Oden Adventures

Snapshots from October...just a few non-birthday-or-holiday pictures from last month...

My cuties a few evenings before we headed up to Oregon.  These will undoubtedly go down as some of my favorites in the annals of sibling series.  Oliver's expressions and gestures are particularly hilarious.

 [insert Godfather quote...if I knew any...]

 "Hmmm....Vianne, I'm gonna have to think about that one..."

 Daddy got a new set of pots from Amazon and left them out, so they soon became a plaything for Vianne.  She had so much fun "making" things.

 We brought back some fun playclothes from Oregon, this fairy dress, for example.  Daddy & Vianne had a dance party to the Praise Baby DVD.

 Vianne got this mask from the teacher at library story time.  She decided that she looked like a cat in it...and insisted that she be called Baby Cat for the next couple hours.

 Fun with barrettes!

 One of the many reasons it takes so long for moms & kids to get out the door to go somewhere:  I said, "Go get the shoes you are wearing to the store..."

 Just in time to be Doc McStuffins for Halloween, V's hair is (finally!) long enough for pigtails!! :-)

Little Oliver continues to be a smiley, delightful little guy and I can't get enough of squeezing him and kissing him while he'll still let me.  This week, he's doing more grabbing with his hands - others' fingers and the toys on the playmat, for example.  He seems to be realizing that his hands can be controlled.  He takes predictable naps which is a huge blessing and his nighttime sleep seems to be getting less restless (back to only 2 or 3 feedings again).  His neck is getting very strong and he holds it very straight now when held.  And we've even gotten a few close-to-laughs out of him this week. 

He's still a sucker for the swaddle & standing rock + shushing trick to get to sleep. With some regularity settling in, I feel like overall, life with two kids is seeming much more manageable and hopeful these days...just like all those people who I inwardly glared at told me two months ago that it would feel :-).

Anyway, a few shots of Mr. O during Week 14...

His first time wearing jeans :-)

 He's starting to enjoy the playmat for slightly longer intervals

 Tummy time!

 "Mama, this is hard!"

 Yoda sleeping pose

 He also loves to lounge outdoors in the bouncy chair - and we are so thankful for some (finally!) cooler weather to do so.  He will amuse himself, kicking and chattering and looking around for a good twenty whole minutes some days!

 14 weeks old!

 Loves to chew on his hands these days - gets in the way of photos and nursing quite often :-)

We had a spontaneous pre-Halloween when about 5 min. to 6:00pm on the Saturday before Halloween, Rachelle texted and said, "I'm taking the boys to Trunk or Treat at NewSong.  Want to meet me there?"  And we were just sitting around, Vianne finishing up dinner, and so we said, "Sure!"  So we went the easy route (we didn't have all the pieces of her 'actual' costume yet) and slapped a fairy costume from her dress-up clothes onto Vianne and headed out.

So quickly that we forgot the camera...so we're seeing (not so great) cell phone photos here.

 Our fairy with an attitude :-D

 Patrick had a moment to slap on his Tony Stark shirt, too

 Cuteness times three!!

 Vianne had her very first pony ride!!  It was very exciting - I wasn't sure if she'd go through with it after hating the bouncy house that evening - and she loved it!

A few days before Halloween, we finally had all the elements of her costume in place so we tried it all on together.  The cutest little Doc McStuffins ever, if you ask me...

 She, of course, had to give Mama a check-up!

 And now, finally, to Halloween itself!  Little O, the sailor man, on his first Halloween, which also fell on his 3 months old day... Not a big participation factor for him this year, but still a chance to be totally adorable! :-)

 It was fun that Halloween fell on a Friday because that's Story Time day at the library.  So we dressed up about 10:00am.  Vianne is, like usual, brimming over with joy!

 I know, it's a lot of cuteness to take in...

 Story Time in costume!

 Then trick-or-treating around the library...

 ...and a craft afterwards!  Vianne loved it...

 ...and Oliver hung out, taking it all in :-).

 That night, we got her dressed up again and walked down to City Hall with Daddy.  Turns out there's games there, which require tickets, which require standing in a very long line to get them, which we bowed out of and stayed only long enough to get a few photos.

 Then we wandered back north to home, weaving in and out of the decorated neighborhoods, trick-or-treating all the way.  Vianne was so fun & cute and everybody loved her costume, especially the little girls who knew who she was.  San Dimas is a really fun place to trick-or-treat, making us all the more glad we live in this 'town'.  Vianne came home, Doc's bag filled with candy, and in her beautiful child-wonder, went piece by piece through all the loot ("This one's choc-wate!").  All in all, a fun day!