What A Week!

Thanks to all the Halloween celebrations this week Esme will never forget this holiday!  Ha ha!  We trick-or-treated at the local outdoor mall last weekend and then they dressed up at school most of the week.  And then tonight she got to officially trick-or-treat in our neighborhood.  Esme liked seeing all the kids walking around in costumes and by the end of the night she finally started saying "trick-or-treat" when she knocked on doors.  Then once she was done walking around she enjoyed handing out candy to the kids.  Chan isn't much of a night owl and was asleep by 6:30pm so he missed out on everything

Both of the kids wore their bones outfits to school.

Chan Chan's been rolling over for awhile now but all of a sudden he's started doing successive rolls and really moving across the floor.  We've had to put away his bouncer and swing, since he can buck out of them, which frees up a lot of space in our house now.  Thank goodness!  We still have his jumper which he continues to love and helps us to keep him upright after feeding since he's such a spitty baby.

Esme's also continuing to grow up right before our eyes.  Her language keeps getting exponentially more advanced and she tells us things we have no idea she's learned all the time.  She's enjoying pretend play and make believe a lot more and likes to tell us all kinds of stories.  Her memory continues to amaze us too.  She's really good with names and remembering people and events.  When I come home from work everyday she always asks "How was your patients today mom?"  And when we give her medicine she always asks "And what does this one do?"  Only the daughter of a pharmacist and nurse practitioner would ask such a thing!  She gets Zyrtec for her runny nose, Zarbees for her cough, and Motrin for any owies when she's sick.

Esme made this owl out of a toilet paper tube at school.  I asked her to tell me about the body parts and she said it had eyes and a mouth (I asked if it was a beak and she said "NO, it's a mouth!").  Then when I asked her what was on the side she said 'it's hips."  Ha ha!

Let The Holiday Weekends Begin!

This past weekend we opted for some R&R after our busy weekend in Oregon the weekend prior.  The kids enjoyed just hanging out at home, eating and sleeping on their normal routine, and going to the parks nearby.  We put Chan Chan in the swings for the first time and he LOVED it when we barely pushed him!  He also loved watching his sister go back and forth next to him.

Esme also got a trial run at Halloween since the outdoor mall near our house had a trick-or-treating event for kids.  She thought it was pretty awesome to dress up in costumes and go around while people just gave you candy for free!  I didn't know how she'd react to her garden gnome costume that I bought on clearance after last year's Halloween but she was super excited about it.  She even wore the hat the whole time we were walking around!  We also met up with some neighbors, friends and even cousin Tabby!  Chan Chan wasn't too into it and slept in the stroller most of the time.  Luckily his tiger suit kept him covered up.

More Stories

I found some more great pictures from this past weekend in Oregon.  I also forgot to share the lovely adventure we had on our way down there.  We left in the late afternoon on Friday and were in rush hour traffic on I-5.  We finally got moving and then Esme starts complaining of a stomach ache.  I figured she was just getting fussy from being stuck in the car but I was totally wrong.  Her stomach really did hurt cause not long after she started throwing up.  Luckily I caught most of it and was able to clean up her shirt and seat without having to stop so we kept driving since we had a 3 1/2 hour drive ahead of us.  Well Esme had different plans cause she continued to puke the entire drive to Oregon and by the time we got there she was throwing up only bile.  It was awful!  I don't even remember how many stops we had to make but I do remember how horrible the car smelled.  Thank goodness it was a rental!  Our drive ended up taking over 5 hours and we were all soooooooooo happy when we finally arrived.  Then that night she woke up in the middle of the night with a raging fever.  I gave her Motrin and she burned it off overnight and then when she woke up the next morning she was fine.  It was like it never happened.  So weird!  I'm just glad no one else got it!

Both Aunty B and Uncle Judd were missing their babies so Chan got a lot of their attention

Hi daddy!

Esme was feeling so much better the morning after we arrived

Hugs with Aunty Amy

Mmmmm...cake!

Aunty B giving birthday wishes to Grandma

Uncle Richard with Uncle Chan and baby Chan

Happy Birthday Grandma Berta

Well the weekend is over and so are all the family festivities :(   We went to Oregon for a long weekend to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday.  Family came from all over the place for this special occasion and it was the first time all my cousins and I were in the same place at the same time.  So grandma got to see all her grandchildren together but not all the great-grandchildren were in attendance.  Maybe for the next big birthday.  Unfortunately I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to since I was always busy with either of the kids but that's just the way it goes these days...

Now that everyone is gone our house seems empty.  However in some ways I think Esme and Chan are itching to get back into their daily routine tomorrow at school.  Tonight everyone will sleep in their own beds again too.  Woohoo!

Esme enjoyed playing at the park with Aunty B

Chan Chan also enjoyed his time with Aunty B

When Uncle Sterling and Tosh arrived we picked up Caribbean sandwiches at Paseo and had a picnic at Gasworks Park.  Uncle Sterling wants to come back to Seattle just for the sandwiches again!

Esme and Tosh enjoyed playing at the park and watching the boats and float planes

More cousin play time

We also enjoyed some yummy ice cream at Molly Moons

Of course we ran some last minute errands too

To make life easier we rented a van for the weekend so that we didn't have to split up into two cars.  We had much more fun this way :)

We were also packed floor to ceiling though!

Chan got a lot of love from EVERYONE this weekend!  They all loved his bald head.

Uncle Judd, Aunty B and Uncle Ster enjoying the fall weather

The sisters!

Of course, I spent a lot of the weekend nursing baby Chan too!  Unfortunately I had to leave the birthday party for a short time to nurse some more and for the kids nap times.

Last but not least, Grandma Berta with all 15 of her grandchildren!

More Visitors!

It's been a revolving door at our house!  Not long after Allen's cousins left last week, Aunty B arrived!  Then later this week Uncle Sterling and cousin Tosh will show up.  Everyone's in town for our grandmother's 80th birthday this upcoming weekend (the little kids call her Gigi).  We'll drive down to Portland for the festivities and meet Nana, Papa, Aunty Amy, and Uncle Judd at that time.  In the meantime, Aunty B kept Esme home from school today so they could spend some one-on-one time with each other and then tomorrow she'll keep Chan home by himself.  I'm still working but on Friday thru next Tuesday I'll be off to play with everyone.  Can't wait!

Chan-Chan Potato Head

 

Esme's Potato Head Pumpkins

 

Esme showing off her flexibility

All dressed up with Aunty B

Our little turtle man

The Little Turtle

Chan's recently been nicknamed "little turtle" because of his bald head and strong neck muscles.  In the early morning when he can't sleep, he rolls over on his tummy in our bed and strains his neck nice and high to see what's going on around us while Allen and I try to keep sleeping.  We're convinced that if he had a shell on his back he'd look just like a little turtle.  Maybe we should rethink his Halloween costume!  Chan's moving a lot more when he's doing tummy time now.  He continues to push off with his feet and hike his knees up like an army crawl so he can move a few feet at a time.  It seems so early to be moving like this already!

We made a visit to Remlinger Farms this weekend to visit the fun farm and to get our pumpkins for the year.  Esme had fun playing with her friend Addy and Chan was such a trooper like he always is.  He didn't make a peep the whole time.  He really is the most relaxed baby!

Our little turtle with his sister

Esme, the big helper

Esme dumped out our pumpkins a few times :)

Our little bundle bear

Esme actually wanted to ride the ponies this time!

Rides with Addy & Esme

The little indoor train

They're so close but yet almost a year apart

Riding the old cars with the dads

Esme liked the old fire truck

The real train ride around the farm was definitely a highlight

Daddy and our little guy

Esme feeding the animals with Aunty Marina

Esme was so excited to drive the bus

 

Little Man

Chan Chan, our little man, is getting so big!  We had a visit from Allen's cousins Andy & Mei and their son Oliver, who's only a month younger than Chan, but makes Chan look like a tank!  It's amazing how much difference just 4 weeks makes at this age developmentally but someday Ollie and Chan will be running around and chasing each other and we wouldn't know the difference.  Esme was excited to have new friends in the house even if it meant that she had to give up her big girl bed and sleep in the crib.  We basically played musical beds and everyone handled it well enough.  Esme went to her old crib where Chan sleeps now, and Chan came into our room, in the pack-n-play for most of the night, and then to our bed in the early morning when he nurses.  

Chan's diaper rash is finally healing but it's taken awhile.  I had to bath him every morning this past to get all the diaper cream off from overnight and to make sure it was dried out before applying more and sending him to school.  Then we'd do the same before bed that evening.  I don't think we even went through a trial size tube of diaper cream with Esme but we're making up for it with Chan!  He's also starting to scoot himself around when he's doing tummy time.  He pushes off with his feet and moves ever so slightly forward and sideways so we've really gotta watch what we leave on the floor.

Esme is showing all her motherly instincts that she's obviously learning from me.  She got a baby doll for her birthday this year and in the past few months she's become very attached to it.  She gets sad when it's "crying" (or so she says it is), she tucks it in at night, she's careful that we don't lie on it when we're in her bed, she nurses it, etc.

Esme entertaining Ollie in the the Bumbo

Esme supervising the boys tummy time

Ollie's not sure about this sibling business ;)

Daddy and baby Chan

Esme insistent on doing everything we do nowadays

Chan Chan, our little man!