Catching Up

As you may have noticed I have fallen *very* behind in this blog! Life has been full and I've been so tired in the evenings it's been difficult to take the time to write down all that the little man has been up to. But no more excuses- today I will try to catch up. Mind you, because I'm trying to capture a month's worth of Reshen antidotes, it may be jumbled and not very poetic ;-)

Most recently (and note-worthy) was Halloween. Reshen still didn't totally "get" it this year, but at least he was a little more aware than last year. To kick off the festivities, we went to a pumpkin patch at Craven Farms in Snohomish (out in the country) on the weekend before Halloween. I dressed him in a clown costume that my great-grandmother Crowe made for my mom. Three generations (including my sister and I) have now worn it :-) Reshen was actually almost too big for it, but I managed to stuff him in it long enough for him to walk around the pumpkin patch and attract a lot of attention :-) He had a great time playing on a tractor, and "pushing" a huge wheelbarrow. Most of the pumpkins out in the field were already rotten (we have had a lot of rain and cold temperatures), so he began saying "yucky pumpkins!" We picked out a nice healthy one up at the front and Reshen decided he wanted his own tiny pumpkin too. Later that day I let him paint it at home (he chose to paint it mostly black for some reason). He also decided to paint his cheeks and nose telling me "clown on face." He was re-creating his clown costume.

That Sunday I wanted to carve the pumpkin we picked and thought he might like to help me take the "guts" out. He watched with interest as I pulled out the first handful and then wrinkled his nose. I asked if he wanted to try and he shook his head and declared "No Reshen put hands in there. Yucky pumpkin!" He's been particular about his hands lately and so I didn't push it. He just sat and watched me for awhile, supervising and telling me to throw the pumpkin guts in the trash. I thought having kids meant I got to delegate these tasks, but I think Reshen enjoys pumpkin carving as much as Alan (which means not at all). Maybe next year...



On Halloween Reshen had a party at his day care. Of course I wasn't there, but it looks like they had fun as he came home with a pumpkin painted on his face, a bag full of goodies and real pumpkin. I picked him up early that day and took him to Bothell Country Village for their early trick-or-treating. It was perfect. It's a quaint, village-like setting of local shops. There are chickens, ducks, a pond and streams and fountains, and cobblestone streets- a great place for kids. At first Reshen didn't want to put on his lion outfit, but I told him he had to wear it if he wanted to get candy. He finally agreed and actually kept it on (including the hood) the whole time. He was a little overwhelmed and unsure at first- I suppose it was a combination of all the people and all the costumes. He didn't want to go up to the doors to get the candy and would plant his heels and say "no." After I gave him a piece of candy, though, he decided it was OK to go get some more :-) He took everything in with those wide, dark eyes. I asked him a few times if he wanted to go home, but he quickly told me "No. Reshen go trick treat." So we stayed awhile longer. I let him have a few pieces of candy, but we didn't go overboard. He has enough trouble sleeping as it is and I wasn't about to get him on a sugar high before bedtime! All in all it was a fun Halloween. It's so nice to have a kid of my own to share it with now :-)



Our little man is quite a voracious book reader lately. Yesterday evening he pulled out every single book he has in our living room one-by-one. He would take one out, flip through it quietly, and when he was done, he would put it down and grab another one. He was so serious and focused. He read books like that for a good 30 minutes without a peep, except for the occasional comment about what he was reading. We've also started reading a book before bedtime (The Going to Bed Book, by Sandra Bonton) and he's formed an attachment to it- taking it to bed and even brining it downstairs in the morning. The past few nights I've put him to bed with two books and his star light on so he can see and he reads until he falls asleep without any complaining. How wonderful is that? :-)

I scored Reshen a wooden train and track set from Freecycle. I was going to save it for his birthday and add a bunch of accessories to it, but couldn't wait that long and gave it to him last week. He played with it every chance he got for a few days, but now he's more interested in the one battery-powered engine that it came it. He's so much like his daddy sometimes- all about the electronics. I had these visions of him making long trains with the many pieces it came with and pushing them around the track and over the bridge... but he just likes to turn on that one engine and watch it drive. He does like the set, though, and it was free so it's not like I wasted any money. Also, I think this is a toy he can grow into and we can add new pieces to it as he gets older.

Reshen's "Gamma" and "Gampa" (my parents) visited in early October and had so much fun with him. He totally ate up all the attention and really enjoyed spending his days with them. He still talks about them and says goodnight to their photo now. It's really sweet and I'm glad he's at an age where he'll remember his relatives even though they all live out of state.

Reshen went pee in his potty for the 2nd time at the beginning of October. Like the first time, I think we were just lucky, as he hasn't done it again since. We're not pushing it yet, though. If he wants to sit on it, that's great, but if not, that's OK too. He really has shown no sign that he can really control it yet and is only mildly interested in the whole process, so we're not too worried at this point.

He's such a talker and has taken to saying "mommy" after almost every sentence that he says to me. Example: "Mommy sit by you read book Mommy." "Chancey eat food Mommy." "I want Mommy hold you Mommy." It's like he has to confirm that he's talking to me and that I'm listening. It's really cute :-) He also says "please" a lot. One morning I came into his room to get him out and he greeted me with "I want mommy change biper (diaper) please mommy." :-)

As usual, he is really into music and singing. He sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" so well- he even has the melody and cadence down. He still really likes "wheels on the bus," and also likes "baa baa black sheep" and "Bingo." I check out music tapes for him every couple of weeks from the library and we listen to them on our commutes to and from daycare. His favorite tape so far has been Raffi.

He has discovered his belly button. He noticed it before bath the other nigh and asked Alan "What's that?" Alan told him it was his belly button. The rest of the night he would look down and say "Where button go?" Funny kid, though, he won't touch it. I told him to show me where it was and he looked confused so then I told him to pat it and show mommy where it was and he said, "No Reshen touch button." I have no idea why he won't touch his belly button- just one of his little quirks I guess.



Reshen and Chancey (our cat) are becoming better friends these days. Chancey hangs around him more and even rubs against him. Reshen is softer with him and pets and hugs him. For the most part they get along well, although we still have to make sure he doesn't run his cars and trucks into the cat and sometimes we have to tell him that Chancey is not a pillow. He thinks the cat is hilarious and it's so funny to watch Reshen get a laugh out of him. Chancey often hangs out around his toys and Reshen will crack up and say "Chancey playing with trains!" or "Chancey read book!"

Well, it's getting late here and we never know how early our little man will wake so I'll end this here for now. More later (and hopefully sooner rather than later) :-)