Less than Twelve Parsecs

Yes, Gaius was a little dragon for Halloween this year. Mara wanted to be a Rainbow Kitty, which started as black: To an actual Rainbow Kitty, chased around by a soft & cuddly little dog: We did not have the presence of mind to do a proper photo shoot so you can see the colorful streamers flying as she ran around, but you can kinda see them here too: And to finish it up, here's Gaius pumpkin shopping: And the kids' first Jack-O-Lantern:

This is Grandma Tammy; Mara's exact words were "Daddy, this is your Mommy".

Gaius has been "talking" a lot in the last few months: signing with his hands, while also saying syllables. He communicates so well that life with him is quite entertaining. We occasionally have a time when we misunderstand him, and he gets so, so sad; but fortunately those are very rare moments. Gaius's bunny sign: this hand in a hopping motion. Here's a happy one. Dinner time, with Mommy and the two kids. Both the 3yo and the 1yo are eating well, so I feel quite happy about my choice of food to put on the table - yay Mommy success! Round 1 Gaius is in his chair, but he suddenly starts pushing himself to standing, then back down. He repeats this several times, calmly, while I try to figure out why he's doing it: Gaius, are you trying to reach something? Do you need a paper towel? That bowl? Are you all done with eating? On this last one he turns and looks at me with big brown eyes, and says a very clear:  No . Then he puts up his bunny sign hand...

Mara taught me a valuable parenting lesson today. We were having breakfast. Mara had thought of making French toast this morning so we had cooked it all together: Mara, Gaius and I. Each child breaking two eggs, mixing in turn to poke the yolks and dipping the bread in. Now, at the dining table, both kids are behaving top-notch until Gaius decides he's slightly bored and wants to go wondering. I ask him if he's done, he says a clear and pointed " No" . Sitting down for the entire meal is hard for a year-and-a-half, they have so much to explore and experiment! But he still wants to eat while he's learning. The solution? Direct his attention to learning something while he is at the table. Mommy: "Gaius, would you like to practice cutting your french toast with a knife?" Gaius: [Big nod.] I bring the kids' knife - one safe for toddlers (this  kids knife set from Curious Chef ; it works well enough on veggies and fruit but will not cut ...

This year we enhanced our tradition of Giant Spider Web decor for Halloween: bigger, better and more interactive, plus a large spider that was so easy to make out of our set of Crazy Forts construction toys  (instructions below). The Web We reused last year's technique to build an even bigger web, this time in the middle of the yard. This way kids could go on both sides of it. I fully expected some child to get caught in it, literally, but to my surprise they were quite good at going through without pulling the threads. Any casual tugs were inconsequential because the plastic wrap is elastic enough. Both kids were enthralled by the setup and spent about an hour or two giggling, running through and inventing games around it (see the video at the bottom). Mara and Gaius discovered they could push croquet balls through different segments of the giant spider web (alternative direct link to the video: https://goo.gl/photos/BnyERcAbWD2cPVCZ9 ): The Spider We re...