Dapper Dan

In the midst of the crazy house updates, I suddenly realize that my kids are ill prepared for winter weather. We have to get the boy a coat, at least. Socks might help, too. So we zip out to our local kids' clothes consignment store and have a look. We end up with a coat, winter shoes, warm PJs, and a couple winter dresses...still no socks *sigh*. I get lucky, though, and find a nifty vest and tie just right for my little man. Couple them with pants and a shirt from a cousin and ta da! Fancy-dressed man.

 

I love to see him gussied up. I never got into dressing Alice fancy (probably because fancy girls are usually frilly and froofy), but I can't get enough of this boy in dress clothes. One drawback: all of these items are sized 2T, and yet his neck is still too large to button the top button on the shirt.

Kitchen Floor Progress

Three solid days of mistakes, frustration, and figuring/locating/purchasing the right tools/materials for the job and we FINALLY got some of the new floor put down in the kitchen. Then we experienced a few more mistakes and quite a bit more frustration before Bobby found his rhythm and performed this amazing transformation:

That's the kitchen floor half done. Good man! Stove moved, fridge in the entryway (tight squeeze!), kitchen table in the middle of the living room (an emotionally exhausting disruption, no matter how necessary and temporary it may be), and lots of dust everywhere. Most of the dust, thankfully, is in Bobby's make-shift workshop:

 

While the kids and I were at the Halloween party on Saturday, eating good food, playing with friends, and trick-or-treating, Bobby pounded out the rest of the kitchen floor project. It was critical that we (I mean "he") finish on Saturday because the glue takes 12 hours to cure. If he had to do more on Monday, the glue wouldn't cure until Tuesday and we'd never get all the furniture moved in time for the carpet to be installed Wednesday. So he did it.

The kids and I played there all morning while Bobby was at his pre-church meetings. It is literally the only open floor space in our house larger than 3'x3'. See how this home remodeling can be so emotionally exhausting? Here's a snippet of the fun:
























I hear, "Mom, look at Robert!" several times a day. Sometimes it really pays off to look at the kid :) In this video, he's reaching for the dishwasher cord and the natural gas pipeline for our stove. I promptly moved the stove back into position.

Alice invented a new game on our new floor this morning. She dances around and you try to hit her feet with beanbags. You only win if you hit her six times out of six. This is gonna take some practice on my part.

Halloween Celebrations

Halloween started a week ago at our house. Our church had a "Trunk or Treat" last Saturday. The red princess dress Alice had selected was not yet complete, and it was 2 sizes too big anyway, so she went to the party as a turtle...with a Tinky-Winky headband and red, sparkly princess shoes. Bobby posted picts last week.

Then came the Costume Parade at a local nursing home. Alice opted to stay in preschool for their Fall Celebration, so it was just me and the boy. We had invited several friends from church to attend, too. I'm glad we did. In the picture below, 7 of the 19 kids were our invited friends :) Can you see my little Chef/Pillsbury Dough Boy in the front? He was really interested in the kitty cat sitting next to him. He tried to get her attention by squealing and flailing his limbs. She ultimately decided he was too young for her and toddled off.

FYI, also featured in this photo are Robert's cousins Will (Cat in the Hat) and Kayla (turtle), and several friends: Justin (blue dinosaur), Esther (Tigger), Caleb (fireman), Mary (ballerina in snow boots), Spencer (fireman). Not pictured are Spencer (cowboy) and Isaac (pumpkin). I love having so many people I like to hang out with. Really. It's a blessing.

Later that afternoon, Bobby's work hosted a "Ya-Boo!" event where kids could trick-or-treat at all the cubicles. Alice wore her red princess dress this time, and it was terrible. It's WAY too big for her, so we had to pin up the skirt while the bodice was sagging off of her shoulders. I'll put it away for a year or so and then slip it into the dress up box. Sewing a princess dress was quite the learning experience. The biggest lesson was humility. Second was gratitude for sewing friends who could help me through it. I will not be tackling anything so complicated again for a long time. A long, long, time. I didn't take pictures...it was that bad.

Then on Saturday, we were invited to a neat Halloween party with friends. I love my friends, even when I'm too frazzled and tired to make much party conversation. Alice threw on her purple tutu leotard, some thick tights, and a pair of white shoes and called herself a ballerina. I'm cool with that. (It's taken me some time to be cool with Alice's periodically frilly and froofy femininity. My main concern was that she would dive into the frilly, froofiness without exploring other options. It turns out that she enjoys many kinds of play and many kinds of dress-up, so I'm okay with exploring the frills when she feels like it.) I didn't take pictures at this event, either. I was juggling two kids, a couple plates of food, and then trick-or-treating. Bobby stayed home to make progress on the kitchen floor (see the next post, woo hoo!).

So, three Halloween events and three costumes for the girl. Robert was his charming chef-self every time. He was quite a good sport with the hat and all. He had a great time at the final party. He loves kids. Spencer Bair (almost 3yrs) got a little close with his sucker and Robert took it from him, popping it into his mouth with glee. We retrieved the sucker but Spencer didn't want it anymore. All was forgiven quickly, though, since Spencer only had to look at Robert to make him burst into giggles.

And today, on the "real" Halloween, we're just eating lots of candy :)

Bobby's Sunday Summary

This week has been a crazy one. We have has so many Halloween parties with Alice, including the trunk or treat last week that we have much more candy then she could ever eat on her own. Robert went to all of them as well, we just didn't encourage him to ask for candy. Add to that the new floor we are putting in the Kitchen, it has been very crazy. Happily the kitchen floor is almost done, and we should be able to finish it in time for the new carpet next week. After that hopefully life starts to get closer to normal again.

First tooth! First pacifier!

He did it! He cut his first tooth! Like Alice did, Robert tends to get awfully snotty the couple days before the tooth pops out. We thought he was getting sick...again...then the tooth came through and all the snot disappeared instantly. The second tooth won't be far behind.

This has also been an interesting week with the pacifier. Baby Bob has never really liked them. We tried really hard at first to get him attached to them, but he just gagged and cried harder every time. Well, with the teething and the off-and-on sickness, he started to use me as his pacifier. No go, bub! I pulled out the pacifiers again and gave it another go. Success! It didn't take him long to get the hang of it this time.

But now I have mixed feelings. The pacifier has made bedtime, ouchies, and the "witching hour" much, much more pleasant for all of us. At the same time, I know I will be taking it away from him eventually. And I kinda miss all his random babbling noise. You can't see his smiles as well, either, from behind the pacifier. Was this a short-term gain for a long-term loss? Hmmmm.

Alice had unlimited pacifier use until age one, then it was restricted to the bed. When she started asking for it by name ("deet-do") at age two, I felt it was time to get rid of it altogether. Her relationship with the pacifier evolved naturally and none of these transitions was terribly traumatic. Each parent has his/her own philosophy about this issue, I know. And there are great parents on both sides of the issue that I deeply respect. I understand both sides. So, I have mixed feelings. My impulse is to allow pacifier use as long as it continues to make our lives and relationships better/easier. If it becomes "absolutely critical" to the boy's happiness, out it goes.

Let's see how this goes.