Fuzzy Love

Trick or Treating

We just got back from a little trick or treating around the neighborhood. We did six houses this year (we tripled last year) and Liam was adorable. We had rehearsed what to do (ring doorbell, say, "trick or treat!" and then say "thank you"), but we forgot to mention that we wouldn't be staying for visits. At the first house he just walked right in and didn't want to leave. And a couple of times he'd ring the doorbell then just stay silent. We'd prompt him, "What do you say?" and he'd then reply with a confident, "Pleeeeeeese!" But he always remembered his thank yous.

Back at our house we were greeted by psycho kitty eyes.

And check out Liam's haul:

He's a happy kid, even though Mommy snuck off with the peanut butter cups. Plus, of course, we bought an entire bag of candy to give out and have had probably fifteen kids, so that will be left for us too.

Mmmmmmm.....candy. Liam's declaring everything, "de lishes!"

Finally, check out my brother James and his girlfriend Sam:

(In case you are snapping your fingers at Sam, yes, she's the Blind Melon bee girl).

Back to Boo at the Zoo

And what a madhouse it was this morning! We planned the visit just like last year, going on a Sunday morning (to avoid the church-going crowd), arriving first thing (we thought), and plowing through the entrance crowds to what should have been a quieter interior. But oh no. The whole place was packed with people (as Mark had to point out: "This place is a zoo!" Hardy har har.) In every direction we saw this:

Lots of people we don't know. (Please note, in the center of this randomly-taken picture is a small child wearing Liam's exact lion costume from two years ago. Go figure). Plus it was pretty chilly out (mid-forties). That said, we still had fun. We met up with friends Hadar and Liza and their two kids Isaac and Lia. This made it a-ok for Liam, beyond the fact that we happened to be at the zoo, his favorite place in the universe.

Now, part of the fun of Boo at the Zoo is that there are sponsored booths placed here and there where the kids can trick or treat. Because of the crowds, all the booths we saw had long lines. Ever try to keep a two-year-old in a line? It didn't happen. And a few lines we joined turned out to not have candy at the end of them, but things like animal cards or coupons or a chance to have your picture taken with a panda (not a real panda, a guy in a panda suit). Actually, the panda line was funny. We were all standing patiently in line when a helpful dad walking alongside announces that we're all waiting to have our pictures taken with panda-suit guy. The entire line immediately leaves. The point of all this is that Liam ended up leaving with a grand total of four Tootsie Rolls. Oh well. But he did enjoy the bears and he certainly enjoyed the Tootsie Rolls.

As for costumes, there were lots of Darth Vader's for the boys and the unavoidable Disney princess costumes for the girls. I tend to look at the littler kids, and they are usually animals, which this year included many spiders. We also did see one other kid in Liam's costume, but his family agreed to stick to the other side of the zoo, so that wasn't a problem. The favorite one, however, by far, was lobster boy:

Poor kid was waddling like me, what with that third leg and all. Anyway, we didn't end up staying very long at the zoo, but went out for lunch instead. We went to an amazing restaurant for brunch, Udi's (and it was goooooood), where Liam threw fits until we figured out he hadn't eaten for hours. One piece of bacon and he was fine. Afterwords, the kids played outside for a while. Hanging off this fence was a hit.

A hit for quite a while.

After each picture, all three kids would run over and ask, "Can I see it?" or "I see?" They'd check it out, then run back for another and another and another.

Right now, Liam is napping, I've made tea, and Mark has put on the fireplace. All in all, a very good day.

Halloween Parties

The Halloween parties have begun! And good thing too - I want Liam to get as much wear out of his costume as possible. Yesterday our play group got together in the morning. Almost none of my pictures turned out, so I'll spare you (and the other parents), but here's Liam anyway.

Looking pretty handsome, isn't he? And he threw a fit when it became time to put on the costume, but I had the brainwave to get him dressed in front of the mirror, and he loved that. Note that the hat is on backwards. It just always is. And whenever a camera was pulled out, Liam had a smile ready.

That smile is a Maddox trait (his cousin Connor did it too) and there's no fighting it.

For lunch we headed over to Mark's work for party #2. Every year they hold a pot-luck lunch and everyone gathers up their little kids from daycare or home or wherever and the kids go trick-or-treating from cubicle to cubicle. Very cute, although there was a poor turnout this year.

Doesn't it look like he and the princess are having a moment?

We Might Not Go All the Way

That's right folks, this baby may show up sooner than expected. Last night I was woken up by some major contractions. Painful ones. Three sets of them. Mark was sound asleep, lying on his side and facing away from me, so I sort of clawed at his back with one hand and said, "This is a real one, honey!" No response, but I was too occupied to care. A few minutes later, another one came on, and then another. I fell back asleep, so I assume nothing else happened. Mark didn't even wake up. I guess all that extreme pain I was feeling was a quiet pain. I must correct that next time.

Anyway, it was helpful today that I had my weekly appointment and could find out if those contractions had been productive. They were, a bit: I'm dilated to 1cm. Now, a person can walk around for weeks like that, but my doctor tells me that multiple painful contractions usually indicate that something's really going on. In other words, get her number in my speed dial.

Funny, the first thought through my head was, "I can't have a baby right now, I have plans this weekend." Very similar to equally irrational thoughts had when in labor with Liam, such as "I can't be in labor, I have to go to work tomorrow." Well, I guess I might not. But we do have many plans: this weekend is to be the last big push to get things off the to-do list; things like finishing up painting the baby's room and buying a few more clothes and going to Halloween parties. Plus I have book club next Thursday and I've already finished the book (I told you these thoughts were irrational).

The important news, however, is that this baby is cooked, and if she were to come tonight she'd be perfectly fine. My handy-dandy baby book tells me she's probably about six and a half pounds and 21 inches. Hopefully she is, as the ice cream before bed has paid off on my end: I gained three pounds this week (keep that in mind next time you reach for the Haagen-Dazs).

Hide 'n' Seek

Liam has (almost) independently invented the game of Hide and Seek. It started a few days ago, when he walked up to Mark, poked him on the nose, and said, "You're it!" Then he ran away, laughing. Now I realize that is called Tag, but the game has since evolved.

Last night, instead of beginning the chase right away, Liam would crouch down, put his hands over his face, and count to five:

He would then announce, "Ready or not, here I come!" Honestly, I have no idea where he's learned that, since we have never done any of this before. By the end of the evening, the announcement had changed to, "Where'd you go, here I come!" but it worked. I actually added the hiding part, since the game now seemed to call for it. Liam does most of the counting and looking, since he just isn't that great at hiding; usually he's in plain sight and he giggles a lot. Plus he gives himself away: one time I said, "Hmmmmmm, where could Liam be?" and he ran out to me calling, "Mommy, I'm right here!"

Also, picture this: we have an old microphone that has migrated into Liam's toy box. Yesterday he had it out for a little singing. First of all, he plugged it into the sofa cushion (after all, it won't work if it isn't plugged in). Then he started singing, at full volume, a song he made up himself about rockets and blast offs and the guys that ride in rockets. This is cute enough (at least if you're his mother), but while he sang he sqeezed his eyes tightly shut and raised one arm over his head, the hand clenched into a little fist. Seriously, picture that. Where does he get this stuff?

Look!

Check out all those girlie things! In soft girlie shades of lavender, pink, and yellow! In soft girlie fabrics covered in little embroidered flowers!

My friends were wonderful enough to throw a shower/dinner out on Saturday night. We ate lots and had fun and they all brought little girlie things along for Baby Bee. And what a good feeling it is to have them all those little things washed and hanging in the closet. Oh yes, first thing Sunday morning I was cutting off tags and (ever so gently) stuffing the washing machine, even though, as Mark pointed out, none of us planning to get dressed that day had any clean clothes. Whatever. I also went yesterday to pick up some unglamorous baby items we needed, like newborn diapers, breast pads, and well, stuff like that. Feels good. So there isn't much left to do before Baby Bee gets here, but I can't rest until they are done.

Well, that's not entirely true. I am getting more rest, and am I eating more, and I am feeling a bit better. Mark has really stepped up. Yesterday he took Liam out on a couple of errands, plus they did some yard work together (yard work makes for a happy Liam that naps well). And this time they actually picked the leaves up; Liam and I just moved them around.

And Mark cooked a great dinner and generally let me keep my feet up all day. He's done the same thing today since getting home from work and, as I write this, he has just presented me with a cup of hot tea. If this baby is undersized, it won't be Mark's fault.

By the way, did you know that wool mittens are great for picking up bugs? They just seem to stick on there. Liam found an earwig outside and was determined to bring it inside to show me. It kept jumping off the mitten, but Liam would just touch it and up it would come again, stuck. Liam was so fascinated with the bug that I tried to take a picture. The earwig is on his right mitten, but that's as close as I was going to get, thank you.

36 Weeks!

36 weeks and a couple of days, actually, but I didn't get in to the doctor until today. All continues to be well, except for one concern: I've only gained twenty pounds so far. At this point in my first pregnancy, I had gained about thirty; that's a significant difference. I'm not sure why either, except I'm definitely more active this time around and I've had a bit of a harder time eating, what with the nausea early on and the heartburn lately. It was actually recommended to me today that I eat ice cream and nuts before bedtime, so that I get some extra calories (you know that weight loss tool of not eating three hours before bed? Well, do the opposite). Isn't that bizarre? So I'll be doing it, because of course now I'm worried about Baby Bee. I want her to be a big baby. Thank goodness all my other measurements are okay. So, according to my book, Baby Bee should be about six pounds right now and about 20.5 inches long, but of course now I'm worried that she's smaller. Maybe I should make some cookies tonight too (for the baby, of course).

In the meantime, Liam has become the self-appointed hug police. I'll admit, when either Mark or I are leaving the house, we usually get in a quick kiss. Okay, a really quick kiss. But, no matter where we are going, or for how long, Liam gets a big kiss and a big, drawn-out hug, and probably another kiss, and a "love you," and probably another hug too. It's sad really, and I'm not sure how it all got to be this way. But lately, Liam has been calling us on it. He demands that Mark and I hug, and kiss, and sometimes hug again. It's good for us. And it's also good that Liam is too little to remember this.

A Serious Concern

How will I ever love another child as much as I love this one?

Fall Leaves

It's a chilly day here today, but the leaves were just too tempting for Liam and I to stay inside (he wanted to rake, I wanted to take pictures). The tree out front has turned red and dropped over the past couple of days, and the leaves are thick on the ground. This little bit of leafy space kept us occupied for over an hour (well, my neighbor came out to chat too). At first Liam just had fun running around and kicking and throwing the leaves.

But he soon settled into the hard work of raking.

He then decided that the tree needed raking too (after all, we wouldn't want to have to rake again later, would we?).

When it finally became "Mommy's turn!" to rake, I pushed together a little pile of leaves (after all, we weren't actually out there to do work) and he jumped in them. It was his first time doing that, and it was great.

 

(Doesn't he look like a little longshoreman in that hat?)

Playing Doctor

We all got our flu shots yesterday evening at Liam's doctor's office. I feel like crap today; I wonder if it's related? Anyway, since we went after Mark came home from work, the office was full to bursting with kids that had come by after school. Most were looking concerned about the shot, and a couple of six- or seven-year-old brothers were downright terrified, clinging to their mother in the waiting room. Liam, of course, was oblivious and was actually excited to go to the doctor. After all, he goes with me every couple of weeks, nothing bad ever happens to him, and he gets to play with their secret supply of toy trucks. And their blood pressure machine. He spent the waiting time watching the fish tank, where a helpful little girl showed him how to open the top to get at the water. I'm so glad he knows that trick.

In we go to get the shots. Mark and I go first, and I'm somewhat annoyed that the shot really does hurt. I'm thinking, there goes Liam's love of the doctor's office. But the nurse was a superstar. She had that shot into Liam so fast that by the time he had screwed up his face to scream, she was all done. Liam immediately relaxed; the scream didn't happen, and there was not one tear. And he got a Snoopy band-aid to boot.

Out we go to the waiting room again. Liam takes two steps in, pulls up the leg of his shorts (kiddo gets shots in the thigh), and announces to the entire jam-packed room, "Look! A band-aid!" Much laughter follows. I really hope those two brothers were paying attention to the fearless two-year-old.

On the way home we picked up a doctor kit. He's been playing doctor (in an entirely innocent way, thank you) for weeks now with whatever he can find around the house. I'm tired of having random objects stuck in my mouth for temperature taking purposes, so now he's fully equipped. Liam even now has a pager and a scalpel and, as I write this, is performing exploratory surgery on Mark. He's also delivered a baby armadillo from its mommy, cured a snowman of his cold, and done all sorts of things to the cat that Fuzz did not enjoy. Each doctor visit is ended with a formal handshake and a "thank you, Doctor." Maybe he won't be a truck driver after all.