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The little boy has been busy this week! He's been commando crawling for sometime now, but a few weeks ago he started REALLY crawling. Then, one day, I set him on his tummy to brush Anna's hair,and when I looked back, he was sitting up! He got there all on his own!


Then, just a few days later, he started pulling up on things to stand! It won't be long now, until he's walking! (Unless, as my friends says, we sweep his feet, to keep him little longer.)

Zach ate his first Cheerio the other day (yeah, Zach!) and when I told Anna about it, she said, "So I can feed him stuff now?" Curtis and I replied, in unison, "NO!" Then, by way of explanation, "He needs supervision."

She thought about it for a minute and said, "Why does he need super vision? Can he not see them very well?"

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Anna has a VERY expensive Lego set on her Christmas list this year. Trying to lay the foundation for it NOT showing up, I said, "Well, that's a SUPER expensive toy, so I'm not sure that's going to be a Christmas present this year." She said, "I KNOW it's expensive, that's why I put it on SANTA'S list, so we don't have to pay for it!" If only...

Subtitled: Uncle Brian Always Pops Up In The Strangest Conversations

We went to Yosemite last weekend. On a walk up to Bridal Veil Falls, we saw this tree, that looked to have been stuck by lightning or something, because there was very little left of the tree. Thinking we’d play junior conservationist, we started quizzing Anna about this tree. Why do you think it looks that way? What do you think happened to it? Anna looked at the tree for a loooong time, then got this excited look on her face and said, “I know what happened to it! UNCLE BRIAN!!!” When Curtis and I doubled over laughing (me crossing my legs trying not to pee) she said, “What?!! He SAID he likes to eat wood!”

Happy Veteran's Day! Today the kids and I went to Petaluma to watch the Veteran's Day parade. It was fun, but not the same without Curtis with us (no holiday for him! Boo!). Anna is so proud that her Daddy served in the military.







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Just the other day, we were in Target, and Anna saw this display of Christmas nutcrackers, but they were dressed in themes (ballerina, rock star, soldier, etc.) She really wanted the soldier one, and I veto'd the purchase, on the grounds that I won't buy CHRISTMAS stuff in September...just on principle! The following conversation ensued:

A: But it will remind me of Daddy, because he was a soldier.
B: You don't need to be 'reminded' of Daddy, you see him every day!
A: But not when he's at work.
B: If he's at work you can call him anytime you want to.
A: No I can't.
B: Yes, Anna, you can. He's always available by phone if he's not at home and you can call.
A: But last week you told me I couldn't call Daddy right then because he was in a meeting, and I would have had this nutcracker to REMIND me of him then.
*sigh*
I did NOT cave and buy the nutcracker though. (Well, until later, when I went back and got it when she wasn't with me. So I guess I did...but she doesn't KNOW I did...yet.)
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Anna wanted to make Curtis something for Veteran's Day today. She said she wanted to make a Lego sculpture of something he used when he was in the Army. I said, "Hmmm...I don't know. He mostly blew stuff up, honey." This THRILLED her. She was off to the Lego bin, and worked all afternoon on her own version of Lego dynamite, burning fuse and all. Then after she gave it to Curtis, she wanted them to pose for pictures as if they just lit and were running away, Mythbuster Style. Funny little girl...

Every fall we take a trip to Yosemite, courtesy of Curtis' company. It has come to be a family tradition that we look forward to with our own family, as well as with his 'work' family...many of whom we have become good friends with. This years' journey was fraught with trials: car sickness, traffic, a crying baby, fevers, more crying baby, etc. But the time we actually spent at the park, with the fall leaves in full changing color, and just hanging out with the 4 of us, was worth it.

Have I mentioned what a great sister Anna is? This week, she's determined to teach him to play the piano on a little 'piano book' that she has. But she confided in me (quietly, so that Zach wouldn't hear) that, "Apparently he's not that good at this. He just wants to eat the book, and that is NOT a good way to play the piano."

We're short on writing time, but full on cute pictures. So, here's a little pictorial of our last few fun fall weeks! This was a family trip to the pumpkin patch.




Zach's comb over blowing in the wind...





Zach has TEETH!

Two of them, to be exact!

Anna's class Halloween party and costume parade.

One of Zach's costumes...a hot little chili pepper! And by hot, I mean he lasted two seconds in that outfit before he protested that he was hot and we had to take it off.

Anna dressed up as iCarly (a show about a girl who does a web-show), so she was Carly, inside of a laptop, doing her show. It was a hit! (And, by hit, I mean she hit and took out everything she walked near because she couldn't see anything while in the costume. Hmmm...hindsight.) But she loved it, and had fun. And it was a costume to do my Thomas heritage proud, although I did note that if my DAD had built it, it would undoubtedly have had working lights somewhere on it. Hey, I must get partial credit for using 2 full rolls of duct tape, right?

Pumpkin carving!

The bouncy seat is about to come to an end...bummer. Zach is no longer content to sit back and hang out in it. He's trying to go off the front and out the sides. Busy boy!

Hanging with Grandma at the Howarth Park Halloween parade. Snuggles!

The boys!
HOT! HOT! HOT!

We saw this on a class field trip to the pumpkin patch. Anna and I decided it needed to go on Grandma's gate. (HER idea, not mine...I swear it.)

Our alternate Zach costume was Tigger! Very cute...but no points for originality (hence the Chili Pepper back-up costume).

!