Happy Halloween!

our little octopus and Luke Skywalker
(from #6 - Return of the Jedi - complete with the scab on his, I mean Luke's, chin)

posed in front of our pumpkin
(my attempt at Yoda as requested by Luke Skywalker)

our favorite witch Annie joined the boys for trick-or-treating

and "Haint" made sure he didn't miss out the festivites as well!

And to answer the question from the previous post...
the top octopus was William and the bottom one Thompson.

Halloween Quiz...Who's Who?

T's 1st Thank You Notes

This morning I had Thompson write his first thank you notes. I think you'll agree he did a great job. He opted not to write his name as he reminded me it is already printed on the reverse of the cards.

Top: "Thank you for the garbage truck shirt"
Bottom:" Thank you for the Star Wars coloring books"

WY at 11 months

Houston...we have lift-off! (or should I say take-off?) That's right, William's walking! As you'll recall from my last post, his confidence was building and he reached this milestone yesterday. Before his nap, he would take 3-4 steps attempting to walk between mommy and daddy, and by dinner time he was walking across the kitchen. Simply amazing. When he gets excited or starts to laugh is when he's most likely to lose his balance. This past weekend we also noticed his signing is becoming more distinct and purposeful in an effort to communicate with us. For example, when we tell him it's "eat time", ask if he wants "more food", or he sees something he wants, William signs "yes" (with a half "please")...pretty cool. I guess he's trying to see if he affirms what he wants with a "yes" if he'll get it. No such luck though when signing "yes" in hopes of playing in Dobson's water bowl. William's discovered Thompson's car and truck box and enjoys pushing anything that has wheels along the floor. He too loves the dishwasher, both the LeapFrog Fridge Farm on the outside and the silverware on the inside. (I've had to learn to load and unload the dishwasher when he's on the other side of the room.) He's got a great little personality, loves to laugh, and infectious smile (that shows off his 5 teeth). We are looking forward to the next month and can't believe he's almost one!

October Updates

Lots of "little" things have transpried recently, so to summarize...

• For the past couple months, I think we say "William could walk any day" daily...and that's still the case. He has recently started letting go with one hand and reaching with his alternate hand for something else.
• Dobson is doing great...and thankfully so as he was a guest pet for Thompson's class yesterday. T's class is learning about pets this week so families were invited to bring their pets to school.
• I enjoyed a lovely weekend in Charlotte this past weekend with several of my "Salem Sisters". We're all moms now, so to be able to take of the daily "mommy" hat for a couple days was rejuventating. The good news, Bobby and the boys survived and while he knew the demands of motherhood, Daddy admitted he might not have been fully prepared for all that transpires under our roof while he is at work.

• William is cutting more teeth. He's been holding steady at 3, but yesterday I noticed 3 more working their way through his gums.
• Finally, I had to include the pictures below. As many may recall, we referred to Thompson as "peanut" and he had his own personalized shirt. Well, a couple weeks ago I found William his own t-shirt.

Ingenious Travel Idea: Dry Erase Board

Scenario: As a parent facing "long" road trips, I've often wondered, what can Thompson (and in the future William) do to occupy his time without always relying on the DVD player. As he's gotten older, we've progressed from looking for construction equipment, trains and RxR tracks and searching for water towers to map-reading (tracking our progress by matching exit numbers to those on the map) and playing the ABC games.

Background: Earlier in the year, I read an article about ways families "pass the time" on long trips. One family shared how they bought dry-erase boards and markers for their children.

My Reaction: "What a great idea! I've got to try this for our next long trip." So, for the road trip to Topsail Beach last month, I bought Thompson a dry erase board big enough for his lap and a multi-colored collection of dry erase markers. I gave him an old rag to use as his "eraser" and a plastic cup that fits in a cup holder to store the markers.

The Result: Magic! I can't begin to tell you how much he enjoys his board. It has remained in the car and has become his "go-to" activity nearly every time he's riding. He colors, draws, practices his letters, writes word (with a little help) and so much more! [Today's artwork while driving home after school was a two-lane road, each lane with their own stoplight and car. The next drawing was a board filled with circles...a golf course.] So, I'm sure it comes as no surprise, that I'm passing this idea along. Happy traveling!

The Difference a Week Makes

Dobson is on the mend and a much different dog than a week ago. As if the IVD (vertigo) was enough, he battled a bout of diarrhea, so the fact he is mobile, can walk around the block, and eager to eat is a fantastic sight to see. It's been interesting to observe him put his left side against the railing to brace himself and provide extra stability when going down stairs. They are so smart. Oh, and did I mention he's returned to begging from William and awaiting his portion that falls to the floor? His head is cocked to the left, which may be a lasting results of the IVD according to the vet, but time will tell...and he does have an occasional moment or two where his balance is impaired. But all in all, we're glad to have our Dobson-dog back!

Dobson: Idiopathic Vestibular Disease

Last night I was convinced we were taking Dobson to the vet only to return home without him. At dinner time he starting having what I can only describe as mini-strokes/seizures that were impairing his ability to us his back legs. They seemed to get progressively worse, more frequent and were combined with heavy panting and an elevated heart rate. After consulting with our vet Leah Osborne, we determined it best to take him in. A brief observation of D-man resulted in a quick diagnosised of vestibular disease. In layman's terms: vertigo.

Some elderly dogs are susceptible to an unusual form of intense vertigo, known as old dog vestibular disease, the cause of which is unknown, or idiopathic. Signs include nausea, difficulty or the complete inability to stand, head tilt, circling, and nystagmus (the movement of the eyes in a repetitive jerking motion, usually horizontal). For now, we've confined Dobson to his cage for at least the next 3 days or until we see marked improvement (hopefully by Friday) and we'll work hard to keep him hydrated and fed while taking him out minimally for the bathroom and fresh air.

Climb-to-Zip: B & T

US National Whitewater Center

We hit the road early this morning today with the Freemans for a day trip to the US National Whitewater Center, located near Charlotte. If you've never been...it's a must! We had a great day filled with FUN and ADVENTURE topped off with perfect fall weather.

Our day began with a "scouting" of all the activities and development of a rough "plan" for the day. We started at the climbing wall...and my, what talent Thompson has. Bobby and I agree that with a little coaching and a bit more focus, Thompson could excel at this sport.

Next, we hit the adventure course and climb-to-zip. Thompson took a rain check on the adventure course (a very wise decision) but was excited to try the climb-to-zip.

When it came time for the climb-to-zip, Thompson did a superb job climbing the rope ladder. As you can imagine, once harnessed in at the top, he was a bit anxious about "taking the leap". However, after doing it once with mom, he was ready to climb-to-zip again with daddy.

After getting our adrenaline pumping, we realized how ravenous we were, so we dropped in their on-site restaurant for lunch. The food was delicious (Thompson had his first-ever Peanut-Butter and Marshmellow Fluff sandwich) and the service was great. While dining, we had great views of the rafters and kayakers that had begun working their way down the river.

Then it was time to hit the river. We went down one river three times and their high adventure river once. Thompson was awesome and our guides made sure that Herb and Bobby got WET by surfing a few of the rapids. Bobby's cousin Emily dropped by for the afternoon, so it was great to see her and she got a few good pictures and videos of us as well.

And if you thought our day was done...hang on! Our next stop was the MegaJump. It goes without saying that Thompson was fearless and all the spectators couldn't believe how brave he was. He went at least 4 times and probably would have gone many more if we let him.

To round-out our day, Bobby and Herb took their mountain bikes for a spin while I took the girls and Thompson back to the Climb-to-Zip and Rockclimbing. Our only "misses" were Eco-Trekking and Kayaking...so all in all, a GREAT day. We will most definitely be back!

Fall Family Fun

A picture from our family outing to the Eliada's Fields of Fun Corn Maze and Fall Festival earlier today. We managed to navigate our way through two of the three corn mazes and Thompson had a great time playing in the corn box (a sandbox made with corn instead of sand...pretty cool!)

Wes vs. West

Thompson told me this morning there are 3 "Wes"es...the Wes on our street, the Wes in his class and the Wes (as in the direction) when we drive to the mountain house. I guess there is very little difference in pronunciation between Wes and west to a 4-year old.