Quick trick-or-treat jaunt around the neighborhood of ~20 houses. Russell was scared to go up to doors, but by the 3rd house he realized he must've realized he was getting free candy and ran along with Anna, who was extremely excited. They both chose to eat a Tootsie Roll pop as their single piece of candy for that evening. Nonna and Auntie Jan were in town, too!
Both of our kiddos sleep relatively well and we're blessed by that. Though it wasn't always like that! They didn't sleep through the night until well after they turned one.
While both sleep well, Annalise is the heavier of the two sleepers. Up until the age of two, we would use music to help Annalise go to sleep. As a newborn, we'd dance to jazz music while rocking her to sleep. As a toddler, we'd have "Mr. Ray" singing about 'snack time' for naps. Even now, we play a wide assortment of tunes to help her to settle if she's having difficulty falling to sleep. All this to say, I think the music has developed her into a deeper sleeper. We can vacuum in her room, put away her clothes, clean up, or whatever and she wont wake. See for yourself...
With Russell, we didn't use music. I'm not sure why. However, we do currently use a sound machine that makes rain noises. It's not nearly as loud or dynamically variable, but it helps to drown out other noises around the house. As a result he sleeps with his door close and generally wont wake unless something disrupts the constant drone of the sound machine or whatever ambient noise is present. Still he sleeps pretty soundly. See for yourself...
Over the summer months, Russell's vocabulary has been increasing by leaps and bounds. We're getting to that, "when did he learn that word?" stage (e.g. "frightened", "find it"). Bed time is a favorite for me because he is focused on reading and isn't distracted by his big sis, other toys, or food. I remember reading this book with Annalise when she was the same age. Time flies!
Here are some random factoids about Russell so we can look back and remember!
- Finally sleeping through the night (did so around 16 months)
- Bed by 7:30, wakes around 6:30-7p
- Take 1 to 2 naps per day
- Drinks an 8 oz bottle before bed, doesn't drink very much during the day.
- Wearing #4 diapers
- Loves the ocean!
- More selective eater than Annalise. Loves oatmeal, rice, pancakes, pasta, bagels, apples, oranges, tomatoes, bananas, pears, and seaweed. Not a big fan of bread.
- Seems to have stinky feet
- Sweats a lot
- Calls out "Mommy, mommy!!" when he wakes up
- Wants to be around Annalise all the time and do everything she's doing.
- Likes saying "Dump Truck" to any large vehicle.
- Fascinated by emergency vehicle sirens and always wants to be picked up to see one go by.
- Starting to sing random songs.
- He pushes his foot into your chest (footsies) if you sit next to him in his car seat.
- Is very sensitive and will kiss you or pat your head if you show signs of pain, sadness, or distress.
- Gets very angry if he doesn't get what he wants! (He's getting better...we think)
- Gets in these funny, hyper moods where he'll start yelling, giggling, and runs around.
- Goes poop after breakfast and dinner.
- Enjoys vacuuming and playing outside.
- Randomly says 'amen' when eating.
Annalise has been going to her princess ballet class for a few months and is always asking when class is. Here are some photos from her 1st ballet recital just this last weekend.
Honestly, I thought she'd have stage fright given the not-so-stellar performances she gave us at home leading up to the recital. However, some sort of magic turned on when she went on stage! We're so proud of her hard work and accomplishment.
"Really. When she looks back on the effort you spent in making her the Snow White costume, she'll be so thankful that you did. You will, too."
I'd like to think my words of encouragement helped motivate her into finishing the Snow White costume, but really, it was Tracy's desire to see her little girl in a hand crafted princess outfit. Thus far Anna has been a Lady Bug, a Bee, and now a fictitious Disney princess with an affinity for small woodland man-creatures. With each, we have distinct memories, but this year would be different because of how aware she is of things, and (lets be frank) this year she'll actually eat the candy.
"As for Russell, just throw him in whatever fits. He wont care. He's a boy."
The first of the weekend's activities was going to our church's Harvest Party. If you haven't been to one or would like to attend our's some time, you should! A Trick-or-Treat alternative with lots of games, activities, bounce houses, food, and candy. Russell preferred riding on mommy's back instead of being in his warm Lion outfit.
Anna with some friends. (Love the matching black eye with the boxing outfit)
Snow White and the 2 Dwarves + Russell
By far, one of Anna's favorite carnival activities: The Bounce House!
Cruisin...
Snow White taking part in one of the games.
Snow White meets up with 2 Bee friends
Her first cotton candy......and her last for a while.
Surprisingly, she didn't eat the whole thing.
The Lion emerges and is on the prowl! (with some help)
Snow White meets up with a fairy (good friend Abby)
Momma and R-man went to some boring craft festival so A-bug and I had nearly the entire day to ourselves. While, a trip to Costco for her favorite samples and then 20 laps at the local train park would've satisfied the same, I thought it'd be fun to do something we don't usually do. After saying goodbye to the rest of the fam, Anna and I went to Mission Bay Park where we managed to nab the #1 spot at Belmont Park's parking lot. Get out!
From there we assembled the bike stroller and went for a 20 min ride around the boardwalk and parts of Mission Bay. We found a nice spot the two of us could enjoy our lunch while overlooking a cove within the bay.
The view
Lunch time!
Our bird-brained, lunch 'guest'
Our guest stood and watched us eat our food. For some reason he inched closer and closer to us, but would leap away when I stood up and bared my savage predatorial teeth. My celebration ended, when bird brain settled back into the viewing position moments after I sat back down. Alas, he really wanted that fallen piece of bread. Witness Anna feeding the birds.
After some good bird rousing (and a challenging feat to use the wasteland they call a restroom), we went to the park and played.
..that's me...
A quick 20 min bike ride back to the beach to play on the beach...
The beach was quite windy and cold, so we left a bit earlier then we wanted, but not without a quick stop on the merry-go-round!
On the way home, we stopped by Ranch 99 for a special treat (custard pancake thing) which Anna happily gobbled down. So quickly, in fact, I didn't have time to take a picture. We had a wonderful day together and began a ritual to be continued into the years to come!
