Happy Halloween!

We're not huge fans of Halloween, but thought it would be fun for the boys to have some sort of costume. So I bought a few hoodies (I could only find 2 browns and a grey) and some art supplies, and decided to turn their costume into a fun craft. Grand dreams and sketches ensued, only to be dashed by reality. So the boys each got a set of ears...

Winston the Bear

Wesley the Lion

Charlie the Elephant

It was unseasonably warm tonight (50s!), so Grammy, Poppy and I brought the boys out for a walk in the neighborhood. It was too early to do any trick or treating, but it was fun to look at the decorations.

The pack

But their favorite part of the night was playing with their costumes at home. They loved putting them on and tearing them off (themselves and each other).
Wes as the Bear (As a side note, I bought scissors so we can cut their hair this weekend...think they need it?)



Charlie as the Lion



Winston as the Elephant


Just wanted to add that Rob and I headed over to our neighbors garage (Grammy and Poppy offered to stay and watch a movie). Everyone congregated for drinks after all the kids went down. And we had the greatest time. We've met folks in passing and all seemed nice, so this was the first time we've been able to spend time and get to know them. And it was a ball.

A visit from Great Grandma!

My Grandma came for a short visit to see everyone. We realized the last time she saw the boys was exactly one year ago. (We, unfortunately, have not been able to make the trip to Ohio to see the rest of my family at her annual July 4th family reunion.) It was such a nice visit, which included a great family dinner, a trip to the playground and a trip to Maine for her and my parents.

Grandma with Charlie, Wesley & Win

Our trip to the park
Win & Wes loved the swings, while Charlie and Grammy filled buckets with wood mulch. The neat thing about this park is that is where I used to play soccer as a child and later where I taught tennis lessons.
Wesley

Winston

Charlie

Grammy & Charlie

15 month stats

The boys had their 15 month pediatrician appointment today. This was the first doctor's appointment that Rob has not been able to attend (that darn work gets in the way...). But Valerie, our part-time nanny, was free to help us out. Having her with us was an answer to prayers, as the boys were quickly trying to destroy the office as I was talking to the doctor.

The big news is that for a little over a week, the boys have dropped down to one nap. The upside is that they can now stay awake for longer periods, so I can take them out grocery shopping, to play group, etc. But the downside is that I now HAVE to take them out at least once a day. They quickly need a change of scenery or they get exceptionally fussy and start to crash.

The boys are changing all the time - often trading off who is the most active, verbal, happy, fussy, etc. So this is just a recap of where they are right now. They are such curious, sweet boys. Once one of them tries something new, the others have to try it right away (good for putting blocks back in the bag, bad for hanging on the oven door to try to open it.) Have I mentioned how active they are? They eat like 16 year olds and yet they have lost a little weight due to their activity level. But overall, they are all right on track!

Winston
Weight: 21lbs 8oz (13th percentile)
Height: 30.5 inches (34th percentile)

Win has become fearless! He was the first to climb up the couch and chairs (and first to fall over the side of the couch). The look of accomplishment on his face when he mastered this climbing was priceless. He saw the slide at the park and went down head first without a thought. He is also usually the first to smile and wave at strangers (such a change from his stranger anxiety phase!).

Wesley
Weight: 21lbs 12oz (15th percentile)
Height: 30.6 inches (37th percentile)

Wes is hysterical - he has started pointing at everything he sees and says "DAT", as in "What is that?" and "I want that". So our typical conversation...(Wes) DAT. (Me) That's a light. (Wes) DAT. (Me) That's a chair. (Wes) DAT. (Me) That's your brother Winston (Wes smiles, waves at Win, then continues) DAT... He also loves his chair climbing, and has taken it to another level by rocking the chair back and forth. Wesley has the funniest sideways wave, and he will happily wave to strangers as we walk through the store.

Charlie
Weight: 21lbs 4 oz (11th percentile)
Height: 31.5 inches (67th percentile)

Charlie enjoys constant activity and exploration like his brothers, but truly loves his books. He is content to sit in a quiet spot, flipping through book after book. He also loves to practice every word he hears. He shocked us when he said "stah" when he saw an image of a star. I have no idea where or how he learned this. Charlie is definitely half Virginian/half Bostonian: he sounds like he has a southern accent when he says bye (buyyeee) and sounds like he is straight of Boston when he says car (cah). His vocabulary is amazing. I would guess he says about 15-20 words, which is normally where 18 months are. Charlie is normally the last to warm up to strangers, but once he does, he is smiling, waving and trying to make everyone laugh.

*Edited to add that we just counted some of the words that Charlie says and we're now over 30!

Good old-fashioned embarassing photo

Charlie enjoys reading while getting his diaper changed. I'm sure 20 years from now he'll enjoy us pulling this photo out to show his girlfriend. (We can make them wait to date until they're 21, right?)

Spoons are fun!

Rob thinks I'm crazy, but I like to let the boys try to eat their liquidy foods on their own - to give them practice. Good thing it was a bath night!

Winston enjoying his yogurt.

Charlie trying to figure out the spoon. It was so cute to watch him dip one end into the yogurt and trying to eat off the other end.

Wes alternating between spoon and hand.

Not our baby

Lala and Bias found a website that creates a baby based on the photos of the mom and dad. Here's what our baby would look like, according to Volkswagen. I guess he kind of looks like Charlie - if Charlie weren't cute and kind of scary looking.

Truck beds are fun

One the hardest things about bringing the boys to new places is that we are outnumbered. They go in three different directions, wanting to get into everything, climb on everything, taste everything, destroy everything. So imagine our minor heart attack when we noticed the cape house was an open floor plan with a brick fireplace in the middle and an open spiral stair case (which they loved climbing up). While they slept, we took photos of the house as we found it (so it could be recreated), then put everything that could be damaged away.

But there are still only two of us and three of them. So in an effort to contain them for a few minutes, we put them in the bed of Rob's truck as a makeshift playpen. They LOVED it!
Wes banging on the side of the truck

Win & Wes

Charlie


And then Charlie fell over the side (thankfully I was there to catch him!), so playtime was over.

The Cape

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to stay in Rob's boss' guest house on the cape. We weren't able to get the boys out onto the beach (the wind was so strong that sand was whipping around), but we did bring them to Coonamessett Farm. It was their first time seeing farm animals up close - they even got to touch a bunny.

Checking out the chickens

The Bunn Boys meet the alpaca

Picking dinner

My parents joined us later with our good family friends, so we could have a birthday dinner for my mom on Saturday. Rob picked up two Schramsburg sparkling wines - one made with pinot noir grapes and the other from chardonnay grapes. So we had a little taste test over appetizers! We cooked everyone fresh swordfish and green beans we had picked at the farm. (Which, by the way, has made me want to grow green beans of our own!) Such fun.

An after dinner walk to the beach to enjoy the sunset


The only not-so-fun part of the trip was the nail we picked up in our tire, giving us a nice flat while out for a drive with the boys.

The Bunn Boys go to Coonamessett Farm

(click image to enlarge)

Please Don't Feed the Winstons

We were able to get away to the Cape for a few days (more to come about that). While at a farm, we let the boys take a bite of our cookie. Apparently Winston thought my finger was the cookie. The good news is that his teeth are nice and sharp!

He needs a sign like those that are posted for the farm animals: Please Don't Feed the Winstons.

The Padded Room

Rob came up with a great new activity for the boys: destroy the couch. He took two of the bottom cushions off and put them on the floor. The boys LOVE climbing all over the couch. And the best part is that the arm rest is now too high for them to climb up on (and fall over the side). And if they fall, they are landing on pillows. We always joked that we should just make the play room into a padded room - and this is close! Who needs a jungle gym when you have a couch?

Charlie hanging out (and recovering from his fever)

Wes climbing down (Rob taught them to go "feet first"...which they do most of the time...when they don't go head first...)

Winston all smiles

Wes (top) & Win romping on the couch

And now for your favorite game: Guess Which Baby? I often forget how identical Win & Wes look, and am surprised when people ask me how I tell them apart. (My impish answer: "By the way they look...") But this photo got me! Can you tell who's who?