New improved mad skillz.

The polliwog has achieved spoon!

Well, he stole my yogurt off the table yesterday,

and then (once approved) was allowed to work as hard as he wanted to feed himself. His eyebrows won't be hungry for days:

First haircut!

Well, the cold I mentioned in the last post turned into a nasty sinus infection, but I am now on good drugs and finally coming back to update you all on some of the events of the past month.

Among which was the polliwog's first haircut! We took him to a real barbershop and at first it looked as though he might enjoy the event:

But that illusion was soon to be dispelled, as his suspicious investigations revealed that the hairdresser Maria actually had a secret identity as an evil villainess who sought to take over the world by terrorizing small boys into stillness and submission while freezing them in place with large plastic neckbibs:

So Matt took a turn as evil sidekick, holding him while the evil villainess chased his ears with the Scissors of Doom:

He finally calmed down and stopped shrieking when I took a turn holding him, so she could get the back of his head and give him that lovely puppy-tummy-type close razor shave:

What a handsome little guy! Seen here, with a post-haircut, post-dinner celebratory cookie face:

Even the daycare ladies commented that he looks like a little boy now and not a baby anymore. Today, the haircut, tomorrow, the world.

The descent begins.

As my husband begins a few days of choice deer hunting, I can feel the polliwog's cold has taken root and is affecting my own immune system. The little guy was out of commission last weekend and the first part of this week, and so it's really not surprising that I'm next in line. He has a tendency to sneeze everywhere at the worst possible times, such as directly into my mouth when I pick him up...

It's amazing to me sometimes how much motherhood has risen the bar for what it takes to actually gross me out. Human feces? No problem, dealt with that three times before 10 a.m. Vomit? Been there, done that. Blood? A little more disturbing, yes, but not gross. Another person's snot? I just can't even dedicate energy to getting disgusted by that, really. None of these are a stranger's bodily fluids, which appears to make a huge difference, oddly enough.

Still, when it's my own nasal passages at stake and I can feel the general grumpitude set in, preventative measures are needed. So, we'll head to the store this morning for the usual cold rations of orange juice and some form of decongestant, and hope these aid me in maintaining some form of functionality for the next couple days until the height of mucus production has passed. At least I should be better by next week for the actual holiday, which is nice.

The usual suspects.

Here are the guests at the bug's 5th birthday party, post-climbing wall, splash playground, and cupcake attack:

She climbed higher than anyone else on the climbing wall, and although she didn't even notice at the time, I was proud of her. Here are a few shots of Spidergirl in action:

The white line is the one-story mark; she got her feet just above it before she came back down. We are DEFINITELY taking her there again on a non-weekend-busy day, and I'm going to climb with her:

And here is a (slightly damp and probably fuzzy) shot of the splash playground, where they all ran themselves silly and soaked us by pulling on ropes tied to firehoses:

Particular time was spent on the pirate slide, which the bug and her friends definitely enjoyed:

The party was at the local recreation center, and the staff were great with the kids, friendly and patient, even when all seven of them had to wait in line for almost half an hour before getting to the climbing wall. Go team Montessori kids, is what I have to say about that--they were very well-behaved (to a practically miraculous level) in spite of the initial wait to climb. They had a blast! It was a really great birthday, according to the bug, who is currently using one of her multiple art-supply gifts while I type.

The polliwog also attended but besides eating Pirate Booty had little to contribute, as Matt kept him home through nap, which ended after the party started. Then we made the executive decision not to let him into the pool, as I could be responsible for seven bug-aged kids, or one polliwog, and the ratio of polliwog-to-adult would not have changed if Matt had joined me in the pool. He didn't mind at all and seemed to enjoy watching the older kids splash around, having spent many hours watching the bug's swim lessons from a similar perspective.

I am having some difficulty believing the bug is actually five, but I'll get there. It doesn't seem like a real number yet but she's certainly ready for it.

Today's amazing artist story.

Just in case you need some of your faith restored in humanity:

Public Concert, Private Music

You might just tear up right in your office.

All Hallow's Eve

It has been a glorious few weeks of fall here, and the kids are really starting to enjoy each other's company which is a joy to watch. Even if the boy is often a "ruiner" when it comes to Lego towers and train tracks, he's a pretty great brother in a pile of leaves:

I'll blog more about the angst-filled month of October shortly, but let's begin with a few "blizzard" shots from last Wednesday and Thursday, and the polliwog's discovery that it is awfully hard to toddle in snow:

His mood quickly improved upon being removed from the waist-high drifts by his dad, though:

In other recent child-oriented news, we all survived Halloween! And our little Tinkerbell and farmer had a blast.

There was a neighborhood parade which both children enjoyed, one walking and the other riding in style in the wagon. Then in the evening the bug ran from door to door to door while the polliwog rode in the wagon (pulled by me) and waved from the sidewalk, thus ensuring the bug got extra treats, as in, "and one for your cute little brother." This resulted in us covering approximately four blocks before her pumpkin was filled to bursting and we returned home for the evening.

And can I just say Daylight Savings Time came on a much-needed night of extra sleep? What were all your little ones for Halloween? (Do tell, in the comments field, and link to pictures if you've got any to share!)

A brief race report.

The short answer: No, the training didn't really pay off. :)

I did finish the race, and in the top half of my age group and of men/women overall. However, I got muscle cramps about 10 miles in, and ended up walking about two miles I didn't plan to and finishing a good twenty minutes behind my goal time. Which was somewhat sad.

However, in the last mile I met three very nice people who were also just trying to get across the finish line, and we all motivated each other and cheered each other up the last big hill and through the finish chute. One of them was a mother of three who turns forty in six months, and she was running her first half. The second guy, Kevin, was also running his first and had a baby and wife yelling encouragement and promising hugs at the finish.

The third man was my running partner for most of the last mile; he and I had been playing walk/run tag since about mile 10, and finally struck up a conversation to compare cramps and try to judge the remaining distance while jogging through the last mile. He had a fabulous attitude and completely cracked up the "runners" around us several times, especially when we jogged through a bunch of walkers and he said, as we barely outpaced them, "Thanks for making way for us--you can't stop this freight train a'runnin!"

Really, it was hard to complain too much when Matt and the kids were waiting for me at the finish line to cheer me on! It was really sweet to see the bug in particular jumping up and down and yelling, "There's mommy! Run faster!" After the finish I was reasonably useless for a few hours, but oddly the long walking/jogging cooldown ensured that I had very little muscle soreness the next day which was a great discovery.

Next year I am going to do 10K's instead and try to get faster before going long again. I stop having fun around 90 minutes into a run at this point, so maybe if I spend a year getting faster I can get further in 90 minutes. :)