Happy Halloween

Gavin as a SCARY Bear and Eli as Elmo.


Can I just say that I actually made Gavin's costume this year? Gavin and his buddy Lucas wanted to be bears so Mackenzie found a do-it-yourself kit on Etsy.com. So, it was semi-homemade. I was very proud. :) Eli was Elmo and it was a hit. Everyone loves that costume. It almost always brought a smile to someones face and random people would yell, "ELMO!".
Especially, when Elmo rides his scooter.

Can you believe that is a 2 year old riding that scooter?


Our festivities started last week at the ward Halloween activity which was fun for everyone! T

Then Gavin had a Halloween Party at school (Healthy snacks only. HA!)

Today, we carved pumpkins for the first time as a family. I even roasted the seeds.

Then tonight we went down to 69th St. where they close 3 blocks down and all the apartment buildings and brownstones decorate for Halloween and where there is trick-or-treats. We met up with Isaac the Lion and Brandon (I mean Max!).

Then we headed up to Lucas and Mackenzie's apartment building for more trick-or-treating!

What a fun, sugar filled day!

Refresh

Do you know that wonderful feature on your browser's tool bar that refreshes whatever page your are working on? Well, I feel like Boyd and I did that a couple of weeks ago with our relationship. Thanks to our very kind, generous friends, we were able to escape to Block Island for a little getaway without our kids.

Monica, one of our kind, generous friends, recommended this little island off the coast of Long Island. You can get there by a ferry from Long Island and since we were dropping off our kids on Long Island we thought it would work out perfectly, and it did.

We were there from a Friday morning until a Saturday night. The trip involved a lot of relaxing, like taking naps, sitting on the beach and reading books. We stayed at The Blue Dory Inn. Yes, the flowers were a bit much. But, the sunlight is what we love about this room. Since our apartment gets very little sunlight, we loved the sun drenched room.

The island is known for it's biking and so we brought our bikes on the ferry and we used the bikes the whole time. We didn't set foot in a car, not even from the ferry. We biked our stuff to the hotel. I have to say that it was a lot of fun, but there were a lot of hills and it killed me! We would bike and then get out and hike to the different beaches or view points.

Eli - not so terrible two?

A blog post from Boyd:

It has been fun watching our little Eli achieve his two year birthday. He has come along way! He still doesn't talk much, but I suspect he knows more than he lets on. He and Gavin probably have intellectual conversations after we turn out the lights at bedtime. When he grins, Eli has that little mischievous twinkle in his eye that says he has just hatched his next scheme. Even though he doesn't speak much, he has his phrases: "Me too" or "I do" or "I want this" whenever Gavin has something he wants. But mostly it's just a pointing finger, a jumbled indiscernible phrase, and a definitive "yes" with a nod of his head after we've recited the correct interpretation of his request.

He loves food. He has a healthy appetite and will usually eat a second full dinner when Daddy comes home from work. Mommy swears that she fed him, but you wouldn't know it the way he plops himself down in daddy's lap to divert bites on their way to daddy's mouth. He can eat fruit - apples, berries and watermelon - nonstop. He can fish a snack out of nowhere and will make you sorry if you refuse to open the packaging for him.

He is physically gifted. Since he could walk, he was the fastest and most fearless roadrunner in central park. Keep an eye out because without warning he will take off running through the trees. He may hold the record for laps around the apartment in a single day. He already rides Gavin's scooter very well and is no longer content to sit in a stroller or carrier out on the town.

For much of his life he has seldom reciprocated our affection. Not that he didn't care or love - he just was too interested in making his way around the next bend. Sure, he gives precious kisses all around as part of the bedtime routine (and will almost plow you over with a hug when you walk through the front door). But spontaneous, self initiated gestures of affection? Don't hold your breath.

But Eli aged two seems to have paused to notice the rest of us. In recent weeks Emily has receive several unexpected, heart-melting hugs. This morning, first thing after climbing out of his crib (another new trick), Eli crawled into bed to give daddy a tight embrace, tenderly resting his head on daddy's chest. 20 minutes later he returned to give dad a bowl and fork to use for breakfast (hint hint). He seems concerned that we all have what we need when we need it, whether a shoe, a cup, a grape or a hug.

Now if we can just lose the pacifier.

Happy 2nd Birthday Eli!

We had a couple of celebrations for Eli. On Monday we turned a Labor Day picnic with friends into a birthday celebration. It was a beautiful day and the rocket balloons were the hit of the party!

Then today we kept things simple and had a playdate with a few friends and then tonight we had a little family "party." He loved his presents and his cake!


Happy Birthday Monkey!We love you, Eli!

Thanks Alot

Today, after being disciplined for something I can't remember, Gavin gave me a a big hug. He then asked, "Do you know who I love best?" I answered with an optimistic, "Who?" Gavin responded with, "DADDY!" I have to say I felt crushed a bit. He saw the look on my face and said, "just kidding." yeah right!

He won the lottery

Pre-k is guaranteed to all 4 year olds in the state of New York, so they say. However, the process to get him into a program in quite difficult in the city. There is a lottery system for each of the schools. It is based on where you live and if you have siblings at the same school. On top of that there were only 2 schools in our district that had half day programs. All the rest were full day and I wasn't ready for Gavin to do that. Private Preschool would have cost us anywhere from 10k to 25k, so that wasn't really any option. Luckily, Gavin got into the half day program at one of the schools in our district. It is 5 days a week from 12:10 to 2:40. Several families from our ward through the years have had a child in the program and have really liked it, so we take comfort in that. That didn't keep me from stressing over it for several months. This week I haven't been sleeping well because I have been nervous for this day to come. It arrived. He has been so excited. Here he is on his first day of school..


They told us parents could stay the first day in the letter, but then she kicked us out and told us we could stay in the doorway. I was able to meet some other parents in the class. His teacher is Ms. Santiago

His good friend Nicholas is also in his class. We were in the same Lamaze class and have regular play dates since they were born!

I didn't cry yet, but tonight I have felt a bit meloncholy and am on the verge of tears as I write this. My little boy is in school. He was ready for it. I am so proud of him.

The kid in all of us

Who needs Disneyland? For one last summer rendezvous we went to Victoria Gardens in Central Park. It is a summer amusement park in Central Park. It was a perfect evening. The weather was cool, there were almost no lines, and all the rides were geared towards the boys' age. They all loved it. Their favorite rides were the roller coaster, the swing, the slide, and the buggies.