Olin's Straight, Spiky Hair

He wakes up each morning looking like this now...

Also, he likes climbing into anything. He likes going under chairs and under tables. Anything that has some sort of intricate bar situation that he can climb around, he loves.

We visited Dae at his office at Kadlec yesterday.

And finally, Christian started Basketball through the YMCA on Saturday. I think he liked it a lot! (He even made a basket, underhand) I ordered slightly the wrong size T-shirt. 

Rainy Weekend & Megan's Visit

Megan and Tate (4 1/2 months) came to visit this past weekend. Megan braved the 4 hour drive over by herself and we had a great time even though the rain decided to come down this week for the first real time since we moved here, it seems. Tate was a very good baby. I couldn't fathom a baby sleeping through the night at his age but he definitely does! We climbed Badger this morning, hit Target and Starbucks and relaxed (as much as we could with three kids ages 3 and under)!

This backpack was SO heavy. Dae took the first shift and I took the last shift up the mountain. I was breathing pretty hard at the top!

 

Thursday night was Kadlec Hospital's night at the Pumpkin Patch. We have developed a habit of arriving embarrassingly early to a lot of things these days. The Patch was no different. It officially started at 5pm and we showed up at around 4:40, ready to ride the rides with no one but ourselves to enjoy! As expected, Leelee asked that I accompany him on every ride. He strongly disliked the roller coaster and asked for it to stop after 2 rounds, but it must have had a minimum of 4 rounds because it kept going 2 more times.

We had our pick of cars, as you can see. 

Look at that haircut. As Dae says, there is absolutely no 'fade'. It's a sheer drop-off!

It got really cold out. Baby enjoyed the Patch in a nice little warm perch.

Eventually, his friend Connor showed up and Leelee got to ride a couple rides with him until Connor ran over to the roller coaster and Christian balked.

Dad's new massage chair.

Saving Money, One Bad Haircut at a Time

I can certainly spend my fair share of money, but I am thrifty when it comes to weird things like clothes (Target) and general maintenance, specifically my and my kids' haircuts. I bought clippers two years ago (the math: $20 per kids' haircut x 12 months = $240 per kid per year savings in haircuts) and have done an OK job so far without any major mishaps.

Enter Dae, and today's haircut for Christian. I don't know what he was thinking, and neither does he, but he decided to go ahead and clip the side of Leelee's hair on the lowest setting which equals 3mm. Maybe he read 3 centimeters, but it clipped it SHORT. At the first cut, we both said "oh no!" and panicked. Fortune was not on our side, as this is the haircut that will be on display for Leelee's school photos on Wednesday of this week! I guess we can just say we were going for the edgy look. Maybe I will dress him in skinny jeans this week to complete the look. haha! (Something else hilarious: After the bad cut, Dae asked if there was some sort of black spray to put on it and even asked "Can you just put some mascara on it or something for school?". Can you imagine mascara running down the side of leelee's head when he's outside during recess and starts to sweat? Great laughs were had!)

Garbage bag over him and the chair. He was like a little floating head, with a bad haircut.

We also went to Portland this past weekend for the first time since the move. I had a dental conference on Saturday and a mom's potluck and baby shower on Sunday. It was nice to see cousins Mal and Didi, Aunty Ev and Uncle Jeff and head back to the rainy side for a couple days! 

Oktoberfest at Mal's school. The cotton candy was a huge hit and the kids were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

My new billboard at work. I officially work again!

Christian at 3 1/2, Olin at 13 months

Lots o' red

Kids are funny. From the get go, Olin was a lot of smiles, very little drama, and a fairly mellow little guy. From the get go, Christian was a little more intense, a little higher drama, and apt to have his share of 'moments'. It seems the tables have turned, or perhaps it's just that kids go through phases and I am quick to label them something they're not based on a month of naughtiness! That said, I am officially labeling Olin as progressing from mellow to not-so-mellow, effective the past two months. The boy seems to be crying all the time. Highchair - crying. Carseat - crying. Beco carrier - crying. Set down on floor - crying. Playing with Leelee - crying. Food not up to par - crying. Even our go-to, the pacifier, is getting swiped away with a mad hand. I told Dae that maybe he had some sort of medical condition and was uncomfortable, because the only time he didn't seem to cry was when he was distracted. Dae said if he was truly uncomfortable he would be non-distractable. Good point. I may be exaggerating just a little in that he is not crying all the time, but it sure does feel like it.  And he does, thank the good lord, sleep very well. He clocks in a solid 11 hours of so per night, with maybe one wake-up for a paci reinsertion, and one early morning wake up for milk. I will take it.

On the flip side of the coin, day after day Christian seems to be becoming more of a little pal to me and less someone I have to hover over and clean up after. He loves "making coffee" for dad every morning (basically pressing the button on our Keurig K-cup thing), he takes off his dirty clothes and puts them in the laundry bag, he swept the floor after the baby dropped his entire breakfast yesterday and actually did a really decent job of it. He puts his nighttime diaper in the garbage, he wipes up his spills with a towel, he hands me my cell phone and other very important items when I am just too lazy to pick them up and bring them over to the couch where I am inevitably sitting/lounging :) 

Initially, I had a hard time going from working to staying at home and thought I would go crazy, but this morning I was just telling Ev that I now enjoy it...(like, maybe I love this not working thing a little too much!).  And a correction: technically, I am working 1 day/week, but to me that's pretty much not working. And also, I really, really like my new office. The dentist I work for is great, and the office is super nice.

A few more Olin things to share:
1) He has 6 teeth. The most recent to come in were his lateral upper incisors. So he's got 4 on the upper, two on the lower and he absolutely hates getting them brushed.
2) He can stand unsupported! He uses his little walker, and a couple days ago we started clapping and he let go of the walker to clap. Cute little thing.

Bill's Berry Farm

Billy's Berry Farm in Grandview, Washington was a success! We went under the premise of apple picking, but as it turns out we did not pick one apple. We did eat a lot of junk food and took a lot of photos with Stacy, Peter, and their two kids Connor and Kaylee. Stacy is another physician at Kadlec that we met a couple of months ago at a Kadlec dinner.

Me, Kaylee, and Stacy, who is 7 months pregnant with #3 

Apple slingshot

Leelee, Kaylee, Connor

Girls' Weekend in Walla Walla

Three of my friends from dental school drove over from the rainy side and we spent the weekend together here in Richland and in Walla Walla, wine tasting and hiking Badger mountain. It was a great time had by all. (For any future visitors, you can rest assured we will hit up our usual spots - wineries and a brisk hike up Badger Mountain - during your stay!)

Dae watched the kids and, besides a Starbucks pastries lunch and the fact that Leelee had the same pajama shirt on the entire weekend, it went off without a hiccup and Dae even managed to lug the kids over to church on Sunday. Thanks Dae!

Trena, Jessica, Terra (12 weeks pregnant!)

Hijinks with Dad. Leelee's skull and crossbones weekend wear.

Baby squeezed himself entirely into this cabinet.

Sagebrush Montessori Pumpkin Patch

Leelee's preschool, Sagebrush Montessori, has an annual pumpkin patch at the Country Mercantile in Pasco and today was the day. I am pretty sure I dressed Leelee in almost the exact same outfit as last year - at least the same vest - as I tend to recycle clothes until they are well too small for my child!

Olin was Beco'd the entire time but that guy refuses to nap in the Beco or stroller anymore. Little troublemaker. And on top of that, he refuses to forego his morning nap, which means I either drag the crabby little critter with me to whatever event I am attending in the morning, or I completely clear my day's schedule to accommodate both a morning and afternoon nap.

In other news, Leelee is so funny in the things he says. He doesn't know the word "before" at all, so when he asks for anything, he asks for it after an event. So he will say 'Can I have a show after bed?' when he really means before. The first 10 times or so I actually thought he meant after, like when he woke up, but after my error he made it abundantly clear that was not his meaning!

He passed over a couple of pumpkins ("too dirty") before hand-selecting his fine specimen.

The winner!

He's the little speck in yellow. He refused to come down on his own so I had to hop up there with baby in tow to help him down.

He followed this nice lady throughout the entire corn maze until she led him to safety.