Halloween 2011

Last year, we celebrated Halloween in Berlin.  We didn't really celebrate though. Germans don't celebrate Halloween (at least, they didn't where we were).  I think we went to the bakery and got a schnecken for a treat (which, really, wasn't so much a treat then as an every day occasion). Bode and Gianna wore Halloween shirts.

I can't believe how little Gianna was then! Those shoes take me back.

Happy Halloween!
xo

Halloween 2010

When Bode was 2*, he enjoyed Halloween (in part, thanks to his grandmother):

We visited a couple of pumpkin patches that year.  This one (below) was a favorite with all of us, mainly because Daddy was there:

On Halloween, Bode dressed up as a cowboy.  He went trick-or-treating around downtown Los Altos with his good buddy Derek, and friend Jack.

Derek and Bode 2010

And this lil' pumpkin joined us:

Happy Halloween, friends!
xo

*I think we skipped 2009 because we were both sick.  If I remember correctly, we were supposed to go to a Halloween party at Bode's play group.  I was responsible for the "treats" (I bought bubbles and wrapped them in Halloween paper) and had to drop them off at another mom's house so that she could deliver them to the party. Sorry you missed your first 'real' Halloween, Bode!

Halloween 2008

For his first Halloween, Bode went as a blobby baby (oh, give him a break! he was just a month old!):

Therapy

Okay, so lately, I am thinking of Nico more as "Nico," and less as "Bode-substitute-baby."  Nico is his own person, I realize.  I am still surprised at how much the two boys favor each other.  So, with that in mind, here are 6 weeks pics of both:

 Bode, 6 weeks:

This helps. This is good therapy for me.  I see that they really don't look sooo much alike. (and yet, in person, as their mother, I really wonder if I have a "Bode 2" on my hands. Oh, to be so lucky!!!)

Happy 6 weeks to my sweet Nico! I promise that I won't always compare you to your big brother. Okay, maybe I will, but I'll try not to voice all those thoughts aloud (and it certainly isn't going to help that you'll be wearing all of Bode's  hand-me-downs!)

xo

Nico: 6 weeks

Dear Smiling Baby,

I am astounded that you are already 6 weeks.  I will probably say this every week, expressing surprise at how fast time goes, and how quickly you've grown. 

*You are smiling a lot lately, which is such a joy (and almost, almost makes the sleepless nights worth it).  

*Your hands have turned into little tether-hooks; you grasp things tightly (blankets, my hair, etc.) and I have to pry your little fingers apart from things.

*Sleep? Eh. Not too bad. You might take a nap during the day, sometimes around 11 AM, or sometimes around 2 PM, and will snooze for 2 hours.  At night, you have one solid 2-3 hour chunk, followed by 1 1/2-2 hour intervals of sleep, between long feeds (I'm catching up on tv shows!).

Happy 6 weeks, my love!

love,

Mommy

xo

It's Friday, I'm in love

Happy Friday, Friends! Today I'm in love with:

Baby smiles!  Go ahead, tell me that they aren't "real," or tell me that they are a by-product of "gas," but I'm still going to enjoy these first smiles. I snapped these quickly with my iPhone yesterday. 

I'm in love with sister-love.  As in, how this little sister does everything that her brother does and says. Yesterday, we all were playing chase and "keep away" with a ball.  Every time Bode stumbled, Gianna would fall down, too, and almost in the exact same way that Bode fell. (She also repeats most things that Bode says, which, truth be told, can be annoying at times!)

How sweet is that?

I'm in love with playing with my children. Yesterday afternoon was the first time I have really played with Bode and Gianna since bringing Nico home.  How sad is that?  We all had fun. I actually felt 'lighter' as I ran around with them (Nico strapped to me in the Bjorn).

I'm in love with Halloween!  Yesterday, we ran out to get a doughnut because this Mommy is going stir-crazy not driving for 6 weeks. I needed to get out.  So we went through a drive-thru for a mocha and donuts. Then we drove through a neighborhood and spied Halloween decorations.  Inspired by what we saw, we went home and pulled out our own Halloween decorations.  Here is an old inflatable that my mom gave Bode over 2 years ago.  It made me miss my mom so much. She loved Halloween, and was a big kid (as such, a lot of fun around holidays).  I know that she would love that we still have this inflatable, and display it for our babies!

I haven't decided if we'll go trick-or-treating this year. If we do, it will be our first year to do so.  But I may not be up for it, with the baby and all. Bode and Gianna do have costumes and will wear them on the big day, so stay tuned for pics!

Last, I'm in love with the fact that tonight, RWF returns home from a week long biz trip. Hooray! Our little fam will be together again.

Happy weekend.

xo

Nico: 5 weeks

Dear Nico,

How are you 5 weeks old already?!  I have been through this before. I know that time flies.  But this is ridiculous.

You are much more alert these past few days.  Now, you are looking directly at us. When I peer into your blue eyes, you stare right back at me. When Bode and/or Gianna are around you, you actually crane your head around to get a better look at them.  Speaking of your head, you have much better control of your head these days, too.  You're still a little wobbly when held upright, but you're stronger.

Saturday night, you gave your daddy three big smiles.  It was so special. He was holding you on his legs, with you facing him.  He was dancing with you, moving your arms while singing his little "doo-doo-doo" song that he sings to his babies.  And you smiled. And we both stopped and gasped.  Daddy asked me, "Did you see that..." and I said, "Yes!" but before I even finished saying it, you smiled again. And then again.  You have a terrific smile. We can't wait to see more of them.

I have figured out that as long as you are fed, you'll sleep for 2 solid hours in your car seat.  So now, when I have to take your brother to school, I just feed you well and then pop you into the car seat. You're good for a couple of hours sleep - hooray!  But guess what: when you sleep for a couple of hours during the day, I actually miss you.  I keep looking at you to make sure that you're breathing and hoping that you'll open your eyes and wake up.  

You still have a squeaky, weak cry that makes you sound kind of like a sick, hoarse cat. You're a very noisy sleeper (this is another thing that keeps me awake at night). You snuffle, snort and cough while snoozing. Sometimes I pop out of bed, thinking that you're awake. But you're still sleeping (so noisy!).

You look so much like your brother Bode at this age. Sometimes I call you "Bode," especially when I'm alone with you in the dark early hours of the morning.  But there is such a strong resemblance that I sometimes think that I'm blessed with the same precious baby. 

I know that you have your own looks, and your own personality. And whether you look like Bode or not, I am definitely blessed with a precious baby.

Love,
Mommy

xo

Fall snapshots

One of many trees sporting Fall foliage around here.  Every time I see a pretty tree (and there are many!), I think, "Oh, I should take a picture of that."  But  really?  -- there are better pics online!  I always have my iPhone (which as you know by viewing this blog) and those snaps don't do anything justice.

RWF took this snap of Bode and Priscilla on a walk this weekend. I love this snap!

Gianna buried in leaves in our backyard.  Our yard is covered in leaves. It looks beautiful, and somewhat daunting (all those leaves!). And the trees are not even bare yet!

And here is Bode in a leaf pile in our backyard.

Happy Tuesday.
xo

Sunday in pictures

Sometimes, while Nico is sleeping, Gianna or Bode will add some kind of...embellishment to him. It could be a hat, or a pumpkin, or even a toy (sometimes, all three!).  Sometimes, Gianna will just walk by and toss a blanket over Nico. It's not malicious. She's just thinking that he's a baby and he needs a blanket. She doesn't understand that the blanket shouldn't be covering his head.  Needless to say, good intentions or not, I've really got to watch out with these two around the baby.

This Sunday, Nico was sleeping peacefully in his swing (yay) when Gianna decided to hook him up with a hot date.  Meet Brooke:

Nico was not so impressed.  First, his sleep was interrupted and second, this chick is taking up a little too much space. It appears to me that Brooke was a little too forward, a little too eager to make a good impression on Nico.  So naturally, he ignored her.  Brooke needs to learn to play it cool around the boys. I'm surprised that Gianna hasn't schooled her on this yet, because Gianna is an expert at playing it cool with the boys.

Gianna and Bode were there with Nico as chaperones. But really, the date was going nowhere.  I mean, doesn't Nico seem to be saying, "Let's just order dinner already and get this over with."

Later, after Gianna's nap (but nobody else's!), we went to a pumpkin patch. I guess all my heavy hinting finally got to RWF, because after I had said to him, "Well, I guess no pumpkins this year, right. I mean, Halloween is two weeks away...."  He said, "Let's go. Let's do it now."  (uhm, to his credit, he did speak with more enthusiasm than that short response conveys.)

Because it was late afternoon, and we are old parents that don't like to have any fun, we skipped the pumpkin patch - you know, the "carnival atmosphere" pumpkin patch with the 20 different rides, face painting, balloons and mazes. Right now, the babies are young enough that we can get away with skipping these amusements...so we figure that we need to use this to our advantage while we can. Soon, they'll know about these things and we'll have no way of avoiding them!

We went to an apple orchard with pumpkins instead.  As you can guess, I was really happy to be there with my little fam, picking out pumpkins for our house.  RWF and I decided that even though we really like the new-fangled pumpkins that are bright orange, white and green, we are really traditionalists. We like the classic pumpkin.

Bode dressed himself (hence the shorts and no socks).

The babies picked out three pumpkins.  One for Bode, one for Gianna and one for Nico.

My favorite part was trying APPLE CIDER DONUTS!!!  (yes, that deserves ALL CAPS)  I have never had them before. They were cooking them in the little store.  I spied them immediately and whispered to RWF, "Is it possible for us to get three donuts?" (I had to clear it with the other parental unit/my partner before injecting my children with the horrible, awful sugar)  The cashier thought I was asking him, and he replied, "Yes, it is POSSIBLE to get three donuts." He was in high school and probably thought the "possible" was a weird way of me asking. The donuts were incredible...crunchy/crispy exterior with a nice pillowy, airy cake to them, and covered in sugar.  And, they were hot.  Delicious.  I am already daydreaming about driving out to the orchard again, solo (well, with Nico), and just indulging in all the donuts I can eat.   Apple cider donuts? Count me as a fan.

Time to make the donuts.

HAS = #1 fan of apple cider donuts

Who needs fresh, healthy apples when you can mainline sugar from apple cider donuts, I ask you. (just kidding!)

We didn't pick (or buy) any apples. I think the apple picking is over, for the most part.  And we didn't need any apples because I had just bought some at the store! Bah.  Next time, and I do see a next time, we'll go to the orchard and buy some from there.

The weather felt spooky to me: the sky was grey, the air cool with a bit of wind. It was the perfect day for picking out pumpkins (and eating apple cider donuts).
Happy Monday.
xo