Half birthdays

With three half-birthdays approaching next month, it feels like a good time to reflect on what the boys have been up to lately.

From youngest to oldest:
Reed: Loves pink. Wears as much pink as possible, and is planning to be Sleeping Beauty for Halloween, in a pink dress. I had gone to some trouble to get him an alligator costume which he seemed to be excited about (and was very cute) but Sleeping Beauty has been a bigger hit so I suspect that he will choose her for the big night. I've bought some pink clothes for him and have been thankful for some pink handmedowns from neighbor Julie as well.

Even though I finally finished Beckett's quilt for his bed, which means I've now made all three boys quilts for their beds, Reed has now decided he doesn't like his because it isn't pink (purple would be ok too, but the blues and greens in his quilt no longer suit him). Since I do have some leftover gray fabric from Beckett's quilt, I'm imagining an elephant theme or at least a color scheme that would allow for gray with tasteful splashes of pink. So it's back to the quilting store for pink fabric....

It's now almost two months into school, and Reed is definitely settling in. Parent teacher conferences are in a week or so, so I will hear more then. What I can tell is that getting on the bus is much easier now. He bounds up the huge bus stairs by himself, we buckle him into the 5-point harness, and he asks for a hug and asks us to wave to him from outside. Just in the last few weeks he's started waving back, and smiling. I think he naps most days at school but if he misses a nap, he sometimes falls asleep on the bus. I suspect that keeping up with the school schedule and working hard is taking a lot of energy and stamina, so he's extra tired at the end of the day. He's also had two colds so far that haven't affected his brothers (though I got the first one, probably from too many snotty "ugga-mugga" nose kisses).

Beckett: Has been very interested lately to hear stories of he and Theo as babies and young children. He loves hearing the stories of when they were born, when they did silly things as toddlers, and what we used to do when I was home with them. He frequently asks if I remember more stories. I need to start going back through the blog to remind myself of the adventures we had when they were small.

Beckett gets more homework than Theo, which he usually doesn't want to do but then once he gets into it, he seems to enjoy it and does a more thorough job than Theo. His writing and spelling are improving a ton, I think because so much of their day they are writing, in every subject. He also enjoys reading and frequently can be found having dropped whatever else he was doing and just reading, sometimes in bizarre places or poses. It is difficult to rouse him from reading when he is in the zone.

Beckett had planned to be The Flash for Halloween because we already had the costume but then late in the game decided he wanted to be Wolverine, so now he has a costume and claws and is very pleased with his costume.

Theo: Has started calling us "Mom" and "Dad" instead of "Mama" or "Mommy" and "Daddy." Occasionally he calls Jeff by his first name, which is startling to hear. I think he wants to feel grown-up. He has heard his friends call their parents "Mom" and "Dad" and he feels babyish still calling us Mommy and Daddy.

His drawing and storytelling continue to absorb his attention a lot at home. He likes to write and illustrate his own books, often involving himself and his brothers as characters.

Theo decided months ago that he wanted to be Black Panther for Halloween, so he's had his costume for more than a month. He wears it frequently. We haven't allowed the kids to watch action movies so he hasn't seen Black Panther (even though many of his friends have), so he has only rumor and his imagination to guide his character development for the costume.

As a group: we've been taking a lot of evening walks lately, after taking a hiatus for a little while since school started. Some of our neighbors have great Halloween decoration displays so we have a route to view some of the best in the neighborhood. A few nights ago we did a Halloween dry run in full costumes and cold weather gear underneath, to try out the plan for Halloween. We also checked out a new block we hadn't seen yet with some pretty spectacular skeletons scaling the house and skeletons rising from the garden. The boys have been playing some long-lasting and elaborate games all together lately, including Saturday when they spent most of the afternoon playing a game involving riding the bus to school and going to sleep. The game continued up in the romper room upstairs at the end of the evening and then morphed into a slumber party in the romper room with all three of them. Theo's sleeping spot ended up too narrow to be comfortable so he ended up in his own bed but Beckett and Reed slept the whole night in the romper room (I joined them around 5am when Reed requested it). The success of them all sleeping together has made me wonder if we should figure out a way for them all to sleep together in one room, but for now we're not making changes to the sleeping arrangements.

Pumpkin patch

Our favorite pumpkin patch spot built its haystacks taller than usual, so only the tallest little kids could get up to the top. Theo and Beckett helped Reed up to the lower stack, and I watched proudly as they offered a hand up to several other smaller kids. 

The corn box is always a hit. Reed was probably inside it for an hour at least, and he had to be dragged out of it when everyone else was ready to go.

It had rained a lot the day before so the ground was very muddy but that didn't stop Theo and Beckett from pushing Reed on the old metal tractor through the straw and mud.

Not pictured: Theo and Beckett did the corn maze together. I wasn't the least bit concerned (so long as they promised to stay together) and they were so thrilled to pay the money to get in and then do it by themselves. Reed happily played in the corn box and I watched the maze exit til they emerged.

Bike ride on the Erie Canal

Two Fridays ago we had a gorgeous afternoon, crisp but clear. The boys came home grumpy and tired from school, probably because it was a long week and they all work so hard at school. Despite complaints, I loaded them and their bikes into the van and we headed for the Erie Canal. We got home late, in the dark, but it was a magical, beautiful ride.

 Theo and Beckett enjoyed finding Reed treasures to carry along with him, He collected mushrooms, wildflowers, pinecones, and a bottlecap during the ride. I was definitely channelling Mr. Morris, my 6th grade homeroom teacher, remembering the great bike rides we took together and the wildflower identification I learned from him.

NJ trip

A couple weekends ago we went to New Jersey to visit Nitsan and family. Saturday was a spectacularly gorgeous day but the kids were happy to play together all day so even though the adults would have preferred an outing, we mostly stayed in and hung out. Three of us did get out for an IKEA excursion, which was fabulous, while Nimrod stayed home caring for six children by himself. Hooray to everyone on that one. Sunday before we left we took a great hike through a state park and then had lunch in the picturesque town of Piermont in NY. Moms are not pictured in any of these photos, unfortunately.

A beautiful country club pool visible from our hike.

Second apple picking of the year

My good friend Stacey was visiting from San Francisco and met up with me and Reed and our good friend Tara at a huge commercial apple picking operation near our house. We don't usually go there because it's so crowded and big but we had fun and it was great to catch up with the old domestic violence legal team from Hiscock Legal Aid. When we started we had no kids yet but now we have eight between the three of us!

Last gasp lake weekend

We snuck in one last great weather weekend at the lake, complete with board game playing on the deck and boating and even swimming.