Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

One of Tate's favorite books is "Where the Wild Things Are."  He could quote the entire book when he was not quite 2 and still just loves it.  One night recently we were reading it and we got to the end where Max gets back to his very own room and finds his supper waiting for him.  Tate has this new habit of grabbing things out of the book as we're reading it.  He takes animals to hold, food, and other fun things from the pictures and pretends that he is playing with them.  So at the end of the book he started grabbing the supper and said, "Mom, I'm grabbing the Night Max's cake.  And the Night Max's soup."  I thought about it for a second and then pointed to a picture of Max and asked, "Tate, who is this?"  He said, "That's the Night Max mom."  Aaaaahh.  I see.  

To Tate, the first sentence of the book is not saying, "The evening that Max wore his wolf suit...."  It says, "The Night Max wore his wolf suit."  So when he was looking through a catalog one day and saw a "Night Max" costume, we knew what he was going to be for Halloween this year.  

 I'm really glad we found it and that he was super excited about wearing it because prior to this discovery he wanted to be a crocodile...well, not just any crocodile.  He wanted to be "the crocodile from Peter Pan with a window in my tummy so that people can see the clock that I swallowed."  Right. How am I supposed to do that?  This was much easier and Tate was thrilled every time he got into his Night Max costume.  He loved his crown, his tail, his terrible claws.  It was all just so cool!

We had the ward trunk-or-treat last night, went to Glenn's work for lunch in costume today, and then of course, trick-or-treating tonight.  It took a bit of explaining when Tate told people he was the Night Max, when asked.  Though, I was surprised how many people recognized his costume.  It was really fun to see him so excited about his costume.  He never wanted to take it off and even wanted to wear the whole get up in the car to drive to Glenn's office.

I loved the tail hanging out of the car seat.  I hope we can find costumes every year that he is this thrilled with.  It made the whole day so much more exciting.

Luckily little Finny was pretty indifferent to the whole thing.  Costume?  No costume?  No matter.  We found this little puppy costume for Finny.  We just thought it was cute and the little tongue sticking out seemed appropriate.  Then we remembered this picture...

And thought maybe they do go together after all.  Poor sweet unsuspecting Finny.

Here is our Night Max showing off his Wild Thing treat bucket and roaring his terrible roar.  

 It was a great Halloween.  Both boys were happy and sweet all day.  We went trick-or-treating for about 20 minutes and then Tate said, "Mom, my bag is sooooo heavy.  We should probably go home."  Well, all right then.  Easy peasy.

And here's our little puppy Finny's picture Wednesday at 45 weeks old!

 Hope your wild rumpus was as great as ours!  Happy Halloween!

Finn in pictures

Hey, it's me, Finn.  My mom is always talking about me, but I figured it was about time I get a word in around here.  So here I am, cute as can be at 44 weeks old.  Yep, dangerously close to a whole year old and I'm not stoppin', no matter what my mom says.  This growing thing is awesome!

Here's what I've been up to lately:

 I love to walk.  If you'll hold my hands I'll get going down the hall as fast as my little legs can go and you'll be rewarded with one of my handsome smiles.

I know my mom says that my tongue is silly, but ya know what?  Sometimes a guy's gotta focus and if the tongue comes out, then so be it.  This walking stuff takes a lot of concentration.  Do you know how many muscles have to work at once to make this happen?  The tongue is necessary.

 My big brother is a rock star.  Seriously, have you seen him?  We picked him up from preschool today and check out what he had on his head.

 Yep, he's pretty cool.  I can't get enough of him.  Sometimes he plays with me and it's pretty much the highlight of my life.

 No one can get enough of me.  I know, I know, my cheeks are delicious.  My thighs are irresistible.  I'll smile at you for free and giggle for not much more.  I get it.  But come on!  I do not like to snuggle.  Quit trying to make me.  It's who I am.  I'm not changing!

 So...who's been holding out on me with the bananas?  These things are delicious.  And guess what?  I can eat them by myself.  I just have to figure out how this plate thing works.

Sometimes people like to tease me with my milk or my food.  They think it's funny to see me freak out.  They're always talking about how cute it is when my hands start shaking.  Let me just get this out there once and for all.  I. do. not. like. it.  Just give me the goods already.  

Yep, life's pretty good for me.  I sleep all night.  I take two long naps.  My big brother likes me and is really protective when I play with something I shouldn't.  My mom and dad love me to pieces, and aside from the constant forced snuggles, I like them too.

Well, I've gotta go get naked and splash in the tub.  It's my favorite time of day and I do not want to miss it.

Picture Wednesday and some quotes

Picture Wednesday, Finn at 43 weeks old

 Look who finally has just a little skiff of very blond hair!  Finn is getting more and more wiggly.  He never was one for snuggling into my shoulder or on my lap, but he's even less likely to snug lately.  Tate used to collapse into my shoulder when I sang to him before naps or bed time, but not Finn.  He sits straight up, looking around the room, and just smiling away until I lay him down to sleep.  Silly boy.  Church is getting to be more difficult because he is pretty unhappy sitting with us in class.  Poor sweet kid just wants to play!

Tate's come up with a few good quotes lately and I thought I'd write them down in one place:

- Tate is rather vocal while doing his business on the toilet.  He keeps us informed about his progress and the size of his business, etc.  Yesterday, I heard this gem, "Mom, that poop looks just like a seahorse!"  Well, that is just great, Tate.

- "Mom, when I was at Nanna's house, I told Cheyenne that I went to the potty and she was SO proud of me!"  (Cheyenne is Nanna's kitty.)

- "Oh look, there's a mommy poop and a baby poop!  That's SO cute!"

- Tate asked me to pick him up at the store so I picked him up and spun him around in a circle.  He gave me a big hug and said, "Well, thank you for that!"

- After watching an episode of Wild Kratts we had this conversation:

   T: Mom, a peregrine falcon is a really fast bird.

   Me: Is it the fasted bird in the world?

   T:  No no, Mom.  It's the fastest bird on the planet!

So glad we cleared that up.

- T: Mom, daddy long leg spiders are nice, aren't they?

  Me: Yeah Tate, they're nice spiders.  I think they eat pests that hurt our garden.

  T: Is it going to eat the bunnies?  Oh no.  It couldn't fit in its' mouth.

- "Maybe when I'm done with this jelly bean I could have the brown one.  Does that sound like a good idea?"

- After a discussion about how the flowers on our zucchini plant will grow into zucchini which we can cook in things like zucchini bread, Tate saw some flowers in our back yard and said, "Maybe those pink flowers will grow into banana bread!"

- At church Tate saw a little girl playing with some toys that looked fun a few rows in front of us.  He said, very politely, "May you excuse me for one minute to go up there?  That would be all right, wouldn't it?"

- After asking him to come several times and getting after him for not obeying the first time he said, "But mom, one time we were at the store and you asked me to come just one time and I OBEYED!"  Well, that's wonderful, but could we do that more often?

- While perusing the pages of his little National Geographic kids magazine, "Mom, don't interrupt me.  I'm reading my favorite magazine."

Down on the Farm

Last week was busy.  Fun busy, but busy none the less.  On Monday I got to volunteer at Tate's preschool.  It was nice to be there with him.  To understand how the system works, what their schedule is, and how the teachers interact with the kids.  It was sweet to be there with Tate and to have him excited to be with me and show me everything.  He wanted to sit by me at circle time, show me his friends and favorite things on the play ground.  It was the best.  I'm sure there won't be too many more years where he's proud to have me in his class...so I'll enjoy it while I can.  My favorite moment was when the kids were lining up to go outside to play for a bit.  The teachers were asking kids, "Do you need to go potty before we go outside?"  Tate looked at me and asked very seriously, "Mom, do you need to go potty before we go outside?"  Oh Tate, thanks for looking out for me.  I'm really glad I went and hope I'll be able to do it again soon.  Aunt Nancy watched Finn for me so I could go.  She's just plain wonderful.
On Thursday we went to May Farms for a preschool field trip.  Tate was having one of his less-frequent, but still trying, emotional mornings and we had a rough start.  We learned about corn and walked through the field,

found pumpkins and climbed on piles of hay

and then dug for potatoes.  Finn just chilled the whole time in his stroller.  He's such a chill baby.

Tate spent the first hour of the field trip glued to my side.  Hesitant to get involved, interact, or really jump in.  And then this showed up,

and he jumped in, and they went for a really long ride.

And he got out of the barrel a completely different boy.  Truly, I wondered if maybe a barrel train and tractor might be a good investment for rough mornings.  Maybe it's a cure?  Then he got to feed some farm animals and I thought his face might light up, he was so happy.

It was fun to be there with his preschool class and watch how he interacts with them and talk to the parents too.

On Saturday we went to another farm.  We got some free tickets to Mile High Farms so we met up with the Cluffs for a very cold, and therefore, unfortunately short, morning of fun.  It was a lot more commercial than the other farm.  They had built a little Halloween village just to make it look picturesque.

They had a hay castle with a huge slingshot at one end where you could fire bean bags at a target across the field.  Tate loved that.

There were some bounce houses, a few animals to pet, a corn maze, and lots of tractors to climb on.

Tate liked this one that looked like the bull that chases Lightning and Mater in Cars.

Again, couldn't say no to the barrel train.  Even Stephen got in on the fun.

Tate was much happier on this farm excursion.  He loves being around Tori and Lizzy and everything about him is exaggerated when they're around.  Especially the volume of his voice.  He kept yelling at the llama.  "Mister LlAAAAAMMAAAAAA".  

It got colder and colder as the morning went on but we were determined to make it to the pumpkin patch.  Glenn had pulled his hamstring that morning playing football with some guys in the ward.  It was bad.  He could barely hobble around the farm but he was determined to not miss out.  However, climbing up onto a bouncy trailer full of hay for a ride out to a pumpkin patch, was too much to ask.  So Tate and I rode out with the Cluffs to a huge field full of pumpkins.

The kids were in heaven.  So many to choose from!  Which one should we bring home?

We wandered through the field and ended up with an enormous pumpkin and a few fun gourds.  Tate got thoroughly dirty and had a blast but by the end we were freezing and it was raining some very cold rain so we bailed.  I'm so glad we went, and so glad we went with the Cluffs.  Tate wouldn't have had near as much fun without them.
Here's our picture Wednesday for last week.  Very late, but better that than no picture Wednesday at all, I suppose.
Little Finny, 42 weeks old.

Picture Wednesday

Finn at 41 weeks old.

 Last week we went to Finn's 9 month check up.  He weighs 20 pounds now and is 28 inches long and that puts him squarely in the 48th percentile in weight and height.  He's eating pureed fruit and veggies  like a champ now.  He hasn't objected to anything we've tried so far and I think it's probably time to start mashing up what we're having for dinner.  He's game to try anything.  Just this last week we've been giving him little finger foods so he can try feeding himself.  I'm a little reluctant to relinquish control and let him feed himself but I guess I have to do it some time, right?  I find myself fighting every little step toward independence.  Just stay my little dependent baby, Finn.  I promise it will be more fun!
This week has brought a lot more bonks for poor Finny as he gets braver about where he's standing up and he isn't terribly sturdy in the standing position yet.  The funniest casualty of the week are these little bruises he has on his thighs from getting his legs stuck in the slats of his crib.  Ha.

Yesterday I went up to calm him down because he was screaming in his crib when it was time for him to go down for his nap and when I reached in to grab him, I pulled to lift him up and he didn't budge.  That's when I realized his leg was stuck in the slat at the back of the crib.  It was very stuck.  I had to pull pretty hard to get it out, which of course, made him scream louder.  He eventually calmed down and fell asleep in my arms.  Then an hour and a half later he woke up with a similar freak-out scream.  His leg was stuck again.  Poor kid.  I don't know how he wedges his little legs in there so tight but it was very stuck, all the way up above his little knees.
Tate has been a little dear lately.  He's got a ridiculous amount of energy.  Some days I wish I could bottle it and take some for myself when I get worn down.  He's at the age where he's constantly moving.  Constantly touching everything at every store.  Constantly jumping on the couch, throwing things in the air, running around the house, regardless of how many times I ask him to stop.  He's just got so much energy to burn he genuinely can't help it.  Sometimes it drives me crazy trying to slow him down, but most of the time, he's so wonderful.  Preschool has been an absolute blessing for both of us.  He's so happy to go and so much happier when he comes home.  He's like a whole new boy and, while exhausting, is an absolute darling.  His imagination is incredible.  He's always talking about the animals he has in the house, the things they're doing, throwing them to me to hold for a while.  Sometimes he walks around with one hand across his chest "holding" his pet baby alligator/fruit bat/monkey/iguana/snow leopard, you name it.  He'll keep his hand across his chest for long stretches of time and takes care to switch the way he's holding them when he climbs on the couch, puts on his jacket, etc.  It's so funny to watch.
He loves hide and seek and I'm sure he could play it all day every day if we didn't have anything else to get done.  There is one time every day when we always play hide and seek.  Every day when Glenn gets home from work we hide and he finds us.  One day we were upstairs in my room when I heard the garage door opening.  Tate jumped and ran to the closet to hide.  It was a good spot behind all Glenn's clothes.  You could hardly see him.  Then he said, "I'll just stick these out so you can see me better."

Yeah, he doesn't fully grasp the specifics of the game, but he sure has a good time "hiding".