Hug the Bunny

Today while the kids and I were playing I invented a complicated game called "Hug the Bunny." I would give Lana's bunny a hug then give it to her and tell her to...hug the bunny. I guess I didn't expect her to understand and do it, but she did and it was so adorable. One of those melt-your-heart moments. She would give that bunny the biggest hug and hold it right under her chin with a big smile on her face. Then she would give it right back to me and we played over and over and over again while Clark played garbage man with no pants on. ha ha. Kids are so fun.

In other snuggly news I captured Lana snuggling her blankie a couple of days ago. Something about watching such a tiny person cuddle/snuggle/hug/love something is ridiculously precious.

Beware of Stinging Caterpillars

Clark got welcomed to the suburbs with a painful zap of poison by this furry fellow a few days ago. He and a friend were out back on the patio taking turns riding his trike when he suddenly came inside screaming. I could make out the word "bite" here and there and after he stopped hopping and took a breath he told me that he got a bug bite on his hand. I asked him a series of questions so I could figure out what kind of "bug" it was but he pointed to this furry thing and insisted that was it. He doesn't usually make stuff up but this time I couldn't believe him since caterpillars--especially furry ones like this--are harmless. I couldn't see any bite or stinger on his hand, and there was no welt or swelling, but I washed it off and gave him an ice pack. After several minutes he was still inconsolable and voluntarily went into his room because he wanted to go to bed. He looked absolutely miserable and kept crying and repeating, "my hand hurts!"

I wasn't sure what I could do to help my little guy so out of curiosity I googled "caterpillar bite" and learned how much I hate asps! They're a poisonous caterpillar that can cause a doozy of a reaction including "excruciating, relentless pain" (Clark can attest to that), sore lymph nodes, vomiting, respiratory distress, fever, and a few other things. Clark was "lucky" in that his only symptom was pain at the site of the sting for a few hours. Talk about learning the hard way! A couple of these guys were only inches away from us while we were chalking and I even picked one up with a stick to look at it closely. Now we know to keep our distance!  

Chalking It Up

I unpacked the sidewalk chalk this week so Clark and I went out on our back patio to make some art (right next to an asp, no less! We learned about those the hard way this week...). Historically he has drawn a few lines before losing interest but this day he was really getting into coloring the cement and lining up the chalk. Lining things up is becoming his signature. Clark let me have some colors so I made a portrait of him coughing since he was still getting over a little cold.

Lana is 10 Months

And she is finally sitting! It's been about a week now and I'm still amazed every time I see her do it. She still loves to be held and follows me around screaming when I put her down unless she gets distracted by a toy. Her diet continues to expand and she's back to loving avocados. She eats chicken now and I've been giving her bits of cottage cheese to test for milk allergies. She drinks water from a sippy cup here and there but doesn't seem to love the taste. She's a very playful and giggly little lady and loves when I chase her around on my hands and knees. She and Clark like to call back and forth to one another in their own little language.  

Happy Halloween from Bedrock!

It's a few days late, but Happy Halloween! I had a blast making our costumes this year. I made every piece of everyone's outfit except the flesh-colored leotard for mine. I started a couple of months ago and finished just in time to pack my sewing machine up for our big move last week (more on that later!). Our friends invited us over on Halloween--it's our annual tradition!--and we trick-or-treated with them in their neighborhood.

Lucky for me Steve is a good sport about dressing up and even got into character by shouting "yabba dabba do!" randomly throughout the night. Most people knew who we were dressed as, but I heard some kids asking their parents "what are they?!"

Wonderful weather, wonderful company, wonderful night!