"It goes right in here, ma"

"Here, mom. I got this!"

Second experience with solids went at least as well as the first:

Give. me. the. foooooood.

I'd say he's a fan of sweet potatoes! 

"But...WHY IS ALL THE SQUASH GONE?" 

No, REALLY! WHY. IS. THE FOOD. GONE?!

And this is where we are now: 

"It's cool, mom. Take your time. Meantime,  I'll just feed myself." 

Too many solids too fast (he wants half a cup at a time) called for prunes.  Grossly effective.
Note to self: next time mix a tablespoon of prunes into a half cup of oatmeal!!! 

"Punkin" Carving 2016: A Tradition Is Born

We started a family tradition of carving pumpkins this year.  Is it original? No.  Is it still really fun (and messy)? Yes!!  We stripped Lucy down to her panties because we knew it was going to be messy, and got to work.  I should have realized that she could stay dressed because she doesn't like to get dirty.  Every time she touched the pumpkin guts she immediately left to wash her hands. 

Lucy was so excited to "cut shapes in her punkin with dada"

Lucy helped harvest the seeds that we later roasted and ate! 

My pumpkin on the left and Lucy and daddy's pumpkin on the right.