Rain Rain Go Away

We stayed inside all day yesterday because the kids still had a runny nose. Today we had to go out despite the rain because library books were due and I was out of vacuum bags. Since Nyla took out the previous one and made a bit of mess of it the new bags couldn't really wait. Plus I was watching Oprah yesterday and it was about cleaning your messy house. I tried. I put away almost everything that was in the clean laundry basket. That pile had been there for a while. Nyla thought that was a dreadful idea and alternated crying to be held with making some sort of mess. That's why the house in never clean. I have two kids who are determined to keep it messy. The odds are against me.

Here are more pictures from Texas. Buddy's mom pointed out that she likes the way Nyla sings in the shower. That's not something I mentioned before. Nyla does tend to "sing" a bit. She is actually quite vocal. She has her one word well two if you count "meh meh". She calls Bohdin and Buddy the same thing as she calls me though so it's more of a catch all than a real mama.

Nyla getting pushed on the wheel thing by Aunt Angie.
 

Bohdin and Nyla playing or helping with the moving.
 

Nyla with Uncle Brody
 

Nyla pointing at the cat. The cat felt threatened by Nyla's pointing earlier and bit her. Nyla kept a bit of distance afterwards. She gets so excited by animals.
 

Back home

We didn't really have internet access out there so this is my first chance of updating. Our flight out and back was as expected really. It's not easy to fly with two kids especially a one year old. Bohdin is old enough to occupy himself now but Nyla just wants to get up and walk regardless of the fact that we are about to land.

It was a nice time out there. We were able to see the new house. Buddy wanted to go help unpack so I hope he helped a bit. He also wanted to paint but that never panned out. It's a long way to the stores from the house. Bohdin caught the same cold that Nyla had. He started feeling sick the night we arrived. The next morning he had a runny nose. Normally when he's sick I let him relax all day. That usually involves a lot of tv time. This day when he was sick he didn't take it easy at all. He was running around the house, the outdoors, and his cousins came to visit. By the end of the day he looked quite sick. He ran a fever that night.

This is going to be short and disorganized because I don't have a lot of time. Bohdin is stomping around the house mad and Nyla is copying him. Let's see. While there I noticed that Nyla had two new teeth. She skipped at least one spot and top and is getting a bigger tooth in the back. They're not completely out but are pretty far along. I'm not sure how I missed that last month. That makes tooth #9 and #10. She is continuing the tradition of getting teeth in pairs.

Bodhin was banished to the tv on Monday to recuperate. This gave Buddy and I some time to start some yard work. The house sits on several acres with some wooded area. Buddy and I started clearing some of the undergrowth and clearing a walking trail. Eventually all but the tallest oaks will probably be removed. We're still working on the landscaping plan. It was so nice to get out and do yard work. For a while, Nyla was on Buddy's back while he was sawing branches. She looked like she was getting shook up back there but the next thing we knew she had fallen asleep. That put an end to Buddy's sawing. I'm a terrible sawer so I just used pruners. There were plenty of small vines and trees to cut anyway.


Bohdin and Nyla spinning in the chair while the cousins push. Bohdin and Nyla had fun in that chair prior to their arrival. The chair is located in a very large room. When not spinning in the chair they just ran around the room. It was nice to be able to let them run inside.
 

Off to explore the land. While Buddy and Bohdin were gone, Nyla kept herself occupied with a wrench and a thing (It was two wheels and a seat). She had helped Buddy assemble it and then continued to work on it for quite some time.
 

Bohdin and his cousins playing a board game. It involves building a space ship. Bohdin didn't really know what he was doing but he was having fun.
 

In the huge whirlpool bathtub. The soap had accidently fallen into the water. It took some time to realize why these bubbles were forming. We had to turn the jets off because there were too many bubbles.
 

Spontaneous

Last week on the way to the zoo Buddy said that he is not spontaneous and needs about a week to process any outing requests. We were talking about a Christmas visit to see his mom and the new house near Dallas. I was looking at standby flights for that time for no real reason. It's too far out to know if it will be feasible. While I was on the site I checked flights for this weekend to Dallas. There are plenty of seats available. So Buddy will fly to Dallas this weekend for a very brief trip. Actually we'll all fly. It was a tough decision whether Buddy should go alone since Nyla came down with another cold last night. Buddy won't go without Nyla and I so it's one of us or four of us. Buddy will be gone next week to Massachusetts so he was hesitant to spend no time with us this weekend. I hope Nyla does okay on the plane. It's just another runny nose so I have my fingers crossed. There is a lot to do before the flight leaves so off to work.

Pink socks

Bohdin has been sucking all of the energy from me this week. He wants me to have a teddy bear of toy truck talk so he can tell the object all of the things he knows. It's exhausting. Having an all day conversation you're not interested in is not the funnest way to spend a day. Well it's not a conversation so much as just showing that I am indeed listening. He didn't do it yesterday but I think that was because I tried to stay away. I made apple bread and apple pancakes and cleaned the kitchen. When I was done we went outside to play in the leaves. It was a successful dodge.

In the afternoon we went to buy Bohdin some new socks. Many of his socks are still 2-3T and they are really small. Bohdin started picking out the colors he wanted and they were not the colors I had in mind. He picked bright orange and turquoise and pink. It was harder than it should have been to allow him to pick those sock colors. The turquoise was Nyla's size so that was okay but the pink he picked up was his size. I wanted to tell him that those were girl socks but I was able to resist. Since he often picks out his socks in the morning there will be a day that he will indeed wear those socks. This morning though he picked out the bright orange. It doesn't match his outfit but that's okay. We're off to the playground not a fashion show.

Nyla understands the word popsicle now. I make boat shaped popsicles from juice for the kids. She had one yesterday when we went outside and then another last night in the bathtub. She's having a lot of juice isn't she? This morning Bodhin came in the kitchen just as Nyla was about to start eating and asked for a popsicle. I told him no but Nyla heard and thought it was a wonderful idea. She got down from the table and spend several minutes crying in front of the refrigerator. Too bad she doesn't understand that popsicles are not for breakfast.

Uncle Paul

Paul flew back to Colorado last night. We had intended to see him one last time but it was going to be rainy so we didn't meet him in DC. Paul is proud that he has now taught Nyla to high five. He had also taught it to Bohdin.

At the playground
 

Outside the zoo. We met at the zoo on Sunday. It was almost closing time so we didn't see much. We did see the red pandas and the birds.
 

Playing while carrying Bohdin to the subway stop.
 

Again carrying Bohdin to the subway stop. He told Bohdin that it was Nyla whispering and not him.
 

I asked Paul what surprised him about the kids. He's a faithful reader so anything that would surprise him is something that I forgot to convey or didn't do so properly. Paul was surprised at Nyla's comprehension. She's only saying one word which I'll save for another day. If we ask her to bring blue bear she does. When we ask her to take something to the play kitchen she will. The list could go on but I am too distracted right now. Paul also said Nyla's temper tantrums are funny. They are still funny. She growls at you when she is just a little mad. When she is really mad she needs to lay on the floor. Luckily her anger episodes don't last long. I hope that lasts. I have to finish reading Messy Besseys' Closet now and take care of Nyla so Buddy can finish packing.

Race

What do plants say right before having a race?
Ready. Set. Grow!

What do almonds say right before having a race?
Ready. Set. Open!

What do sponges say right before having a race?
Ready. Set. Dip!

What do trucks (dump trucks) say right before having a race?
Ready. Set. Fill!

What do teeth say right before having a race?
Ready. Set. Chew!

What do logs say right before they have a race?
Ready. Set Roll!

I don't know what got Bohdin started on this but he came up to me the other night with a full repertoire of race jokes.

Last night marked the 3rd weekend in a row that our neighbor has complained about the noise. Last night was actually just some banging instead of a note or appearance. It turns out that Nyla walks too loudly. She had complained of it a few nights earlier as well. She was also pissed one morning when Nyla was crying and couldn't sleep. I could hear her banging her bathroom cabinets. Nyla did sleep really poorly last week. One night she was tossing and turning with gusto. Next thing I knew I heard a loud crack where her hard head connected with mine. My black eye still is visible. Nyla suffered no damage and hardly any awareness of the incident. I think she may have a new tooth poking through but I forgot to check again to confirm.

The Pokey Little Trick-Or-Treater

I have no clue why, but Bohdin decided that he didn't want to go out trick-or-treating this Halloween. He insisted on being the pumpkin again this year, and excitement had been building all week. One of the books Helen had picked up from the library was "The Problem with Pumpkins", a Hip and Hop Story by Barney Saltzberg. The two main characters (Hip the hippo and Hop the rabbit) argue about who will dress up as the pumpkin this year for Halloween. A cute portion of the book had them making a deal to exchange all the green M&Ms for the pumpkin rights. Later, Hip states " I was thinking...all of those green M&Ms might get lonely being away from the other colors. Do you think I could have all of your red M&Ms too? Just to make the green ones happy"! Bohdin quickly seized on this and told us that jelly beans would make the gummy worms happy, along with some other candy duos.

In a strange parallel to the story, Nyla ended up being the pumpkin this year. As Bohdin didn't want to go out, I decided to take Nyla out to earn her keep by scoring some candy for the family. For a few moments it looked like Bohdin would rally and insist on his pumpkin prerogative, but he again decided to stay home.

Despite being the pokiest trick-or-treater out there, Nyla managed to fill the bag up in a few short blocks. Even discounting the random rocks, grass, and leaves that found their way into the bag, the bag was filled in record time. Nyla has the knack for getting multiple pieces of candy at every stop. I guess there is something so fascinatingly cute about watching a 1yr old stuff candy into a bag, that person after person handed her candy until Nyla decided it was enough. Nyla would then wave bye-bye and would start to trudge off to the next house. Nyla's favorite seemed to be seeing the pets behind the glass storm doors, and to point out some of the more colorful Halloween decorations. From Nyla's perspective, Halloween seemed to be a hit.

The next morning after getting the candy home, most of the candy was exchanged by the "Candy Fairy" for some new toys.