In Search of the Great Pumpkin

I really wanted to take Max to the pumpkin patch last year, but since Molly was still so little, we just didn't get around to it. This year, once again, the weather and the babies never seemed to want to cooperate when we had the time to go. So, when the last Sunday before Halloween dawned warm and sunny (at least for October), I decided to seize the day and make a trip to a nearby apple orchard. Unfortunately, Dad was working and couldn't come along, but Mom decided she could wrangle both babies by herself.

There was much preparation -- coats and shoes and appropriate clothing, along with the diaper bag, the camera, and a tote bag for the pumpkins. I've decided that moms would excel in a greased pig catching contest. Not only could we catch the pig, we could dress it, wash its face, brush its teeth, squeeze it into shoes and a coat, and strap it into a car seat (all in less than 15 minutes). Because, essentially, that's what we do multiple times a day! We did eventually make it out the door and set off for the orchard!

I usually try to avoid going anywhere on weekends, because I hate fighting the crowds. But, even though it was fairly busy, the orchard wasn't too crowded. We were able to walk in and hop right on to the tractor-drawn wagon that takes you to the pumpkin patch. Max was pretty intrigued by the tractor, but once I put him up on the wagon bed he started saying, "All done!!," much to the amusement of our fellow pumpkin seekers. I sat Molly on my lap and sat Max next to me, and held on tight to both of them, because the ride gets a little bumpy. Once we started moving, Max settled down. We drove through the orchards and he was all excited to see the apples on the trees ("Apples! MORE apples!"). Molly was already a little tired, so she just sat on my lap and sucked on her fingers.

When we got to the pumpkin patch, Max was SO excited to see all the pumpkins ("Pumpkins! MORE pumpkins!"). He kept running from pumpkin to pumpkin, trying to pick each one up while yelling, "This one! No, THIS one!" Molly thought they all made good drums, so she and Max took turns banging on the pumpkins. I had originally planned on picking out two small pumpkins -- ones that could easily fit into the tote bag I brought, leaving both hands free to wrangle small children. I was sorry to see that there were no little pumpkins to be had and there was no way I could carry two big pumpkins and keep a hold of Max and Molly. So, I let Max pick out a medium-sized pumpkin and promised Molly that I'd get her a Molly-sized pumpkin later. Of course, with all the running around and pumpkin drumming, we ended up being the last people to pick out our pumpkins and get back to the wagon!

So, we rode back to the main building and took a tour of the petting farm animals. They had chickens, ducks, a pig, cows, goats, and sheep, and Max was very interested in the animals. After visiting the beasties, we took the pumpkin back to the car and then went back to the shop to get some cider, apples, and doughnuts (because the best cider, apples, and doughnuts are always the ones you get at the actual orchard). I'd been doing pretty well at toting both kids around, but things started to fall apart in the shop. Molly was tired, Max was wired, and Mom was frazzled. I ended up carrying Molly while chasing Max around the store, and trying to figure out how to get a gallon of cider and a 1/2 peck of apples up to the counter. Max picked out our apples for us when he grabbed one out of a bag and took a big bite before I could stop him. As I headed to the counter with Molly and a bag of apples on one arm, a gallon of cider in my tote bag, and Max held firmly by my other hand, Molly started grabbing apples out of the bag and attempting to toss them on the floor. We somehow managed to get to the counter, pay for everything (and a half dozen doughnuts to boot), and I made a dash for the car. But, it's hard to dash with a very tired 14 month old, an excited two year old, and a ton of goodies. Molly threw a tantrum, Max fell down in the mud in the parking lot, and I ended up sprinting the last few yards to the car with Molly under one arm (kicking and flailing), bags in both hands, and pulling Max along with me. Doughnuts cheered everyone up for the ride home, although Mom was tired for the rest of the day!

We spent our Devil's Night carving pumpkins, roasting pumpkin seeds, and making our annual Halloween dessert -- Boo Ghosts. This was the first year that Molly was old enough to sample the dessert. I think she liked it:



Have a happy Halloween!

Just When I Thought ...

... she couldn't get any cuter (to blatantly steal a blog title and idea from Kim):



She gets pigtails:



You do realize that one of the main reason women want daughters is so that they have someone they can subject to barrettes and bows and pony tails and braids, don't you? Well, you do now! Just wait until her hair is long enough for teddy bear ears ...

Golden

Grandma and Grandpa celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this week and we were so glad that we could help them celebrate. There was a grand old fête, complete with good food, good drink, cake, music, photos (of course), and lots and lots of family and friends. Max and Molly attempted to provide entertainment by running around like little wild things during most of the festivities (when they weren't trying to beg bites of cake or candy). Thankfully, the big kids volunteered to act as baby wranglers when Mom and Dad needed a baby-chasing break!

We wish Grandma and Grandpa the very happiest of anniversaries. Dad and I hope that we can spend the years until our golden anniversary with such grace, love, generosity, and good humor. They do so much for everyone else and they deserved to have a special day. Happy anniversary, with love, from all of us!

Of course, Molly finds the whole concept of a golden anniversary a tad exhuasting:

Snippets

It's been a crazy couple of weeks and I haven't found time to catch up with the blog. But, since I'm afraid I'll forget the myriad of cute things that M&M have been up to, here are a few highlights:

We're still working on getting Max enthused about the whole potty concept. We read potty books, watch potty videos, and talk about the potty a LOT. He really likes to sit on the potty, but really doesn't like to actually pee or poop on the potty. Even though he's starting to show some signs that he might be ready to potty train in earnest, he isn't quite there yet. If you know he's getting ready to load his drawers and try to get him to sit on the potty, he wants nothing to do with it.

So, the other day he was running around in the kitchen and he suddenly stopped moving, got really quiet, and got that look of "concentration" on his face.

"Max," we said, "are you pooping?"
"NO!!!"
"Do you want to sit on the potty?"
"NO!!!"

We let it drop and after a few seconds he jumped up, threw his hands in the air, and said, "Ta-DA! Poop!!!" Molly, not wanting to be left out, promptly threw her hands up in the air and squealed, "Ta-da!" We burst out laughing, because we no longer consider poop in the diaper to be worthy of a double "Ta-da!" Now, poop in the potty is another matter entirely ...

Max has been able to jump properly (with both feet off of the ground at the same time) for months now. Molly the copycat must think it looks like great fun, because she's recently started "jumping" too. She runs around the house and periodically throws her arms up in the air and bounces up on her tiptoes. She'll even do it on command and it's soo funny -- I need to remember to charge up the camcorder so I can catch it on tape before she stops doing it. She really thinks she's jumping and she's so pleased with herself (shhhhh, don't tell her that she isn't!).

Max is proving to be as anal retentive as his mama. When I take him to the park, he'll spot some trash that someone left lying on the ground. After proclaiming, "Uh oh, trash," he'll try to pick it up and carry it to the nearest garbage can to throw it away. At home, he occasionally finds one of my loose hairs on the carpet (yes, I shed). He picks it up and says, "Uh oh, Mama hair!" before throwing it away. He even likes to help pick up his toys. That's my boy!

Molly discovered a new babbling vocabulary. She actually says (or tries to say) quite a few real words, but she still carries out extended babble "conversations" with herself. She hasn't been sleeping well this past week and the other night she woke up in the middle of the night and just started talking a blue streak, using lots of sounds that she'd never really used before. She must have been so excited with her new sounds that she just couldn't wait until morning to try them out! I also finally deciphered a word that she's been saying for the last few weeks. Every time she woke up at night and I went upstairs to put her back to bed, she would say the same exact word. I finally figured it out when she repeated it one day while tugging at my shirt. She's asking to nurse and saying "Boobies" ("Mmmmmmbies!"). I suppose that isn't the best choice of vocabulary, but it was too funny!

We went to visit some friends a few weekends ago. They had a piano at their house and Max really enjoyed sitting on the piano bench and hitting the keys. He's played pianos before and I was always impressed that he appears to carefully consider which keys to hit -- he doesn't just sit there and hammer away. He really seems to enjoy having an audience and "playing" for him. He must have especially enjoyed his last "recital," because this past weekend he came up to me and said, "Mama, more ride. More ride, more piano! Please!" He's asked me to take him for a ride so he can play the piano at least once a day since then. He's even started noticing when there is a piano playing on the radio. Maybe we have a little aspiring pianist on our hands!

Using four kids (including a two year old and a one year old) as subjects for my photography field trip was probably not the smartest idea. I've discovered that trying to get more than one kid at a time to stop what they are doing, pose properly, look at the camera, and then hold still momentarily is virtually impossible. In addition, I cleverly made everyone wear light-colored shirts on an impossibly sunny day, ensuring that I would blow most of my highlights (see photo at left). I also picked that particular day to try out some new camera settings. It also didn't help that the field trip took place on the one day in October when it almost hit 90 degrees. But, I must say that everyone was a terribly good sport (except for the babies, who just wanted to run around like little wild things) and I got some good pictures in spite of myself!

I'm sure I'll think of a half dozen more things to add as soon as I hit the "Publish Post" button!

What a Difference a Year Makes

It's been a fairly calm week in the Buying Mockingbirds house ... well, if you can consider any week calm that involves a bizillion trips to school and back, a handfull of junior high basketball games/practices, several cold-stricken family members, a school project or two, general Halloween costume insanity, some anniversary party planning, and a field trip for my photography class (more details to come). In lieu of a real post, I just had to post a couple of "then and now" pictures.

Max - last October and this October:




Molly - last October and this October:





Wow, they sure have changed a lot in a year. I don't have any little babies any more -- I have a full-fledged toddler and an (almost) preschooler. It makes me happy and sad at the same time.

On the cold front, I'm feeling almost better and Max is on the mend. Molly escaped with nothing more than an overnight fever, although Big Sister managed to get the crud as well (although she's on the mend also). Dad and Big Brother appear to have escaped catching our plague (*knock on wood*).

Tempting Fate

You think by now I would know better than to tempt fate by saying things like, "Thankfully, so far it's just me and not the babies." Less than an hour after I clicked the "publish post" button on that entry, Molly woke up with a 102 degree fever. I must say that she was probably the cheeriest, most delightful feverish baby that I've ever encountered. I brought her downstairs to take her temperature (to see if it was high enough to warrant any Tylenol), and she spent a half hour merrily "reading" my book (or "boobibo" as she called it) and running around the downstairs. The next morning her fever was gone and, except for a very slightly stuffy nose, she's perfectly fine.

Max, on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate -- the poor little guy seems to have caught the same extended version of the cold that I have. He hasn't been running much of a fever, but he has a runny nose, nasty cough, and some chest congestion. He's been mostly acting like his normal self and has been eating like a horse, but the boy has been CRABBY. Ever since he got sick, he starts bawling every time Molly starts crying. Since Molly is a big crybaby (she likes to throw fits when she doesn't get her way), there has been a lot of crying going on at our house.

Poor Max has been cooped up all week, since he hasn't been well enough to go for walks or outings. But, he is enjoying the expanded TV privileges that come with being a sick toddler. Although we've tried to get him to watch animated films before, Max has previously only had the attention span for and interest in the shorter kiddie shows. But, this week he discovered "Finding Nemo" (or, as he calls it, "Blub blub, fish"). When dad put it on for him the first time, he sat down and watched the entire thing (although he got a little antsy at the very end). So, now we're talking a lot about Nemo the Blub blub fish.

Unfortunately, since everyone was sick on Sunday, I had to skip a photography class field trip. I'm taking a continuing education class on portrait photography, hoping to learn some neat new tricks and skills (so I can take even MORE pictures of M&M). So far the class has mostly just been reviewing things I already know -- really basic photography stuff and how to use your camera. But, we were going to go to a local park on Saturday, with some "subjects" in tow, and practice taking some portraits, with the instructor available to give us pointers and advice. I was really sorry to miss it, but since both the photographer AND her available subjects were ill, I figured it would be a pretty miserable experience even if we did go (not to mention the fact that Max didn't need to go traipsing around with such a bad cold). Hopefully we can make the next one!