Halloween Costumes

I'll get better shots of their costumes, but here are a couple from today. I ordered them super-cheap off Ebay, and Ryan's came first. Addie has been saying every day, "Maybe my costume will come today!" Well, it finally came and she has been wearing it nonstop. I'm thinking I MIGHT let her wear it to MOPS on Friday, since it's just a vest and skirt, and it's our last meeting before Halloween.



She's wearing capri pants under the skirt in this picture (they finally fit, Mom!) and there is a hat too.

Here's Matt tying the little bandana. I think this is the first time he's actually thought clothes/costumes were cute. He was so gentle and sweet with Ryan.

Putting Ryan's cowboy hat on - he does not like it, so we'll figure out some way to secure it to his head!

Ryan's 1 year stats

We went today for Ryan's 1 year shots and measurements. He weighed in at 23 pounds, 2 ounces, which is right at the 50th percentile for his age. His length was...I forgot, it's on the sticker, but I think it was 29.5 inches. He's 40th for length and 40th for head size. He then got 4 shots, including his first flu shot. He screamed, but I gave him a sippy cup with watery apple juice and he sucked it so hard, like he was nursing. I remember nursing them both immediately after their shots when they were smaller- it was so comforting for them. The nurse also asked if we could Addie's flu shot while we were there. I said yes, then spent the next 5 minutes trying to prepare Addie. I told her she would get an ouchie shot in her arm, and it would hurt but then it would be over quick. I repeated that several times, and she seemed fine, of course. Then when the nurse came in, she said she was going to do it in Addie's leg because her arms were still so small. And that is what Addie chose to fuss about, since I'd "prepared" her for a shot in her arm. She fussed and cried and didn't want it in her leg. I know she would have cried no matter what. So I had to hold her arms and body while she screamed, and then it was over quick, but she still was very upset. And you should have seen the pitiful shuffling limp she did walking out of the office. I ended up having to carry her because her leg was SO painful. This was after she took up the whole hallway with her lurching, while a patient man was trying to get around her. I said, "Hurry up and move, Addie, pick up the pace!" She dropped to the floor and said, " Where is it? Where is the pace? Where is it Mama?" The man was not very amused and stepped over her, and then I picked her up so that we could get out of the office while it was still daylight.
We then met Matt for "special" lunch because of the shots, and Addie refused to eat anything because she wanted a Lunchable. Ryan had a fantastic time, and danced and bounced in the high chair the entire time he was eating. Now we're back home and both kids are happy and in great moods. Addison never had bad reactions to shots, she just slept a ton when she was smaller. Ryan didn't even do that. We do have to go back in one month for the second flu shot. My poor kiddos.

Random posts about different things

We went to Target and Addie saw a life-size skeleton and a witch. She didn't cry, but she was very determined that we should not go close to them. For the rest of the day, she commented on the skeleton and witch, and how they were at the store, and were definitely NOT at her house, or in her bedroom. Matt made a croaky noise, and Addie immediately said, "I heard that noise! I heard it in my room! It was the skeleton!" Then she turned to me and said, "Is the skeleton in my room? Does he come into my room at night and make that noise?" Trying not to laugh, I told her that the skeleton did not make the noise, that it was just her Daddy, so she turned to Matt and said, "Daddy, did YOU come into my room last night and make that noise?" He ended up saying yes, so that she wouldn't endlessly wonder what made the noise (there was no noise in her room at all, by the way). She was quiet for a minute and then said, "I think Baby Ryan is going to turn into a skeleton." Matt then whispered to me that we should tell her there was a skeleton INSIDE her. After silently cracking up, I told him he'd better not even think about it. Can you imagine what she'd think?


She is also very enthralled with all the Halloween decorations I've been putting up. She ran around from room to room getting so excited about them. I tried to talk to her about Halloween, and she got her pumpkin bucket and said, "Are we going trick or treating tonight?" I said no, and she kept asking when we were going to Halloween. For days, she asked, "Are we going to Halloween today? Is Baby going to Halloween with us? Can Daddy come to Halloween?" I tried lamely to explain that Halloween is a day, that it comes to us, etc, but she was not getting it. Then I added a new twist by telling her that Halloween is also her birthday! The poor child is so confused, although she pretended to pick it up right away. "Yes, it's my birthday and I will get cake and presents and candy! Baby doesn't have a Halloween birthday, only girls have Halloween birthdays and boys have their own birthdays."


We went to IHOP for the first time in a long time. Ryan had already eaten Cheerios and two eggs at home, but he ate a complete second breakfast at IHOP an hour later. Addie got the Rooty Junior and scarfed it all down. She hopped in and out of the restaurant, having no real clue what "IHOP" was. We have only gotten real kid's meals for Addie in the past 6 months or so - we'd just fed her off our plates before that, but now it looks like we're going to have to start getting Ryan his own meal too. Thank goodness for all the kids eat free places around here.


Matt looked online for a baby Jabba the Hutt costume for Ryan, but they only make adult sizes. We're still not sure what Addie is going to be. She's just a little too young to really get into the whole choosing who she wants to be thing. It's a little too abstract for her. She's not into dress-up anyway (so glad I made that nice dress-up corner in her room). I suggested a few things to her, like a princess ("No") and a cowboy. She liked that idea, since I told her we had a stick horse she could take with her. "Mamma, and I say, "YeeHaw!" and ride my horsey? Where are my boots?" I said that she would be a good cowboy, and that actually she would be a cowgirl because she is a girl. She said no, she didn't want to be a cowgirl. I asked her what she wanted to be, and she said, "Cow-Addison." So there you go. Then the next day when I talked to her about being a cowboy again she said loudly that she didn't want to be a cowboy or cowgirl or cow-Addison. I have no idea what she'll be.


In the car, we were talking about God being the King and Jesus being the Prince, and after she told me that Eye of the Tiger (electronic tiger that moves and plays "Eye of the Tiger" - thanks WalMart) was also a king, she said, "We don't see God." I said no, we don't see him, and she interrupted and said, "But we HEAR God." I don't know where she heard that from specifically, but I said, yes we do hear God, and she said, "I hear God talking." I could not wait to hear where this was going, so I said, "What does God say to you?" I was dying of curiousity to see what she'd say, but instead my phone rang right then. Addie gasped and said, "Is that God?" I told her it was just her Aunt Caiti. Then she turned on the tiger and started singing. She pretty much can sing the whole chorus of Eye of the Tiger. That's much nicer than hearing about what God says to my daughter (not).


Ryan pulled my hair and I told him no and he cried, and Addie ran in and said, "Mama, my baby brother is sorry. He's SO sorry."

Addison is still confused with Aunt Caiti/Aunt Kate and Cousin Cammie and Cousin Emmy. She mixes up the names all the time.

Sometimes when Ryan isn't napping well, I'll get him up and Addie will say, "Did baby have a good nap?" I say that baby had a crummy nap. So now Addison will alternate between what she says after her own nap. Sometimes she'll say, " Mama, I had a crummy nap. It was a bad-dream nap." Other times, when she isn't sleeping and is instead noisily playing, I'll finally give up and get her up, and she'll sit up with a huge grin and say, "Mama, I had a very good nap!!" To which I reply with a stern voice, "You did NOT have a good nap, you had a crummy nap!" and then she'll laugh and laugh.

We started MOPS two weeks ago, and have our second meeting tomorrow. I'm so glad! It's a nice break, and a nice activity to do on my own. I'm a group leader this year and am glad to report that our group is already awesome. I am so pleased to meet a new bunch of girls to go through life with! We are going to gear up for a Girls' Night Out soon - I need to let loose! I leave the kids in the nursery for three hours. Well, it's not really a nursery for Addie's age, more like preschool They play outside, do a craft, read stories, have snack, etc. I think it's great for her. That is the longest period of time that Ryan has been left in someone else's care (besides relatives), but it was good for him and for me - might as well start him young! He also did great. I'm so lucky that we haven't had any separation anxiety with him (yet). Addie had a bad month at about 9 months, but then she was fine. I wonder if Ryan will go through it later.


I also go to Bible study on Tuesday mornings, so the kids are in the church nursery then too. At first, I was concerned about them being in the same room on Sunday, Tuesday and Fridays, stuck in there with the same toys, books, teachers, etc. And then I realized I was a dork and that that is what they do at my house every day. And what kids in school do too.


Addie already becoming one of those busybody little girls - we often here, "What you say?" when Matt and I talking to each other and she hears something mildly interesting. She is getting very hard to distract or redirect, too. Anyway, we DVR shows on Noggin and Nick Jr. for her to watch, and turn it off as soon as the show is over so she's not watching a million commericials, although she has started to see small snippets of stuff and remember it. She doesn't quite get that Barbie and Bendaroos are something we could buy for her to have. She just thinks it's a show or something. Anyway, after a Diego show that aired last week, they showed a quick promo for an all-new week of Diego (which was this week). Addie immediately jumped up and said, "Look Mama! New Diego! New Diego is on!" She then watched very closely at the snippets of the new shows - Diego with an orangutan, Diego with a puffin, and Diego saying, "I've never seen an Okapi before!". Even though she just saw that 30 second clip ONE TIME, all weekend she asked if I knew when her new Diego would be on. She talked and talked about it. I don't know how the child can even tell it's a new Diego. There are so many episodes with so many animals, so how does she remeber if she's seen one with an orangutan or not? But what really got me was on Monday, after we watched the first new Diego (Hippo and Oxpecker, symbiotic friends), she said she loved new Diego and wanted to see more. I told her there would be another new one tomorrow. She sat for a minute, processing, and said, "I'VE seen an Okapi before. Member, MaMa? I see it at the zoo. I see it on the zoo train. I looked waaay down at Okapi." First of all, how did she remember and pick up on the word "Okapi" from Diego saying it one time on a commerical? Second of all, it was 4 days later that she thought of it. Third of all, she has indeed seen an Okapi before, ONCE, in MAY, at the Dallas Zoo riding the Monorail around the Wilds of Africa exhibit. The announcer on the train probably said something about the Okapi exhibit as we rode by it, but I know we didn't make a big deal out of it or anything. I absolutely cannot believe she remembered that. She's changing so quickly that I can't keep up - I thought it was supposed to be gradual!


Did I mention that I really like Diego? It can be as annoying as Dora, but it's not as repetitive, and as an animal person, I love love love the awesome facts they learn about wild animals and nature. Addie said that she and I were symbiotic friends because I help her and she helps me.


Ryan was one year old yesterday - I thought this day would never come! I'm so proud of my little guy. He's been walking for over a month now, and is very verbal in the yelling/caveman kind of way (Addie already had several real words and babbled cutely at this age). Ryan calls Matt and I both "DaDa". He can make the M sound, but refuses to say Mama. When he drops things, he says, "Uh Oh, DaDa, " probably because when Matt has some impolite body fuctions, that's what we say to him (before he says, "Excuse me!", of course), so Ryan thinks the whole phrase is Uh Oh DaDa instead of just uh oh. He says, "TeeSee" for Casey - that's the first thing he says every morning when he sees her, and he has repeated Duck a few times, as well as Up and Ball (not clearly though). No word yet for Addie, that we can tell. He gets a huge kick out of feeding his food to me, which is lovely. He also reaches from his high chair to whatever counter or table is near and will set his food piece by piece up there, then reach over and move it back to his tray. In the car, I was in the backseat giving him a piece of hamburger, and he took two pieces and reached up and set them on my shoulder. He grinned great big when I made a disgusted sound and took them off, and then he promptly put them right back. This morning he brushed my hair, and he absolutely loves his Bob the Builder book with sounds and real tools - he is constantly trying to fit the screwdriver into the slot and turn it. Today, Addie picked up a whole bunch of green acorns outside and brought them in, and she and Ryan sat on the floor for abotu 20 minutes putting them in various yogurt cups, dumping them out, pouring them, etc. He likes to pick up toys and put them in baskets (and then dump them again), and loves pushing the strollers and shopping cart around. He stands up on the seats of his ride-on truck, holding on to the steering wheel and balancing. He tries to climb up everything and started to try to walk up the stairs upright instead of crawling, but that didn't last very long. He still wakes up screaming most mornings, usually right at 7 a.m., and takes a 10 minute snooze in the car around 10:30 or so, if we're out. If we are at home and I try to put him down for a nap in the morning, he just cries and yells, Usually he conks out for good about 12:30 and will only nap 1.5 to 2 hours. What else? We gave him a peanut butter cookie and he didn't die, and he's been on whole milk for a week or so. The last real remnants of baby hood are gone.