Trick or Treat

We went trick or treating with two other families in our neighborhood. Last year we did that because Josh was still a little scared of halloween and relunctant to trick or treat. This year, we needn't have worried. He was all about trick or treating. Of course, he still had to figure out exactly how it worked. The first few houses, he would run up (always running up!), ring the bell, jump up and down with unfettered excitement the whole time he waited for someone to answer, and then yell, "I want a treat." I tried not to be embarrassed at how rude this would otherwise sound, given that essentially "trick or treat" means the same thing, but with a threat of vandalism attached. But it still sounded funny. He eventually caught on that he was supposed to say "trick or treat." The running, jumping, and excitement stayed constant. He also started ending each visit with "happy halloween," which sounded so cute with his 3-year-old inflections.
Luke made for a very cute tiny Tigger. The weather was dry and not cold, perfect for trick or treating. We all had a fun time.


Action shot:

Spiderman (Josh) and Batman (Leo), born 12 days apart:

Superheroes are all the rage with Josh and his pals (and cousin!).
Happy Halloween!

Children's Museum Costume Party

The Children's Museum hosted a members-only costume party Monday. John and I left work early and took the boys. We had a fun time, but Josh was exhausted by the time we left (6:45), after a long day of hard play at school and then another couple of hours running around CM. He was also drenched, after spending a lot of his time in the water room. Here he is playing with water, in his spiderman outfit but without the mask (which proved much too difficult to play in).



Luke bubbling out of the fountain:


Josh with the overly-cheesy grin; Luke unhappy at being made to sit still for a picture. Such are our attempts to photograph these two! Rarely successful.

A Tale of Two Spidermen(and one Supergirl, and a pirate)

Josh and his cousin Logan are both obsessed with Spiderman (and superheroes in general). Superhero play is very big in Josh's class at school. And Logan just turned 4, and had a Spiderman themed birthday party, with a live visit from Spiderman.
So with Halloween approaching, it was little surprise what they would want for costumes. Although Josh threw us a curveball as we shopped for the right costume, by saying he also wanted to be Batman. He has never been exposed to Batman here, so he must have picked that up at school. So we logged onto a Superhero costume website and let him pick between Batman and Spiderman, and he picked "Venom" Spiderman.
My sister valiantly attempted to lure Logan out of Spiderman with the very cute Supergirl costume, but she was unswayed. She will also be Spiderman, but the "good" one. She thinks it's "so cool" (her new favorite phrase) that she and Josh will both be Spiderman, and claims her good Spiderman will defeat Josh's bad Spiderman.
Luke is going to be a tiger (already had that costume from my friend Kimi), but for fun, and with a little help from Nana, he also got to dress up like a pirate. Aarg.
Josh:


Logan:


Luke:

Pumpkin Patch

After many straight years of going to Sauvie Island for the pumpkin patches, I decided today that we should try a new place. I read about several family farms offering hayrides, animals, and pumpkins of course, and we picked one to try out. It was a mistake. The old adage was true: if it isn't broke, don't fix it. We should have stuck with Sauvie Island.
First, the place was further away than I thought, making for something of a long drive. Then we got lost, making for a longer drive. Then, when we finally arrived, it was small and not very exciting, and paled in comparison to the place we usually go. We'll be back there next year (if not later this month).
Josh had fun though. He picked a pumpkin from the display by the cash register when we first arrived. We talked him into putting it back and riding the hay ride out to the field to see the other pumpkins. But you can guess what we bought in the end: the original pumpkin he liked at the display!
Here we are on the hayride. Lucas was not amused.

The pumpkin selection.

Josh in the hay maze:

The then and present pumpkin:

Josh took this picture of John with a big pumpkin. He is getting pretty good (or perhaps lucky) with framing pictures.

My disinterested boys. Love Luke's arm over the armrest.

Josh

Lest you think otherwise, we do still take pictures of Josh. Here is proof:

He looks kind of grown up here, his face is changing so much from a baby face to a boy face.

These two are also from Lucas's 4-month birthday. Josh is such a great big brother. Josh and his classmates are obsessed with the concept of "best friends" now. He usually identifies either Terence or his cousin Logan as his best friend, but once he said, "baby brother Lucas is my best friend." Way too adorable.

Lucas turns 4 months old

Here's our happy boy:

Lucas turned four months old on October 4. He continues to be extremely dissatisfied with being set down. We were on the hunt for a bumpo, but decided to go with an exersaucer instead, as he is now almost too old to be content just sitting in the bumpo anyway. (How did we get two such active babies??) We found an good used saucer on craigslist and just love seeing Lucas stand up on his own in it.

This picture is from his actual birthday, on October 4. He was smiling and laughing, but I couldn't get a good picture of it. This is the best of the bouncy chair series.

This was after I loaded him up for his doctor's appointment, and I love the intense look he is giving.

All was well per the doctor. She also sees him as a very active child, probably an early sitter, crawler and walker, like his brother. He is 70th percentile for height and 25th for weight, so looking to be tall and thin like Josh, but smaller (Josh was/is always 90th for height and 50th for weight). She has prescribed some sleep changes though, so it should be a difficult weekend for us as we try to implement them. Wish us luck.