Halloween, Family Pics and Holiday Blessings

Halloween is a confusing holiday for kids. Ben loved all of the celebrations and activities this year, but also had a lot of good questions. Why do all these people want to give me candy? Why can’t we knock on everyone’s door? What is a ghost? Why are so many people outside after dark? Why can’t I open all of my candy right now? And the list continues. We came up with creative answers and ultimately Ben had a great time on our adventures. Elizabeth tolerated the adventures. We got some cute pictures and she only had to get in and out of her costume 5 or 6 times throughout the week.

The festivities began with a carnival at school. Elizabeth got to be admired by many in her black kitty costume and Ben was the talk of the kids and teachers in his Man in the Yellow Hat costume. Grandma Lyn did such a great job putting together his ensemble and he got many compliments. Ben decorated a cookie, made some art, made a necklace and played a few games. He was thrilled to leave with a bucket of prizes and could not believe all of the wonderful things he had gotten. And none of it was even candy! On Friday, the kids had a costume parade to the different classrooms.

By this point Ben was starting to anticipate trick or treating on Saturday. That morning we went to visit his great – grandpa and came away with sacks full of all kinds of goodies. We went to a friend’s house for a late lunch and playdate. And after nap it was time to start getting dressed again to trick or treat! Ben’s buddy Jackson came over and the boys loved having someone to go to doors with and were both tickled with the whole process. There was dancing, skipping, shrieking in delight and amazement at this holiday that involved dressing up and receiving candy. Ben also enjoyed giving candy to kids at our house later and was ready to get up and do it all again the next day. :) Sorry, buddy!

The weekend before Halloween our family had pictures taken at Woodward Park. It was a cool day so Elizabeth was not thrilled with being outside and squirrels were a much higher priority for Ben than sitting and smiling. Neither kid was super smiley, but with some play time and tickling, both eventually warmed up. The last professional pictures Mom and Dad had taken were at our wedding so we figured it was time to capture our family on film that had since doubled in size. We recently got to see the pictures and they turned out great! Now we are looking forward to determining which ones to put on our walls and send out for Christmas. So much fun!

We are enjoying the beginning of the holiday season. Catalogs are starting to come and Ben’s list is a mile long. He has definitely been sucked into the commercial frenzy! Sign-ups are posted for the church programs and the kids have started practicing songs for their school programs. (Well, E has been listening to hers at least.) But all the hustle and bustle aside, we are thankful for so many things this year. We have been blessed with good health. Our cup is truly overflowing with family and friends that go above and beyond to bless our lives. Dad has spent some time away for work and the kids have experienced these gifts of service first hand. Friends have taken Ben to Wednesday night church so the girls didn’t have to stay out so late. Grandparents have stood in line for flu shots so the kids didn’t have to wait so long in the wind and cold. And so many helping hands have let Mom have a little sanity during this time to get away, do some chores or just enjoy sitting peacefully. We are praying that these blessings are returned to them and hope that we will be able to bless others in the future.

Love to all! Happy Thanksgiving if we don’t get to post before then!

The McCulloughs

Nine Months Old!

Little Miss E is nine months old now! She had her well visit this week and passed with flying colors! She is 17 lbs 6 oz (25%) and 28.75 inches (75%). She is petite, but the doctor showed us her progress on the chart and she is following one of the growth curves almost perfectly.

Elizabeth is a varied eater these days. She still loves her milk, but also enjoys lots of baby foods, cereal and lots of new finger foods! She likes Gerber Puffs the most and gets very mad when she runs out. Mom is determined to teach her to sign “more”, but E is determined that a growl/scream is an adequate request. We have just started the chunkier “stage 3” foods and Elizabeth seems to enjoy chewing little veggies and pastas in her meals. Ellie also has started trying sippy cups and seems to have a pleased surprise each time she is able to get water out of them.

Ellie continues to explore her surroundings. She is crawling at lightning speed and pulling up on everything. She thinks her high chair is actually a walker toy and the dishwasher is her personal full length mirror. Our house is full of lots of fun toys, but Elizabeth seeks out magazines, Ben’s cars and anything that looks like it is probably not for a baby (especially if it might be used to climb on).

Elizabeth has moved classes at school to the 9 – 18 month class. She is loving it and sure to let her teachers know what she likes. At pick up time the other day she was enjoying bubbles. The teacher stopped to talk to a parent and Elizabeth “charged” her and climbed up her legs and screeched until she got more bubbles. Nice. E also gets to go to the motor room and the teachers laugh at how she races around the perimeter crawling laps over and around all of the toys there are to play on.

We are looking forward to her first holiday season. She continues to bless us with love and joy each day!

Presents, Cake and Doctors' Visits?

Apparently at our house, you turn three and get a party with presents and cake and then the following week you have a string of doctors’ appointments. The week after Ben’s birthday was spent explaining how we were going to get two “fun” checkups because Ben had grown so much in the last year. Thankfully, he was caught up on any necessary shots so the first doctor’s visit was routine. Ben now weighs 34 pounds and is 39 inches tall. He is developing well and his doctor said he is doing great! Ben was mostly obsessed with the fact that he got to wear a gown of his choosing, received a Diego sticker and got a sucker at the end of the visit. It was like an odd version of Halloween with costumes and treats.

Next was the dentist’s appointment. We had told Ben that the dentist wanted to see how all of his teeth were growing healthy and to count them since there were so many. Ben wasn’t too crazy about the idea when we first arrived, but then found a LeapPad laptop game and quickly forgot why we were there. He enjoyed letters and numbers for a while and then it was time to go back. They were just going to take him back, but Mom quickly jumped in with the plea that it was his first visit and might they let a parent go back. The hygienist turned to Ben and asked if he wanted to go back alone or with a parent. In his smallest voice, Ben replied “with a parent”. So Mom went back to the room. Ben did really well and opened his mouth long enough for the hygienist to count his teeth, scrape for tarter, brush with the “special” toothpaste and floss! It was quite the shock that they were able to do all of that when we thought it would just be a tooth “counting”. Then it was the hygienist’s turn for shock when she found out that Ben had only just turned three and did so well for his first visit at such a young age. Yea!

Next up is the eye doctor. We’ll see if Blinky Ben can keep his eyes open long enough for them to see anything!