Hiya Folks!
Since
Will has started school this semester and I have assumed a more
primary-caregiver role, I figure it’s my turn to write on the ol’ blog. We’ve
been pretty busy this semester, but it has been fun. The leaves are changing,
the weather is cooling down and Halloween is upon us. Hey, there is even a
Hurricane to mark the season (Heeelllloooo Sandy!).
Claire
is back in the same preschool she was in last year, but with mostly different
kids, many of which are closer to her age. When I ask her about it she reports
what they learned about that day, if “Mr. Monkey” (the teachers’ puppet) came
to visit, and who she “hangs around with.” She is doing great and makes me
laugh daily with her hilarious use of vocabulary.
This
evening for instance, we were carving pumpkins and her remarks included the
following:
“Eeeewwww!
The guts are disgusting! I don’t think I want to get anymore guts out.”
“Mom,
can I wash my hands yet?” (followed by more ews.)
And,
when she was finished cleaning it out,
“Goodbye
guts, hello carving!”
Later,
when we let her carve her own face (she insisted), she would say things like
“Aren’t
you impressive with me, Mom?”
“Aren’t
you impressive with me, Dad?”
“I’m
impressed with you, Mom.”
and
“I’m so
very clever”
“Carving
pumpkins is the best thing ever” (she seemed to forget the disgusting guts.)
Needless
to say she was very pleased with her pumpkin and she actually worked very hard
on it. She wanted help digging the guts out, but once it was carving time she
insisted on being the only artist. I was impressed with how well it turned out,
and how she stuck with it, she stayed at the table long after Will and I had
finished.
(Pictures of the adventure follow)
As for
Avery, she is very adventurous and pretty mischievous. I remember Claire being
curious at Avery’s age, but nothing like Avery. She is a pretty fast crawler
these days and crawls around the house wreaking havoc in every room. Kitchen:
she pulls things out of the dishwasher nearly as fast as I put them in there.
Bathroom: I usually let her play in the bath toy cupboard when I am doing my
hair, and she has gotten very good at emptying that cupboard in 2 seconds flat.
This is particularly dangerous if we forget to pick up (for the hundredth time)
before bed and someone inevitably stumbles or stubs their toe on an item.
Bedroom: she is just tall enough to reach (on her tippy toes) the papers and
books on her Dad’s bedside table. She seems to relish scattering them several
times daily. She also likes to empty her sister’s child size craft table
several times a day. She keeps us very busy chasing her around the house.
Also, I
am a little unclear how it started, but I think somewhere along the line we
have ended up rhyming “Baby” with “Waby”
and the “Waby” part stuck. As a result, we usually end up chasing her
around the house, yelling “Waby!”, trying to pick up after her. I’m am sure the
neighbors are wondering about us. But hey, they vacuum at 9 p.m., so who are
they to judge?
Avery
has a sweet smile and she is very cute about her preferences. We are always
greeted with a yelp and a speed crawl to the door when we return home. And, the
other day before I went to school she teared up when she saw the babysitter
because she realized that I was leaving.
The
cutest thing she does right now is growl when I say or show her a lion. She
also really enjoys clapping. We got family pictures taken last weekend and this
is the only way the staff could get her to smile.
Well, I
think that is all the news for now. Will and I are trying to juggle school and
the kids this semester, and so far there have been no major disasters. We have
been very blessed. We are getting ready to hunker down for exams, and looking
forward to the holidays when we can visit all of our beloved friends and
family.