Saturday, November 12, 2011

Bike tricks, the middle name, pumpkins and costumes!

Fall is here - ROAR!
Callum loves his Preschool and since it's only a couple blocks away, we ride our bikes pretty much every day, (well, Cal and Max ride while I push Simon in the stroller). This allows Callum to work on his bike tricks, like his Poppa-Wheelie, putting his feet on his handle bars, running alongside his bike before jumping on the seat while moving, skid-stopping, and this one, where he slings his legs over and rides side-saddle (he is in motion in this picture):

On Callum's ProD Day, we ventured to the Aquarium since it had been a while. Simon is making his place in the family as Callum and Max completely adore him! It's very different than when Max was born - Callum didn't really notice Max's existence for the first few months, but he's actually quite helpful with Simon. I often see Callum trying different sounds or shaking toys at Simon to stop him from crying. Max is constantly trying to caress Simon, kiss him and give him "huggies" as he calls them. They both want to hold him all the time and it's very cute. We did manage to pick a middle name, finally (though I only mailed in his Registration of Birth papers yesterday!), just in time for him to be blessed at church last Sunday - we decided on Davis, since it pays homage to my family and therefore is slightly more meaningful than my other choice, which was Eames, which would have paid homage to the architectural origins of Jeff and my relationship. So, he is Simon Davis Skinner. Callum took this picture of me, doing what I do a lot: the pat-bounce-rock-walk amongst the mess in my house. If you follow the definition of Colic ("3 hours of crying per day, more than three times a week"), then I guess Simon has Colic, though he's still not anywhere near as bad a Callum was. I think back on those few months when Callum was born and I really have no idea how I survived.
Here is the calm before the storm: And the storm begins: We went on a family outing to the Pumpkin patch, (was it our first with all 5 of us? I think so). It was a lot of fun and Simon cooperated by sleeping the whole time. Callum and Max made their pumpkin choices very differently: while Callum couldn't find the perfect one, Max was overwhelmed by the awesome selection - "Look at 'dis! Look at 'dis one! Look at 'dis Mom!" was his refrain for the entire patch excursion.

Of course we had to cut the pumpkins up, and we each designed our our face - Callum wanted to be the scariest and Max wanted a happy face, while Jeff's is somewhere in between. Mine is the coolest, though (inspired by the Shrek Halloween movie)!
This year I came to a realization: just because I grew up with a mother that had no interest in Halloween at all, I don't have to be that kind of Mom. However, since I am not be the kind of Mom to actually make or sew a costume, (well, maybe in future years when I don't have a newborn to tend to), I forked out money to buy some! I happened to see costumes at Costco back in September, so I took Callum and Max with me to pick out their Halloween costumes. They wear them at least, well, pretty much everyday, so I don't really feel bad about spending $20 on a Knight in Shining Armour costume, or the most adorable astronaut costume ever. I dressed up for our church party the Saturday before while Jeff dressed up on the Monday to take them trick or treating with our neighbours.