October's Wind

Updates have been sporadic this week as a small person in this house is going through a growth spurt. And I hate typing with one hand. If only the computer could read my thoughts....

Mike has a good post up about our Sunday adventures. Once in a while it's nice not to have plans. I was looking at the calendar a few days ago and realized that our weekends are booked in one way or another until Thanksgiving. Not every weekend is booked solid of course--sometimes it's just a Saturday dedicated to Allegheny football (Mike's doing scoreboard animations for the home games this year). But in some form or another, life is going to be busy right through the end of the year.

Oh God, the furnace just kicked on. Ugh.

Saturday found us at my cousin's 50th birthday party. We always enjoy going out to his house--he lives on a nice bit of land almost to the New York state line. Ev loves running around out there, and he also loves the bonfires that usually end the night. This time was a little different--it was cool and rainy, and my cousin's band was playing in the brand new barn on the property. The music was a little loud for little ears, so we retreated to the house for quieter conversation and for Ev to learn the basics of gambling (for some reason, there was a working slot machine in the family room that ran on tokens). We all had a good time, just not in the way we had expected to.

Today Ev's back at school, though I had to practically bomb him out of bed this morning. And he dressed himself--a yellow and gray shirt, blue pants and green socks. I can't tell you how hard it has been for me to give up control of his outfits. I have always liked dressing him just so, but now that he's dressing himself I don't have much say in the matter. The most I can do is make sure he has a pair of clean underpants on and that I wash his "big brother" shirt any time I'm able to get it off of him.

Grady's on the floor beside me right now, gurgling and gnawing on his fingers. He's gotten very good at putting things in his mouth lately, so that's something we have to watch. His hair is still falling out at a good clip too, but there's more growing in underneath. I think it's going to be dark, though not as dark as when he was first born. And we brought out the doorway jumper for the first time this weekend. G was not quite sure what to do, though he enjoys the sensation of "standing up". He mostly just chewed on the tray and threw up down into the seat a few times. Fun stuff.

So that's life with the two boys lately. Never a dull moment. I'm sure this week will bring more of the same.