Grandpa Pumpkin

Noah just can't seem to get enough of Halloween. Everything scary alternately intrigues and spooks him out! We got out the crayons and decorated our pumpkins. Noah and daddy did this pumpkin. We think it bears more than a passing resemblance to grandpa!

Happy Halloween!

Noah is so 'sighted!! (so excited) for his halloween party at Montessori school. He'll have a parade and (healthy) treats to share. Remind me to try to get more creative about what you put in a healthy treat bag next year. It's halloween for goodness sakes - I expect a sugar high. Chloe is a panda for the school party and is going to be a puppy for trick-or-treating tonight. Typical girl, has to switch it up! Can't be seen wearing the same thing twice. (Actually, I just couldn't decide!)
Have a Happy Halloween!

Sitting Pretty - well almost

Here's Chloe "sitting" at the pumpkin patch in Greenbrae last week on Friday. She almost can sit w/o help. Noah was too busy jumping in the bouce house to pose for a picture!

Some Toys You Just Never Outgrow!

We've been pulling all of Noah's baby toys out for Chloe to use. Noah's reliving his past all over again.

John McCain Sighting Yesterday

We were just driving along the 101 when we got passed up by John McCain. He's such a down to earth guy - no presidential motorcade or anything!

And the walls came tumblin', tumblin'...down

Michael spent Saturday filling up a small dumpster and then we filled up a larger one yesterday!

On Top of the World at the Pumpkin Patch

We've been talking about a visit for the pumpkin patch for WEEKS! We drive by each and every day on our way to Marin, but have been waiting to go with Noah's school field trip. So bright and early, after meeting a friend for coffee and a chat, we headed out to the patch on a bright and sunny day that would reach to 90 degrees.

Noah had a blast climbing on the haystack, relocating pumpkins, poking at the rooster and posing as a scarecrow. About a half an hour in, I realized I wasn't seeing anyone that we know. Turns out that we were at the wrong Patch! And that there are 8 in Petaluma. Never did find the school, but had a great time anyway!

State of the union...

He loves to make Chloe laugh and smile. Chloe will be 6 months on the 17th. She is very fond of laying on her belly and is reaching for everything. She'll only eat food mixed with breast milk. She spits anything else out. So she's not eating very often right now. I've just been too busy to pump. I was curious to see what Noah was doing at her age. He was already crawling, sitting up on his own and pulling himself up in the crib and on furniture. I can't even imagine Chloe doing any of that! She still pretty much stays put.

Pack it in - Pack it out

Noah's new thing in the car is to question my sense of direction..."mom are we going the right way?", "this isn't how we get to school". He also loves to drive around our neighborhood and look at all of the "scary houses" that are decorated for Halloween.

I'm amazed by the shear volume of items that we load into our car on a daily basis! Since we've begun to drive the hour or so to Noah's preschool we leave the house at 10AM and return about 7 in the evening. So there are AM snacks, school lunch, a snack for the drive home and dinner to pack up each morning (or I'm learning, the night before), extra clothes for Noah and Chloe (it's in the 50's when we leave and 80's by lunch time right now), toys for Chloe, diapers for both, DVD player with movies for the evening trip, specification catalogs for appliances, kitchen cabinets, plumbing fixtures for planning purposes, measuring tape, stroller, baby carrier, diaper bags, the list just goes on and on! I remember when I used to leave the house with a wallet, phone and lip gloss! Life has changed so much.

1st Week Progress - Room for a view

Our realtor recommended a great arborist to come and help us clear the wildlife away from the house. Here is the After and Before:

Bonk on the Nose

Noah fell of the seat of the sand box and took the brunt of the fall on his little nose. This is what he looked like that night.





Since we couldn't get an appt with his pediatrician, we took Noah into
the ER this morning (well and into the afternoon) and they checked
him out. The doctor says that he'll be just fine. She said that it's
a misnomer to call it a broken nose, because so much of a child's nose
is cartilage, so its classified as a facial contusion, but the care is the
same as a broken nose. We visited the doctor's office the next after noon with an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. He didn't seem to have much pain, but he was fussy and slept more than normal.

Home not-so-Sweet Home

DAY ONE:
Noah took 3 steps in and said this "is yucky, smelling and dirty - let's go back outside". He about summed up the current status!

If anyone reading this wants to plan a San Francisco trip, you are welcome to stay with us!

Noah's off to pre-school!

It's off to school. Noah started his Montessori pre-school on Wednesday, October 1st. He is set to go M-F from noon until 6. He met Ms. Doris the director and I could see that he was torn between leaving me, but really wanting to go try out all of the play equipment. Eventually, the play ground won out! Chloe and I stayed until play time was over and got him settled for lunch and then we were off.

I had 6 hours to fill until I could pick him back up and drive the hour back up to Sonoma. We did lots of comparison shopping for appliances at Home Depot and Best Buy and the other showrooms in Marin. And then we landed at Corte Madera, a mom's (shopping) playground!

Noah was happy, energetic and very excited to show me the school rat when we came to pick him up. (It's an albino rat in a cage.) I was so happy to see him be so well adjusted the first day. And I'm loving the span of time it gives me to focus on Chloe and the house remodel.