Halloweeeeeeen

We are busy getting ready for Halloween. After two failed attempts due to the fact that it has rain/snowed for the last FOUR weekends, we finally made it to the pumpkin patch last night. It was supposed to close at 7 and we got there at about 6:30, but there were still plenty of people in line. It was cold. We waited to take the wagon ride to the patch and by the time we got there it was totally dark! It is slightly more challenging to pick out pumpkins in the dark. Especially while trying to keep track of small children. Will picked out his very own pumpkin- the biggest (and therefore, most expensive) one he could find of course. While waiting in line Bryce taught Will "how to climb the fence." I'm not sure who was more proud of this accomplishment, Will or Bryce!

We've been promising Will a trip to the pumpkin patch for some time and when I took Sawyer to the doctor on Friday (more on that later) the doctor was wearing scrubs with pumpkins and cats on them. Will pointed out the pumpkins and then somehow the idea that he got to go to the patch and pick a pumpkin became that he got to go to the patch and pick a kitten. He kept saying "Will gets to pick his own kitten at the patch!" I tried to intervene in that thought process and correct him which the doctor thought was pretty humorous. I kept saying "No, Will gets to pick a pumpkin! Any pumpkin he wants!" which only caused Will to insist even louder "Will gets to pick a kitten, any kitten!" Sorry Will, but you got a pumpkin.

Yes, I took Sawyer to the doctor on Friday because his cold turned into a cough that sounds like a 55 year-old chain smoker. As expected the official diagnosis was "Well, it's probably some kind of virus--just keep an eye on him." You know it is cold and flu season when my weekly routine involves at least 1 trip to the pediatrician's office. [We took Will in last week for severe croup. The poor kid completely lost his voice for 2 days! They gave him a prescription for some medicine...which Will gagged on and threw up an entire strawberry milkshake all over the back of our car, his car seat, and himself. I've cleaned for over 4 hours and the car still smells. Joy.]

On Saturday Mollie came over to help entertain the boys while we painted Will's "big boy cowboy room." It is a tan color officially known as Ralph Lauren county cork or, apparently, "Baltimore Orioles" as the can said. On Monday I was taking down all the painting tape and Will walked into the room and said "I like this beautiful color. It's from Lowe's." He now has a "big boy bed" too-- a regular twin size bed. He took a nap in it yesterday and slept in it last night. He didn't even get out of bed until 9 this morning! I guess that was enough for him though because when I put him down for a nap today he informed me that he wanted to sleep in his crib, so that is where he is now.

While I was trying to clean up the painting paraphernalia Will was busy emptying out the bathroom cabinet. I went to stop him and told him that he couldn't get into the cleaners and stuff because they were dangerous. I picked him up to haul him out and he kept leaning towards the cabinet with arms outstretched yelling "Scrubbing Power!!!" over and over. I don't know where he comes up with this stuff.

On Friday night Mollie watched the boys while Bryce and I went out for our anniversary dinner. Yes, our anniversary was in June, but Bryce's office gave us a gift certificate that we hadn't used yet. Mollie told us that while we were gone Will was playing with his magna-doodle. Mollie told Will to draw a picture of Sawyer so he drew some scribbles and then looked at his work and declared "He's so cute!" Will also tried to draw Aunt Mollie so Aunt Mollie prompted him by asking "What does Aunt Mollie look like?" Will thought for a second and responded "Aunt Megan!" Good answer. [They are twins for those who don't know.]

This entry started out by mentioning the snow. Yes, snow. Bryce and I stayed up watching Jumanji on Saturday night and when I got up to go to bed at about 1 I glanced out the window and saw that it was snowing like crazy! There was still snow on the ground in the morning. It is not even Halloween yet. What happened to fall? I think we totally skipped it this year.

Here is a newsworthy item: Sawyer slept through the night for the first time! Saturday, October 20th was the big night. I had him sleep in his car seat next to my bed because his cough is worse if he lays down flat. He fell asleep at 10 and I woke him up to eat at 6! Of course, I woke up about 8 million times wondering if he was still breathing. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a repeat performance yet. Well, I guess he did sleep from 8 p.m. until 3 a.m. the next day which is a good 7 hour stretch. It just didn't happen to coincide with when I wanted to be asleep.

I think Will may have finally fallen asleep. I put him down for a nap over an hour ago, but I heard him yelling randomly until about 10 minutes ago. Sawyer fell asleep too so I should take this opportunity to shower. Bonus pics of Sawyer in a smiley mood today.

Everyone's favorite...the dentist

It has been kind of a crazy week, but I wanted to make note of an important event- Will's first trip to the dentist! Okay, so I personally hate going to the dentist, but we are trying not to pass that along to Will...at least not until he figures it out for himself. So all week long we talked up how how special it was that Will got to go to the dentist and how he would get a new toothbrush and stuff. [Our appointment was actually the 9th so this is a little overdue.] I had an appointment too so Mollie came with us to keep an eye on Sawyer and to help with Will during my exam. The dentist had Will come back first and Will was pretty interested in the computer and all of the buttons that controlled the chair. He was having fun sitting in the chair until the hygienist tried to recline it and then he started getting nervous. I was surprised that he didn't just start crying and trying to run away, but instead he just sat there looking anxious. The hygienist tried to polish his teeth, but she was unsuccessful since Will clenched his jaw every time she got near him. The office has flat screen tv's mounted on the ceiling above the chairs so the dentist put on "Cars" for Will and gave him headphones for the sound. Will thought it was pretty amazing that he got to watch Cars on the ceiling. The hygienist gave up on the cleaning and the doctor tried to just do a quick exam, but every time he reached near Will's mouth Will would very politely reach up and push his hand away all without taking his eyes off the movie. I think he thought it was some fancy movie theater and couldn't figure out why they kept bothering him when he was trying to watch the movie. I eventually helped pry his mouth open enough that the dentist could quickly look around with his mirror. He gave Will the all clear and Will was very distressed when we tried to get him down from the chair to go back to the waiting room. He wanted to watch the rest of the movie. Luckily, the dentist also has a tv in the waiting room so he put "Cars" on in there and Will agreed to move. Will also got a new Winnie the Pooh toothbrush and a toy car so he thinks the dentist's office is a pretty great place to be. We'll see how long that lasts. I am wishing I had a picture of him lounging in the chair wearing his headphones watching the movie and politely declining the dentist's attempts to examine him. It was pretty funny.


We have been trying to ask Will what he wanted to be for Halloween, but he doesn't understand the concept of dress up or pretend or costumes so it doesn't get very far. The other day I was listing a bunch of options and Will got really excited when I said "cowboy." Which was predictable (see last post). So he is going to be a cowboy which is fine with me since it should be fairly easy. Ever since then, however, Will has been randomly saying "Will be temple for Halloween!" (see here http://www.lds.org/temples/geographical/0,11380,1899-1,00.html for more info on temples) I'm not sure where he got that idea...and regardless of the logistical difficulties of dressing a 2 year-old like a gigantic ornate building...I think it would be just a little too strange...even for Utah County. So he will be a cowboy. Sorry.

Yesterday I was in the car with Bryce, the boys, and Mollie and we were talking about how they took down the playscape at our old elementary school. We were reminiscing about how one of the most popular features at the playground was a bunch of large tires set in the ground so that only the top half sticks out. Everyday at recess it was a race to claim a tire. You'd run to the set of tires and stick your head under in hopes of finding one that was unoccupied, but more likely you'd look up and discover that this one was already taken by another kid who had wedged himself up inside the top of the tire. So you'd go to the next and the next until you either found an empty one and claimed it triumphantly or gave up and found something else to do. For some reason this was a really enjoyable and desirable way to spend recess--wedged in the top of an old tire. I commented "Kids are so weird!" and Will echoed me from the back seat saying "Kids are so cute!" I guess he took it upon himself to correct me.

A few days ago Will woke up saying "Mommy, I want a brownie for breakfast!" Unfortunately, we didn't have any. If we had any, we probably both would have had brownies for breakfast. I think he officially has my sweet tooth!

I love when both of the boys are asleep in the afternoons!

Will is getting excited for Christmas. I'm sure he has no recollection of last Christmas, but lately whenever he sees a man with a beard (such as the wizard on Sesame Street this afternoon) he says "Christmas! Christmas!" And of course Lowe's already has its Christmas decorations on display. We were there last weekend and Will was mesmerized by the lights and the giant inflatable yard displays. It is fun to think that this year he will actually be excited about Christmas. Especially since it will be only the 2nd time in my life that I haven't been home in Connecticut for Christmas. It was just too lame to stay here for Christmas when you just have one kid who is too small to be excited about anything. And I'm the only married child in my family so everyone else still goes home every year. This year Will will be old enough to get in on the action and I think my sister-in-law and her husband will be here from England so it will seem a little more Christmasey than if it were just us.

The other night Bryce was wrestling with Will and Will rolled over and hugged Bryce and said "I love you Daddy!" It was so cute. This morning when I got him out of bed he said "I love you Mommy!" It "almost" makes up for how much of a pill he was all of last week. :-)

A weekend in the tropics

We spent the weekend in the tropics...well, sort of, we spent the weekend in Tropic, Utah which is by the entrance to Bryce Canyon and the home of Bryce's paternal grandparents and an assortment of aunts, uncles, and cousins. We went down on Thursday night and attended the funeral for Jack Chynoweth (Bryce's aunt's father) on Friday. He wasn't a blood relative, but Bryce was kind of an adopted grandson. We'd been promising Will a ride on a horse and he finally got the chance on Sunday morning before we left to come back home to Provo. I asked Will what he was doing and he said "I'm a cowboy!" Isn't it every kid's dream to have grandparents where you get to sleep in a cabin and ride horses when you visit?

Will had a blast playing with Bryce's cousins' kids over the weekend. On Saturday Bryce went "up on the mountain" to help his grandpa and Will and Sawyer and I tagged along with Bryce's Aunt Randi and Uncle Bob and their family out to the Chynoweth cabin. Will had a little run-in with barbed wire fence when we first got there, but I think he learned his lesson. We brought a picnic lunch, but it turned out to be a little cold for picnic weather! It even snowed pretty heavily for a little while in the afternoon. Will played outside with his cousins for about 6 1/2 hours and didn't want to come inside when it was time to go. Clearly he got his Dad's genes when it comes to temperature control--those two never get cold! Mom hung out inside the cabin with Sawyer and had fun visiting with Bryce's aunt and cousins. Unfortunately Will already had a cold and that night it turned into croup...he sounds like a dog barking. That happens at least 75% of the time when he gets a cold. I can hear the poor kid coughing in his sleep upstairs right now.

Will got a hold of some "Cars" cars (Lightning McQueen etc.) at Aunt Randi's house and didn't put them down for the entire weekend. We tried to consistently remind him that they didn't belong to him and that he would have to give them back to "Grandma Randi" (as Will called her) before we went home. On Saturday night Will woke up twice crying and had to be reassured that the "Dinoco folks" were still under his pillow. I expected lots of crying and hysterical fit-throwing when it came time to leave the cars behind, but Will actually left quite passively after being told that he could ask Santa for some special cars for Christmas. About halfway home Will started asking for the "racecars" though and Bryce tried to distract him by talking to him about our trip. Bryce asked Will "What was your favorite toy at Grandma's house?" and Will said "marbles." (Bryce's grandma has a wooden marble track that Will really enjoyed.) Then Bryce asked "What was your favorite thing to play with at Aunt Randi's house?" I thought for sure Will would say "racecars"...but instead he thought for a second and said "cousins." That little boy loves to play with other kids but, unfortunately, doesn't have any cousins of his own yet!

Bryce's grandparents own some cabins that they rent out inside of Kodachrome Basin state park. Bryce's grandma also runs the Trailhead general store type thing inside the park. Bryce's grandparents are getting ready to move into the new house they are having built so we stayed in one of the cabins out at the park. It is nice to have our own little place to stay when we go down there. Bryce's grandparents are getting ready to retire from the cabin-renting business....so if you're interested in getting into the business let us know! :-)

On our way out to the Chynoweth cabin there were some calves on the side of the road and I told Will "look at the baby cows." Will looked at them and said "those are Sawyer's cows." I guess he thought I said "look at the baby's cows." Will also picked up some phrases from Grandma Ott over the weekend. When we left her house one evening Will announced "Going to the cabin bless your heart!"

Leaves, temperatures, Will, and other things that fall

Pictures as promised: When I originally posted this blog entry I said I would try to add some pictures so I am finally doing it. Both are of Will being silly (not a rare event). For two days Will insisted upon wearing my sweatshirt at all times- including to bed.

It appears from each member's respective blog entry that my family is enamored with fall. I suppose it is impossible to grow up in New England and not pine for pumpkins and crunchy leaves and brightly colored foliage at this time of year. Have you ever noticed that even before the actual daily temperatures start to plunge you can feel something different in the air marking the end of summer? It is the same way in the spring. The high temperature will be 50 degrees for 5 days in a row, but WHAM on one of those days all of the sudden you can just feel that the undercurrent in the air has changed from wintery cold to spring-time warmth (or from summer heat to autumn cool). All without the actual temperature changing at all. Why is that? Maybe it is the way the air smells as much as anything else. The fall always smells like wood smoke and the spring smells like things growing.

We took Will to a puppet show at the library last night. The group has supposedly been performing for 10 years...but I'm quite confident that if handed a puppet I could have ad-libbed a more entertaining show. It was..well...boring. And not just to parents. Will was bored after 30 seconds. I do appreciate the performers' willingness to come put on a show most likely for free on a Monday night after spending all day at what I imagine are probably boring run-of-the-mill jobs...but...well...it was boring. There was a group of mentally challenged adults there and we should have given them our seats because they were seated off to the side and we (thanks to arriving 40 minutes early and waiting in line) were front and center. They found the show HI-larious. Which just makes you wonder about what in our brains tells us what is funny and what isn't and why would something like Downs Syndrome have such a profound effect on that?

Yesterday Will was looking through the junk mail with me. First he saw an ad with a photograph of a house on it. He pointed at it and said "That's TLC." (I have a weakness for the design and home improvement shows on that channel). Then he saw an ad with a photograph of a woman on it. She was a realtor, but Will decided she was a doctor and kept pointing at her and saying "Doctor" followed by something longer over and over. Finally he said it clear enough for me to understand and here is what he was saying: "Ask your doctor if it is right for you!" Hmmm...I didn't think he really paid attention when I had the tv on in the afternoons...but apparently he picks up on more than I thought! Besides his "Cars" movie, Will really doesn't watch a ton of tv, but I will admit that I frequently have it on in the afternoon for something to listen to while I pick up all of the junk that Will spent the morning getting out.

Will has a new technique for trying to get out of trouble. Every time I reprimand him he gives me a huge grin and says "Smile! Smile Mommy!" over and over.

Will is currently playing under his Thomas the Tank Engine tent. He has it folded over into a little pup tent shape and is playing with cars. Whenever he wants something from a different part of the family room he crawls over to it bringing the tent with him. It looks like a giant Thomas colored hermit crab or something.

A few days ago it was kind of stormy out and at about 2 in the afternoon Will came over to me and put his arms around my neck and said "Kind of dark out Mommy." I said "Yep, it's kind of cloudy" and he responded "Night-night..time for a nap!" This was surprising since Will usually tries to get out of naps so I asked "Are you ready for a nap?" Will yelled "No! Mommy take a nap!" He was trying to put me down for a nap. I would have gladly taken one too, but I didn't think it was a good idea to leave Will in charge of Sawyer! :-)

I asked Will if he wanted to go for a walk yesterday morning and he said "No. Too many mosquitoes!" I blame the mosquitoes (which really are terrible) whenever I don't want him to go outside and now he is using it on me to.

Will calls the electric can-opener the "can-open-it" which seems accurate enough.

Here is a catalog of Will's current injuries:
- series of bruises on his lower back: He was trying to climb up the shelves in the closet to get something I didn't want him to have and fell off and landed on a metal popcorn tin that I keep toys in
- scratch across his stomach: unknown origin
- huge goose-egg on the side of his head: Will was running around one of the classrooms after church and stepped on the picture he had drawn in nursery that was on the floor. He fell and conked his head really hard. He started crying, but it was a weird noise that didn't really sound like him. Bryce picked him up and all of the sudden he stopped making noise and his eyes rolled back into his head. After about 5 seconds he started crying again. I ran into the hall and was lucky enough to immediately come across the nurse practitioner in our ward who told us to test his pupils with a flashlight, not let him fall asleep for a long time, and keep a good eye on him--he appears to be fine.
- bruise under his left eye: fell and hit the arm of the couch
- bruise on his right cheek: Sawyer was asleep in the swing this morning and Will couldn't handle the fact that he was sleeping and went over to try to wake him up. He was yelling "Wake up, wake up!" and grabbed the side of the swing knocking it over onto himself and throwing baby Sawyer face first on the floor.

Will also fell off a kitchen chair this morning and landed in Sawyer's car seat (after I told him that he needed to get down before he got hurt a million times), but I don't think that one left any marks.

I will have to find a picture to add to this, but Sawyer woke up so I will just post this sans photos for now.