Sibling tour & Trunk or Treat

Ellie's arrival must be soon as this morning we took C&M to the hospital for a "sibling tour" of the maternity ward. C was very interested in looking at the babies. As he observed, "They're small." He also became our nurse guide's helper--anything that needed to be distributed to children or adults, he was there and had it done in no time. He also won the "diaper your stuffed animal" contest easily (photo below). He had diapered "mommy doggie" before the nurse had finished her instructions. He left everyone else in the dust. T observed that he must be paying attention when we diaper M as he certainly knew what to do!

C has been asking for a pumpkin, so we got a medium-sized one after lunch. C and I carved it when we got home. It was my first pumpkin carving since I was a kid. And it really made me feel like a Dad to do one for, and with, my son. I remember Mom always did great carvings--with expressions, teeth, I think I remember eyebrows too. I didn't try anything complicated but followed C's instructions for small eyes, a triangular nose and a round mouth. It won't win any artistic awards but it's competent, esp. for my first one. I didn't have to cover up any gaffs and both C and I retained all our digits (or, for cousin A, phalangies!!!). Since I'm likely to be carving a pumpkin yearly for well into the future, I'll have plenty of opportunities to hone my craft (or lose my fingers...).

This evening, Advent had its fall festival and Trunk or Treat. Attendance was great. They had lots of activities and games for kids. C, of course, loved the inflatible slides and bounce house. M liked the bounce house too. She couldn't walk on its floor but enjoyed just rolling around on it and getting bounced by the jumping of the bigger kids. C dressed as Iron man, M as Winnie the Pooh (see below). T made sure C collected candy for M too, though as M doesn't eat candy yet, it explains why C was consistently instructed to choose the candy that T likes. After dark, they had a fire pit and smores. C did a great job toasting the marshmellows as I tried to keep M from diving into the fire. I'll give her credit for persistence if not prudence! She also is refusing to let others feed her so she grabbed a smore and got gooey marshmellow over both hands and was fascinated by her ability to generate long strands of goo stretching between her hands. Some got wiped on me as I tried to get it off of her hands.


What a fun day! And tomorrow, the kids will go on the CROP walk with me, and then Trick or Treating in the neighborhood in the evening.