The SJ boys

It's become an annual tradition to get the four boys born to SJ mamas together on Halloween for a photo. It has always seemed chaotic, but this year was especially so for the Casper family. For one, we had Ewan, who is hard to get dressed even when it doesn't involve a monkey costume. And then there is ornery Eli, who did NOT want his photo taken, even under threats of no trick-or-treating. Sigh...

Happy Halloween!

Eli, being obsessed with Bob the Builder, wanted to be Scoop for Halloween. If, for some really strange reason, you haven't watched Bob the Builder over and over again, Scoop is the back hoe digger or excavator or some such yellow dirt-moving machine. For weeks, Eli wavered between wanting to be Bob (read: SUPER EASY costume) and wanting to be Scoop (read: OMG HOW ON EARTH WILL WE MAKE THAT COSTUME!?!?)

In the end, Scoop prevailed and Mommy and Daddy bucked up and spent a Sunday afternoon designing and building Scoop. Eli was very interested in helping (Can we make it? YES WE CAN!). He colored the wheels and banged the cardboard with a hammer.

In the end, it turned out super cute. And Eli loves his costume, which is what it is all about, right?!?

When we went trick-or-treating at Daddy's work on Friday, Eli ran into his friend, the ring-tailed lemur!

More pj shots

Like I said, I love the matching pjs.

A first haircut

OK, so I love Eli's hair and have been reluctant to cut it even though it hangs in his eyes, gets all crazy and weird after nap, and turns to dreadlocks if we don't use conditioner. I've actually had to cut out several knots.

But I gave in and cut his hair (myself) and it looks cute. The bummer is that a lot of the curl is gone. He definitely looks like a little boy now and less like a baby.

Pre-haircut (and playing on a tractor at an apple farm)


Post-haircut (and still sucking on the lollipop that was necessary to be able to cut his hair)

Moose antlers

Whenever we go for walks in the neighborhood, Eli brings home things he found -- usually sticks, acorns or leaves.

On this walk, he saw a stick and said, "Look, moose antlers!" Then he picked them up, stuck them in the back of his sweatshirt and declared, "I am a moose!"

First roll

Ewan rolled over for the first time!

Of course, Michael was at work so he missed it.

I was in the other room, so I missed it. I put him on his back on his playmat in the living room and when I came back he was on his tummy!

A big brother's job

Eli was so so proud to be cleaning Ewan's exersaucer with Grandma. He kept saying, "We need to clean this for baby Ewan" and "This is a lot of work!" and "Mommy will be so proud!"

Meta-morph-o-SIS!

Funny stories about Eli:

1. In the car the other day, Eli was practicing his pronunciation. With the word "metamorphosis."


2. We were playing in the backyard (OK, Mama was sitting on her butt and Eli was running back and forth to the supermarket to buy food!) Eli asked if I wanted eggs.

Mama: "Yes, I love eggs!"

Eli: "What kind of eggs?"

Mama: "Poached, please."

Eli: "I can't get you poached cuz why they only have those at the farmer's market and I am going to the supermarket. How about scrambled?"


3. One day when I was eating leftovers from a restaurant for lunch, Eli couldn't stop asking me questions about them. Why didn't I finish my food at the restaurant?; Why was I too full?; and why did I bring them home? After going around and around about it for quite some time, Eli said, "I know! You should have waited for a long time and then the food would go into your legs and you would have room in your stomach for more food!"


4. Over dinner one night, Eli asked Daddy why he had to go to work the next day. Daddy said he needed to make some money. Eli said, "So you can buy...(waving his left arm for emphasis while he thinks of the word)...ingredients for pancakes?"

Ewan is 4 months old!

Dear sweet Ewan is 4 months old today.

He still has his super blue-blue eyes, and they follow anything in front of him, especially brother Eli.

Ewan is still crazy about his bath and shakes his right leg so much that he splashes water all over Mama and the floor. (He takes a bath in the infant tub on our dining room table.)

He is fairly easy to distract unless something is really wrong. For the past few days I've been able to stop his fussing by singing him "Ally Bally Bee." He just stares at me with a little smile on his face.

A little over a week again, Ewan started sitting in his exersaucer. He can only stand it for about 20-30 minutes, but he really likes the different perspective. And his neck and back muscles are getting much stronger.

Partly because he is a big guy, and partly because he is in cloth diapers, Ewan now wears 6-month clothing.

For the past two weeks he has been drooling like crazy, probably in anticipation of some teeth on the bottom. (although I bet we don't see them for a few months!)

Happy birthday sweet Ewan!

Eli is Eli

I just love that my toddler makes me laugh (when I am not pulling my hair out!)

Here are a few funny stories:

A few nights ago, I asked Eli if he wanted to help me give Ewan a bath. This is usually something Eli asks if he can do, especially if it is past time for his own bath. Instead of yelling "Yes!" like I expected, he said in all seriousness, "I can help you just a little bit and then I have to run buck naked. Sorry."

When he was putting broccoli on the ground and laughing wildly when Zula ate it, I asked him to stop feeding Zula. He said, "I'm not feeding Zula, I just put food down on the ground for her to eat."

When he was screeching some nursery rhymes at the top of his lungs, I asked him to please sing more softly. He said he didn't want to. But he came up with a great solution: going into another room and closing the door. Except he decided to go into the hall closet. After a few minutes of loud singing, Eli came out and said, "It's too dark. I can't see my words!"

Yesterday, when we were reading books upstairs, he said he wanted to read Babar. I told him the book was downstairs and I asked him to get it. He said, "No, you get it. And don't dawdle, cuz why you might get hurt."

Gymnastics

On Thursday mornings, Ewan and I take Eli to a gymnastics class. It's called Tumble Tykes. Eli doesn't love it but he likes all of the fun mats and the balance beam.

Pajama party

I just think it is adorable when Eli and Ewan wear the same pajamas.

Too practical

I love to pretend with Eli. Lately, I've been asking him if he wants to ride in a space ship when we get in the car. (It also has the added benefit of getting him in his car seat and buckled in faster.) But it seems that he can't just play along anymore -- he has to point out why the car isn't a spaceship or whatever.

Yesterday I asked if we should take a boat or a spaceship to the store. He enthusiastically said "Boat!" but when I was strapping him in his seat, Eli said, "This is a car Mommy. Boats don't have wheels."

It's not that he won't pretend anymore: he pretends he is building or fixing something every day, but he definitely likes to point out the discrepancies.

Bummer. I liked taking a space ship to the grocery store!

Cookies for cows

Last night the whole family took a lovely walk in the neighborhood. Except for Ewan, we all ate an oatmeal raisin cookie on the walk. Eli was in heaven. He kept commenting on the cookie and how much he liked cookies.

I told him that he liked cookies so much that he would probably like one even made out of dirt and leaves and grass!

Eli: "No Mommy, I won't like that cookie cuz why I'm not a cow!"