Halloween and the Week In Between!

Fall Hits The River Scene Big Time

Blink. I did. 2 weeks later. Yup, oops, I did it again - I played with my time, and messed with my blog. (song pun. Whoever gets it gets a goodie!) My friends Vic and Deb will surely remember this from our Miami trip together some umpteen years ago... but that is another story for another day and probably not a "public blog sharing"! ha ha ha... Ok, so, cutting to the chase = 2 very fun weeks overall, with some honest "almost 2" exposures to keep it real. Not that I am ever not real on the blog. Our boy is absolutely amazing, fantastic, WOW. And yes, we are biased. But, for those of you reading who are waiting for your kidlings or are friends or fellow adoptie parents... don't think we haven't had our trying times - we are first time parents, and we adopted our light when he was 17 months old..... There are going to be "days like this". But overall, man, is he a total joy! Here are some things from the last 2 weeks...
Growing up, doing everything he sees. OK, so we had a fun night hanging out with Alek and Maks - for a sad reason of saying goodbye to Kevin's dad and their Poppy -- but, it did mean Jeff and I played with the boys during the viewing... And that meant LM seeing "big boys" in action -- all the way to bed time... I kid you not, he stood in AWE as they brushed their teeth. Until this point, he sucked on his toothbrush then would let us make some weak attempt at brushing his teeth...Once he saw the "big boys brushing" act live and in person, he pushed his "wash your hands" stool up to the sink and did everything they did, down to trying to spit. Have you ever seen a 22 month old try to spit in the sink? Hysterical.

Brushing Teeth Like a Big Boy

We have also spent the last few Saturday nights w/ Jack and Katie -- In my life, I had great "brother" luck -- my older brother, Brian, who is totally awesome and I have always adored even since i was teeny (or so I am told)..... and, I had the great joy of "inheriting" a cool kid for a younger brother who happens to have 2 super cool kids --ie: LM cousins! Dave was 11 when we met. He's 38ish now. We all grew up together, Brian, Dave, and I.... and I always hoped between our older bro Brian (UB) and Susan (AS) and Dave (UD) and Barb (AB)we'd have a gaggle of kids to goof around with... We're so happy UB has been here to visit a ton because, well, he is just one big gaggle of a kid and it warms my heart to see LM play with him... LM's cousins K and J are adorable and just love their LM cuz... And we've had fun the last few Saturday nights with our cheap pizza hang outs... The last time, LM tried to pull the "watch me pull the table cloth out from under all the dishes and glasses trick"... Over and over and over again. Those of you with 2ish year olds can probably guess the fun. But it was ingenious and cute, albeit a challenging "trick" to stop! LOL

Big Boys at the Big Table

While fall is beautiful, sadly it means cold, icy river... and packing in the boat for the season... Gamma and Granddad Carl joined us for the "end of season hurrah" -- it was a gorgeous night, and LM really enjoyed his river sojourn!!

Cruisin... On a Sunny Fall Afternoon...

21.. The week of... The GREEN MONSTER.... So, about a month ago, I went to the local thrift store to get him a couple of ride on toys cheap. 2 for $7. Doesn't get much better than that, eh? Anyway, the first few days there was a lot of pushing and trying to figure out how to ride them... Then BOOM. Off he went. We now go for walks around our loop with the GREEN MONSTER and he LOVES it. Can't get enough of it. This particular week, he rode it fully around the loop for the first time... And, he learned how to coax us into letting Ashton pull him while on it.. So, ladies and gentleman, I give you 21 weeks... and, the Green Monster....

"It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" Home 21 Weeks Green Monster Week!

This past week brought us a day off together and, of course, Halloween... Now, simply put, our family has an odd schedule. You get 2 parents in healthcare, one who has 2 "part time" jobs and one who is a full time nurse, and you get rotating shifts, rotating parents, and on really lucky days, a weekday where everyone is "off" (at least during non-nap times), sun, and family... We hopped over to a local arboretum with LM, Jeff's parents, and LM's Aunt Linda.. It was a beautiful morning and a delight to hang out with them and enjoy some more family time with LM... Who enjoyed leading the smiles....

Water Break -- Cheers Papa and Grandpop N!!

Come On, Just let me jump! :)

I love you Aunt Linda!!

OH, and in case you are wondering, our sweet little angel is really a crash, bam, boom, what can I throw, hit, slam next boy... And, in case you are wondering, yes, the concept of "Rock Em, Sock Em Robots" still exists... Sponge Bob, please feel free to beat up your buddy, what's his name anyway?

Much Easier to Bam His head up when no one is manning the other side!!

And, Of course, there was Halloween... Our first family "holiday"... Well, I suppose July 4 was, but 5 weeks home at that point, and we were still quite foggy on life! :) OF course, papa carved a cool pumpkin and LM helped!! Now, every time he sees a pumpkin, be it ours, a plastic one in the bank, or driving past them at the grocery store, he goes "ooohhhh oooohhhh" and shakes his head from side to side, like Jim Carrey in mask trying to waggle his cheeks and lips from side to side. Super cute!! Here we are with one of our infamous "prop the camera, 10 consecutive shots and hope 1 turns out" in our backyard the night we carved the pumpkin.... Unfortunately Ashton got the memo to get in the family photo too late... And yes, after our little pumpkin went to bed, we did enjoy a great firepit evening with a glass of wine... smile.

Hanging outside the van, carvin pumpkins down by the river...

yes, TB, that one was for you :)

And, of course.... Halloween.... many keep asking "What was he?"... Well, so we started out with one idea.... A bunny... He LOVES bunnies. We met him on Easter... You may even remember our "announcement" of meeting him was "look what the Easter Bunny" brought us... And, our niece was this bunny when she was his age.... So, we first tried a bunny... And, for about 5 minutes, being a bunny was REALLY cool. I put it on him, he looked in the mirror, said "WOAW" to which I said "LM, you are a bunny, look at you" --He stared, then a few seconds later said "hop hop"....and hopped.... Straight toward me and somewhere on the path to me smiles turned into tears and fits and "get this thing off of me".... Come on. Don't act like this never happened to you or your kid.... I bet half the readers have similar stories! ha ha ha.... So, I tried, every night after that, the bunny outfit... but, it was clear by a few days before Halloween, it would NOT be bunny night....YAHOO Bunny... Somewhere in the 5 minute window of "fun"

So, what was he??? Well, the only next best fitting thing, of course, would be this:

"It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" (Modified for the Holiday, of course)...
Home 22 Weeks... And every day since...
has been like Christmas...
.... since our Santa arrived....