End of October

The last night that Gogo visited us, she made play-do with Lewis using the same recipe she did for us growing up. It was such a hit! Lewis played for about an hour with her, and then kept playing on his own for another hour.

In the middle of October, we drove up to Rhode Island with Gogo to visit Zeez and Tom. We had a lovely few days spending time together, playing with Ella, and enjoying the fall. We took Lewis on the walk along the sea wall in our old neighborhood. He could have thrown rocks there all day! 

We visited a pumpkin patch together, did a hayride, and painted pumpkins. (Check our Auntie Zeez's cool plastic dress for Lewis since the farm used non-washable paint...whose idea was that?!?) Then, we did a huge corn maze together and rode a cow-train. It was non-stop fun for Lewis, and for the rest of us! We were so happy to see Auntie Zeezee and Uncle Tommy with his new “haircut”! They are so brave and incredible, and thankfully the treatment seems to be responding well so far.

Lewis and Beau are so cute playing together now. They love crawling around together. Lewis loves teaching Beau how things work and what he should and shouldn’t do. Beau thinks it is so funny to crawl up on Lewis while Lewis is pinned down having his diaper changed. Lewis finally was able to push Beau around in his little play stroller; we’ve been waiting for that moment for a long time! And, their favorite new activity is jumping on the guest bed in Beau’s room. So cute!

We had a visit to the Hopewell Firehouse with our local MOMS club. Lewis was very interested and attentive. This was the cutest part for me. At one point during the tour, the kids all ended up ahead of the moms. Lewis was right up at the front, so interested. Then he craned his neck around, anxiously looking for Mommy. When he saw me, he got the biggest smile and waved, “Hi Mommy! I’m over here!”

I just thought I’d include a picture showing how much of a klutz I am. I think I always have been. But, the tendonitis in my wrists means that I can’t grip things very well, and consequently, I drop things ALL THE TIME! So frustrating! This picture was the 3^rd time in two days that I dropped the canister of oatmeal on the floor. Boo! I have now purchased a container with a lid that locks for oatmeal.

The culmination of our October was Halloween! Lewis had been excited for about two months prior when we told him what his costume was and that he’d get to go trick or treating. Mom and Dad spent a couple late nights leading up to the day of the parade finishing “Thomas” and the “Caboose”. It was well worth it! Lewis was in heaven, and Beau thought the whole thing was pretty fun too!

The Friday before Halloween, we went to Princeton for their annual Halloween parade – an annual tradition for our family. It was a beautiful evening and Lewis was very excited. I don’t think we were quite prepared for the reactions to the costume. (Maybe because we had finished the costume about 2 hours before the parade, so this was the debut!) We were stopped for numerous photographs and we made two new friends who declared that we must be cool if we could make such a cool DIY costume. Plus there was a fire truck to escort the parade. Great fun!

After that we had our church trunk or treat. Lewis was too excited to eat much of his dinner because he loved looking at all his friends in costumes. Plus the anticipation of candy...that never helps.

I must mention that over the weekend before Halloween, on October 29^th to be precise, we had a big snowstorm! That’s right...snow! What?!? It pulled down more trees than we’ve ever seen down here, and we lost power for about 30 hours. Crazy! So, Halloween trick-or-treating actually took place in the snow!

On Halloween itself, we had Fogo and Lekka here (Auntie Fiona and her boyfriend Alexis)! It was such a treat to have them visit. True to form, they got everyone in sort of circus train costumes. When the sun had finally set, we headed off to trick or treat in our neighborhood. Lewis had a great time being “flown” up the stairs at each house, saying “trick or treat” and tooting his train whistle, and putting his candy in the smokestack. What an exciting day! Beau did very well too riding along in the caboose. What a great idea for a baby costume...one where they’re supposed to just be riding in the wagon! Beau came back just slightly ahead of Lewis because he was too cold and too tired.

We had a great couple days after that with Fogo, Lekka, Gogo, and Ella the dog who joined us too. Outings to Hopewell, Princeton, and the Bent Spoon – of course! Lewis was so lucky to have lots of people to play with him. In fact, Lekka built the coolest train track ever with two circles going around our coffee table. This was some intense fun! Beau must have been worn out by all the fun too. When we picked Lewis up from school on Tuesday, we stayed to play on the playground, as we often do. Beau went in the swing, and within literally a minute, he was out cold. It was the cutest thing ever!