I love October

October is typically one of my favorite months of the year...not too rainy, crisp air means the return of my beloved sweaters, the leaves turn to full-blown-crazy-flame colors, Miss Lily celebrates a birthday, and all the fun activities around Halloween.  This year lots of work travel for Chris (two weeks back-to-back!) and several trips for me meant this October was tougher than most...but thanks to Gloria and Lisa coming into town to lend a hand, we all survived and even managed to have some fun.

First up?  Lily's birthday!  After seeing a video of Katie and Michael indoor skydiving, she decided that was what she wanted to do for her bday, so off we went to Tukwila with Jack, Doug and Jude (of course she chose her favorite fellas to accompany her!).  She was  super excited about it...until we got there and saw an instructor showing off inside the flight tube.  Suddenly afraid, she decided maybe this wasn't for her after all.  I told her to suit up and sit with us in the waiting area and when her turn came, she could always say no.  She sat bolt upright during the instructions, quietly got on her suit, and with a look of dread sat on the wait bench with the rest of us.  But when her turn came?  Not to be outdone by Jack and Doug before her, my girl took a running leap into the tube and LOVED IT.  Her awesomeness knows no bounds.


While Lily celebrated a birthday, Matteo celebrated Tanka Tanka Skunk.  Found at the library when Lily was 3, this quickly became a Lowe family favorite, necessitating my tracking down a copy on eBay (just our luck it's out-of-print and from the UK).  Chris introduced it to little dude and OH MY did he fall in love.  Admittedly we were late with reading to him, but once we started he quickly became enamored with books and all month long would choose this one in particular, march up to us, holding it out and making very demanding meh-meh-meh noises.  He could listen to it and giggle along 5x in a row, many times a day.  It apparently cannot get old.  For him, that is.

Speaking of noises, his are OUT OF CONTROL.  I long suspected that he would be a "late talker" as he is a boy, super physical, the second child, attends a Spanish immersion school... basically all the contributing factors.  What he lacks in words, though, he more than compensates for in ADORABLE sounds.  WhooooooEEP...meh...cooooooo....and "playing" Lily's plastic tea pot and just about anything else he can blow into.  It's heart melting.  While I am terribly curious to hear his thoughts and know what he has to say, a part of me will really, really miss the back and forth we have in his special language.  He is not totally without words, though.  He has mastered Ma-ma-ma-ma, ya!, very firm head-shaking (I know, not a word), and uh-oh.  The last one gets used a lot, despite our explaining to him that when you HAND the dog the food rather than accidentally DROP food it is NOT an uh-oh.

While Matteo is sticking his toe in into the conversation pool, Lily has taken a flying leap into the land of the big kids.  It's bittersweet - we went to the movies on a mama-daughter date, and not only did she NOT want to sit in my lap, she also no longer immediately took my hand when walking from the car to the theater.  In fact, unless I initiate it, she hardly holds it at all - a sign of independence I am absolutely not ready for.  And while this leap of independence comes, Matteo is showing his own streak by becoming increasingly mischievous, getting into anything and everything he can lay his tiny, pudgy fingers on, smiling at me with all the charm he can muster (and it is considerable) when I tell him no - it's basically constant defiance served up with a huge grin that is unfortunately adorable.

You know what is not as cute?  Matteo's recent discovery and embrace of free will.  It isn't on display too often, but sadly for me it has been at its finest at the most inopportune times...like when there is an audience of strangers sitting in silent judgement of me and my parenting skills.  Perfect example - we arrived at Lily's school one day to discover Chris had already scooped her up.  As sweeping her classroom is one of Matteo's favorite activities (kid is obsessed with mops and brooms), he was quite upset that I wanted him to leave and decided some wailing and flailing was in order.  I made it as far as the hallway before I had to put him down for fear of dropping him.  One on the floor, he proceeded to lie on his back, screaming and pushing his feet off the floor, effectively moving himself around like a sundial, cleaning the floor with his little jacket back, head and bottom.  After letting him have a moment, I picked him up and carried him out to the car, screeching like a banshee the whole way.  One seasoned parent found it amusing, the rest looked horrified.  He pulls similar, those thankfully less severe, shenanigans at pick-up.  Lately he will bring his lonchera to me, then immediately open it on the hunt for a snack.  If there isn't a snack he wants, he will turn his back and march to the nearest wall/corner and refuse to let me put on his jacket.  It would be kind of funny if his teacher didn't have the "wow you're kid doesn't like you" look of pity on her face.  If only she could see him at home pitching a fit because I can't hold him 24/7!  Ah, wee man, you are a mercurial one.

Thankfully there are always good days to counter the bad and Lily had a doozy of one on the 29th.  That day in her take-home folder she had a "Star Student Certificate for Maintaining 10 days of Good Behavior" which, if you know Lily, was quite the accomplishment.  To say I was bursting with pride would be an understatement and I can say I now *totally* get those "Student of the Month" bumper stickers I used to roll my eyes at.  Then, at gymnastics that same evening she got her enrollment for next session and was bumped into Level 3.  After just one session of Level 2.  Lily's athleticism has always amazed me, and while I have mixed feelings about gymnastics as a sport, I am so proud of the discipline and tenacity she has shown.  If I am being honest, I am also thrilled to bits she will never suffer my fate of "last one picked."


Not to be outdone, we handed Matteo a fork the next day and he rocked it!  But while he is doing that, Lily is now trying her hand and writing actual words.  They are a continuous string of letters you need to be skilled at phonics to understand, but it's a start!  And while his sister is becoming increasingly literate, Matteo is attempting to master the art of bathroom annihilation via manic tub splashing followed by honing his inner Hefner by bringing us his jammies and demanding they be put on immediately.  Geez, October - you've been packed!

But October wouldn't be complete without Halloween.  Per the usual, Lily got to select Chris' costume and surprise him on Halloween night (sumo wrestler), she chose something ultra girly and was a blue fairy, and Matteo rocked the cuteness as a Dalmatian   All in all, a great night, complete with both kids inexplicably playing harmonicas around the house and a preteen trick-o-treater declaring "they have a Dalmatian puppy!  And a baby dressed as a Dalmatian!  It's adorable in here!"  Yeah, I couldn't agree more.


Before this post gets too long, here's the monthly wrap up of funny stuff and brilliant observations overheard...
- Lily seeing Lady Gaga on The Simpsons: I like her train but not her high heels. She's too crazy on the high heels.
- Chris: "What happened to his hair? He's not the doodle with the noodle!" when returning from a week away to discover Matteo's lock of stick-straight-up hair had finally grown so long it had flopped over. Between this and the long wisps behind his ears he has quite the 'do

- "T-t-t...T is for toys!" Lily delighting in figuring out the first letters of favorite words
- While driving by a road repair project: "Cones are to make the cars go in a straight line because some people are bad drivers." No, no Chris influence there AT ALL 
- Lily: "If I wear high heels with this and a braid I will look like a cooker." Me, thinking I heard an "h": "A what?" Lily: "A cooker. You know, a chef, but without a hat."
- Me, while reading Little Witch at breakfast: "Look how funny the devil looks waiting on the porch" Lily, in her best Barry White voice: "It's like he's saying 'hey ladies!'"
- Lily, after spinning both her dreidel and a top simultaneously: "fight,fight,fight!!"
- Lily: The weather lady said it will rain tonight for trick-o-treating Me: Oh dear Lily: Not a big oh dear, just a little oh dear because we can wear jackets
- "Look! He's doing it!" Lily celebrating each and every Matteo advancement 
- Me: "Aren't Matteo's pants funny?  They say 'ROAR!' on the butt."  Lily: "I wish it said 'FART' instead.  That would be funny."


You know what I find funny and amazing?  You, my sweet girl, and your brother.