The Zoe and Silas Show

Zoe and Silas were recently given some great presents for their 2nd birthday from our friends Tom & Jen. One of them was a  Melissa & Doug clock shape sorter , which has been great fun to play with. They also got some clothes. Zoe's outfit is so cute and unique that I had to post pictures. Hers is a Dollie & Me matching clothes ensemble. After we dressed the baby in her new clothes, Zoe was obsessed with her all day! We tried to get a few posed pictures too :-) As we were getting ready to leave for brunch, she tried to put Silas' shoes on the baby. Silas was not very happy about that, so we had to put the kabosh on this idea. Many thanks to Tom & Jen for the thoughtful and generous birthday presents!!!!!!

We carved a pumpkin yesterday and Derek made these delicious pumpkin seeds! Dry pumpkin seeds in 300F degree oven for 30 minutes. Then toss with seasonings below and roast at 350F for 15 minutes or until fragrant and crisp. 2 c. dried pumpkin seeds 2 T. melted butter 3 T. brown sugar 1/2 t. coarse salt 1/2 t. cinnamon Another seasoning mix idea, Spicy Herbed Pumpkin Seeds 2 c. dried pumpkin seeds 1 T. chipotle chili powder 1/2 t. onion powder 2 T. sesame oil 1 T. dried parsley 1/2 t. coarse salt Beware, because they're addictive!

It would be an understatement to say that our lives have been a *little* crazy the last two October's (click here to see what we were up to in 2009 and here for 2010). Life feels a lot more manageable these days, so I definitely wanted us to carve a pumpkin this Halloween. My mom was flying back to North Dakota this morning, so we took the opportunity before her flight to carve Zoe & Silas' first jack-o-lantern! First we had to come up with the vision and draw on the face, Next we rolled up our sleeves, And laid down newspaper. Derek put the kids to work pulling out the seeds.   Daddy got to carving while the kids watched, And lickety-split, it was time to check out the finished product! Look, Gwa-wa!!! We got cozy last night and lit up the pumpkin. Silas loved that part, and this morning asked "punkin on, punkin on". We're also enjoying a refrigerator decorated with the last two art projects f...

Zoe was being Zoe yesterday at lunchtime. This can mean a number of things, but yesterday it meant a temper tantrum when it was time to go in her booster seat to eat lunch. When she initially freaked out Derek stopped trying to put her in her seat and gave her a few minutes in his lap before trying again (let me just say we've been down this road before, and sometimes taking a break will stop the madness). The tantrum that ensued included but was not limited to back arching and freaking out as we strapped her in the seat for a second time; refusing to sit at the table after we got her in (she kept pushing herself away), screaming "up" over and over and over, and two 2-minute timeouts in hopes of getting her to calm down (which she was generally unable or unwilling to do).  After doing battle for another 15 minutes with her freaking out in her seat, I gave in and took her out. While this whole s**t show was going on, Silas sat there watching everything and quietly ate hi...

I dropped my mom off at the airport today, after a wonderful two week long visit. The kids had a great time with "Gwa-wa" and we are very sad to see her go... There was a lot of time spent drawing on the easel, Reading stories, And building towers. We also went to Castle Island , visited the Children's Museum , took a daytrip to Concord , and attended the LCN Halloween party !!! Oh, and we carved a pumpkin this morning before she left (post coming soon). What a great visit - we can't wait to see my parents again at Christmas!

Now that I am a parent I've realized that Halloween isn't what it used to be. Long gone are the days of trick-or-treating in random neighborhoods and eating candy from strangers. As my kids are getting a little older, I decided to turn to my community of friends and co-workers at Children's Hospital in order to start what I hope will be a new Halloween tradition. A crew of people from several of our research labs decorated the entire 6th floor yesterday afternoon in preparation for 25+ kids and their parents to descend for trick-or-treating at 4:00 today. For our costumes, Zoe was an angel, And Silas was a devil. Honestly, it would have been more reflective of personalities and temperament for the costumes to be reversed, but Silas wasn't too keen on wearing wings and a halo. I velcro'd the pitchfork to his back and was amazed he left the hat on as long as he did. Click  here  to see our costumes last year! A bunch of lab members baked ...