Halloween Is Finally Here!

The kids have been talking about Halloween since the first leaf turned yellow this year. It seems like it has been looming ahead of us F-O-R-E-V-E-R. We've had costumes, we've etched out a plan for trick-or-treating, now we just need the day to arrive. AND IT HAS!!

The day started off with taking the boys to school. Tyler had his school party yesterday, so he did not dress up today. Vincent was super excited to get into his costume - Red Power Ranger Samurai!!

 

The first graders and kindergartners did a quick parade through the main building of the school, then headed to recess. After lunch, they had a party in class. I helped with one of the games. School was dismissed 2 hours early today, due to teacher meetings.

We came home, met up with David and Tyler, and rested for the afternoon. At about 4:30pm, I made everyone eat an early dinner so we could head out right at dusk.

Here's the gang! 

 I dressed up as KiKi.

Dinner was this quiche and grilled cheese sandwiches.

We headed straight for "Trick or Treat Street" while it was still light out. Right away, we ran into a friend from Vincent's class. They were excited to go door-to-door together. By 6:30pm, the street was packed. The highlight was the house who converted their garage into the building from Monsters Inc., projected the movie in the background, and gave out handmade, mini stuffed monsters and full-sized candy bars.

We stopped at about 3-4 more houses on the walk back home, but made it back a little after 7pm, my goal. The boys sorted candy when they got home and got to eat about 3 pieces each.

Tyler's Halloween Party

Tyler's school had their Halloween party today, one day early. It must be because Wednesdays are 'Tumble Bus' days.

Ty got dressed in his costume, but was very shy when we got to school.

 

He brought home quite the booty, too!

Swim Class

We signed Vincent and Tyler up for swimming this fall. Vincent was taking it on Sundays, while Ty and I did it together on Mondays. I will be the first to admit that I did not enjoy this. 

First, the water's pretty cold. They have turned up the heat recently, but it's still chilling. 

Secondly, Tyler clings on to my arm for dear life. It's hard to do the stuff with him because he's so much bigger than the other, um, babies, and the class is geared toward the little little ones. His clinging makes it tough to help him move around.

So, for the second fall session, I moved him to Sundays. This new class is for kids his age, and parents do not get in with them. David will take them both. Vincent has a class, then they get a 30 minute break, and then Tyler has a class. And, the best part is that one of our favorite Seattle families, the Beatty's have their two older boys in the same classes, too. Woohoo!

14.5 weeks

This is feeling like the slowest pregnancy ever. I'm now at 14 and half weeks. Actually, almost 15 weeks. I do remember this being the stage in pregnancy when I'm not really showing too much, but just enough to make people wonder. I think my belly is looking pretty pronounced, and I feel big. My thighs are feeling thick. 

 

Definitely a little pooch, right?

In other news, Tyler was sick Sunday evening. Right before dinner, he started to throw up. He was a big mess. We gave him a bath, and he seemed much better, but after a few bites of his apple, he felt ill, again. Poor kid continued to puke off and on until about 8:30pm, when he finally feel asleep. We put him in his crib mattress on the floor of our room. Yesterday, I cancelled all plans for him and I so that we could lay low. He even missed his last swim lesson. But, he was fine all day. He didn't have much of an appetite, which was actually good, because I was afraid to feed him too much. Today, he seems to be back to himself. He ate breakfast quickly, which is unusual for him, and has pretty much been happy all day.

We had a sitter tonight so David and I could have dinner with an ex-co-worker of mine and her boyfriend. We went to Luc, and it was delicious. We all felt so full. Vincent apparently struggled while we were gone. Audrey said that when things were going well, they went very well, but he would get upset very easily during transitions. Like, from playing to dinner time, or time to get ready for bed, etc. I truly think he's still adjusting to his kindergarten schedule. That, and maybe he's catching a little something. I wouldn't be surprised as it's that time of year, and I seem to have (yet another) cold. I hope it's just that he's tired and not anything more. 

Wicked

This year, for my birthday, David got me tickets to see "Wicked" the musical. Tonight was the big night. We ate dinner at Cafe Presse, then scored good parking at the Grand Hyatt's parking lot, and enjoyed a fabulous show. I have to admit that there were some parts when I was ready for the song to be done, only because it was harder to understand the story line through singing than talking. All-in-all, though, it was enjoyable.

Look Who's In A Big Boy Bed!

Well, after all that big deal about Tyler sleeping on the floor and all, he's been upgraded!

We got the boys matching bed. Vincent gave Tyler his old Thomas sheets set, but they will both get to pick out a backup set. Here's Vincent's bed.

 

I Caved

As a follow up to yesterday's post, I want you all to know, that I gave Tyler back his mattress. 

David and I went into the boys' room around 11pm to take them to the bathroom, and Tyler was totally soaked. I know that had nothing to do with him being on the floor, but I felt bad. David took him to the bathroom, cleaned him up, and I took care of the bed. Rather than set up a new floor bed, I pulled his mattress back out and made it up for him. I didn't drag the crib out, since it would have created quite a ruckus, and since we'll be taking it apart, and temporarily stowing it, in a couple of days anyway. 

Tyler came back into the room, and was happy to see his new sleeping arrangement. He fell asleep instantly.

Crime and Punishment

Or, aka, Meanest Mom Ever...

I don't know, you can be the judge, I guess. Yes, I'm going to allow you to judge me, but just this once, okay?

Tyler has been kind of a monkey lately. Not a one of those generally chill kinds, like a gorilla or orangutan. More like a spider monkey. He's up, he's down, he's jumping, falling, rolling, flopping...You get the picture. This is mostly fine, but he's also combining climbing and jumping...off furniture. I'm not loving the idea of him jumping off stuff at the playground and such, either, but the furniture jumping is a big no-no in our house. 

It came to a head these past couple of days. There was jumping off Vincent's bed yesterday. Warning given. Then, jumping off the futon last night. Action taken: sitting him on the floor of the kitchen while I washed dishes, which he protested, and resulted in him sitting in the bathtub, while I talked to him about the importance of not jumping off furniture. He didn't like the idea of possibly getting wet with his clothes on. I can't believe I'm admitting all this. The truth is, I didn't really know how to handle this. At the end of the night, he promised not to jump off anymore furniture. I didn't think this would be a promise he could keep, but, again, I wasn't sure how to deal with this.

This morning, when the kids should have been getting dressed for the day, Vincent comes yelling, "Tyler jumped off his bed!" Okay, his bed is only half a foot off the ground. Clearly, pretty safe. BUT, it's also not made for jumping on. He's still in a toddler bed, but new beds are coming this week. That's the biggest dilemma of all, the new beds. We're afraid he'll jump off one of those, which is a couple feet off the ground. 

What to do? 

My only solution was to take the bed away from him all together. Which, I did. I put his bed frame and mattress in the closet (it didn't quite fit, so it's sticking out), vacuumed the kids' rug and floor very well, and set up a "bed" on the floor for Tyler to sleep. Yes, yes I did. At first, he looked at it and was kind of happy. Then, he actually got into "bed" and was very upset. Very, very upset. He cried, and cried, and pleaded for his bed back. I did my best to calm him, and explained to him why he has no bed. I didn't back down, but I wasn't mean about it (even though you may think it was mean of me to take the bed away). I gave him lots of hugs and kisses, and he's now asleep...still on the floor.

No School Today

Seattle Public Schools were closed today so that teachers can have one of those days where they still have to do work, but without kids. 

I originally had this plan to take the kids to visit Halina, but she was unavailable today. Next plan was a bit grand. I thought we could take the bus downtown, hop on a ferry to Bainbridge Island, and explore a bit. With rain on the forecast, I changed my mind.

We ended up taking the bus downtown, looking at books at Barnes and Noble, and watching a movie. The plan was "Finding Nemo," but when I found out it was starting later than planned, and $10 each (we've seen it already!), I changed the movie to "Hotel Transylvania." Also $10 each, but we've never seen it. Something about paying $30 to see something we've already seen, just cuz it's 3-D didn't appeal to me. Something new, on the other hand, and starting earlier than Nemo? Sold. Tyler wasn't thrilled at first, since he saw the preview and thought it might be scary. But, he trooped it out, and when it was over, he said, "I did like it!"

David met us for lunch. We opted for Gordon Biersch, since it was right there. S-l-o-w. And, we were all hungry. Eventually, we all ate. David walked us to the bus stop, and we saw our bus pull away while we approched. Luckily, the #43 runs often, and one showed up within a couple minutes.

We got home for a super late nap, but it was much needed. Vincent hung out quietly, and even drew Tyler a pretty detailed picture of a train.

The rest of the afternoon, I let the boys play PBS Kids games on my computer while I prepared dinner. We ate without David (he's working late), then I baked a small cake and cupcakes. The boys took a bath, read a book, and went off to bed.

It's been since school started that the boys and I have had a day like today. I think they were both happy to spend the time together. Vincent even said, "This was the best day ever, and the best dinner ever." Well, he says stuff like that often, but it must mean each time he says it, the day/dinner is better than the last best one. Right?

The boys asked a ton of questions on the bus ride downtown, and got a bit of attention from other riders. People sure get a kick out of those boys. Personally, I don't like strangers trying to talk it up with my kids, even if they're just being friendly. It makes me pretty uncomfortable. I'm right there with them, but I don't want them to think it'll be okay, too, if I'm not. Paranoid? We live in a decent sized city, and frankly, I've seen some whackos here. You bet I'm paranoid.

Homework

Along with kindergarten, Vincent has started back at Chinese school. This year, it's more intense. There's real homework. Not cheesy stuff like he had last year. This is the real deal. But, it's been tough for me to figure out how to incorporate it into Vincent's day. Especially, with little monkey boy, Tyler, hanging in the background. 

So, I've started copying activities for Tyler to do. And, as if he didn't have enough work already, I've added an extra writing exercise for Vincent, too. Tiger Mom, you say? Well, I think she was born year of the tiger, so that's not me. How about Dragon Mom? Ooh. Scarier.