Happy Halloween!

We began our Halloween festivities at our local farmer's market on Saturday where the vendors had trick or treating for the kids. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to say goodbye to the farmer's market until spring.  Lucy was a huge hit with the kids.  You would have thought Lucy was the next big thing, because throughout the morning random kids would shriek "ELMO" and practically pass out from excitement when they saw Lucy.  

People had no idea that Emma was Oscar the Grouch, and instead commented on her cute hat, and asked where we got it.  When I informed them that the fur was supposed to be a grouchy eyebrow, they either gave an awkward laugh or just stared.  So much for the homemade costume!  

And speaking of homemade costumes, when we were leaving JoAnne Fabric last week with the items for Emma's costume Lucy stopped us in the check out line, and with a look of horror on her face proclaimed, "What about Simone!?!"  She then proceeded to tell us that Simone was going to be Abby Cadabby, Elmo's pink and purple fairy friend on Sesame Street.  She was so convinced of this, we went back and picked out some pink and purple felt and pipe cleaners to create Simone an outfit too.  Below are the three Muppets along with the head Muppet Handler taking a break at the farmer's market.

The following day we visited the cemetery and put a pumpkin on Luke's grave.  We had hoped to get Emma in the picture too, but she was fast asleep in the car and we didn't have the heart to wake her up.

After the cemetery, we went to a family Halloween-themed birthday party where Lucy had a ton of fun running around with her cousins, playing Halloween games with the big kids and eating candy.  Here she is below with Will's cousin Jake who wrapped her up like a mummy.

Here's the family tonight, minutes before trick or treating.

Not only was it Emma's first Halloween, but her cousin Ellen's as well.  We had a great time with my brothers John and Mike, sister-in-law Jenna, niece Ellen, sister Jane and her boyfriend Matt.  Here's Ellen the football with her biggest cheerleader, mom and football star, dad.

 Here's Emma wanting out of her trash can.

My proud brother Mike looking at his cute little football girl.

This picture of Lucy was surprisingly taken BEFORE trick or treating where she was wound up on pure excitement!

Below is my brother John getting smiles out of Emma and proving that she really is no grouch.

Elmo decided that we needed to go trick or treating NOW!

Here Lucy is waiting by the pumpkins we carved, while the adults gathered coats, costumes and babies for trick or treating.

 Here's the gang trick or treating.  Every time Lucy got candy from a house she would quietly and shyly say "thank you" and then turn and run for her Aunt Jane while yelling at the top of her lungs, "AUNT JANE, I GOT MORE CANDY!"

 And finally, here is Lucy getting a lift between houses.  She made out pretty good this year and had a blast.

We hope you had a blast too!  Happy Halloween!

You and me baby are stuck like glue

This past week Emma celebrated her half birthday!  When Lucy turned six months, we celebrated with a fall photo shoot so we decided to carry on that tradition.  It was a lot harder this time around to get two kids looking at the camera.  Emma was freezing cold and more interested in eating leaves than smiling, and Lucy was hard-pressed to sit still.  The three 'unique' pumpkins came from our garden.  Below is our best attempt at showcasing both children and pumpkins.

Here is the photo from Lucy's half birthday fall photo shoot two years ago.  I like to compare Lucy and Emma pictures and see how similar and yet how different they both are.

Emma is such a big girl, now that she is half a year old.  This past month we introduced solid foods to her.  First, we brought up Lucy's old high chair from the basement and let Emma get a feel for sitting in it.  We even gave her an empty bowl to try out.

She seemed to pass these steps with flying colors, so we decided she was ready to try something a little more substantial.  We were temporarily delayed however, as we couldn't find any of our rubber coated baby spoons from Lucy (Will thinks I donated them, which is entirely possible - if we haven't used it in a year, out it goes!).  But then last weekend when we were at our local supermarket making the samples round, we realized the little black plastic spoon that came along with the bite of cake in the paper cup was perfect for a baby spoon!  

So far, she has eaten rice cereal, bananas, butternut squash and applesauce.  Banana is her favorite but she gags every time she tries the squash.  I can't really blame her, as I prefer butter, cinnamon and brown sugar on mine and she can't have those ingredients yet.  Until then, I mix the squash with a bit of apple sauce and she only makes mild grimaces when the food touches her mouth.

It seems Emma is starting to exhibit more of her own personality.  As much as I have tried to let her be her own person, I need to admit that I have been routing for Emma to be the 'laid back' sister.  And although she may be laid back in certain aspects she is definitely beginning to show her own stubborn streak.  She also has become a genuine 'mama's girl' and refuses to be with anyone else if she can see me.  For some reason, this has taken me by surprise as I only assumed that subsequent children naturally accept that their parents have divided attention.  Nope, Emma could care less that it is difficult for me to cut her older sister's food, wipe mouths and bottoms, cook meals and generally run a household one-handed.  She is stuck to me like glue.  She can hold out for hours, screaming until I can feed her or rock her to sleep.  It makes having evening plans almost impossible and extremely stressful for babysitters.  And as tiring as it is to be someone's one and only, I melt whenever she cries and reaches for me.  So I guess it is a two way street and a better description would be that we are like Velcro.

Fortunately, Emma does peel herself off of me for plenty of floor time.  She loves to be on the floor next to Lucy while playing and rolls to whatever it is she wants.  

She even gets up on her hands and knees to rock back and forth, causing a bolt of terror to run down my spine as I realize it is probably time to re-baby-proof the house.

Besides being a mama's girl, she is also Lucy's number one fan.  She lights up whenever Lucy comes into the room, and wants to be wherever Lucy is.  Lucy is the only one that can make her laugh uncontrollably and just when I think Lucy really hurt her, Emma breaks out in giddy laughter.  Emma adores Lucy.  Here Emma is below playing baby doll with Lucy in the bouncer...

in the doll stroller...

 and in Lucy's play car.

Emma eventually gets her fill, and finds her way back in my arms.

She has been a little Miss Fussy Pants lately.  Her crying really flusters me, and I find it extremely difficult to concentrate on whatever task is at hand when she is upset.  This past month I shook up a container of orange juice with the cap off, left a cup of water filling in the fridge door and didn't notice until the water spilled into the dining room, and almost blew through a stop sign.  Fortunately, none of these incidents happened on the same day, and I did stop halfway into the intersection with only a mild reprimand from my backseat driver - "Whoooa, Mom!"  We are hoping that she is cutting teeth and that this fussy phase will go as fast as it came.  Until then, stay tuned for next month's post and I will end this one with a picture of Emma at her very first annual Timmerman Apple Picking event.

Apparently the only person looking at the camera was the only person interested in the numerous aunts, uncles and cousins behind the camera who were jumping up and down and making strange noises.

Model Citizen

My neighbor summed up this past month with Lucy quite nicely the other day.  He told me that he hadn't heard any defiant screams of NO! or out of control crying lately.  I told him that is probably because it's been cooler out and our windows are now closed.  But seriously, even with the closed windows, he is mostly right. Lucy has had a great month.  She has been helpful when Emma is fussing and plays really well on her own most of the day.  She is taking solid naps again and sleeping well still at night.

That is not to say that we don't have our setbacks still.  A couple of weeks ago she had a horrible bladder infection that seemed to come out of nowhere.  She lost all control of her bladder, and would just stand helpless as puddles formed around her and she screamed in pain.  If you know Lucy, not having control of her bladder was almost as bad as the pain.  At one point, there were seven different puddles strewn about the first floor of our house with random cloths thrown on them - a baby blanket on one, kitchen towels on another, bath towels on yet another.  They were happening so fast all I could do was grab the nearest absorbent object, throw it on the puddle, and comfort her.  Earlier that day we had taken her to the doctor for an emergency visit because she was in so much pain and peeing blood.  That doctor visit will go down in the record books as one of my most stellar mom moments.  There I was in the doctor's office bathroom with Emma strapped to me in a carrier, squatting next to a toilet holding a little plastic cup under Lucy who was perched above while I pleaded with her to pee in the cup.  I tried every tactic I could think of to convince Lucy to pee.  As my legs grew numb and Emma's fussing turned to full on screams I grew desperate.  I wondered if the nursing staff could hear Lucy's screams over Emma's.  I hoped that no one was waiting to use the bathroom.  Finally, I said something no mother should ever say - "Lucy, I'll give you anything you want if you pee in this cup.  Anything.  You name it and it's yours!"  As my mouth said the words my stomach clenched and I immediately started regretting it.  What would she come up with?  I was really in trouble now.  Lucy looked me in the eyes, stopped crying and told me without pausing, "I want two juice boxes and Elmo stickers."  "DONE!"  I replied with a ton of relief.  Her eyes had not unlocked from mine though, and she repeated, "TWO juice boxes mom.  AND stickers."  And with that she filled up the cup.  Once she hopped down I was faced with the dilemma of whether or not the top for the cup that had earlier dropped in the toilet would flush down or if I had to pull it out.  As I reached my hand in the public toilet, I told myself at least Lucy didn't demand a Barbie Dream House and hot dogs every night for dinner for the rest of her life.  I am happy to report that the antibiotic worked within the first eight hours and Lucy has been fine ever since.

Yup, Lucy has been a model citizen and we think it is because she now has an alter ego who does all of the bad things that Lucy used to do.  Simone has taken over where Lucy has left off.  Lucy is forever telling us of the things that Simone has done.  The other day she told me, "Mom, Simone just pooped on the floor.  On the carpet.  With no pants on Mom!"  My response, "Wow, what did you tell Simone after she did that?"  Lucy, "I told her, 'Simone, no pooping on the floor!  Poop only on the potty.  Poop is dirty Simone!'"  Then, a brief moment later Lucy added, "Mom, can you clean it up please?"  Or she will tell me, "Mom, Simone just woke up Emma.  I told her, 'No Moan, you can't wake Emma up!  She is sleeping!' But she wouldn't listen Mom.  She just woked her up."  Even better, after Will tucked Lucy in last night she called Will back up stairs multiple times because "Simone isn't eating right dad.  I think she needs to burp."  and also, "Simone is hurting me dad - I told her 'No Moan!  No hitting!' but she keeps hurting my arm dad."  I'm thinking of maybe getting a special doll-sized chair for Simone to sit in for some quiet time when she acts up.

Lucy continues to be a picky eater, although she eats the most odd things at times.  She loves helping herself now to the fridge, and continues to drive me crazy by leaving the door wide open.  I tried explaining to her about the baby penguins and how we need to conserve energy, but she doesn't seem too concerned.

 Here she is below eating salsa out of the container with a spoon.  Now keep in mind she would never eat a tomato cut up on her plate, but a vat of salsa?  Apparently that's different.

 Lucy likes to think outside of the box when it comes to her vegetables, as last week she ate a mushroom in the backyard.  Again, she would never have eaten it if we had put it on her plate and told her it was dinner.  We freaked out and called poison control who was super helpful.  They even called back twice in the following 24 hours to monitor Lucy's condition.  She fortunately was no worse for the wear, but gained some new material to tell people that Simone did.

The other day when we were shopping at Kohl's, Lucy saw a double seater shopping cart available, and decided it was perfect for her and Simone.  Slightly annoyed I told her no, I wasn't going to push that big thing around with one hand because I had Emma already in a front carrier on me.  A sales lady overheard the conversation and misunderstood - she thought Lucy was fighting me and wouldn't go in the shopping cart.  This well meaning but highly aggravating woman picked Lucy up and put her in the shopping cart while telling her that she should be a good listener for her mommy.  The good fortune was not lost on Lucy and she shot me a smile as she was placed in the cart.  Deciding it wasn't worth fighting I placed Simone in the front seat and off we went.  As we were waiting in line after we were done shopping, Lucy started telling me about how there were three Christmas trees next to us, one for Lucy, Emma and Simone as she pointed to her upheld three fingers.  An older woman behind me was listening and asked which one was Simone, as she loved that name.  Slightly embarrassed, I pointed to the doll in the front seat of the double shopping cart and watched as the woman took a step back and said, "Oh, I thought you had another daughter in school."  Needless to say, she was not amused.  Awkward silence ensued as we waited for what seemed like forever for it to be our turn.

Life is never dull at our house.  I did discover a great alternative to a Pack and Play (a.k.a. portable crib and play pen) though.  Lucy and Emma actually sat in here long enough for me to throw together dinner.  Priceless!