Tom Sawyer

I would like to meet the child that was the muse for Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. If he was a contemporary author, I would swear that he was blog stalking me and creating his characters after my soon to be five year old. Not that Andrew is quite that mischievous...yet. It is just that he often amazes (and is it okay to say terrifies?) me with his thought processes. I never saw the world the way Andrew sees it. I don't remember being quite so "resourceful." Perhaps my mom can chime in and disagree. But really where on earth does he get this?!?!?!

Earlier this week I asked Andrew to please take care of his morning chores, which include taking the recycling down to the basement garage. He is usually pretty good about helping, but that day he had no desire to go to the basement. He pitched a fit, he told me he was scared, told me there were monsters down there, told me he was lonely, and told me he was hungry. Andrew threw open the pantry and started searching for something to feed his starving belly. That is when his eye caught the BBQ tongs. And at the same moment his little brother (aka: victim) walked in the room. I picked up the camera, because I thought it was a cute idea, to make picking up the garbage a fun game. I had no clue what was about to happen. (my brain doesn't work that way, remember).

"Look at these really fun grabbers Ryan! Do you want a turn?"

"See, they hold newspapers in them. Isn't that awesome?"

"I want to 'twy' that Andrew, please."
"Okay, but then you will have to take the recycling downstairs. I will open the doors for you."

"It too hard, you hold 'dese' and I carry the 'wecycling'."

How did he know it would work? He got someone else to do his job AND he got a companion to the basement garage. And Ryan was ecstatic to help! How in the world did he formulate that plan in the instant that he saw the tongs? Is it just a normal "super hero power" that comes with being the big brother? Having lived in a home as an only child for most of my life, I am truly mystified. Now what happens? Does Ryan perfect this skill having watched his big brother and learn to get Molly to do his work? Does Molly watch them both and become the Queen of the Universe?

She's A Maniac, Maniac - 28 weeks

Molly received this cute skirt and sweater from a friend at my baby shower. Ever since I have been on the look out for some cute babylegs to go with them. I finally found some this weekend and couldn't resist picking them up. She was wearing this outfit already that day, with tights. I took off the tights and set her toesies free. Man was she one happy girl. She was warm AND could suck on her feet.

Molly also has some sweet new moves. She can roll to get wherever she wants. She can also sit up for more than a few seconds, reach a toy, and sit back up again. (we just didn't happen to capture pics of that. Yes I know we are lame. Next week, I promise). She is quite proud of herself, starts laughing, and then falls over. She practices the rolling over and over and over again. These pics are from one of her rolling practice sessions. She really is a MANIAC ON THE FLOOR!

PS-I am hoping she forgives me someday for posting these pics of her cute chubby thighs. But I couldn't resist!

Halloween

We started the holiday early by trick-or-treating at Daddy's work Friday. Daddy won first prize in the costume contest for his awesome Captain Hook and Ship. We painted it together as a family for Family Home Evening. Go Daddy! (Make sure to note the 2 week growth on his face). Did I mention that we love Halloween at our house?



Halloween morning we carved a pumpkin together. Andrew drew a design he wanted and Daddy made it for him on the pumpkin.





For lunch we ate pumpkin pancakes. Yum! As we were finishing, we got some surprise early trick-or-treaters all the way from Ft. Bragg! Even Lizzy the doggy was here dressed up as a witch!



For dinner we ate ghost shaped pizzas and apples with pumpkin dip we served in a bowl we made from Ryan's pumpkin. We then made this yummy cookie pizza with candy we received from trunk-or treat. I think it was the start of a fun new tradition.


After dinner we headed out in the rain to trick-or-treat. As a family we were the cast of Peter Pan for Halloween. Here is our Crew!



Andrew as Peter Pan



Ryan as the Tick Tock Croc


Daddy as Captain Hook



Molly as Tinkerbell



and Mommy as Wendy. (Somehow I only ended up in the group shot. Which is okay. My costume was the least interesting. Next year, I am going to be something cool, too!).

***Other interesting facts.
*The ship is made entirely from the tv box and packaging contents from our new tv. The mast is from an old volleyball net.
*We were mistaken for everything from Robinhood, Pirates of the Caribbean, Angel, Dinosaur, and more.
*First prize was a $60 gift card to Tripps.
*Andrew changed his mind a couple of weeks ago and wanted to be a Super Hero instead. We convinced him that since Peter Pan fought bad guys and could FLY that he was a super hero.

Molly's First Halloween

I know I posted a couple of Tinkerbell pics with the family post, but I couldn't resist sharing more. Sorry.

Molly had her 6 month check up this week. I was terrified to bring her to the doctor office where there were actually sick people. They let us in a side door, but I was still really nervous with all that is going around. She had 4 shots. The first two she didn't cry at all. The nurse commented how shocked she was that Molly didn't cry at all. Then Molly kindly screamed her head off the last two so as not to disappoint the nurse. Molly is 15 pounds and 5 ounces. She is 23 inches long. That is 25th and 35th percentile for her age. She is following the same trend as her brothers, and if she continues, will be in the 5th percentile at a year. She is sitting up for a few seconds. She also seems to understand a little of what we are saying to her these days. Chad asked her if she was hungry and she threw her head back and started reaching for me. A very clear YES!

Hawks Pumpkin Patch

Food Glorious Food-Molly is 6 Months Old

Molly has been eyeballing our food for about 2 months. She has been grabbing our dinner utensils and water bottles out of our hands for about 2 weeks. We have resorted to giving her spoons to play with so we could keep our own at meal times. You can imagine then that she was more than a little excited and surprised when we set her in the high chair on her 6 month birthday and Daddy gave her a spoon with something on it!

Anticipation!

I like it!

"Please sir...I want some MORE!"

"Here, let me help you Daddy."

"Actually, I think I will do it myself."

Do you think the rice cereal was a hit?

Is Molly Curly, Larry, or Moe? -25 weeks

Molly has discovered this week how fun physical comedy can be. She giggles and giggles at her brothers when they do tricks for her. She seems to think her brothers falling down and pretending to be hurt is hilarious. Miss Molly bonked her head pretty hard with a rattle this week, hard enough to leave a red mark for several hours, and just laughed at herself. Somehow I see reenactments of the 3 Stooges in my future as she grows big enough to keep up with her 2 brothers. Hooray! Anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy physical comedy. (this last statement is dripping with sarcasm). But her laugh is so precious, it is hard to be a scrooge about anything that brings that joyful sound out of her.

Molly is still smiling if she is awake. (And probably in her sleep too). She is chewing on everything she can get close enough to reach and it seems as if she is drooling twice as much as before. She loves to be part of the action and wants to be where we are all the time. She is trying so hard to lift her tummy up, but she still just ends up flapping her arms and legs.