I do it myself!

I know I have previously called Mr 5 Captain Fussy, but he is fast being out fussed by his little brother, Mr Indescribable (no, honestly, my mind goes blank when trying to think of a catchy one word description of him). Here is an example of his schedule recently.

Sunday morning. Daylight saving has finished, so he wakes at 6.12 am old time, 5.12 am new time. I have volunteered to give hubby the lie in and do breakfast.

• I don't want a nappy (after going to the toilet, so we need to replace the nappy, either with new or old, I don't care, I just want to see if I can convince him to go back to bed for 20 mins or so)
• I don't want undies either (so fine, I put PJ pants back on without anything, praying to the god of the toilet division that we'll get away with a dry bed, because although I tell myself I don't care, I know I'll regret it if he wets the bed)
• I don't want to hop back in bed, I want to lie on the floor in the corner in the 40F (about 4C) cold (Fine, I'll put a blanket on you, and threaten that if you don't lie quietly I'll shut the door)
• I want to hop up "I just awake" "it morning time" (it is black dark)  (but I lie possum in our room for about 20 mins, just to enforce the point)
• I want breakfast, so we go downstairs to get breakfast. but then we find something to play with, so 
• I don't want breakfast. but then we see big brother getting breakfast, so 
• I do want breakfast (and I'll whinge like you were starving me)
• I want cereal, starting with oats but 
• I want to get my own, while spilling half the container on the table, (and I'll get upset and frustrated about that too).
• I want cheerios (but "I do it myself", which we can't let him do, as he doesn't have the co-ordination to stop once he starts, with inevitable results)

And here is the clanger -

• I want rice pockets. After double checking, I pour them in, but once they are poured in:
• I don't want rice pockets (so I break every parenting rule in the book, and pick rice pockets out from amongst the cheerios. Thank goodness I hadn't mixed them in yet...) 
• I don't want milk (but we do eventually establish that he does want a spoon, presumably to eat it dry). Then - seeing as big brother is having fruit toast - 
• I want fruit toast (and whinges that it doesn't magically instantly appear on his plate) After coming into kitchen to supervise fruit toast, 
• I want milk but then for some reason, after the cup is poured, I don't want milk, but then when I go to put it away in the fridge, he gets upset about putting it away. Apparently he doesn't want milk, but he wants it on the table lined up beside the cereal he also doesn't want.
• I want jam on my fruit toast (seriously, this is an abomination on so many levels...)
• Dad arrives, and nearly pours milk on cereal after being asked for milk on cereal, and it is only at the last minute that he too is informed that he doesn't want milk...
• Finally, after eating all of his fruit toast, with jam (bleugh), and drinking the milk he doesn't want, he wants milk on his cereal - and HE EATS THE ENTIRE BOWLFUL. We are, understandably, a touch flabbergasted.

More Amazing Thai Food

How are the kids the day after Halloween? Fidgety and argumentative and slightly crazy. It could be the change in weather, we are having a bit of a cold snap (Snow in Maine!!), or the late night, or many different things completely unrelated to the previous evenings entertainment.
Thanks to a perceptive, generous friend, who happened to have some free time, we had already organised some play time away from us, so we got to eat Thai for lunch while they sorted out their wiggles (actually, apparently they were model citizens, but that's very typical). I think eating Thai is fast becoming my ultimate comfort food. Sitting by the window in the quiet restaurant, looking out at the rain watching people  hurry by, nursing my cup of green tea and eating the delicious seafood noodle dish (LHS of photo) that we discovered by dint of not ordering exactly the same thing as last time (I'm not sure if people realise, but this is an effort for us!)...mmmm
The downside of completely relaxing over lunch was feeling exhausted later on, because I had completely relaxed.

More beautiful leaves

It is so beautiful to watch the leaves change. It is not an overnight thing, but a progression, and it varies from year to year (apparently) and from tree to tree (and sometimes, from position to position!). I see more and more beauty, the more I look. My camera doesn't do it justice. And to walk in the warm sunshine, with the leaves gently spinning down out of the trees, a touch of haze in the air, and a bit of a chilly breeze, is really enjoyable.

Trick or Treating

Mr 5 graduated from only being happy to wear a helmet to being happy to wear the entire fireman's outfit in about three weeks of thinking about it, and we organised for me and him to walk around with a class mate and his parents down the street. It was a weird evening, because it isn't a common thing in Australia to knock on people's doors and for them to give out candy (lollies), so I felt a bit embarassed about it.
On one hand, it is an opportunity to say hi to people who live 5 m away from you that you see around, and on the other hand, in our neighbourhood kids were 'bused in' from outside by their parents, and it got rather busy around 7pm. Quite a few people were treating it as an evening to sit outside and chat with their neighbours and have a few beers, or have people over for dinner, with bonus evening activity for the kids.
I had walked the baby around to a few friends houses earlier on, and he got to say hello and talk about his costume (a borrowed pilots suit), and pat the dog, and although at the time I felt hugely stressed about being the only people on the street, in retrospect I enjoyed that sort of interaction better than when it was more rushed and there were heaps of people around. He was in bed asleep by the time the main action started, which we were pleased about.
The only dilemma - what to do with all the candy?! I'm hoping that out of sight = out of mind.
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Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Turns out I don't like lager. Not even lime juice can redeem it, it is just so flavoursome (bitter...).
This is lager from Boston, which is apparently in the domestic imported category of beers - you pay import prices even in America. I don't quite get this, but it is still cheap, but I guess not as cheap as Bud?

Carving Pumpkins

Carving pumpkins was surprisingly easy. We bought a tool set from Target, which I thought would be very cheap, but turned out to be strong enough for our two little pumpkins. Mr 5 designed his own face and helped carve, and it was a nice little evening activity. We tested them with torches in the basement.

Undershirts

Hubby has discovered a beautiful thing - undershirts - sort of a cheap cotton Tshirt worn under a business shirt. They actually look a lot like the Tshirts that possibly the cool young things wore out in Sydney when I was last there.
Initially, he was a bit taken aback when the business shirt salesman asked if he had undershirts, but after ruminating on it for a couple of weeks, he decided that it might help with warmth in the office - the office being just cool enough in winter that something more than a business shirt is required, but a jumper is often too much. And then the bonus points started when he realised that wearing an undershirt meant he could get two wears out of his business shirts = less ironing. The joy of it.
I can't think of an appropriate photo to put with this one, so use your imaginations.