Westmoreland Asays

Aaron discovered that he can fit in the cabinet (with closing doors) underneath my old entertainment center that we keep in the bonus room upstairs, and which he enjoys playing in, on, and around. He dubbed it his sleeping hole and was determined to sleep in it through the night. So the two of us brought his pillow and blankets from his bed and went through his normal nightime ritual. When it was time to say good-night, I closed the cabinet doors and left the room. Not two minutes later--to noone's surprise--Aaron was screaming with fear and would not calm down for several minutes. We walked down the stairs back to his room, and he slept peacefully in his bed--at least till 2:00 a.m., or some insanely early hour of the night.

Meg and the boys picked me up at the office after work (both fell asleep before I got in the car), and we drove to SE Portland for drive-though Arby's and Christmas light viewing on Peacock Lane. Having grown up in the midst of Keizer's Miracle on 14th Street, and having heard this display compared to Peacock Lane, I thought it appropriate to finally see what it was all about. Let me tell you: it doesn't really compare. The street is short, and the displays, while nice, were nothing like I remember from Keizer. But the real joy of the evening was when the boys finally woke up: Edward crapped his pants and then barfed all over himself (his last barf of his brief bout with some strange virus that only he contracted), and Aaron cried endlessly, even though we offered him a strawberry milkshake, fries, and chicken strips--his favorite meal of all-time. He got over it eventually, and Edward went back to sleep until we arrived home.

Edward Crawls During Thanksgiving week, Edward mustered the courage to trainsition from sitting position to crawling position, where he rocked back and forth for a long time before realizing he could move forward. His movements are still slow and archaic, but he can get anywhere he wants. Aaron is Toilet Trained Ignoring the occasional accident, Aaron seems dedicated to using the toilet on a full-time basis. We are all overjoyed and relieved, but no one is as excited as Aaron, who loves to celebrate each successful trip to the bathroom. Oak Hills Turkey Bowl 2005 Michael sided with the young men (he is one of their leaders, you know) as they took on the older men in a Thanksgiving morning football game in the Oak Hills common area. Michael eventually gained the confidence of his quarterback and pulled in about 10 receptions, with 4 of them going for touchdowns. The young men's team won by a touchdown, even after fumbling multiple kick returns on pathetic "trick" plays. Tr...

Last week or so we started putting Edward in his crib (in Aaron's room) at night, instead of our bed or the bassinet in our room. Ever since, the boy has slept through the night. It felt magical because it happened so fast and so easy. And Aaron decided to do the same last night, sticking it out from 7:30 p.m. to 5:10 a.m. (his allowed time to get up, because that is when Michael gets up to run--so he can take Dad's place in bed). Aaron's eczema and crazy dreams usually keep him pretty occupied at night, but he has been doing better as his eczema has become less severe. So a new first: both boys sleeping in their beds in their room for the entire night. Yeah boys !

This year was the boys' first year trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Meg took them to her friends' houses, and Michael finished up the rest of the neighborhood (carrying Edward his arms, and dragging Aaron near the end of the evening) plus Trenton (the large and expenseive houses adjacent to our Surrey Pines). Edward was a pumpkin, while Aaron donned a Thomas the Tank Engine costume. After our 8:30 p.m. return, Meg counted all of Aaron's booty to number around 250 pieces; several houses were dumping handsful of loot in Aaron's bag as the evening moved on. Aaron showed his maturity by asking for only two pieces before bed. It had rained all day, cleared up for a few hours during the evening (the weather coopoerated perfectly) and it began pouring again right after we fell asleep.

Family Zoo Trip Meg, the boys, and I visited the Oregon Zoo on Friday morning. When we left Beaverton, it was covered in a fall fog; when we crossed the county line into Portland a few short miles later, there was nothing but blue skies and warm sun. Even though it was an inservice day, our early arrival allowed for a very quiet--almost private--tour of the park. Aaron kept up a torrential pace, moving from exhibit to exhibit, while Meg and I ( hauling Edward on my back) lagged behind. We headed home around noon and parted ways: Meg and the boys to the Booren's in Sherwood, and Michael to the coast for a campout with his scout team . . . Camping with the Varsity Scouts Five of my six boys ended up coming (the last had a football game that evening), and one of the boys' older, married brother played my adult sidekick. Although it rained much of the drive to the coast, by the time we parked the cars at Camp Clark , the rain had subsided and we were able to set up our ...

Aaron, Edward, and Meg all have differing levels of illness at the moment. But Aaron seems to have it the worst. His fever has peaked around 103, making him somewhat delirious. I'm used to dealing with Aaron's middle-of-the-night-wakings, but he came into our room around 2:30 a.m. to announce that he had found his sock, which he had lost during his 12:30 a.m. waking (and which I had refused to look for, despite his incessant crying). He was completely alert, apparently happy and fever-less, but I led him back to his bed and said good-night again. He made his final appearance to our room around 4:30, hot with fever again. This time he wouldn't stop talking about the white and pink elephants (never mind this image's page source) that were in his room (no, we haven't read any Dumbo stories for several months now). But they weren't the scary part: it was the mom and dad monster that drove Aaron to our bed. Even though he said they left through the door, he ...