All Hallow's Eve

Some pictures from the afternoon and evening. Commentary to follow tomorrow.

Pumpkin Patch 2011

This weekend, we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch across the street. It was even better than last year, which perhaps explains the 20 percent price increase. Oh well. We got there just as Kim, Bob, Violet and Baby Brenna were pulling up, and you'd have thought CJP and VSL had been parted for decades:

Let us pause to marvel at the cuteness of Brenna:

Fun was had by all, particularly in the ball pit and moonbounce!

Cordelia-bird wanted in, too. Well, mostly.

She did pretty well, though trying to get around can leave a girl pretty exhausted.

Remember this one, from last year?

Here are some other classic moments: monkeys on monkey bars, haystack tunnels (Cordelia was less enthused, though of course she had to follow her brother right on into the dark, not that he looked back), and coolest of all, Cody on a zip line!

Perhaps the sleeper hit, though, was the bean bag toss. We spent probably a full thirty minutes on this--Cody just really enjoyed the whole concept and had fun tossing it.

Then we had a true Montessori moment, where he spent five or six minutes carefully arranging the bean bags in a line, so he could stand behind the line to throw.

Then Cordelia joined the fun. And, of course, Hop.

Happy almost-Halloween, faithful readers!

Slide. "Fun!"

One of the (many) great things about the latest iPhone is that it allows you to take hi-definition video from either facing camera. Here's our first attempt: It's Cordelia sitting on my lap as we go down the giant slide at the pumpkin patch. At the end, she passes judgment on the ride.

Scenes from a Pumpkin Patch

Haystacktacular

1) I have about a zillion photos from the weekend that I intended to post this morning.

2) Cordelia cried last night from 8:47 p.m. until approximately 7:00 a.m. with just one small break (because she was lying on top of me) from about 5:00-6:00. Not the "hey, let's hang out instead of sleep!" fussing. The kind where she whimpered over and over, "Hurt! Hurt!" and I counted the minutes until the doctor's office opened.

3) Cordelia has a garishly infected ear.

4) I have been awake since Sunday at 5:00 a.m.

5) As I am typing this, she has started crying.

6) In the meantime, Cody has been what nice people would call "challenging" and honest people would call "out of control" for the past, oh, three weeks. Like, so much so that my parents even went pale. And wouldn't meet my eyes. Yep. That's my kid. Just at home though. I'm told he is the loveliest child ever outside of the home. That doesn't really help, though.

7) So I thought it would be good for all of us to reflect on some of the things that we love and adore about him until he exorcises these toddler demons and graces us with the self you will see below--the self he is at his core, and his best, but has mostly refused to exhibit lately, unless other people are around.

8) I think the Christmas card has just taken care of itself.

9) More tomorrow. Except I have to get up at 4:30 to go to work. So, possibly more later in the week.

10) He is not easy, but he sure is a looker.

Pretty in Paisley