The Night(mare) before Halloween

I love my kids. Seriously, I do. However, after last night they are lucky to be alive. Davie has been under the weather and has been fussy. And Ben has officially embraced the terrible twos. (Please tell me it gets better when they turn three. Please.) Last night was one of those nights where you lock your kids in their rooms, close your door, put your pillow over your head, and try to find a happy place. I'm not speaking figuratively; that's what happened.

Davie was restless and fussy going down. Then, around midnight, he decided he'd had enough of staying in bed and he needed his parents' undivided attention. After making sure he was not dying, we decided to let him "cry it out." Unfortunately, Davie has incredible stamina and crying it out was a rather prolonged ordeal. Then, around 2:00 a.m., Ben woke up.

Ben waking up in the middle of the night is the kiss of death. He makes sure everyone in the house gets up with him. We tried desperately to keep him quiet so he wouldn't wake up Davie, who had only recently succumbed to sleep. We got him milk, let him get in bed with us, went in his room with him, fetched binkies and toys, all to no avail. Around 4:00 a.m. I had what the mental health community would probably call a psychotic break. Faced with a hysterical, sleep deprived wife, Cam gave Ben a dose of Benadryl, which was likely in excess of that recommended for his height and weight, and locked him in his room, where he kicked and screamed and woke up his brother and, finally, slept.

How's that for a scary story? And now, here are the pictures of the kids in Halloween costumes.

Davie, as the beneficiary of multiple hand-me-down costumes, made various Halloween appearances dressed as a skeleton (not pictured), a caterpillar

and a chick.

Yes, I know these two look harmless, but in the middle of the night they are terrifying.

Bathtime

I've been reluctant to put Davie and Ben in the bath together since Ben spends most of his day tormenting Davie and I was afraid that adding water to the equation could have bad results. Luckily, things worked out.




After what they put me through today, I was seriously considering selling these two on the street. But on second thought, I'll keep them.

What we've been up to . . .

It's been a while since I've posted. Partly because I haven't wanted to expend the effort it takes to blog. Partly because we, uh, misplaced our camera for a while. But, fret not, I'm back, and I'll do my best to sum up the last month or so.

Ben is:

* Super excited for Halloween and obsessed with pumpkins. We went to the pumpkin patch last week and ever since Ben has often invited me to reflect with him:

"Mommy, 'member the pumpkins?"

"Yes, Ben."

"'Member the pumpkin patch?"

"Yes, Ben."

"Yeaaahhh. . . ."

(Side note: Why do we always pick the coldest night in October to go to the pumpkin patch?)

* Super excited to be a pirate for Halloween. At this point, pirates are Halloween. Every time he sees a Halloween display at a store he says, "Look mommy. Pirates!" I don't think he really knows what I pirate is. And, I'm sure he doesn't know what a pirate map is since he has been calling the Michael's ad he salvaged from the Sunday paper his pirate map.

Davie is:

* Busy being adorable and smiley.


* Chomping with his two new teeth, which arrived promptly at seven months.

* Well on his way to crawling. He started army crawling right at seven months. What's the deal with that?



Cam is:

* Loving his boys.


I am:

* A baking fool. Maybe it's staying home with the kids. Maybe it's the fall weather. But I've spent more time in the kitchen in the last month than I probably have in my entire life up to this point. Apple pie anyone?


It was made with apples grown in Summit and it was delicious.