"I Am a Child of God"

Eddie is a great singer. His favorite song is "I Am a Child of God". We listen to primary songs on tape in our car, and I have to keep rewinding the tape over and over for "Child of God". I sing this song to him every night when I put him to bed, and have since he was a newborn. Tonight, as he sang it with me, I realized he doesn't have all the words quite right. Here's Eddie's version of the chorus:

"Lead me. Guide me. Walk beside me.
Help me find the way.
Teach me all Dad (instead of "that I") must do, to live with Him someday!"

"Backpack, Backpack"

Last week Eddie decided to put some of his cars in Daddy's backpack. Daddy was on his way to school and didn't want to take cars with him. I told Eddie to get his backpack to put stuff in. He got his backpack, and, instead of putting cars in it, as I had expected, he filled it with books. I guess he watches Daddy! After we put his backpack on, he said, "Maybe, after I get a fresh diaper, I can go to school?". So cute and funny!

Pumpkin Carving

Eddie enjoyed carving a pumpkin this year.
Eddie said the stringy goop was kind of like string cheese. Eddie liked sliding the seeds down the outside of the pumpkin.
Daddy and Mommy are so silly! Eddie always laughs!
Eddie enjoyed dropping his pencil in the pumpkin and pulling it out again.
Jack-o-lanterns are great because they are puzzles just waiting to be put back together. Eddie kept putting the smile we cut out back into the pumpkin!

Eddie was a little nervous about turning out the lights to see the pumpkin all lit up. We ended up singing "Happy Birthday", since that's what you do when you light candles!

Halloween Cookies

We had fun making Halloween cookies this year. I was most excited that we had Halloween cookie cutters; I was never able to find any to purchase last year.
rolling the dough
excited to cut (you can see he is "shrugging" his shoulders in anticipation-he does this a lot when eating and likes us to do it, too)
fascinated by the "star" cookie cutter (it's actually a spiderweb)
"Woohoo!" (he says this now-this is really what he is saying here!)
He enjoyed eating the frosting off his knife more than on his cookie; he really preferred eating cookies that had no frosting on them.
He loved sprinkles again this year!
I asked him to hold up his cookie so I could take a picture. As you can see, he took my instruction very literally!
Eddie's finished product. I did the frosting on the leaf and the green around the edge on the web (per his request); he did the rest completely by himself.

He looks so cute scrunching his eyes (part of his silly smile) while taking a bite!

Big Baby Toys

Peter is showing a lot of interest in the older baby toys. Rattles and such no longer hold his attention. He needs a toy that makes him work and think.
Eying the frog with some suspicion.
He's decided he likes the frog!
It's serious work playing with this frog!
Look at Peter's cute fingers and arms! (Peter can make the frog pop up all by himself.)
Look how well Peter sits up!

I adore this little person!

Cump Cump Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch with our playgroup. Eddie enjoyed pulling a wagon around (he also liked riding in it), listening to Halloween stories, and picking out his own "cump cump" (pumpkin). He opted out of the face/hand painting. We had a good time and will do it again next year.

Halloween Crafts

It's been really fun this season to introduce Eddie to some of the Halloween icons through simple crafts.
This project was the first time Eddie seemed really interested in making something out of paper. He is very proud of his finished product, as you can tell by the way he's looking at it.

Eddie loves helping his ghost say "Boo!". He also loves using his ghost as a prop while singing "Witch's Brew" ("oooo...What's it going to do to you? BOO!").

Spiders! These were Eddie's favorite to play with!

Eddie's bat that he insists on calling a bird because, clearly, it isn't what you use to hit a ball!


"Who's behind that pumpkin face?". I love that he's sticking out his tongue!

Bathtub Boys

I began bathing Eddie and Peter together last month. It's nice to get it over all at once and to have it as a time all three of us can spend together. They look adorable together in the tub! I know they will have many happy memories playing in the bath together!
Hard to get them to look at the camera at the same time!

Yummy bathtub toys!
Peter's starting to be curious about the water. He thrashes his arms in it just to experience the splashes!

What Eddie Said

Eddie: Eddie has five brothers kinda like Mommy has five brothers! Kinda like Daddy has five brothers!
Me: Mommy does have five brothers, but Eddie has one brother kinda like Daddy has one brother.
Eddie: No! Eddie's big!

Apparently, having only one brother makes a person little!

Cute Diaper Pictures

I feel like Peter has grown so much practically overnight. It surprises me how well he can manipulate his pacifier ("nip"). He is into paper right now, and he loves holding and "eating" his diapers. He found his scream over the weekend, and, boy, can he scream! If he drops what he's holding or if it gets taken from him, he will let you know he is unhappy! I wish I could record that high-pitched, loud scream. It sounds like it's coming from a two-year-old! Isn't he so cute?!

Our Little Tree Climber

Eddie's into tree climbing right now. He climbed his first tree in early September. Just in the last couple of weeks, he often pretends he is climbing a tree. He likes us to put him up in trees, as long as we keep holding onto him. Luckily this tree in our front yard is ideal for him to climb. And he is just so cute! I love this kid!

Swinging

Peter tried the swings at the park for the first time this week. He's been a fan of his swing at home for a long time now, so his delighted reaction didn't surprise me. He smiled and laughed and was right at home. Peter is the thrill seeker in our family; the higher he is pushed in the swing, the more he laughs and the bigger he smiles. It was fun for Eddie to swing with his brother, but it was hard to get a good picture of it.
Such a sweet swinger! He loves to play "red means stop, green means go!" while swinging-where we stop the swing and hold onto him while saying "red means stop!", and then push him again while saying "green means go!".

Catching a Ball

While he hasn't yet been successful, this is a picture of Eddie's first attempts to catch a ball. Eddie has been a good, strong thrower for a very long time, but no amount of coaxing/coaching would get him to try to catch a ball. This particular night, he just put his arms out like this all on his own accord! He tried to catch the ball on top of his arms. Very cute.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Ben turned 30 on Tuesday, October 7. I can't believe this is the tenth birthday he has celebrated with me. We had a great day! We drove Ben to school and picked him up! We got breakfast in the morning, and we went to dinner at the Olive Garden. Eddie sang happy birthday to the whole family (but mainly to "Eddie) all day long. He was excited about the birthday cake (candybar cake).


so delighted by that fire (this kid is obsessed with fire-he talks about it all the time; anything that is red is "kinda like fire"; his play often involves pretend fire and getting burned ! We are heading for trouble!)
We blew out the candles twice for Eddie's sake! And, yes, that motorcycle ended up driving through the cake!
trying a bite of Dad's after he ate all of his

Sitting Up

Peter is getting better at sitting up without my support (of course he supports himself with his hand/s). He stills falls quite a bit, but he is getting stronger all the time! I am amazed at how fast everything changes! He isn't a newborn anymore!

Look at him study those wheels! And that adorable drip of saliva on his lower lip (is it adorable to anyone besides his mom?!?).
So pleased with himself for getting that truck!