With temperatures finally cooling down, we welcomed Fall the beginning of this month by making a visit to the Orr Family Farm with some friends from our church group. It's a place I've heard a lot about since moving to Oklahoma, but have never made it out there before now. Abby slept most of the time we were there, but Bruce thoroughly enjoyed the hay ride, pumpkin patch, petting zoo, "corn crib" (think gravel pit, but with dried corn kernels) carousel, and especially the train ride. The conductor even let him "drive" it for a few minutes while passengers unloaded and reloaded.
The first week of November was an odd mix of Halloween candy withdrawals and Daylight Saving's Time adjustments. Overall, I think we fared well. One nice thing with the time change is that it gets dark now before Bruce goes to bed. Bruce loves the book Goodnight Moon and lately Charlie and he have made a habit of going out to say goodnight to the moon before bedtime. It's been a real sweet new tradition for them.
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| a compromise of sorts... |
Most of the month flew by in a blur of juggling feedings, diaper changes, and naps along with play times with Bruce, but we're finally finding somewhat of a rhythm, which is nice.
Charlie went on his first business trip towards the beginning of the month and was gone for four days. I survived flying solo with two kiddos, but there was a lot of crying, that's for sure. It never failed that Abby needed help settling down for a nap at the same time that Bruce was ready for lunch, or Abby woke up wanting to eat in the middle of Bruce's bath, etc. Thankfully, I managed to keep my composure and had a pretty good attitude through it all. Needless to say, everyone was excited when Daddy came home.
Charlie found a great deal on a used swing set listed on Craig's List, so we're hoping having that around will help Bruce get some of his extra energy out. He loves it! Especially his rocket swing!
Since Bruce has been watching so much television lately, we've tried to invent and incorporate some games to go along with whatever show is on. So when he's watching the Russian girl make her soup, he likes to play with a big soup pot of coffee beans, and when the dinosaurs visit the farm, we "hitch" the ottoman to his pedal tractor and he gives hay rides to his stuffed animals. He's the one who decided that he could play with a plastic coat hanger and pretend it was a hang glider when he was watching a Curious George cartoon, which we thought was pretty fantastic.
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| playing "ice cream" |
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| starting to enjoy building things with blocks |
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| "Peter Rabbit" hiding from Mr. McGregor in his garden |
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| helping me make soup |
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| olive fingers... irresistible to all kids |
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| eating parmesan cheese at Sam's... Our standing Friday lunch date with Charlie |
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| playing at Sam's Club |
We had a small ice storm the week before Thanksgiving and Bruce loved playing with (and eating) the icicles and piles of sleet. He never seems to mind the cold - good thing Charlie's such a good sport so I can stay inside with Abby while they play!
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| giving the pig an ice bath |
Abby turned two months old at the
end of this month and, as expected, is changing and growing every day. She now is smiling all the time and starting
to “talk” quite a bit too. Bruce never
babbled or cooed much when he was this age, so these sweet sounds are nice to
hear. She had been sleeping fairly well in
a swaddle wrap up until about a week ago when she rolled over in her
sleep. Now she’s having to learn how to
stay asleep without letting her arms and legs flail about - it’s been a challenge, but she’s
adapting. She's taking super short naps these days, only 20-40 minutes long, but is sleeping solidly from 8 pm until usually 2 or 3 am which is really nice. She also has toned down the crying quite a bit this month. She's still crazy loud, but usually only cries for a little bit when she's tired and ready for a nap. Between naps she's still only awake for brief periods of time, but we're loving the fact that she's getting more and more social with us and engaged with her surroundings daily!
We went to St. Martinville, Louisiana for Thanksgiving this year to spend some time with Charlie's mom's side of the family. It was our first major road trip with both kids, and for a thirteen hour endeavor, I think we managed nicely. Abby hardly cried at all and slept most of the way, and Bruce happily played with toys and talked with us for most of the trip. Late afternoon no-nap cranks were mediated nicely with videos on the iPad and it wasn't until we hit what should have been bedtime that the meltdowns ensued. We arrived not too much later though, so it was pretty tolerable.
We got to spend several days with extended family which we're really thankful for - lots of trucks, wrestling, snuggling and laughing, good food, a mini-Christmas, a trip to the zoo and a visit to the horse farm. It was a great week.
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| carrying a basket of trucks from Aunt Carol's house to Aunt Christine's house |
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| A cherry picker in the parking lot! Dreams were realized! |
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| wondering what Abby thinks of these fellas |
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| Louisiana Cousins! Daniel and Matthew with Bruce and Abby |
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| helping Granny K set the table for Thanksgiving Dinner |
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| needing to take a drum break from the chore at hand... |
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| Grandpa and his boys at the zoo |
