The Most Beautiful Hallowe'en

I have lots to catch you up on...

The Pumpkin Patch
Hallowe'en
More Cruisin' Dexy
AJ's Funny Sayings
Growth Spurts
Etc.

But in the meantime, I just want to say....

What a beautiful Hallowe'en. We were worried about the forecast of rain, and then wind. But nope. It was gorgeous. And it was warm. I could have worn a tank top, and I wouldn't have been freezing. I was glad to have a hoody though.
Due to the rain forecast no doubt, it was a quiet Hallowe'en. Not near the amount of kids out as last year. We, once again, went trick or treating with The Joniecs. AJ was still going strong when only two of the 'big kids' were left. It didn't take him long to catch on to the 'candy giving'. He started to walk into people's houses to see what else they had in the bowl. He even started to get a little opinionated, like, "No, I would like that one please." We had to talk about that.

Here's a pic from the pumpkin patch, since I haven't loaded the costume pics yet.

Diggin' Dexy, Cranky Creek, Lengthy Lake

Speaking of my beautiful, blue-eyed Dexter...




Here's my beautiful brown-eyed Alton.

I happened upon that picture while looking at the 'random images' on our picture site.


Today we spent about 3.5 hours at Mill Lake Park with Auntie Erica, Jack, and Rya. We arrived around 9:30pm, walked around the lake, and then the boys played while us moms chit chatted, played with 'the babies', fed 'the babies', and let 'the babies' nap. Jack and AJ played wonderfully. No whining, no fighting, no loitering, just having fun and having snacks.


Last week, we went to the creek with Makenna, Auntie Jen, Emerson, Jaxon, and Kaela. Here's Makenna and AJ looking none-too-impressed by the creek, but really they were having a great time throwing rocks.

Below, is a picture taken from the same place, but looking through the bushes at Dexter, Emerson, and Jaxon.



















Congratulations Dexter! You're 9 months old!
GET ON THAT POTTY!


Although I will not do it the exact same way I did with AJ, I am planning on making the potty 'an every day part of Dexter's life' starting now. As you can see, he sure doesn't mind. I'm thinking I'll put him on after nap, when he always pees, and right before bath, as he usually pees as soon as he gets in the bath. Don't they all!?




Here's a pic of Chunky-D in action, burning off the baby fat!!! Go Dex Go!!!!

If I'm not mistaken, he was 'pointing' at animals in his book today. He actually had a fist with his pointer finger pointed out and was using it to 'show me' animals. At least, that's what it seemed like.







I almost forgot to include this pic of Dexter digging through the toy box, looking for something new. No doubt looking for something of AJ's. ANYTHING of AJ's. He loves to try to bite of the Hot Wheels tires. Aye Carumba!!






This is the moment you've all been waiting for...
Mommy is Velma, from Scooby Doo.
Daddy is an 80s-Mullet-Wearing-Dude.














Tomorrow we're going to the Apple Barn, so stay tuned for pics from today's park experience, and tomorrow's pumpkin patch trip!!!

Two for the 'Baby Book'

Since yesterday, Dexter has really been on a 'Mama' rampage. If I'm not mistaken, he's actually addressing me like this, particularly if he needs my attention. What a cutie!

AND...

Let me tell you - Baby-Dexter does not get read as many books as Baby-AJ did in his infancy, yet still he has figured out how to turn pages with a vengeance. He has two particular favourite books to flip through on his own, Colours, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It's neat to see him grab the page and slap it over, then quickly smack his hand down on the page as if to ensure it doesn't flip back.

That's-a-my-boy!!

Thanksgiving With Grand-Dan

Didn't you know it was International Wear a Hat Day?
No?
Oh, I guess Mommy was just in a hat mood.




I was waiting to post this one so I had some more pictures to load with it. I think I'm still missing some, but here's what's been going on since just a little before Thanksgiving. Interspersed are some pics of the boys in their matching sleepers from our trip to the States. AJ would normally never wear sleepers. Not for over a year and a half I think. It's just not conducive to sitting on a potty. Nonetheless, too cute. He wouldn't wear them to bed though. Who would want to? 100% Polyester! Dexter did.

All About AJ

"What's a cowboy without his hat?"
(AJ quoting Woody from Toy Story 2)

Do you want to watch Toy Story 1 or Toy Story 2, AJ?
AJ - "Toy Storeeeeee wwwwooooooo..... 2."

AJ's been saying, "Hey Mommy, how's it goin' with you?"

Last week, I said, "So, AJ. How's it goin' with you?"
He said, "Uh, it's not goin'."

AJ's also been bringing out his blanket in the morning with which to sit on the couch. I don't mean his blankie. I mean his actual comforter. And he likes to have his breakfast and milk on the couch watching Sesame Street and Curious George or a movie.

Speaking of movies -He just loves them. It used to be all about Cars or even Toy Story. Lately, it's Kung Fu Panda, Monsters Inc., and Toy Story 2.

Preschool's still going well. He has a good time when he's there. Grand-Dan has offered to pay for AJ's second day per week. I'd love to start it now, but since I don't know what's happening for work yet, I thought I should maybe wait until the New Year.



All About Dexter

Okay, when I started this post a few days ago, I was going to say that Dexter was taking some first attempts at cruising. In those few days, he's not only climbing up on EVERYTHING within seconds of getting there, he's cruising quite a few steps along the coffee table, couch, book baskets, or his toys.

He's also doing some 'walking'. He pushes his activity table along the laminate floors while taking steps behind it. We have a push walker toy, but he's not ready for that kind of speed yet.

Dexter's 'talking' is coming along too. His "Hi" and "Dada" are much more defined and I venture to say that he really knows what those two words mean. I think I've heard him say, "AJ" a few times too, but sounding more like "uh ju". But maybe that's just the mom in me hearing that. Dexter's babbling lots. Sometimes I think I hear a sentence in the monitor in my half asleep state, and think that it's AJ, but then realize that it's Dexter babbling away.


Here's a picture of the teething monster now. Hence, the immense drool and runny nose.

Naughty-mommy alert!
Dexter was enjoying some of my delicious chocolate chip banana bread the other day. Mmmmmmm. He was just shoveling it into his mouth as fast as he can, just as though he was thinking, "Wait, this must be a mistake. She didn't mean to give this to me. It's too delicious. I'd better get as much as I can RIGHT NOW!"

Dexter also recently tried red and green peppers which he LOVED, and a 'ham dinner' jar of baby food that he quite enjoyed.


More Stuff We've Been Up To

Thanksgiving
Well, it was just Grand-Dan and us. Richard's parents are still away in Nova Scotia, my mom, Ken, Paul, Auntie Brenda, Uncle Al, and cousin Michelle were all at 100 Mile. And my cousin Theresa was away too, for soccer. It looked like it wasn't destined to be a big Thanksgiving this year.
Since Grand-Dan's not a huge fan of turkey anyway, we just decided to have a very non-traditional Thanksgiving involving Indian Butter Chicken, Naan, mixed frozen veggies (my dad's fave with the peas, carrots, beans, lima beans, and corn), and a play off baseball game (or so I assume) on in the background.
The boys had a great time getting to see Grand-Dan again. We had just seen him the week before at the Old Spaghetti Factory during our aquarium outing.

A Meet Up
We had a 'meet up' with my friend, Allison and her family. Allison is one of my friends from my BabyWhisperer 'birthclub'. Her son, Silas is the same age as AJ. Richard claims that none of my pictures came out except this one. Perhaps it's because the battery was dying. I had some cute pics of Allison's husband, Tom, throwing the boys in the air. He's not used to a light-weight like AJ and evidently, AJ's head touched the ceiling. Or maybe he was just saying that to see if it worried me?

Here are AJ and Silas enjoying their fries.












The weekend before Thanksgiving, we had gone to Gram and Papa's for a visit. Here's some favourite pictures from that week and visit.

Dexter, just about 9 months old.













Dexter in all his drooly, teething, goodness.












Boys in the Baby Bath!













Visit with Gram, Papa, Auntie Kim, and Uncle Paul (who I didn't have any pics of with the boys, oops, sorry Paul).

















































Watch For These Coming Attractions in the Next Blog Entry
Park pictures from last week.
Hallowe'en party pictures of Mommy and Daddy.
Pumpkin Patch, we'll be going a few times.
and
Hallowe'en. Both boys will be dragons. I didn't mean to match them this time, really.

Counting and Crawling

Counting
-AJ has been 'goin to town' with the counting as of late. I keep forgetting to mention that he does the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50,s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. He does not count to 100 all in one go, nor does he always correctly say what comes after 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, or 99. My point is that he out of the blue likes to start counting like, "40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49".

Dexter's Crawling
-Shoot, he's crawling all over the place and as of a couple of days ago, he started hopping his back legs around like a bunny.

My Favourite Blogs

Okay, seriously people.
I'm laughing my fool head off. Am I alone?
If you've never been to
cakewrecks.blogspot.com
or
yousuckatcraigslist.com

please do.

Sonja

I'm Buzz Lightyear, So I Don't Need To Wear Clothes

Well the acting bug has certainly hit AJ this week. First, he's a tiger and Kung Fu Panda, and now, as Kim and I asked him to get his clothes on to go out for dinner, AJ said, "I'm Buzz Lightyear, so I don't need to wear clothes." Awwww.

Dinner out? Truly You Jest?
-That's right. Erica and I are gluttons for punishment.
2 Dads
2 Boys who hadn't napped
2 babies who were nearing bedtime bottle time
2 mommies still wiped from a trip to the US and less than perfect sleep
and Old Spaghetti Factory
-It was quite good. They sat us way in the back corner surrounded by lots of loudness and kids. The boys were really good considering they hadn't napped. Hyper, but good. Rya and Dexter were good too considering they're both teething.
-The drinks were good, the service was good, the food was good. I had a good time. Not much time to talk, but that's okay. Erica and I talked this morning.

The "New Park"
-So, the 'new to us' park that we rediscovered last week, was revisited by Jen (Makenna/Emerson/Jaxon), Erica (Jack/Rya), Me (AJ/Dex), and Auntie Kim who had spent the night. It was super cold, but really fun for the kids. We also walked the trail there, fed some ducks some cookies (oops), saw some geese, played some more, had some lunch, and headed home.

Thank you Auntie Kimmy for coming to hang out with us!

So cute, teeth teeth, roaring, I'm a Tiger, mission impossible

Too Cute
-Last night, Dexter was playing hard with Daddy. Daddy set up the cushions on the floor so that if Dexy fell off the couch, he'd be okay. He let Dex have freedom to crawl, climb, and stand on the couch, and if he fell, no biggy. At one point, Dex actually 'got off the couch' successfully onto his legs, standing. Fluke? Oh ya. For sure.
-Anyhow, I picked Dexter up to take him to bed, and he was so sad that I was taking him from Daddy. His lip was curling on the way down the hall and he was turning to try to see Richard and looked so sincerely sad.

Teeth Teeth
-Dex has got more teeth on the way. Really runny nose, all clear. I hope it's teething and not a new cold after his other one just ended.

Roaring
-Dexter is totally roaring like a lion or bear or something.
-And, I think Dexter is signing 'change' on the change table and sometimes while he's sitting. Probably coincidence that he's actually in need of a change when it happens, but I can't help but notice, he usually uses the sign when he's in his cloth diapers. Hmmmmm.

I'm a Tiger
-At the mall today, I told AJ it was time to go to the car and drive home. He said, "I'm a tiger, so I can't go in the car." He's been into the movie "Kung Fu Panda" the last few days and likes to be the Tiger.

And...








Mission Impossible - please cue theme music



Agent-00-Sonja
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
2 cars
2 moms
2 toddlers
2 babies
The border
Guide Meridian Construction Traffic
Costco
A Tantrum
McDonalds
Pee
Target
Playground
Outlets - cancelled
The border
Home

The cost- $80 plus gas, and a missed trip to Daiso.
The reward- Matching Christmas sleepers, matching Christmas sweaters, and an innovative diaper bag at $10 off.




What's that?
Only a crazy person would take on this task?
Yes, you're right. That's me.

Erica and I both wanted to go to the States.

*Gruelling border line -
With 'cheaters' scooting in from the duty free. ARG! And Dexter woke from his nap, was overdue for his 'snack', and I really needed to use the facilities due to my Grande Americano.
*Grilling border guard -
1. Do you work outside the home?
2. Is this car yours?
3. Why aren't you carpooling?
4. Are these kids yours?
5. How long is your maternity leave?
6. Are you bringing anything across that you'll be sending or mailing?

*Costco
Can't find Erica. Find Erica.
Tantrum -
The kind where you need to drag your son crying, twisting, and screaming from the store, and a man stops you to say, "Boy, he's a handful", but you refrain from punching the guy in face and instead meekly say, "Not usually", and your son is trying to pry his hands out of yours saying "Let Go Of My Hand Mom!!!! Come On!!!! Come On!!! I want to walk by myself!" Let's not forget that AJ was hyped on an accidental 'full sweet' kid's choco milk from Starbucks, had whacked himself in the head with the stirrup from a ride on horse, and pulled a bike down on himself in an effort to ride it.

*McDonalds
It was good. I was still mentally calming down from carrying AJ wriggling like an alligator that's breaking its own arms trying to get away from Steve Irwin (may he rest in peace).
Unfortunately, a girl peed on the slide and they had to close the playplace for about 15 minutes to clean up. Luckily, AJ, Dexter, Jack, and Rya had fun playing in the toddler section pretending to mail letters and paint.

*Target
-I stupidly parked in the wrong section and had to run halfway across the mall to 'find Erica' yet again.
-Target went really well. Jack was ready for a nap, but he was really great. Rya was her usual unnapped, but jubilant-anyways self, AJ was really good and found a Thomas suitcase on wheels to pull around the whole store, and Dexter slept.
-Took AJ to the indoor playground in the mall so Dexy could have his bottle.
-Got to the car. AJ insisted he wasn't taking a nap, but would instead 'just lay', and of course, was out like a light.
-Back through the stupid construction (man I've got to find a new route to Bellis Fair).
-Home to my wonderful husband who once again made dinner for his stay-at-home-mom wife.


Aaaahhhhh. Home.

What A Great Day So Far

Feel free to skip this one. This post is really just for me in the 'baby book memories' kind of way. Probably won't interest many people except Grand-Dan, and maybe Auntie Erica. I would say that it would interest Gram too, except that I'll probably call her in 10 minutes and tell her all this anyway.

Dexter finally found a reason to prove his crawling abilities today. I keep telling Richard that Dexy's been able to crawl a proper crawl for a couple weeks or more now, but I don't think he's believed me because he never gets to see it. Dexter will crawl a couple steps to get something, but doesn't use the crawl for transportation, as I've mentioned.

But today, at music class, Dexter REALLY wanted the 'spots' that we sit on. They are circular placemats that look like slices of lemons and limes. He just loved these things. So, I tossed it away a little because it was distracting him from the class and he just went and crawled half way across the room to go get it. It was quite exciting. I'm going to have to go to the dollar store to see if they have some of these things. I'll just keep tossing it around the house so he'll chase it.

Dexter was a doll for grocery shopping after music class. He slept the whole time. It was great. After grocery shopping, Dexy and I went to the coffee shop for my Americano and his lunch before picking up AJ at preschool.

Now, preschool... what a success. The first three or so classes were still a bit unnerving for AJ, but last class he only welled up with tears when I dropped him off and when I picked him up. Today, no tears at all. He was excited. He went right in. He had lots to tell me today, like that he was the special helper, that he'll see everyone next week on Wednesday (that was cute), and that he likes to sit with Miss. Tasha. He got his weekly treat after preschool: a lollipop.

AJ's been really great lately. There's way less whining, and he hardly ever bursts into tears when he falls or bumps himself. He's got lots to say, and if he wants something badly enough, he'll even talk to strangers.. "I'd like a sticker please! Two please!"

After preschool today, I asked AJ if we could go to Canadian Tire. He said yes, but looked disappointed when we got there and said, "Ohhhh, this isn't Costco!" And, he noticed I had a coffee and he said, "Oh, you got your Americano from Starbucks with Dexter?" And I said, "No, this one's not from Starbucks. Today I got my coffee from City Blends." He said, "No, Mommy. That's silly. Mommy Americano coffee is from Starbucks, not Silly Bends." I had to laugh at loud on that one.

Dexter, of course, fell asleep on the way home and transferred quite nicely. He seems to have finally, after 9 months of life instead of 9 weeks like his brother, ironed out a nice routine for himself that he can fall back into, even if his naps are slightly different in the morning. He likes 9:00/9:30-10:00/10:30 or so, and then 1:00ish-2:30 ish. Sometimes a catnap later and sometimes not. Night time sleep's usually quite nice. He sleeps until 6:30am and chats and plays until I get him at 7:00am. It's working well. This morning though, he slept on the way to music, then again at the grocery store, and then again now. There's something to be said for 'the second child'. He is much more resiliant with sleep than AJ was. AJ was quite happy to do the exact same routine every day, but if I strayed from it, you could tell he didn't like it. Dexter's just so used to being toted around everywhere that he's really learned to sleep in many environments and at many times. He previously had about three versions of how his day could go and seemed pretty happy with any of them.

Dexter's been full of smiles and pulling to standing on couches, tables, bodies, toys, whatever. He's just a really content guy. Even witching hour between 3:30-5:00 is not anything like it used to be. He's just really happy.

He and AJ really love playing together. Cars, Little People, musical instruments. It's funny to have them both playing in Dexter's room and I'm in kitchen. "My boys are playing down the hall" I'm thinking to myself.

They're two really great kids that make me smile. AJ's been really cuddly lately and says my name in this really sweet way that I can't describe, but of course, I'll attempt to... "Mooooommmeeeeeee". To which I reply, "Yes, AAAAAAAAAAAAA - Jaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy?"

For my baby-book records (which is what this blog is really for), I'm going to type out Dexter's routine. For those of you who are continuing to read this and are not 'Baby Whisperers' the letters E, A, S stand for Eat, Activity, Sleep. There's a Y too, that means You-time, but it's usually, Mommy and AJ time.

6:30 - Wake and play until 7:00am

E - 7:00am, bottle, and a little later, breakfast of applesauce and oatmeal.
A - after breakfast
S - 9:00 - 10:30
Y - mommy and AJ time

E - 10:30, snack, like some cheerios, 11:30, lunch, meat, veg, fruit, and water.
A - after snack and lunch
S - 1:00 - 2:30 or 3:00
Y - my time if AJ naps at the same time

E - 2:30/3:00 - bottle
A - after bottle
S - sometimes a cat nap around 4:30 for 15 minutes
Y - no, no me time, getting dinner ready or out for a walk

E - 5:00pm - dinner and water to drink
A - bath, play, bottle at 6:30pm, stories
S - 7:00pm
Y - my time starts when AJ goes to bed at 8:00pm.

Day starts all over again at 6:30am.

Be Careful How You Influence Your Kids

Me: AJ, do you want to go to Makenna's house or would you like Makenna to come here to play.

AJ: No, I don't want to go to Makenna's. I don't want Makenna to come play cars. I want to go to Starbucks drive thru and get hot cocoa and a mommy Americano coffee and then go to the NEW park. ....... Please. I want to take my hot cocoa to the new park. And Auntie Jen, and Makenna, and baby Emerson, and baby Jaxon, and Dexter, and you, Mommy. And Me and Makenna.

Me: I think it might be too windy and maybe even rainy at the park.

AJ: No, it's not windy. It's not raining. The park is fine. It's fine, Mommy.

Cuttin' a Tooth

Well, Dexter just cut his top left Central Incisor through. That explains what all the hubbub was about the night before last. I thought the top ones might be coming through but I couldn't see anything.

Sure enough.

It's there.

Parks, Playgrounds, Zoo, Rain, Aquarium

Since my last update, we've been busy. I tried to promise myself to stay home for just one day, but I just couldn't do it. We've been out every morning for two weeks until Friday. I finally stayed home on Friday. We had a 'jammie-day'. Nice.

So, what's new?


Not so new... Dexter's not only standing, but is pulling to standing and then jumping. His crawl is definitely 'proper', but he only uses it to get something, rather than to get around. I don't think he realizes that this is an option.
Dexter's saying, "Hi" a lot too. He's said it for a really long time, but he seems to be understanding it more now.


The Zoo
We spent the last non-rainy days of September visiting parks and going to the zoo. We found a playground that we hadn't visited yet and there are a couple of great pics of the kids playing there on Auntie Erica's site thejackarooandbabyrya.blogspot.com


Preschool
AJ had a great day a preschool. Hardly any grief, and he FULLY participated this time. I think it's all good now. He received a special treat from me for having a good day AND an extra treat for no-tears. Well, hardly any tears.

The Aquarium
We needed to take our Zooper stroller in to get the seat fixed (for the second time) and needed to go to Vancouver to get it serviced. We thought it best to 'make a day of it', so off to the Aquarium, then two stops for Daddy's work, a visit to TJ's, lunch with Grand-Dan, one more stop for Daddy's work, ice cream, and home. AJ was so ready to crash.
































Bubble Boys.


























Daddy and his boys.









Baby Beluga.























Takin' on the Jellies!!












That Dexy just doesn't quit.
















And, after one of our many busy days these past couple weeks, here's AJ after he said that he didn't want to take a nap.