My camera isn't fast enough

The photo shoot that occurred after I said "let me take a picture of you, say cheese."
(the scrape on his face is from a fall he had while walking/running with Butters on a leash.  Unfortunately, he stopped himself with his face.)

Making Pasta

Training Miles so he can be on the dinner rotation soon!

We like a little continuity around here...Happy Halloween!

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The lumberjack is back!  Good thing I saved the hatchet last year.  

Trick-or-treating got off to a rough start because the house at the end of our street loves to play LOUD, spooky music every year.  Miles was quite brave at first, running outside with dad, listening too it and declaring "it wasn't too spooky."  However, when it came time, finally, to head outside for candy collecting, he wouldn't budge.  He wanted to pass out candy, he didn't want to go, etc, etc. We finally figured out it was the music blaring from the spooky house bothering him. Now, you may wonder, why on earth we would pressure him to go out?  Good question!  Mainly, I think it boils down to:  A) it's fun and Craig was really looking forward to having that experience with him and B) we didn't really want his anxiety about the spooky music house to get the best of him.  We tried everything, and I mean everything!  We were about to throw in the towel, when I remembered the noise canceling headphones Craig bought me recently.  These are the kind construction workers wear, so they do a great job.  I convinced him to put them on over his hat, Craig promised to go the other direction, away from the spooky house and they were off!  It worked!  Another Halloween saved.   Surprisingly, he didn't eat too much of his candy this year.  M&M's were the favorite, followed by a couple candy bars, but after that, he didn't eat much and/or threw away ones he didn't like.  So, overall, we ended up making out like bandits. 

Four Years Old!

I can't believe I have a four year old now.  This birthday has been especially poignant for me.  For some reason, the leap from 4 to 5 seems huge.  It feels like we will be officially entering 'childhood' soon and quite frankly, I'm not sure if I'm ready.  I love the new independence and sophistication that comes with his growing mind, but watching time press forward and saying good-bye to the baby/toddler years is more bittersweet than I imagined.

Miles had a terrible cold during his birthday week, so all party plans (basically a quiet family dinner), quickly went out the window.  He missed a week of school, so we didn't celebrate there and had a quiet dinner at home, just the three of us.  I don't think he minded too much.   Presents sort of trickled in all week, so it was actually a nice way to celebrate.  Four years old. 

Watch out! The Scarers Will Get You!

This has been a fun holiday season for us because, for the first time, Miles is really into it all.  We have been having fun creating haunted mazes and then scaring all the toys that wander through.  As you can see in the video, anything can be a "scarer."  In this case it's a cow with bell, a plain cow, tiger, elephant and hippo.  My favorite thing is that with the cow wearing the bell, Miles has incorporated it into the noise this particular guy makes.  It goes like this:  "ding-a-ling, moooooo".  Hahahaha!  I love it!  So, what you'll hear:  "ding-a-ling, mooooo,  mooooooo, raaaaaawwwrrr, spraaaaayyyyy," and then a snorting noise for hippo!

Miles has also been incorporating Christmas into his Halloween play.  He has all the animals or scary guys go to sleep and then tells them Santa will drop off presents.  So, somewhere along the way, he picked all this up. It's not that it was never mentioned, we just didn't make a big deal out of it.   Always paying attention!

Lazy Weekend

While watching a little Blue's Clues together, Miles inched over and found a better spot to sit.

First Day of School!

We did it!  Miles started preschool at Dancing Moose Montessori on August 20, 2013.