Happy Halloween

The Halloween festivities officially began on the Thursday before Halloween. Tucker’s first Halloween event was a little party followed by a parade at his school. Unfortunately I did not get pictures of the parade. In my eyes, it was all a little chaotic and only reinforced why I would NEVER work in a preschool.

The next day, I decided to be brave and take the kids to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. They were hosting their own BooZoo event and I thought that it would be fun to go. So for this event I got Tucker a fireman jacket and hat since his dog outfit was a bit snug and it was a bit cold out to be walking around the zoo in just his dog costume. My friend Janet and her husband and 2 kids joined us for a day of fun at the zoo. Tucker LOVES doing things with Anna so it was a great adventure. I think that one of Tuckers highlights, since he still talks about it, was when one of the elephants pooped. He likes to say “elephant poop elephant treat M&M’s.” In an effort to try to potty train Tucker, his reward for sitting on the potty are M&M’s and when he actually does something he gets more. I think that it is funny how he equated the elephant pooping with M&M’s. Leave it to the boy. Hadley and Lilly were rock star infants. After looking at all of the animals we ended with some of the Zoo’s Halloween festivities and this is when Tucker got his first taste of trick or treating. Fortunately he never asked for any of the treats.

We took a break from Halloween activities on Sat and went to a Navy vs Duke football game. Not knowing how much longer we will be in the area, I really wanted to go to a Navy football game. There is something so magical and special about watching all of the Mid’s march in formation and then for Tucker, the appearance of two fighter jets zipping overhead. He thought they were a bit loud but still LOVED watching them.

The weekend ended with a fantastic Halloween celebration with our friends Janet and Michael and their two daughters. We had a hearty meal which quickly followed with some trick or treating. I think the kids hit 20 plus houses. At one point I had to empty Tucker’s bag of candy into one of my pockets because it was getting so heavy. He just loved running up and saying “trick or treat” and then running off to the next house. Nothing scared him. Like Friday, I took the candy away and he has yet to ask for any of it.

Hadley, our little Republican Elephant just hung out and took it all in.

Half Way - 6 Months

Yippy, we have passed the 6 month mark with an infant and toddler! So, does this mean that we have survived the hardest part? Somehow I think we will always be tested. This past month has been a fun month. We went to an Aviation Museum, visited a Fire Station, and had fun playing at several fall festival farms. By far, this is definitely one of my favorite seasons. I love the anticipation of the weather turning cold, the excitement of watching the leaves turn color, and of course, all of the various fall activities that we can do with the kids. I have already taught Tucker, thanks to my brother, what it means when we get a powder day. So we better get a lot of snow this winter!!!

I know that this is sentimental mushy stuff but it needs to be said. Wednesday's rock my world. It is not just the fact that I get an ENTIRE morning to myself with Hadley (which is needed) but it is also the excitement and anticipation of what awaits me at noon. There is no greater joy then when the teacher of Tucker’s class opens the classroom door for the parents to enter and I am greeted with a happy toddler running to me with his arms wide up saying Mommy!!! I love it and each time my heart melts. It makes up for all the times that I have to hear “no, daddy do it” over and over again.

Besides the various fall festivals we attended (the hay rides being the most popular) the other 2 big events of the past month were a visit from Mimi, Pop pop and Snickers as well as talking about how Brandon’s car was rear ended. All we hear is “daddy car boom” followed by an occasional tap on the back of my car. He gets even more excited when he see’s a toy tow truck! Ut oh, does this mean we have a future tow truck driver in the family? Tucker also LOVES to see the pictures and it really is a never ending hearing about how daddy’s car went boom. Fortunately the accident was quickly followed by a visit from my parents. So now he likes to split his time talking about the accident with talk about Snickers and dog bones. Tucker got a hold of one of Snickers treats and well, you can only guess what a 2 year old did with the dog bone. Now, he will sometimes ask for a doggie treat. Jumping ahead, it was quit fitting that he was a dog for Halloween. While the visit was very short, we were able to go pick out our pumpkins with Mimi. Tucker had fun running around the pumpkin patch.

Hadley is a woman on a mission. Right at the six month mark she started to crawl coupled with her ability to get up into a push up position one have one over achieving moving lady. One of her favorite stops is next to the leather chair where she likes to scratch the leather and like her brother, when she see a cord she goes right after it. Tucker is not too sure about her increasing range since she frequently makes her way close to some of his toys that he is not willing to share. I ultimately have to remind him that none of the toys are his per say, that they are mommy and daddy toys and we are sharing them with him. So, he needs to share them with Hadley. He is not convinced.

All of this movement has been making for some rather frustrating days trying to get her to nap. She will be SOOO tired but the minute we put her in her crib all she wants to do is be on her hands and knees, be up in a push up position or recently, sitting holding onto the rail. I do love going into get her in the morning and finding her sitting next to the rail looking out and then giving me a gigantic smile.