Halloween is Here

The day the kids have been talking about for weeks finally came. We went to a Halloween party tonight (Brad & Tannis were singing Halloween songs in the car on the way) and went trick-or-treating with a group of 11 kids. They were so excited and raced from house to house getting as much candy as they could. They didn't get to sleep until 10:30 tonight so we hope they sleep in tomorrow!

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight Colin & Brad carved our pumpkin. (Tannis missed out because she had to go to bed early since she didn't nap today.) Brad was SO excited when we told him that he was going to help carve a jack-o-lantern. He ran around the house, jumped up and down, and hugged us saying, "Yay! Yay! Yay! Oh thank you! Yay! Yay! Yay!"

Reading in Bed

Tonight when I put Tannis in bed, she insisted on taking her book with her. I turned off the light and she didn't complain... when I went to check on her later, I found that she was sleeping with the book as a pillow (maybe reading through osmosis in the dark?) And yes, those are Brad's Batman pajamas she's wearing... when I get her ready for bed at night, she often demands, "Wear Brad-Brad 'jamas!" because she wants to be just like him.

Halloween Parade

Today was the Halloween Parade at Brad's preschool. (They actually call it the "Harvest Parade"... maybe to avoid being pagan!) Brad went as a "Red Power Ranger" this year. Last year, he was "Winnie the Pooh" -- he wouldn't be caught dead in a Winnie the Pooh costume THIS year ("That's a Baby costume!!") This year, he said he wanted to either be Superman, Batman, a Power Ranger, or Tarzan... we convinced him the Power Ranger was the coolest because we already had the costume!

Disneyland!

Today we took the kids to Disneyland! They were very excited and it wasn't nearly as crowded as it was when we went last year on Christmas Eve. Brad's favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear (where you get to shoot the bad guys) and Tannis's was Winnie the Pooh. They both loved meeting the Winnie the Pooh characters but did NOT like the Pirates of the Carribean boat ride (we didn't realize that the ride started with the boat going down two waterslides in the dark!) After that experience, Brad changed his mind about wanting to go in the haunted house (he was saying he wanted to go in it before) so we stuck to Dumbo and other kids rides!

Important Questions

Yesterday, Tannis said to Colin, "Ask you?" Colin said, "You want to ask me something?" and she said, "Yes... Grownups sleep too?" Colin assured her that we did even though whenever she sees us, we're awake! Then today she asked me, "Grownups wear diapers too?"

Horseback Riding

One of Brad and Tannis's favorite activities is "Riding the Horse" down the hall... you can see why! (And yes, Tannis is still trying on Halloween costumes... that one is Brad's Dalmation costume from 3 years ago).

Halloween Preview

Brad and Tannis are already getting excited about Halloween... this is them trying on their old costumes... Tannis wore the Piglet costume last year, and Brad wore the Tigger costume 2 years ago... they both still fit! Tannis says she wants to go as "The Rabbit" again this year. We keep telling her it's Piglet, and she says, "No! Rabbit! See... Big Ears!!" Brad wants to go as some kind of Superhero or action figure.

Almost...

Brad, Tannis, and I all got food poisoning from something we ate at a playgroup earlier this week. It was the first time in a long time that Tannis threw up and she was frightened. Now every time she burps, she announces matter-of-factly, "Almost threw up..."

Missing Daddy

Now that Colin has a new job, he has a new schedule as well... and gets home at night instead of in the afternoon. The kids aren't used to him being gone all day long, and now when he comes home, the first thing Tannis says to him is, "Missed you all day long!"

Brad the Astronomer

Today Brad and Tannis were running around Colin in circles, and Brad said, "Look Daddy... you're the sun and we're running around you like planets!"

Preschool Starts Again

Today was Brad's 1st day of his 2nd year of preschool. He's in the same class as last year, with the same teachers (his class has 23 students and 4 teachers and Ms. Emi, in the photo, is the "head teacher").

The class is 3 and 4 year olds combined, with the theory that the younger kids learn from the older kids, and the older kids learn by teaching the younger ones. Brad enjoys going to preschool and it's cute to see him greeting all his friends in the parking lot.

Back in Berkeley

We went to the Bay Area this weekend to meet our friends from Portland who were visiting Berkeley. We ate hot dogs (the kids LOVE hot dogs and they even had a veggie dog for me... only in Berkeley!) and then went to a local playground.

4 Going On 14

Brad got a new Spiderman shirt for his birthday and he wants to wear it everyday now. He is becoming more and more grown-up (really like a teenager!) saying things like, "Aw, man!" and "Awesome!" I got him a new Superhero book from the library and he was looking at it in the car. When he finished, he said, "Man, that was an awesome story!"

He no longer wants to hold my hand in the parking lot. The other day we got out of the car, and I told him to hold my hand because there were cars. He replied, "Don't worry about it." When I said that I didn't want him to get hit by a car, he said, "You need to relax!"

Monkeys

Tannis loves to jump on the bed while shouting "2 little monkeys jumping on bed... 1 fell off... bumped head!!!"

Being a Girl

Tannis is looking more and more like a little girl (instead of a baby) every day. She loves playing dress-up, taking care of her dolls, and pretending to go shopping... we don't encourage this kind of girlish behavior so it must be in her genes!

Growing Up Fast

Brad now likes to call us "Mom" and "Dad" instead of "Mommy" and "Daddy." I thought this wasn't supposed to happen for years...

Superman Sleeps

Brad has new Superman pajamas (complete with cape) which he loves. In fact, he insists on wearing them to bed EVERY night. He told us that when The Sandman visits him at night "to put sand in my eyes," he thinks he's visiting a real superhero.

Tannis the Daredevil

Tannis loves to climb and is pretty fearless... in fact, more fearless than Brad. She's always scaling up playground structures and doing things that she looks too little to be doing. Here she's hanging out on a counter (which is about 4 feet above the ground) just relaxing...

Inside a Bubble

Today we had more than 50 people (!) at our house for a bubble party. This was a MOMS Club event where a "bubble man" put on a show for the kids, including putting each of them inside their own bubble! He was a big hit, of course, and after the kids played with big bubble wands in several wading pools in our backyard. They then made their own ice cream sundaes at an "ice cream sundae building station"... the M&Ms and sprinkles were just as popular as the bubbles!

Tannis Can Count!

Tannis counted to 4 all by herself today! She was stacking up books, and Colin "caught" her counting them as she put them in a pile, saying "One, Two, Three, Four..." Who knew?!

Getting Dressed

Brad now likes to dress himself in the morning. When he wakes up in the morning, he comes into our bedroom, and he suprised me about a week ago, appearing fully dressed in his "morning clothes." Now every morning, he gets dressed by himself.... and so I lay out his clothes for him the night before (otherwise he'll decide on his own what to wear). If he had his way, he's wear his Spiderman shirt every day, but if I convince him it's dirty, he'll settle for "pocket shorts" (these are shorts with "super many pockets") and a shirt with a pocket as well. Pockets are very important... lots of places to put things!

Following Brad's lead, Tannis now wants to dress herself as well. This morning she took off her pajamas and diaper herself and came out of Brad's room wearing a pair of his underwear. She's VERY picky about what she wears everyday and insists on picking out her own outfit (I have to hide her winter clothes... the other day she had a FIT when I wouldn't let her wear her winter ski cap outside in 100 degree weather.) If she can't dress herself... she'll often let Brad help her... not me...

A Bad Dream

Every afternoon, Tannis naps in our bed... sometimes with Colin, sometimes without. (She will ONLY nap in the "big bed"... and will wake up if we put her in her crib.) Usually when she wakes up she just climbs down, opens the door, and walks out. Today however, she woke up with a scream, flung open the door, and sprinted down the hallway. I asked her what was wrong and she said she had a bad dream about dinosours chasing her and trying to lick her. What she actually said was... "Bad Dream!" "Dinosaurs chase me!" "Two Dinosaurs!" "Big tongue!" "Lick me!" "Scary!"

Bath Time

Sometimes Brad likes taking baths... other times, he'd rather not. Tonight he spent a long time in the bathtub... I was in the room outside cleaning up. When I came in, I saw why he was so occupied... he was arranging all of his bath cars and building a road for them.

Brad's an Artist

Brad was drawing on his etch-a-sketch today and surprised me with how good his drawings were!

After he finished this second one below, he explained that it was a picture of him and his friends standing under the sun and that he had made up a song to go along with the picture, singing, "Oh let the Sun, Sun, Sun shine down on me..."

3 Important Words

Tannis started putting 3 words together for the first time today. Of course, her first 3 words in a row were, "Don't like that!" (referring to something we had put on her plate!) I think she's been wanting to say that for some time... this picture was taken several months ago, after I put a piece of (OH NOOOO!) salami on her plate...

Always a Superhero

When people asked what Brad wanted for his birthday, we told them, "Anything to do with Superheros!" He got it. Here's one of his presents... a Batman costume (and he's wearing his favorite shirt under it... a Spiderman shirt... I guess you can never be too many Superheros!) He likes to wear his Batman and Superhero masks in the car... that way when we stop at red lights, people can look over and see that a Superhero is in the car!

Tannis likes dressing up and pretending to be a princess. I'm sure if she could talk better, she would tell us that she actually IS a princess!

Tannis Talking

Yesterday, while in the bath, Tannis started saying her own name. It's very cute to hear her say "Tannis" in her baby voice when you ask her what her name is. (She pronounces it pretty well! Brad still pronounces his name "Bad.") She's also putting 2 words together now (yesterday when we had her on the potty trying to toilet train her, she motioned for us to go away and said "private time" then "close door!")

She also seems to talking a lot more now that she doesn't have her pacifier anymore. It's only been 10 days since we took it away completely... but she went from having it in her mouth almost constantly to not having it at all. We used to think it helped her sleep at night (she had such sleep problems) but I actually think she sleeps better without it because she doesn't wake up at night when it falls out of her mouth).

Volume Works

When Tannis wants something and doesn't get it, she asks for it again, just LOUDER. For example, she likes talking on the phone, and when I'm on the phone, she reaches for it and says, "Phone." If I reply, "Not right now," she demands, "PHONE!" If I say again, "No, not now," she'll scream, "PHOOOOONNNNEEEE!!!!!!" She usually gets her way.

Brad is 4!

Brad turned 4 years old today and we had a big party with nearly 40 people (both adults and kids). He has been talking about his birthday party for about 6 months so was pretty excited. Earlier this week, I took him to the grocery store to look through a cake catalog (with dozens of kids cakes) to pick out the one he wanted... I was sure he'd pick a Spiderman cake (he loves Superheroes and insists he is one) but he picked out a Power Rangers cake instead.

Last year, when he turned 3 years old, and the kids finished singing "Happy Birthday" at his party, another boy blew out his candles and Brad was traumatized (the video shows him howling, "Oh NOOOOOO!!!!" Grandma then quickly relit them so he could blow them out himself.) He's been talking about this for a YEAR now (still saying, "Remember at my 3-year-old birthday party when someone else blew my candles out?!")... for him, it was probably the most traumatic event of his life! So this year, his biggest nightmare almost happened again. When he began to blow out his candles, another boy standing next to him bent down and blew them out too. (We have video of Brad reaching out to stop him and saying sternly, "Do not blow my candles out!") I think the boy might have blown some of the candles out, but we convinced Brad that he stopped him "JUST IN TIME!" so all is well...

Tannis Turns Two!

Tannis turned two years old today and we celebrated with a backyard birthday party... we had 22 people over and kept the kids busy with a wading pool in the backyard and a slip-and-slide. Tannis had fun although I'm not sure she really understood that this day was all about HER. We got her a cake that had a centerpiece on it of Barbie riding a pegasus (Tannis loves horses) and she carried that centerpiece around with her for the rest of the day.

Brad was surprisingly un-jealous about her getting all the presents (we kept reminding him that his birthday was coming up next week) and allowed her to open them by herself at first... then started trying to "help her" and of course, wanted to play with all her new toys too!

We also took her soother (Canadian for pacifier) away from her today... the pediatrician told us she should give it up at 2 years old... so we went cold turkey. I hid them all (from Colin too who loves to pop it in her mouth when she cries!) so the soother-addict is no more. (I'll have to say I'll miss how she always liked the soother handle turned up so it was resting under her nose.)

Scary Dreams...

Two or three times a week, Brad wakes up in the middle of the night and comes into our room telling us he had a bad dream. (We then put him in our bed or I go to lie down in his bed with him.) Last night, this happened, and this morning he said his bad dream was that he had horns instead of ears... not the kind of horns that bulls have, but the kind of horns that cars have!

Passing It

Colin was driving today with Brad in the car, and he was looking for a store. Colin said, "I think I passed it," to which Brad replied, "Yes, you did!" Colin kept driving, looking for the store, and a few minutes later, said, "Yes, I passed it!" Brad replied, "Yay Daddy! You passed it! You shoot, you score!" (Referring to hockey!)

Being Sore-Ree

Colin and I were talking the other day and we realized that we already don't remember so many things about when Brad was Tannis's age... or when Tannis was a newborn. Every day, they do so many cute things that we later forget. So I decided to create this blog as a way to record and remember the funny little things they say and do... and so any interested relatives and friends could log in and see what they're up to.

Tannis's new word is "sorry." She pronounces it like a Canadian ("sore-ree") and says it so enthusiastically that you can tell she's just dying to apologize about something. Yesterday, she was biting me, then giggling and saying, "sore-ree!"