Langston chew

For the last few weeks Langston has been eating solids at dinner time. So far he has tried the food, but not been totally into it. There is usually a sour face that goes with each bite... until last night. He really liked the banana/raspberry combo and started to 'chew' the food.

Halloween and Check-ups

Here we are, the Holavarri family all dressed up for Halloween. I talked Jay in to going as a dog to match my cat costume. They are simple but cute renditions of the family pets. Kahlil is a monkey... unfortunately you can't see the banana in his pocket. And Langston is a monster... well really he's a dragon but every time we asked Kahlil what he should be, Kahlil said a monster and we thought this was close enough.

We trick-or-treated around downtown Corvallis again this year. It was lots of fun. There were scores of great costumes running around having a good time. At Soft Star we gave away all the whistles, kazoos, and stickers we had bought so we made an emergency trip to the store for candy. After four big bags of candy we had to close up shop!

Grandma Dolores had a great time too. She said it was the best Halloween she had had in many years. She loved seeing the scads of cute kids. And I think she also enjoyed pushing Langston around in his mobile throne.

The week before Halloween, both boys had their check-ups; Kahlil's 3 year and Langston's 6 month. The short update is that they are both healthy and doing great. They are both 75% percentile for height, weights, and head size. Seems they are consistent! Langston is up to 18 1/2 pounds and Kahlil is just shy of 34 pounds. Kahlil got one shot and he took it like a big boy... no tears, but the look on his face was worth a million dollars. I was trying to distract him by taking turns making funny faces - when the needle went in, the look of shock was something I could not repeat. Poor Langston had to have four shots and he cried like... well, like a baby. Luckily the after affects from the shots were pretty minimal for Langston and he was pretty much over them in less than two days.

At the Pumpkin Patch

Ok, last update for a few days. We went to the pumpkin patch today. It was great fun...

a hay ride to and from the pumpkins, hot cider and fresh donuts, a big hay stack to play on, and a corn maze. It was a gorgeous day and we all really enjoyed being out.






We also had a little crack viewing :-)

Look who's THREE and up-to-date on October

Our first big event in October was the celebration of Kahlil's third complete trip around the sun. That's right, Kahlil is THREE. The party was held at Pappa's Pizza, a favorite with the younger set because of the pizza and play area. (Pappa's Pizza is dreaded by parents because of the less than yummy pizza and the germ incubator know as the play area. But this time we had just gotten over pink eye and were still coughing from our most recent colds so we were the germ distributors rather than collectors.) Kahlil and his friends - Tivi, Cruz, Sean, Leo, Annika, Wren, TJ, Valerie, and Maggie - had a great time.
The other big event for the first half of October was the arrival of Grandma Dolores. She came to meet Langston and the spend some time with Kahlil. She will be here for a month. She is the reason I have a little extra time to do these updates! She generally keeps Langston happy and entertained. It's been especially helpful at work where she and Langston have been going for walks and letting me work for more than five minutes at a time.

Last week the Soft Star crew went bowling for a little break. We've been working hard the last few months and wanted to knock a few things down. It was the first time bowling for the youngest elves - Tivi, Kahlil, and Cruz. They really got into it! Of course their bowling etiquette is a little lacking as they liked to lay down at the end of the ally and wait for their balls to knock down the pins.

Look who's MARRIED and a general September update

Over the last few weeks I've had several people tell me they wanted new updates on this blog... and since I have a little extra time (I'll explain later) I thought I should get to it.

We were in the Bay Area last month for Morgan's wedding - my Baby Brother is getting all grown up! Here he is with his beautiful new wife, Kataneh:

The rehearsal dinner was held at a restaurant that has a belly dancer. Kahlil was quite taken by the dancer (although his cousin, Colin was VERY taken and kept asking for her to come back after the show). Kahlil asked two questions about her... 1) is she a girl?, and 2) why don't her clothes fit right? I guess puberty is a ways off. Since we were there for a wedding we were talking a lot about love and marriage. Kahlil told us he knew who he is going to marry... Tivi. We told him there are lots of girls in the sea and he might want to wait a while before making that decision. But he told us "she's the one for me" - so there you go, the next wedding is on the schedule!

While in the Bay Area, we also spent a day with Mike / Heather and Jess / Jessica. It was great to meet Baby Baxter. He was super cute. Here's four of the six Cal Poly boys: Eli, Baxter, Kahlil, and Langston.

Other developments last month were Langston starting on solids. He seems pretty into it which isn't surprising given his girth. I think Jay and I will need to consider a second mortgage for groceries when the boys are teens.

Kahlil and Langston have started doing bath time together. It's VERY entertaining for both of them.

And finally is the pink eye outbreak that hit home. Kahlil and Jay were affected here... thank goodness Langston didn't get it. Several friends came down with it as well. Luck for us Kahlil actually likes getting eye drops - weird kid!! He was easier to medicate than Jay.

Big Boys

All three boys in the house are having a big time lately. The biggest boy, Jay, had a good Father's Day. The best gift was a personalized hat given to him by Kahlil. It's hard to see in the picture, but there are Kahlil hand prints and 'Best Dad' written on it.

Kahlil's big news is that he is potty trained (mostly). YEAH!!!! We just decided it was time and put him in big boy underwear. The first few days were pretty rocky... no successes. But then he seemed to just get it. Of course the Cars cars were a big help. It's been a little over a week now and he is still having accidents, but the process is definitely under way.

And finally the newest boy... and his big news it that he is just plain big. He was weighed at the midwife yesterday and he topped the scales at 14 pounds, 7 ounces. That's a lot of heft for one not even two months old!

Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend...

Friday started with a hike in the forest. It was Langston's first time in nature and the first time both boys rode in the bike trailer turned stroller.






















Saturday we went to the second birthday of a friend, Sylvia. It was a fantastic BBQ with lots of room to run and play. Including a fire pit that kept us up late.

Sunday we went to a BBQ at Kris and Paul's house. They have a LARGE chess board. Kahlil helped his dad play by moving pieces that were nearly life size for him. It was entertaining.















We were all tired out. Kahlil and Jay and Langston spent a little extra time in bed.

Langston has been working on smiling. Here is a good one I got on film.