The Pumpkin Patch

We decided not to dress up this Halloween. If you read the prior post, you realize we've been sick for a couple weeks, so costumes aren't really high on my list. Sabre is too old to trick-or-treat and Thor is too young to understand it, walk to a door, say the words, or eat the candy (which I don't need either). So I needed  photo op before fall passed me by.

There are many family-run pumpkin patches/fall festivals/carnivals/hayrides etc. here (as I'm sure there are everywhere). We had planned on going to the largest one--Schnepff Farms--but after the week we've had, I could not brave the thousands of people that would be there. We needed a place to get in cheap, take our pictures, enjoy a small amount of sunshine, and make a fast getaway if Thor's tummy started rumbling. (The stroller--the most expensive baby item I bought that I absolutely adore--was the only thing that hasn't been pooped in this week and I'd like to keep it that way.)

So we went to DeWitt Stables Pumpkin Patch. And I'm so glad we did! It was perfect. It was small, but not too small. Jenn, John, Bronson, Shane, Josh, and Kaylan went with us.

Thor has just started watching our dogs run around so he was fascinated by the animals. We could hardly get him to look at the camera while he was on the pony. So we took him to the petting zoo. He really liked the little ponies. Sweet big sis Sabre chased after all the barnyard fowl for him. She caught one of each to show Thor.

The duck kept squawking in his face, so he wouldn't look it in the eye.

But we couldn't keep him from grabbing the chicken's beak!

Sabre caught the big rooster that all the little kids were chasing after. She sure remembers growing up at Granny and Grandpa Fultz's and how to chase down her birds!

Then there was a bouncy house. Bronson didn't know what a "back" was--you know like jumping on a trampoline, falling on your back and bouncing back up--well, my brothers and sisters will know what I'm talking about. So I got in there to show him how it's done. Sabre managed to capture the teaching moment on camera:

The preparation:

 The jumps to test the bounce:

 The free-fall:

 Direct hit!

 The exit, as Bronson prepares to imitate it.

(If you were paying really close attention, you could tell I had to show him a few times, so that's why Sabre's angles were off--her action shots captured different "backs".)

The adults watching were taking bets on whether I'd hurt myself (or the bounce house), but I showed them I can still shake this large booty!!

Thor loved watching the kids jumping. At first he watched from his stroller, but he was so interested I had to take him out and hold him up to it.

 We sat there awhile so he could study how its done for use next year.

The ever present "thinker" pose

Then Sabre saw some beautiful horses off in a corner. She walked up to the girl taking care of them and asked if she could ride. Sabre told her she'd had lessons before and that she could prove she knew how to ride.  Sabre whipped right up on the horse like she'd been doing it all her life and walked the horse around the trailer.

So the staff let Sabre and Bronson go on a horse ride, led by a real bronco bull rider.

They had a great time. I'm so proud that she had no fear asking for what she wanted.

By the time we took the hayride to pick out a pumpkin, Thor was hungry and tired--but still no poop! Yay! Sabre grabbed a pumpkin and we sat and talked to the driver while everyone else took their time. We asked him how Sabre could get a job there.  He just happened to be the son of the owner and so he took Sabre's number and said he would call her. She is totally excited about the prospect of working at the stables.

We made it home with no poop incidents, and a ton of great memories and pictures to prove it. All in all, it was a perfect day with my two sweet kids.

Sickness Hits

TMI WARNING
My life this week has been overflowing (literally) with diarrhea, throw-up, and snotty noses. If you have (or had) a baby, read on. If not, proceed with caution.

Poor baby Thor caught a virus from Sabre. At first it was just a head cold with no fever--just some snot and watery eyes. But then it strained his little body until the poop runneth over. The pediatrician said it could last 10-12 days with the life of the virus-ugh! So I missed 2 1/2 days of work doing nothing but cleaning onesies, pants, the walker, play mats, the crib, the port-a-crib, couch cushions, my bed, and the baby bathtub all slopped over with yellow-orange, watery, smelly poop. And the car seat. And my clothes. And Gary's clothes. And the Bumbo. It's the one time I was really, really glad that I have wood floors. Because that baby diarrhea gets EVERYWHERE!!!

I ran through a whole bottle of Tide. I tried to limit the washing to a load a day at first. But the smell overpowered me. And I ran out of crib sheets and changing table pads at least once a day. Thor must have pooped his weight three times a day. But we managed to keep him from getting a diaper rash. Luckily, he is the most unpicky eater ever so he drank Pedialyte like a pro. And he is absolutely the best natured child I've ever known. He still laughed and played with us, stuffy nose, cough, gurgling tummy and all. The only time he cried was when he pooped, and I was glad for the warning.

And then the dog ate a diarrhea diaper. Yeah, not a small dog, my 135 pound dog. Who proceeded to dump the product of his bowels all over the living room, the kitchen and the washroom while we are at work/school. Sabre had the joy of coming home first to it. She said there was at least 20 pounds. I have no reason to doubt that. Thank you Sabre for scrubbing and sanitizing the house (yay wood floors again!).

And then I got sick. Luckily I was on antibiotics already for something unrelated or my horrid head cold would have mutated into bronchitis or pneumonia or the most horrific of all--pleurisy.  (I have really week lungs.)  In fact it's the first time that I can remember having a head cold and not ending up in the ER getting an MRI. Woo who! Gotta appreciate the little things.

Oh, and Gary managed to miss a lot of this because he's been in Las Vegas at Eddie's bachelor party. (He did help when he was here--gotta give him props if I want help next time.)

But now it is Sunday, and although I haven't a prayer of making my hours at work this month, we are all on the way to healing. Thor now only poops 2-3 times a day, although it's still runny and toxic. Sabre and I only have coughs and raw throats. And the dog, well, he still hasn't learned his lesson so he is banned to the outdoors until this has run its course.

Rolling Over

Thor still really hates tummy time. But he finally figured out how to roll from his tummy to his back (after a fair amount of screaming his head off). Now that he is perfecting this new trick, there is no chance of tummy time. Of course, there is no incentive to roll from back to front, so I doubt he will ever figure out how to do that.

Sabre's New Job

Sabre started working at Subway this month. She really likes it. She is a hard worker so her manager likes her a lot. She is the only high school student that works there, though. It says something about our economy that everyone else there is college age or above. The only reason that the manager gave Sabre a job was she went back seven times and wouldn't stop bugging him to hire her.

Sabre was saving for a car until she found out how much her insurance would cost. Now she's just saving.

Thor's Swimming Lessons

As part of our get-out-of-the-house plan, Thor started swimming lessons at Gold Medal Swim School this month. He has been swimming for a while, but it's too cold in our pool now--80 degrees! Way too cold to actually get in. He is the youngest one in his class. But he cries the least. Part of that is just his personality--very easy going.

The lesson lasts for 30 minutes. Now you wouldn't think 30 minutes is a great workout for him, especially since I'm doing a lot of the work--kicking his legs, swinging him around, holding him while he floats, etc. But he is so tuckered out afterwards he doesn't stay awake to eat.

I will eventually have to post pictures of the actual lesson, but both Gary and I get in the water with him.

Thor's Winter Clothes

Ever since we went to Flagstaff and experienced such beautiful cool weather, I've been waiting to break out Thor's winter clothes. It will still be another month before it's really cool enough. But last night we tried on some P.J.s.

Now, have you seen anything cuter than Thor with a beenie??? I bought him a couple different ones and I can't wait until we visit my family for Christmas so he can really get some use out of them.

Thor's Bike

We have hard wood floors throughout our whole house. And it's one story. Baby walker, here we come! We bought a walker that looks like a motorcycle. The handlebars make "vroom!" noises. The ignition switch "turns over" the engine. The horn honks (what did you think it did?). And the many buttons light up and either make single notes or play whole songs like "Do Your Ears Hang Low?"

He loves to hammer on all the buttons at once. It didn't take him long to figure out that his feet could move the walker around. He gets stuck under the pool table a lot. And terrorizes the dogs. He still can't control where he's going very well, so he gets "stuck" up against walls a lot and can't figure out how to go the other direction. But all in all, this was a good buy.

Thor's Outings

Now that Thor is older I wanted to get him out of the house more--and get myself out of the house more. So I made plans for the next few weekends to do something fun. October 8 we went to Oktoberfest at Tempe Town Lake. They had booths, and yummy bratwurst, and live music all set next to the lake with lots of pretty, not-too-hot sunshine.

We managed to get a table right by the stage and took Thor out of his stroller to dance. (His daddy doesn't look in too good of a mood.) Next week, we'll go to the pumpkin patch!

Thor's First Bites

We tried feeding Thor rice cereal for the first time on October 5. He thought it was a game. Here is the before picture. . .

with a slightly paniced look, I know. The first few bites were "ok".

But he wasn't swallowing. He was just tongue-thrusting it right back out. Which was a great game for a minute or two. But then we kept playing the game over and over and over.

And he didn't want to open his mouth. He was bored with the game . . .

Until he figured out how to spit it by blowing raspberries. Then the fun began again.

Thor's Kitty

Thor has a kitty cat. Not a live one. Our dogs would tear it apart. But a stuffed one. The rest of you may be familiar with his kitty. He is sometimes known as "The Cat in the Hat." This cat has a rattle in one paw, a squeaker in another, and rubbery chewy pieces on his other two. He has a mirror on his belly various sizes of ribbons around it, soft curly fur, crackly paper in his hat and bow tie, and his tail is holding a soft piece of satin.  In other words, lots of different textures and sounds for a baby to explore. And of course, he is black, white, and red--babies' favorite colors.

Thor rolls around on his blankey wrestling and hollering at his kitty at the top of his lungs while he has him in a sleeper hold until one of them manages to pin the other. His kitty is his favorite pal. These wrestling match occurred on October 6. Kitty lost.