Thanksgiving and lots more

Well, time has gotten away from me again.  I'm using as an excuse my return to work - and I really do hope not to let so much time go by again.  If you all are itching for photos and I'm taking too long though, please feel free to email or text and I am happy to send some your way.

The return to work has been going pretty well so far.  It is definitely an adjustment, but for the most part it feels good to be working again.  They've put me straight to work, which is good - distracts me from missing the kiddos quite so much.

Okay, now onto the good stuff - there's lots of it.

We've been having lots of fun around here - getting in a few glimpses of outside but bringing a lot of our playing indoors as the rainy season starts.  Here are a few shots of Grady being adventurous at the playground.

And working on learning how to ride the tricycle.

Grady has also been accompanying me on many of my runs, and has been enjoying teaching me all sorts of new post-run stretches.

Calves and hamstrings

Side?

Umm...?

Then we moved it inside for some ridiculously messy finger paint fun.  Little Ms. Clara saw the paint and immediately did a face dive in it - it must not taste too bad because she went back for seconds (and thirds, and fourths, and so on....).

Clara had so much fun.

Grady was much more of a traditionalist - paint stayed on the paper for the most part.

Clara, what are you DOING?

Different agendas

Grady has been oscillating between being a very grown up 2.5 year old to being, well, 2.5.  Here he is helping with the dishes.

Feeding baby.

And talking on the phone. 

The 2.5-y-ness is less cute, and mainly involves brazenly doing whatever we tell Grady not to do.  (Grady, please don't lick the railing, etc.).  One somewhat amusing 2.5 moment.  I was giving Grady a bath, and Matt came in.  Grady said "Daddy, go away!"  I said "Grady, that's not very nice."  And Grady said "Daddy, please go away."  

Clara is just a bucket of joy right now.  

She is always on the move.  She is scooting all over the place, and fast.  She can also get to sitting now with the help of a block, enjoys pulling up on anything and everything, and has just started pulling to kneeling. 

Her perfect day would be pulling up onto things with food on them.  That girl loves to eat.  

Grady and Clara sharing a snack

She is also so interested in whatever Grady is doing.  Grady is less than pleased about that development. 

But those two really love each other, and are becoming pretty good friends. 

The past few days we've been lucky to have Grandpa and Nana out for Thanksgiving.  They have, as usual, been a tremendous help and have spoiled us rotten.  We had a huge spread for Thanksgiving - turkey, two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, spinach, green beans and brussel sprouts (courtesy of Tabitha), cheese, pumpkin and cherry pie - it was a true feast.  Even Clara got full. 

Great food, great company, and so much to be thankful for.  It has been a wonderful year. 

Most of the rest of the trip with Grandpa and Nana has been spent reading How I Became a Pirate.  I believe we have all read it at least 10 times - Grandpa probably at least 50. 

We even remembered to take some photos of the kids with the grandparents before they left - and some even came out okay!

Of course, some didn't. 

Ah-choo!

Grady helpfully trying to make Clara laugh

Clara giving Nana the evil eye

Well, I think the kitties are getting hungry

So I'd best be off.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Wow, I have so many pictures to share so I'll just get right to it.

This year I am co-coordinating the 2012 Sellwood-Westmoreland playgroup association for babies born in 2012.  We hosted the inaugural event, which meant that we had 16 babies and their parents over!

It was fun, surprisingly low stress, and nice to meet some other new parents.  Clara is one of only 3 or 4 girls out of the 16, so we are encouraging her to be picky.

Afterwards, like last year, we went to the Westmoreland Monster March.  The event is a lot of fun - lots of kids dressed in their Halloween finest go for a short walk through the neighborhood.  This year it was very rainy and cold, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Heading over

Rainy march

Puddles! 

Puddle face-off

Sleepy baby

Next up, Jack-o-lanterns!  Grady and Clara both "helped" scoop out the pumpkins this year.

Clara lasted about 3 seconds before attempting to eat the pumpkin goop

Daddy's so funny! 

What's Grady doing?

Pretend Clara's not blurry and this is a good picture! 

Grady then drew what he wanted to carve out on the pumpkin, and I carved it.  This resulted in a surprisingly spooky Jack-o-lantern!

On to the big event - Halloween!  For Halloween this year, Grady wanted to be a "construction worker concrete mixer guy fireman."  I interpreted this as meaning we should get him a safety vest and a hard hat.  After making Grady dress up in a huge, unwieldy Grumpy Bear costume his first Halloween, and realizing how much babies hate being put into huge, unwieldy costumes, we put Clara in a simple skeleton costume that she could easily move around in.

Clara went to bed before trick-or-treating, but we let Grady go to half a dozen or so of our neighbors' houses for trick-or-treating.  He was so excited, and did a great job saying "trick or treat!" and "thank you!" after picking out his candy.  Except at the last house, where he proudly proclaimed "CANDY!" when our neighbor opened the door!  He was most excited about the lollipop he received, and, upon being told he could eat it once we got back home, proceeded to book it up the stairs to the house, take off his costume, and kick off his boots faster than previously thought humanly possible.

The haul

What else is going on.

Grady recorded his own album!  I wrote a review of it on PKC - you can read it here if you're interested in hearing about it, seeing the pictures, and hearing some clips.

Grady has pretty much officially stopped napping, his last nap being over a week ago now.  The first week or so was pretty painful.  Although he clearly thinks naps are no longer necessary, Matt and I beg to differ.  He gets pretty manic and out of control by the end of the day from being so tired.  For the past few days though he has been more like his usual self, so his body may be getting used to his self-imposed sleep deprivation!  I am still making him rest for an hour or so even if he doesn't nap, which is really as much for me as it is for him.

Grady is also now pretty close to completely potty trained during the day.  He has been consistently using the toilet to pee, and in the past few days has also started to poop on the toilet.  He occasionally still wants to wear his diaper, but even then usually stays dry.  Definitely not there quite yet, but the end of daytime diapers seems to be in sight for him. Next up - learning how to put on his underpants correctly....

Clara is a complete wiggle worm, and is getting very close to crawling.  She moves her butt all the way up in the air and then propels herself forward - she just needs to learn to go up on her arms and she's got it.  She definitely has the strength, and has been enjoying crawling up on platforms, blocks, and even a book when sufficiently motivated. 

Although she is not officially crawling, she is fast and is now confident enough to move anywhere.  Before she self-contained herself to a circle of about a yard, but now she has no limitations.

See ya, Mom!  

Here's a short video.

Today marks my last week of maternity leave.  We had a nice slow transition with Clara starting daycare over the past two weeks, which I think will help with the sadness of going back.  In some ways I'm looking forward to going back - it will be nice to start using my brain again in a non-mommy way.  It is very, very hard to leave my joyful little girl though.