Happy Halloween from the Gigglemonster

It's All Hallows Eve! Luke is donning his costume and ready to greet the millions of kids that we expect to descend on our doorstep between the official Halloween hours of 3 -7 PM. Yes, I swear his arms are free, but funny how it looks like I've strapped them into his costume in the picture!

We've enjoyed a teething free week, thanks to the appearance of a mystery tooth up top. Hooray! So, we celebrated with lots of excitement this week, including a Halloween Party with about 40 kids running around (yes, at someone's house!) and a trip to the Arboretum with Luke's good friend Millan and his mommy. But, the giggles didn't stop there. The other night as we were finishing with the bedtime routine and Luke was settling into Dada's arms with a bottle, something was terribly funny about the bottle. It looked like the same old bottle to Dada and Mama, but clearly, we were missing something that only little eyes could see. Luke erupted into all out belly laughs everytime he put it in his mouth. We just couldn't help laughing right along with him, so there we sat - everyone giggling to the point of tears, very thankful that it was laughter instead of the tears we had the week before.

We hope that everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!

4 Things I Discovered Yesterday

1) French Fries go REALLY well with a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, almost better than with a Wendy's Frosty. (Okay, so I splurged yesterday)


2) I've now seen graffle (sp?). It technically refers to frozen-ish precipitation that's not snow and not sleet.


3) The Windy City lives up to its name. Yesterday, a gust registered 61 mph near us. Really cleared some of the leaves.


4) When you need 1 protector to keep your child from chewing on the rail of his crib, you really need 2. Duh.

The Nerve of Some People

It may be my lack of sleep this week, so this could all be in the eye of the beholder. There I was, at the grocery store, fussy baby in the cart, unloading my hordes of groceries onto the belt. Sometimes, I like to do self-checkout (our store has lines for larger orders) so that I can bag it myself, but I knew that today, Luke would not be cooperative. So, there I am, and someone comes up behind us, and I think he's trying to make friends with Luke as many people do. Then I realized he was talking to me and asking if he could go ahead with his 2 items since I had a large cartful. Let me just say that by looking at him, I could tell that he was not very aware of the challenges that moms face trying to do things while carting around a toddler, much less a fussy one. So, what do you say?? "I'm sorry, I really need to get done as fast as possible"...or "No, I was here first"...or "How about you try shopping with a toddler and then ask me again"...or "There's no waiting at the Self-Checkout Express lane over there." I decided to be nice and do the guy a favor, so I said, "Sure, fine," but I said it a bit tersely hoping that he would get the hint that he really shouldn't ask a favor from a mom with a fussy child.

Well...then I realized that there was a reason why this gentleman needed to go through this particular lane. He had tried to go once and hadn't spent the requisite $25 to use his $5 coupon, so he went and found 2 additional items, leaving the rest of his order piled behind the nice lady. So, there I stood, unconsciously dropping my jaw to the floor in disbelief as the checker rang up the other 10-15 items he was purchasing. Then, he was having difficulty using the credit card machine and he kept trying to sign at the wrong time, so all of this took more time than I was really willing to give as a favor to a total stranger. Had it been another mother or father, or someone who just looked like they were having a rough day and needed something to go his or her way, I would have gladly offered to let them go ahead. I guess the gentleman did give me something in return - he gave me something to blog about today other than teething.

9 Months Old!

Hard to believe that Luke's been with us already nine months! He weighs 20 pounds 4 ounces and measures 29 1/8 inches long. He's starting to cruise the furniture and had his first Cheerios today in honor of his "birthday." We even gave him a bit of pancake this morning.

A Family Outing to the Arboretum

It was a gorgeous day so we decided to do what everyone else was doing and head to the Arboretum. The leaves are just starting to change but still some neat colors! They have an amazing children's garden with all sorts of discovery areas. So, we let Luke get a little dirty and have some fun with the big kids. It will be wonderful to take him back over the next couple of years as he grows. And, I'm sure we'll get better at getting him to look at the camera.

Yummy! Sand and dirt and stuff!

Ah...back at home after a very exciting day. So much excitement that it's good to sit on the couch and watch some football.

An Update on Our Church Quest

We visited another church this weekend. It has a pipe organ, a music program, and a bell choir, so it did pass the critical requirements. Mike and I both decided that it wasn't an "emphatic" no, but we both leaned towards no. It is a much older congregration (not in age of congregants but in how long it and the building have been there) and the general impression that we were both left with was that it lacked energy. There was a guest preacher, which makes us feel that we need to go back to give it an honest try. We didn't really care for the guest minister; he lost me when he pulled out an actual body bag as a prop. I passed Mike a note about that time in the sermon: "I miss Trinity." We'll keep looking and will probably go back and see Pastor Phil soon to fill up our tanks to keep plugging away at our search.

Luke is still having bits of issues with teething pain, but overall, we're much better than Friday. He's pulling up on everything and anything, requiring a lot more careful watching. He loves to talk, but still doesn't like to use many syllables. Still the "ahhh" and gurgle sort of sounds. He started showing a bit more interest in copying Mike and I and I wish I had been fast enough to catch the absolute cutest thing on Sunday. Mike went out the back door to go and mow and Luke crawled to the door and put his hands up to catch his attention. Mike leaned in to kiss him through the window and Luke leaned in too. Definitely a Daddy-lover in this one!



Here he is sporting his new tennis shoes to keep his feet warm.

Merry Hallomas!

When did Halloween become the new Christmas? Or is this just a Chicago thing?

We're Over the Teething Bit

Yesterday just wasn't a good day. Lots of screaming, whining, carrying Luke around, headaches, and sniffles. (In fact, I took Luke to the doctor to rule out an ear infection, and she confirmed that the teeth were moving like crazy without making me feel stupid for wasting her time). So, Mike and I waved the white flag and ordered pizza last night. He left me in charge while he put Luke down (for the record, bad idea to put tired, indecisive Mommy in charge of such a decision). I decided to try a new place because we had coupons - a free small pizza with purchase of an 18 inch pizza sounded good for leftovers through the weekend. What showed up, however, wasn't even close to 18 inches in diameter. It was more like an 18 inch radius...the total should have clued me in a bit, but hey, I figured it must just be really good pizza. I was pretty much giggling about the absurdity of my purchase the entire night, and here was our conversation as I put away the rest of the 3/4 pizza.

J: We don't have a refrigerator in this house this box will fit in.

M: Not even close. Is there something else you can put it in?

J: I'll try Ziplocs. Hmmm...might have to use one gallon size for each piece.

M: Is there anything else larger you can use?

J: I know we don't have any tupperware large enough. Maybe I can get two pieces in each bag.

M: How about a garbage bag?

An Early Infatuation With Plastic

This is how we spent a large part of last week: hand grasped tightly to various plastic cards and rest of self so excited that the only thing to do is stand on your knees and raise your arms in the air and praise the plastic gods (or at least, the AAA gods). Is this a bad sign for the future?

Luke's First Pumpkin Patch

Way too much going on around him to think that we could get him to look at the camera

An Almost Blown Surprise

A few weeks ago, my dad called me and was recalling their weekend with Mom's family and how Mom made it all the way through the day without spilling the beans about Laura to Aunt Marlo. I stopped and asked, "What beans?" He quickly backpedaled and made up a fairly lame suggestion which got me wondering...was Laura coming for our "girls' weekend" in October? I made the mistake of sharing this notion with my husband, who started the phone chain to my mom and sister so that they could run damage control and come up with some story that I'd believe. Well, it worked. I had no idea that Laura would come waltzing in the door on Friday afternoon. It was a great surprise and really made the weekend complete!

We played cards, we went to a pumpkin patch, we ate lots courtesy of Chef Mike (probably negating my weight loss in September), had a surprise visit from my New York cousins, and spoiled the Lukester. A very fun weekend, even if exhausting.Luke demonstrated to his grandmother how fast he learns. In a matter of two tries, he went from 4 stairs, to multiple times up the entire staircase.We didn't have quite the same luck with the standing behind the lawnmower, but we did try hard!And, there was general sentiment amongst our visitors that the Halloween decorations in our neighborhood are definitely over the top. In fact, since my last blog, it seems that some of these houses have continued to add even more inflatables. I wouldn't be surprised if this one house has one of every single Halloween inflatable ever manufactured.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful weekend!! And, for a wonderful surprise!

So How Did We Do?

Holy cow, did September go fast! Thank goodness we worked very had on our goals towards the beginning of the month. Overall, I'd give us a C+. The minivan is in the garage, but we realized that the Accord won't fit without getting rid of the extra refrigerator. The basement has gone from being about 30 boxes to being piles of stuff to sort through or garage sale. But, hey, we're unpacked!!! And, technically, I did work out more, although it's easy to work out more than not at all. So, that is still something to focus on. But, I still managed to lose 5 pounds, which I'll take! Now, if I can only figure out how to work out AND get a shower during Luke's nap, we'll be in business!

We're heading off shortly to pick up Grandma Ellen and Auntie Marlo! Coming next time...pictures of the halloween decorations in our neighborhood. Clearly, we missed them memo.