September & October 2015

Fall! Back into the swing of a routine, especially now with one elementary school aged kiddo. (!!) This was the first year we had kids in two different schools and we definitely felt the increase in back to school “stuff” to do. Two meet the teachers, two parent coffees, two drop-offs at two different locations each day – we have the routine down now, but it is certainly a less relaxed pace than last year! In order to get everyone up and fed and dressed and out the door by 7:15am, I have to wake up at 5:30am, which means I have been falling asleep on the couch most nights between 9 and 10pm. And when I don’t, I am exhausted the next day!

Anyway… we kicked off September with a visit to the Mystic Aquarium with Sharon, Erik and Isaac (who we hadn’t yet met, despite him being older than Blake!) He was adorable and it was great to catch up, amidst the craziness of four small kids. We enjoyed the last of the really warm weather with some trips to the playground and the Esplanade. We checked out the new Boston Public Market and welcomed fall with cider donuts and chili on a very rainy day. Archer started his second year at CNS and told me he felt “shy,” but warmed up quickly and loved his new class. Sebastien had Field Day at school and we spent a night eating ice cream, listening to music at City Square Park and running around. We checked out the music and activities at the Lawn on D concert, seeing our old favorite, Mister G. Archer and Blake had their 3 year and 1 year well visits. Blake weighed 19lbs, 13oz and measured 30 inches (40th and 77th percentiles – still medium for weight but long) and Archer weighed 36lbs, 5oz and measured 38 inches (85th and 55th percentiles – the opposite). The boys started fall soccer, although Sebastien didn’t have as great a teacher as in the spring and missed doing the “big games” at the end of each session. Archer started gymnastics, which he absolutely loved but which we were late for EVERY week. (Noted: it is impossible to make it from the LP’s 3:10pm pick-up to a gymnastics class in Winchester at 3:30pm. And that should probably have been obvious…) Sebastien started religious education. He draws lots of pictures of “Jesus” and “love” and we’re (I’m) still waiting for the actual learning to start. Maybe kindergarten is too early for that…? Archer started his Creative Thinkers art studio at CNS on Tuesday afternoons, which he loves and that is no surprise, because it’s Emma and Erika. The fall theme was cooking fall’s harvest so he brought home lots of delicious treats (pesto, apple muffins, pumpkin butter, etc.) Archer and Blake started Thursday morning music class and both love it, although I would love it more if Archer would stop climbing on top of Blake constantly during the whole class. We went to the CNS Family Dance party which had a DJ this year, much to the excitement of all the preschoolers. (I told you we were busy.)

October continued with all of the above weekly activities, plus: We went apple picking at Russell Orchards which always makes for such awesome pictures. The weather forecast had been a little dismal but the day turned out to be fine, which actually made for pretty empty orchards in comparison to how October weekends usually are. We celebrated Maeve O’Donnell’s first birthday party; the boys got their faces painted and we got to catch up with friends. We explored the haunted hay maze at Wilson Farms and got more cider donuts and delicious treats. We attended our first LP Book Fair, which was crowded and busy but fun. The kids had fun trying on costumes to pose for pictures, making crafts, picking out books to take home and eating lots of yummy food. We went to a very chilly Esplanade play date and pizza party at Spaulding park. And we celebrated Ashlyn and Ben’s wedding with a really fun, really quick trip out to Arizona (Wednesday after school to Sunday night). We all had an absolute blast and the kids were great despite the long flights, time changes and logistics that come along with a wedding. All of the stress and planning seemed to take its toll on me, though, and I came home with the worst sore throat (and laryngitis) I’ve ever had outside of last year’s strep. A few days of rest, and we were ready for Halloween. Sebastien had his first trick-or-treating for UNICEF and Zoodio dance at the LP and we spent the next day at the traditional Charlestown trick-or-treating around the Monument. Sebastien (the vampire) loved it, as usual, Archer (the bat) was an intense trick-or-treater, never skipping a single house, and Blake (the pumpkin) enjoyed all of the attention and watching from the stroller. And we only almost lost Archer once! (Fortunately Rob Hassell found him several houses down and he was not at all concerned that he had left the group and trick-or-treated without anyone else.)

Blake is talking so much these days, has so many words and we have all heard her say sentences. (“I want tan-dy” (candy) is a frequent one after this past Halloween.) She has started getting her molars, with the top left molar breaking through on 10/8 and three big, swollen lumps nearby. She is really walking now, although she was down to the wire with Ashlyn’s wedding! Sebastien has picked up on reading so fast, it’s really amazing. He is constantly reading cereal boxes and signs while we’re driving; he really went from not sounding anything out to reading books so fast. And Archer is, well, still screaming a lot. We are hoping he is getting his difficult years out of the way now and from age 4 on, will be nothing but a dream…


Created with flickr slideshow.

Created with flickr slideshow.