Halloweentown!

A costume.  We knew it would be a challange for our picky little boy.  It takes an army to transition him to new shoes when the last pair is worn or outgrown, he refuses to wear hats, gloves, or slippers of any kind.  Certain coats are a struggle - daycare has even informed us of days that they'd put his coat on backwards so he couldn't unzip.  My poor little straightjacket guy.

But, as luck would have it, we didn't even have to think too far outside the box this year because Gobbles already sported the trademark accessory for his costume - his glasses.  He's gotten comments since acquiring his eyes, to which he has grown extremely attached.  Most of them to the effect of aw, he looks just like Harry Potter!  So from there, his costume was born.

I searched high and low for a ready made one, but the smallest cloak in child size was way to big.  So I set out to the fabric store and spend 10 bucks on some black fabric, some red fabric, and stitch witchery.  I'd never used the stuff but heck I can't sew either, so I knew it'd be an adventure.  I ordered a tie and a wand online, but the tie was way too big as well and there was no way we'd get it around his neck.  With hubs' help (yea I can't knot a tie either) and a hot glue gun, we created a little clip on that was just Gobbles size.

Over several nights while hubs was at work late, I made the cloak, half using instructions I found online, half winging it.  I think it turned out ok, besides the flyaway shoulders it ended up having.  That stitch witchery becomes pretty stiff and all the seams have about an inch thick ridge.  Oh well, it worked for Gobbles.  Only a few small tantrums as we put the cloak on and he was good to go!

The Friday before Halloween was the party at daycare.  It was so much fun seeing Gobbles and all of his friends together in their costumes.  The teachers had different activity stations set up where one could trick or treat and do a craft.  Gobbles had no interest in the candy, but enjoyed the scratch art so much we couldn't pull him away.  His teacher mentioned that she always gives him extra time when they're doing art because he is very particular about his work and doesn't like to be interrupted when he's concentrating.  My goodness where in the world would he get that?

On the actual halloween, not only did Gobbles become a cousin (more on the special princess in another post!!), but he got to see my family when they all came over to see him dressed up.  He was spoiled with gifts as usual and enjoyed the loving attention from everyone.  While my family held down the fort for trick or treaters, Hubs and I took Gobbles to trick or treat.  We went to about five houses because (a) he doesn't really need the candy and (b) we'd see most of the other neighbors when they came to our place.

He seemed to like the concept of placing the candy in his pumpkin, but as we walked down the sidewalk he began to get scared of his fellow trick-or-treaters.  After we went back home and sorted his "loot", he took more of an interest in the kids coming by for candy and helped his Daddy hand some out.  As the doorbell would ring, he would grab some candy from his pile and go toss it into the kids' awaiting pillowcases.  We all encouraged him not to, since we had plenty to hand out, but Gobbles was getting really into it and ended up giving away all of the candy he'd gotten during his rounds.  I managed to grab the fishies / animal crackers / lolipop combo one of our friends made especially for him, but everything else ended up going to home with another child.  Not that it bothered him in the least - a half of a Reese's cup was all he needed to eat that night on the candy front.  Not a big sweets guy, my son.  For real with this one, NO idea where he gets that!

All in all it was a great few days, the costume stayed on and didn't fall apart, and Gobbles enjoyed that whole social aspect of the holiday.  And he was the most adorable little Harry Potter I could ever wish for!

Mom are you kidding me?  No Tie!  I said no tie!

All right, I'll play with this bug for distraction.  And you're right, I wear the eyes much better than that imposter behind me!

I know, normally I'm left handed, but I'm just so into this scratch art I forgot!

You want to leave and go to another table?  why?? I could stay all day!

Expecto Patronum!

I'm on the big kids' playset - they never let us out in this part of the yard!!

Keep runnin' elvis, I OWN this slide!

Look out, train's a comin!

Yes Mommy, I'll wear this costume AGAIN for you.  But i'm not tuckin in my shirt this time!

Nom Nom Nom

Let's check out the goods!

Hmmm, I've already had one Reese cup, don't need this one...

Here ya go, kids!

Behind

i'm like 5 posts behind where i want to be.  so much has gone on in the past few weeks and as the 11 remaining weeks i have in this pregnancy are threatening to tick down, i'm getting more and more stressed... we're not ready.  we need to sell this house.  we need to get into a new one.  why the rush?  because if i have to transition poor gobbles to a new room not once but twice, he's going to freak.  all of the sudden his daybed is no good, and every night he's at the door crying and throwing pacis and blankies and trying to weasel his way into our bed.

it's been working.  hubs has been working 80 hour weeks for what seems like months now, so it's been up to me to take care of the nighttime stuff.  completely stressed out about my own work, not to mention the panic of needing to sell this house, i have not gotten a full nights sleep as it is.  this stress coupled with the joys of the third trimester have led me to just bringing our crying Gobbles into our bed after a second or third wakeup at night.  It seems to be the only way to soothe both of us. 

we've had so many good things happen recently that i needed to make this venting a separate post and be done with it.  Halloween and snow and playdates and the latest addition to the family are a few of the exciting things i need to record, so i can make room in my head for more - upcoming holidays, Gobble's second birthday, and eventually the arrival of his little sister!

Gobbles time with a side of sass

It's begun.  Mo-ooom.  You're embarrassing me! 

Sunday morning was beautiful.  Crisp, fall weather and our Halloween decorations came out of storage just in time to spruce up the house.  Seriously, who's not going to buy now that we have the dollar store pumpkin cutouts on every window?  After a showing Saturday where the buyer and agent showed up a half hour early and let themselves through our house with the DOGS still inside, we're so over this house selling thing.  C'mon St. Joseph statue buried under a rock in the backyard - help us out!

But I digress.  Sunday was shaping up to be a perfect autumn day, but for the fact that hubs was working all weekend.  Gobbles and I decided to make the best of it.  We leashed up the dogs for a nice stroll around the block.  I overestimated the chill in the air, and halfway up the block in true Gobbles fashion he threw a tantrum over his coat.  Fine, I took it off.  A few minutes later he dropped Spoons' leash, and a minute or so after that he decided it was time to be carried.  That's when we turned around, because I am growing by the minute and was already struggling with two dogs, a bag of poop, and a hoodie.  I wasn't about to add another 30 lbs to my load around the block. 

When we turned back to the house, Gobbles noticed the neighborhood kids had gathered for a football game in the street.  Kids!  he shouted.  Hi Kids! and started running down the sidewalk in their direction.  As long as he stayed out of the street, I was fine with that.  We made it back to the house and he planted himself at the bottom of the driveway to watch the game.  Throwing!  Running!  No Push!   Will my son become a sportscaster?

Since he clearly wanted to stay outside and watch the cool kids I decided to bring out his bike so we wouldn't be the creep neighbors just watching the little boys play football.  The pups hadn't had their fill of the outdoors either, so Cannoli got hitched to the front rail and Spoons, well she just followed us up and down the sidewalk.

Gobbles' bike is a big wheel with a handle so I can push him, though the handle became more useful in as something to grab onto to stop the runaway vehicle as it cruised down the slight incline on the sidewalk.  As we travelled up and down the 3 home stretch around our driveway, Gobbles would pedal furiously, then give up on the pedals to just push himself along the sidewalk, then just stop for a moment to observe the football game.  I walked behind him for help steering and Spoons scampered ahead, excited to be free from a leash.  Poor Cannoli just chewed on the grass up on the lawn.

As we were making our way up the sidewalk, I pushed the bike to give my boy a little help, as he was clearly struggling to get the bike up the slight incline.  All of the sudden, he put his feet down, turned around, looked me square in the eye, and said All done Mommy.  I don't want that.  No push. I do it.  He waved his hand at me and gestured towards the kids playing.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  22 Months old and he already wants me to go unnoticed by his peers.  I guess my delusions of being the "cool mom" are over.  That era was way too short.  Thank goodness the Lil Lobster Roll will be here in 15 weeks, hopefully she'll want to hang out with me :)

yayyyy!!  Time to play outside!  Here I come, Kids!



I'm a big boy!



Aww Mommy!  I still love you - CHEESE!

Oh - wait - look at the Kids!

Yea!  Play Ball Kids!

stop and see the airplanes

It's only Tuesday morning but this week is shaping up to be one of the most stressful at work in a long time.  A lot is up in the air and I'm in no mood to deal with the politics that has become my job.  I was hired to manage a project, not a department.  I want to be a drone, not climb the corporate ladder and deal with all the bs that goes with it.

My head is filled with constant worries about selling our house, getting Gobbles adjusted for the Lil Lobster roll, and getting the seemingly mundane to-do list done (get a haircut -about 5 months overdue, get the puppies their shots - 1 month over due, etc etc).

Gobbles slept horribly last night, plagued with some kind of cough that left him almost wheezing and me kneeling by his bed every hour.

But this morning, during his hearty breakfast, he was the same kid as always, smiling, laughing, cracking jokes, and requesting songs from tone deaf mommy.  Yesterday it was Party in the U.S.A, today was Rockin' Robin.

During our typical 15-minute late rush out the door, while I was lugging lunches and work bags, he excitedly ran towards the car and stopped.  I loaded our stuff in the car and turned to see my boy staring at the sky, pointing and waving excitedly.  Look Mommy!  Airplane!  There it is!  I scooped him up so he could get a better look.  Clear as day, not lost behind the clouds as it usually is, was one of the magnificent silver machines making its way to the airport.  Despite the rush, we stopped and watched the airplane until it disappeared behind the trees.  All done airplane!  Bye Bye Airplane!

My son taught me a valuable lesson this morning.  Take the time to appreciate the little things - getting to see an airplane made his morning - and stop worrying about everything else.  As long as I have my family to enjoy the small moments with, the other ones will not break me. 

A Month's Worth

I can't believe it's October.  I can't believe my son will be two in less than 10 weeks.  I can't believe I'll have two children in four months.  And I can't believe we're not starting the fall in a new house.

100 days on the market, priced at what we payed 6 years ago, already taking a loss if you include the basement renovations and other improvements we made.   I know the market is terrible and it's a stupid time to sell when you don't have to, but it's such a good time to buy that we can manage to get our forever home without breaking the bank if we could just unload this place.  I'm frustrated, having fantasized about having a big birthday party for Gobbles 2nd, something that likely cannot happen in the middle of winter in our little abode.  Hubs doesn't want to squeeze so may people inside to the point of discomfort... he forgot about the time when we had over 30 people stashed in our basement, beer pong and all, when our bbq got rained out. 

I just wish I could let it go and accept that we may be here a few more years.  But the thought of bringing our Pod back here and unloading all our excess furniture and junk seems like such a failure to me, such a waste of time and money.  If all of this didn't take up my every waking thought, maybe I'd have the time to write about how awesome my son is, or how excited I am to meet my daughter.

So, house stress out.  Moving on...

Gobbles is getting older with every second that ticks by.  A month or so I wrote about converting the crib to a big boy bed, but I never thought we'd have to find a solution at Grandma's too.  The other day while he was over there and went down for a nap, he climbed out of the pack and play.  He was somehow able to monkey up the mesh side of the pack and play enough to get out.  Twice.  This of course sent my parents into a tizzy of panic about never being able to have him sleep over again, but we'll figure something out I'm sure. 

He's also started speaking in simple sentences, counting to twenty, and showing a bit of an attitude.  Mommy, I tired.  Good GIRL Spoons (shpumps).  NO! Gobbles' turn!  (lord help me)  I'm amazed at the rapid changes in him but at the same time can barely remember what he was like just a few months ago... thank goodness I'm recording it in some way!  Now our only hope is that the sharing gets a bit better by the time Lil Lobster Roll makes her appearance.  Today while I was home sick with him (well, he had a fever yesterday but there's that pesky 24 hour fever free policy at daycare), we practiced sharing, but instead of letting me have what I asked him to share, he looked at me with pity and offered hugs.  That's not going to cut it buddy, hugs won't do when it's your turn to buy a round at the bar.

We've been having a ton of fun though lately, and overall I love this age.  As tired as I get from all of the random weekend activities we do, it's always cool to see Gobbles experience something new.  In the last three weeks he's been on the moon bounce at our neighborhood block party, to the Please Touch Museum, and to a township parade.  Now parades are nothing new to him (kicking myself right now, just looked back to link up to a 4th of july post which a never MADE.  I have the best pics and videos of him dancing!) but it's funny to see what a few months can do to his reactions to certain things.  He can now identify a lot of the participants - fire trucks, horses, kids, etc, when before he just gazed in awe. 

Now if only I can keep this thing updated more often, I wouldn't have to put so many pictures in one post...

Ha!  Sick day?   I fooled you Mommy!  I faked my temp yesterday at school just so I could have today off with you!  I even manipulated you into getting me pizza because you felt so bad for me missing pizza day at school.  bah ha ha ha ha!

YES!  The firs tthing we got to do at the please touch museum is something to get me soaking wet! 

Hi Alice.  I'm Gobbles.  need help?

You caught me!  My shirt is still wet...

... but that's probably because i'm on a BOAT.  duh!

My favorite thing in this place.  A wheel attached to a giant stationary truck!

Hmm..  still wet...

I love grocery shopping...

How you doin' ladies?  I see you made the same selections as I have? 

Hmm.  where to go next?

Now that my shirt is finally dry, time to add a little sweat!

man riding SEPTA is no fun!

Hoooray!!

seriously, why include these?  you can't even tell it's me!

Bouncy Bouncy!

i love block parties...

and parades!  really anywhere there's food!

My first lollypop.  Didn't really lick it the way i was supposed to.  We'll try again in a few months...