Happy Halloween!

We had pretty warm weather today, so didn't need all the fleece I'd bought for Sunday's Costume party. Here's Ed getting ready to put on his turtle costume.










But wait, it seems he will have nothing of the sort. Ed DID NOT want to be the adorable turtle. Both Mom and Dad tried it on, but that didn't motivate him in the least. So...it's the old fallback of Mickey Mouse...and a cute mouse at that.

I'm not a fan of Halloween --it's just not my favorite 'day', I especially don't relish having 20 kids show up at my door--more because I don't know what to do or say to them --do I coo over their costumes or just hand out the candy--than that I don't want them coming. Den is really good at it and seems to enjoy himself.

Nonetheless I suggested Den take Ed out with some neighbors, including Ed's buddies Lizzie and Zach, expecting them to go to maybe 5 houses max and be back in less than 30 minutes. After nearly an hour, I began to worry.

It seems that while Ed had started out kind of shy, once he had a couple houses under his belt, he got a real kick of it. Den says he'd go up and grab the candy. I'd been trying to teach him to say 'Trick or Treat', or even 'Happy Halloween', but the most I'd been able to get was 'Happy H....', so I suspect most houses just got the big Eddie grin.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm sitting here with a huge bowl of candy. And not just any candy, but some of the stuff I really like. I'd already had 2 pieces, but do you know how difficult it is for a pregnant woman who already craves all things sweet to sit there, staring at a bowl that is calling your name?

The Halloween Bash

Some friends have had an annual Halloween bash that over the last 10 years has morphed from a young 20-something party crowd to moon bounces and a 4pm start time.

It's also grown in size. This year they had over 250 RSVPs--it's really kind of a neighborhood shindig and fun to see everyone--especially the kids. Ed is the turtle in the middle. His buddy Eli is on the right as a frog, and another buddy, Claire, is the blond-haired, blue eyed chicken passing out Easter eggs. She is 6 weeks older than Ed (Eli is 2 months older than Ed).

I blew through a whole lotta memory trying to capture the three of them at least looking in the same direction, but when the chicken finally ran off, my chance was over. There was so much going on around them, it's amazing they stood still long enough for these.


I fully expected Ed to tire of wearing his turtle suit after about 30 minutes, as he'd only ever had it on for 5 minutes at a time previously. In fact, he was willing to leave his outfit on the whole time. Occassionally he wanted the 'hood' down, but other than that, he liked it.

I had bought him a Mickey Mouse costume, but when I tried to put him in that today, just to see how it fit, he vehemently shook his head, pushed it away and pointed to the turtle costume. I think he actually likes the turtle, as he happily stood there while we put it on him, not once, but 2 times today. This involves it going over his head for an extended period of time, as we slink it down his body like a straightjacket. Eventually his face pops out of the head and we pull his arms through the sleeves. Much easier to remove, we just pull up and it's done.

Trick or treating is on Tuesday--we'll go as part of a neighborhood gang. I'll be interested in how long Ed lasts--or if he will even go up to any doors.

Red Eye--or Not--well maybe

Den flew on Thurs. to the west coast for a meeting Fri. morning. The meeting was supposed to last just past the time when he could catch the last flights of the day before the red-eyes started 8 hours later. He got out of the meeting early enough that he could make an early afternoon and be home at a reasonable (read, non red-eye) hour.

Apparently he didn't tell this to the east coast, because the rains that we've been having completely hosed his connecting airport--nearly 4 hour delays were de rigor and he couldn't get on any flights by calling Delta. After I told him I saw seats on the 1:35 that had become a 3:35 flight to ATL, he stood in line to at least get to the correct time zone. Luckily they squeezed him into a middle seat for the 4.5 hour journey.

He had planned to arrange his connecting flight once in ATL, but while en route I discovered that the 9:40pm flight home from his connecting airport had become the 1:10AM flight and at that point, the last option--so I booked him on that. Eventually the 1:10 AM flight became the 2AM and he finally slumped through the door around 4AM.

I suppose it was better than having taken his original red-eye, which it turned out left so late as to miss his originally scheduled 7:30AM connecting flight, so he wouldn't have gotten home until 11AM. He hasn't had it that bad on a trip in a long time. I think it was the hour of the day/night combined with the spread between potential flights more than anything, cause he's certainly had he share of delays and issues.

The picture is a flashback to Alaska. This is outside of Petersburg, on the Inside Passage. We took a trip on a 30 foot boat to view a Glacier called Le Conte Glacier. Was pretty cool and nice to have a private tour as opposed to the 125 passenger boat we went on later in the trip--it too was cool and somewhat personalized, but just a different feel.

20 month update--a couple days late

20 months. It's approaching that time when we'll just start to refer to Eddie in 'years' old rather than 'months. I still remember going to the pediatrican's office the first couple times (he had a lot of visits early on b/c of weight gain--or lack thereof and jaundice), and telling inquiriers that he was 'x' days old and then eventually 'x' weeks old and now we measure his age in months, which sometimes seems absurd. I mean he's closer to 2 than 1, but he's definitely not 2 yet.

At any rate, at 20 months:

He won't have another check up until his 2 year birthday. He's gotten quite skilled at catching a ball. He is probably 50-60%. When he is getting ready to throw the ball, Ed holds his arms straight out and then bends at the elbows and throws--often with some force.

He sings both the ABC song and 'twinkle twinkle little star'--which did you know are the same tune? It's mostly mumbles with an ocasional near direct hit of a word. The nanny thinks he has perfect pitch and that we should get him singing lessons.

He is starting to repeat things we say right after we say them, which as you might imagine can be quite hilarious during a mommy/daddy conversation. He has learned a lot more words--water, cup, plate, bowl, bib, highchair, hot tea, hot--his volcabulary is just exploding. Course not all of them are telegible to everyone, but if you pay attention to their context you can generally get the gist. He has also learned the signs (sign language) for please and thank you. He already knew milk and knows light, which he tends to do similarly to milk.

It's getting dark earlier, so we turn on the 3 lamps in the living room, where most of his toys are. If he thinks it's too dark, he will run around, from lamp to lamp, saying his version of the word and the sign for light. He also will run to each of the three blinds and try to get me to open them in the morning.

The first picture is of Eddie's favorite toy. It's also Den's favorite toy. I've only been half joking when I said I'd get Den one for Christmas. Den is obsessed about getting all the pieces back at the end of each day and then putting it up high. I secretly think its because he hopes Ed won't see and ask for it each morning. Yet it is pretty much the first toy he seeks out each day. Den says he loves it because it is a classic toy. Simple, wooden, and with
lots of options for learning.

I have to admit I like it a great deal too, which was why I was willing to part with more money than I felt Den would be happy with when I bought it in Santa Barbara. Why did I ever worry?

The second is of the mega tower Ed and Den built during the Wisc. Badgers game this past weekend. Ed really likes building towers out of his 2 sets of blocks. He is very affectionate, freely blowing kisses (like always) and hugs. But when he is playing and I ask for a hug, the answer is almost always a negative head shake.

He is starting to hold the phone to his head more--especially with daddy gone. He smiles when he listens to Den talk and says dada, blows kisses and says bye bye. I'm trying to get him to say 'I love you'. Won't that just melt Den's heart over the phone wire when he hears that the first time.

The ball as security blanket

Eddie had a super long nap on Sunday. Den and I were actually practically waiting for him to wake up so we could take him to go pick pumpkins. We knew it'd be a hit and weren't disappointed.

I'm not sure if Ed really wanted these super sized pumpkins he kept approaching, but he eventually settled on a couple smallish--medium sized pumpkins that he could almost pick up. Then, as we were leaving, he decided to pick up a couple extra baby pumpkins that he could potentially hurl across the front yard. Suppose I should post a picture of him with what we got--maybe I'll be brave enough to try--I have visions of him rolling the pumpkins off the front steps and trying to throw pumpkins at/to me in a game of toss.

Den is out of town right now-he's gone for 2 nights, home for one and then heads out to the west coast for 2 nights--catching a red eye to get back Sat. morning.

Ed doesn't have a favorite teddy bear or blanket, or even a favorite ball. But lately he has taken to wanting to take a ball with him for naps and at night for bed. He took a ball up with him tonight and held onto it the whole time I was reading to him. Cracked me up.

Ball Heaven

I couldn't decide which picture I liked best--and I had another 6 or so that didn't even make this cut.

Ed can climb onto the couch now and loves putting his balls and these beads that hook together that he treats as balls up on the couch, then he climbs up.

I had my 4-month OB appointment today. We heard the heartbeat -- it was in the 140s, which is right in the middle of what they like to see. We're supposed to have the ultrasound before our 5 month apointment!

Asked the doctor about going to Puerto Rico in January (Eddie will have the g'parents stay with him--each set will cover 2 nights). The doctor said it was no problem and that he was more than happy to have us get him a ticket and he could be there in case we needed him. We jokingly said that wouldn't be a problem. I think if we offered a ticket for his wife too, we might have a vacation with my OB.

And check out my other post below from today about a work-life balance survey.

Survey Queen

I think the link below is broken. I even tried the original email. I'll take a look later.

I love love love surveys. I will happily give my opinion on just about anything. One of the listserves to which I belong shared the following survey on combining work and family by a PhD candidate researching the topic. She is looking for both men and women to complete the survey, which takes 8-10 minutes. In the spirit of research, have a look...

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=492962709964

Potentially Turtle

Some friends dropped off a pile of Halloween costumes their kids had outgrown. This one looked particularly fun and when we put it on Ed, he seemed to agree. He just cracked us up, this walking turtle. Maybe you'll see this in his snapshots from Halloween this year--although really we should figure out a way to make him a ball of some sort given how much he loves those.

It seems to be that busy time of fall, as none of the blogs I regularly check have been updated in a while, this one included. People are too busy living their lives to document or comment on them. I also haven't taken that many pictures of Eddie. I guess I got tired of taking a ton of photos and none of them were good enough to put on the blog--or even worth saving.

I've been going through the period of guilt over not having more pictures of Eddie taken--the kind they take at Olan Mills or Sears--well actually we've never had them taken at a place like that. Just for his first birthday, when we had someone come take a bunch of photos of him. I've been meaning to scratch this item off my 'to do' list for months--I've even had an apointment made and then cancelled. What finally threw me over the edge was receiving about the 20th set of pictures from a friend whose kids are 3 and 4. I think she gets them taken about every 3 months. Oh to be that organized and committed. Given my love of memorbillia, I'm surprised I haven't been more vigilant about this one. Maybe someday. In the meantime, my 5000 snapshots of Ed will have to do.

I did finally fess up to Dennis that I've lost our point and shoot. I'm not quite sure where it is. Could be somewhere in my car--which is the last place I saw it, but I've searched most of the car and not found it. Could be (hopefully) somewhere in the house, just as long as it's not with the TV remote, which has been lost since sometime this summer.

Emerging

I thought Ed had a cold the other week--but it was truly nothing. This week and over the weekend, he had a horrible cold. He had (and has) the kind of cough where you wonder if he is going to choke or puke.
When he would wake for the day at 5:30, we couldn't get back to sleep--he sounded so horrible.

We could tell he felt horrible, but fortunately well enough to play--these are a couple shots from the last couple days. The picture ont he kitchen floor is of one of Ed's latest games. He has taken to moving raisins from one cup to another, eventually eating them. We indulge him for a period of time, until they start getting on the floor.

We're slowing catching up on lost sleep...yawn.

Ugh

Let me just say I had the kind of night with Eddie where I really need/want a beer. A cup of hot tea will have to do.

He had a long nap, sleeping after I picked him up from nursery school. When he woke up, I decided to take him for a walk around the block. Figured the normally 7-10 min. walk would take 30-45 min. A full 1.5 hours later, we returned--full of misquito bites and quite unhappy that we had to go inside. Ed intimately studied the plantings of several of our neighbors, tried to eat a flower, and pitched a fit when I wouldn't let him throw his superball into the street.

Had a great dinner, and then something happened--maybe it's West Nile from all the misquito bites, but he threw a hard toy down the stairs, hitting me with it as I came up the stairs--that put me in a good mood. He actually wanted to get out of the bathtub--normally loves the bath and proceeded to pee on me (or nearby)--not once, not twice, but three times. All the while, I didn't want to put him back in the tub because it seemed like he had more than peeing in mind. Then he wouldn't sit down in the tub.

I was so pist (I'm leaving some parts out of the story), that I told him he'd have 2 stories and then bed. So after 2 stories, a full 15-20 min. ahead of normal bedtime, he pointed to the bed. So I laid him down and happily went down stairs for my tea I will think of as beer. Maybe it did start when he fussed over me putting his shoes on for school today. I think we both woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

One more solo night time and Den gets home.

Mama Doesn't Mean What I Thought It Did

Den is out of town. He was supposed to leave Sunday for California and then head to Huntsville. However, his Uncle died (I would say he's been not 100% for a while and he was north of 80), so Den left on Sunday for Wisc. He is then continuing to HSV as planned. I secretly hoped he'd cancel the whole work trip and take Ed and me with him to Wisc. Probably better not to take Ed on another trip tho'.

The top picture was taken last night--Ed has gotten really good at hooking together his legos and makes some pretty tall towers. He's showing one off here.

In this bottom picture, Ed is standing outside our closet. He loves putting my shoes away (afterall, I'm the one who leaves them out). He spent a great deal of time taking shoes out of the closet and putting them back, each time annoucing who they belonged to. This kept him occupied for a long while. If I had been Den, I probably would have cleaned our bedroom, but I just relaxed.

So the title of the post:
Like all kids, Ed did the whole ma ma da da until they eventually referred to Den and me. Today Ed saw someone mowing the lawn and he said "da da", then he saw someone running and said "da da". Then he saw the Asian guy with very dark hair who lives down the street walking way off in the distance towards us and said "da da". I was feeling badly for Den in absentia until he saw the woman across the street and said "ma ma". Ugh. Me too?

Does ma ma mean a woman and da da mean a man? He definitely knows who we are, but yeesh. Guess I shouldn't have pointed to the very back of the yard where Den was mowing and told him it's da da.