Crazy for Halloween

We have been crazy for Halloween over here for weeks now. Holidays are turning into a huge party now that Hazel's old enough to remember traditions and get excited about it all.

We kicked things off with a trip to a pumpkin patch. My one goal was to get a great picture of the two kids together, and this is the only one where they both look pretty good. At least there was one...Hazel ran all over the place, enjoying the tractor ride, the little corn maze, the bounce house, the petting zoo, and especially (weirdly) the haunted house. We had to bribe her to get her to sit still for the sibling photo. She wouldn't slow down to look at the camera once after that.

She's pretending to be scared of the haunted house, before going through for her 20th time.

Jack seemed about to cry when I set him down in the straw among the pumpkins. When Hazel was his age, she climbed all over the pumpkins, picking them up, rolling them around. He had no clue what to do besides make me feel guilty for putting me down.

Eventually he warmed up, but it took quite a long time.

We bought our pumpkins at a fourth the price at the grocery store a few days later. It seems like we've carved a pumpkin every night since. That's all Hazel wants to do every night. We got tired of it and talked her into painting one the third night she asked.
We decorated our porch and it is hands-down the biggest hit of the holiday. Hazel opens the door several times a day to gasp, hand on heart, and exclaim that it's "so spooky out here!" She loves to turn on the lights in our jack-o-lanterns each evening as well, and can't stop talking about what the trick-or-treaters will think when they see it. Now, costumes. I finally pinned Hazel down and made her commit to being Rapunzel. She's changed her mind about nine times this month, which was fine until I had to get serious about making costumes. We found a great purple dress-up for her to wear, and planned to festune her hair in all her flower bows, recreating the part in Tangled when the little girls do Rapunzel's hair in the village. I made Jack a ridiculously cute Pascal costume with felt and cotton balls. I'm mighty proud of it.

But then we went trick or treating at a shopping mall last Tuesday, and the friend we invited to come with us was also Rapunzel, but she had this fantastic wig made of yarn, and suddenly, Jack looked well taken care of, and Hazel didn't look like Rapunzel at all, just some generic "princess" or something.
I knew I had to step it up, so I asked permission to copy, and had a fantastic yarn wig myself when we made our appearance at the church trunk-or-treat Saturday night.

Rapunzel and Pascal

Sunday we made our traditional pumpkin soup for dinner, and had friends over to share it with. Lame, no pictures.

And tonight we went trick-or-treating through the complex. Hazel's gathered quite a haul over the past week. Time to hide most of it!

Milestones

Today Jack stood on his own for seven seconds! He took his first step a couple of days ago. He's on the brink of walking, folks.Between Jack's naps we were outside drawing with sidewalk chalk and Hazel wrote an H! I didn't even know she could do that! It's the first time she's written a letter without sharing a pen with me. And a couple of days ago Todd was writing her name on a water bottle and she told him every letter to write: "H, A, Z, F, L." Close enough.

Jack at 9 Months

Jack is 9 months old now. I know, I can't believe it either! I have daily flashbacks of his cuddly newborn sweetness (although, mercifully, I rarely think of the murderous nighttime feedings). It is blowing my mind that the holidays are just around the corner, and after that comes Big J's first birthday. Time flies.

We think he's huge. In fact, the night before Jack's pediatrician check-up, I asked Todd if he had any questions he wanted me to ask the doctor, and the only concern he had was the very same one and only question on my list: Are we feeding this kid too much? He's a bottomless tank. But apparently, one in four babies his age are bigger, because Jack was right in the 75th percentile for both height and weight (29 inches, 22 lbs 7 oz). So I'll stop complaining about my tired arms and spend more time smooching those chubby cheeks. He babbles mama, dada, bubu, and a couple other sounds. He loves to blow raspberries, make fish kiss sounds, and figure out other interesting noises he can make with his mouth. He naps like a superstar and loves to rub soft things against his face. He's cruising on the furniture, and for the past week he has been utterly obsessed with holding our hands and walking everywhere. He loves to stroll about, and when he stops to look at something, he holds tight to me with one hand so his mode of transportation doesn't leave him stranded. Jack is still as content, unassuming, and snugly as ever. He is a true sweetheart. I love his mellow temperament. He is the easiest baby that ever graced the planet, I swear. It's hard sometimes for me to remember to give him as much attention as I want to because he's so peaceful and undemanding, and Hazel soaks up every inch of eye contact and verbal engagement I'll give her, then beg for more. Every once in a while I pray in the morning for help to remember to give Jack my time and attention, because he won't ask for it, but I want with all my heart to give it to him still. I hope I can find a balance between my two kiddos so they both feel they're getting all the love and attention they deserve and want. I can easily see both of them feeling neglected even as I give them all I've got.

"I don't see anything wrong with it," Todd said.

I went to a baby shower this morning. When I got home, Todd was playing with the kids at the park next door. I came over to hang out with them, and was more than a little flabbergasted when I saw what Todd had dressed Hazel in. A shirt and tights. That's it."That dress is getting too short," Todd said. "I was ready to throw it out."
"It's a 3T shirt, not a dress."
"Then why does it have ruffles on it?"
"Just for decoration. I can't believe you took Hazel out of the house dressed like that. I'm kind of embarrassed to be in public right now."

Todd wasn't. And Hazel wasn't. So we stayed and played and I got over my mortification by laughing at how funny Hazel looked running around in those things. But I may have to lay out clothes for Hazel the next time I expect Todd to get her dressed.

The Cat Lady

We live on the back corner of our apartment complex, facing the wall that divides us from a large city park. An anonymous individual leaves cat food and water in tupperware on the grounds near the park fence for stray cats to eat. The HOA has made mention on several occasions that they wish this person would discontinue this practice. The warnings have been unheeded.

Living so near the food drop location, I have had two exciting opportunities where I glimpsed the person I believe to be feeding the cats. Both were last fall, when I was pregnant with Jack.

1. I was bringing Hazel home from the park. Sitting on the steps just past our stairway, with her back to me, was a woman I'd never seen before. Long, wavy, waist-length blond hair. I'd place her in her mid-40's. Stroking a collarless cat I'd frequently seen nibbling at the afore-mentioned food! She did not turn around as I and my chatty child neared, which I found suspicious. For reasons I now cannot remember and do regret, I took Hazel inside the house and then came back out to look at the Cat Lady again. Alas, she was gone.

2. Mere days later, I was at my garage and spotted a lady with long, wavy blond hair driving an older car past me on the way out of the complex. I immediately called Todd to report another sighting of the Cat Lady. Because of the direction she was driving from, my best guess is that she lives in the building perpendicular to ours.

Jokes about the Cat Lady have been made in our house on a fairly regular basis over time.

Our rental company representative called me about two months ago to ask if I or any of my neighbors were the one leaving the cat food, as it is right in front of my building. I laughed, and told her I wasn't the Cat Lady and that she didn't live in my building. She asked me to confront CL if I ever saw her again.

It's all been very amusing and casual and just something to laugh about. Until...

Just before Labor Day, Todd discovered a pack of four raccoons nibbling at the cat food at night. He didn't think much of it at the time. But a few days later, he and Hazel were coming home from the park and spotted the pack running along our sidewalk in broad daylight! They headed straight for the cat food. Todd threw a few rocks at them to try to scare them away. Quite the contrary. They hissed at Todd and continued on with their feast, acting all hostile and making Todd worry for Hazel's safety.

The third sighting occurred as an entire family unit, in the early evening. I held Jack and Hazel at a safe viewing distance while Todd climbed the wall and vigorously chucked rocks at the raccoons for several minutes. After quite a long battle, they retreated far enough away for me to make a run for it and grab the cat food.

At that point, Todd declared war on the Cat Lady. Homeless cats or no, we can't sit back and let the Raccoon Gang invade our territory, acting all hostile and making us worry about the safety of our children.

For the past month, the entire Bonner clan has been keeping a constant eye out for cat food. Whenever we see it, we dispense of it. Hazel asks about the Cat Lady every time we walk past the drop spot. I've stuck to straight-up dumpster drops, but Todd's been working hard to send a clear message by rendering CL's tupperware useless.Cat Lady switched to paper bowls and started leaving the food on the park side of the fence. Usually it's just barely close enough that I can still reach it if I strain, but Todd has quite frequently had to jump the fence to gather food and containers. One day she got aggressive and dumped the food in a pile on the ground and left the empty bowl next to it. She's got her own ways of sending messages.

Todd and I took a walk past the building I suspect CL lives in, and I think we may have found her unit. Behold, the porch:We thought about dumping a bag or two of cat food on her porch, but decided that's like funding her project.

Frustrated with how this war has seemed to have no end, Todd took it to the next level and wrote Cat Lady a note, which he taped to the fence next to the remnants of her latest water bowl."Dear CAT LADY
I understand your concern for the cats and desire to feed them. However I have now joined the side of the HOA and am requesting you cease feeding the cats over here immediately.
There is now a family of 4 raccoons living here and eating your cat food. These raccoon have hissed at and threatened me and my kids not just at night but at 4 pm in the afternoon. This is unacceptable. I suggest you invite the raccoons over to your house for dinner as it is obvious you don't live in this area.
Putting food on the other side of the wall is still unacceptable. I can easily jump the wall and throw that away too."

Since then, the feedings have slowed down. She might just be out of town for a few days. If not, Todd admitted he's a little disappointed the Cat Lady might be done, as his next step was to add rat poison to the food. He said, "I can't throw all the food away, so I'll just make the food worthless. She's a sneaky little devil."