Fall in the city

Even though I am back at work and things are busier, we still had some fun times recently.  Justine is already almost 6 months old, and Spencer is now loving preschool.  Justine is sitting up, trying her first foods, constantly squealing like she needs us to know she has a voice (she might have to keep that up for awhile in this household), and remaining much calmer than her brother in most all situations.  Maybe one day she'll sleep too.

In terms of Spencer updates, it's pretty hilarious to watch the excitement of Halloween and Christmas grow exponentially each year with young kids.  Spencer basically spent October talking about the candy at Halloween, and then Halloween night running from house to house yelling, "More candy!"  And he's already been making a list for Santa (probably since I tell him to ask Santa for almost every single thing he asks me to buy for him).  On the list of "Bad/Naughty" things he shouldn't do before the holiday, he put down: hitting, whining, kicking people, matches (he learned this from the firefighter visit at school), not going to bed on time, and tearing up books -- I guess that means he's listening?  I have been writing down other funny things he says in my phone to try to capture this age, and here are some recent gems:

• Trying to convince him to try cheese again, I reminded him that he used to eat cream cheese and cheese sticks as a baby.  His response:  "When I was a baby, I used to eat cheese *branches*." Always a competition, and he always is winning.
• He often watches a Sesame Street video about brushing teeth with Bruno Mars.  And he calls him "San Bruno Mars," a mash up with the name of the mountain next to our house.
• Singing the Ghostbusters song before Halloween, we taught him 'I ain't afraid of no ghosts.' He paused and responded: "But you *should* be afraid of ghosts."
• Closing his eyes tight and shaking back and forth in his car seat: "I can't get all my energy out, Mom!"  
• And the true winner, while eating BBQ with my brother, "After I eat ribs, I'm gonna bounce," and when my brother leaves and takes home leftovers: "My daddy hooked you up."  Just a tiny carbon copy of Chris.

 Here are some pictures from the past few months:

 

Hardly Strictly Music festival in GG park:

Halloween kiddos:

Justine and I took a work trip to DC and met family/friends (apologies that I didn't take more pictures):

First daddy-son camping trip near Santa Cruz:

Ocean fishing with dad (breaking apart a sardine fish for crab bait):

Eating the fish eyeball after camping (!):


And finally, here is Spencer's rendition of a preschool Halloween song, with the "stirring the [witch's] brew" finale!