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Natalie wanted to come to Longmeadow for her birthday, so I write outside the pool showers at the Hartford Marriott. Everyone can hear their rendition of Deck the Halls as I wait. I survived a night with four tweens in one hotel room. They watched Sleepover (from 2004), did hair, used facial products, ate way too much sugar, played with fidgets, played on their phones (ugh – 2 of 4 had them) and giggled. We were in bed by 11 because I’m 40… and I have a School Committee retreat at noon today. They set their alarm (we compromised at 7:23 and 40 seconds) so they would get more time together.  We also got our nails done yesterday, had lunch with our priest (a big I Love Lucy fan who knows Natalie finds it funny too and bought her two ornaments in NYC), and slept over at another good friends house. Elliott is here too but on mega sleepovers/play dates with his two best friends so I haven’t seen him except for transporting him between two houses and sneaking a hug in. I think he made a TNT explosion on mindcraft YouTube video last night.
we miss Conor and Jordan but they had a fun trip to IKEA and are hanging out with his brothers fam today.

Conor is definitely his own person.  He is filled with a lot of opinions (hmmm… sound a bit like Natalie, especially as a toddler?)

His bedtime routine – following stories – now results in me in his crib in my spot (aka right side of the crib) singing “Mommy loves you so very much” (followed by Daddy, Natalie, Eee, Conor, Michelle – the mom of one of Elliott’s best friends in Longmeadow, and what seems to be two made up things – Ca and something else.)  Then 3 hugs (I have to be on top of him) and a kiss.  And then he asks if Daddy, Elliott or Nat can do the same routine.  The other day, we got home really late from Elliott’s wrestling – he was so tired but insisted on being hungry, so I ended up lying in the crib waiting for him to finish his sandwich (aka bread he folds over a piece of cheese) before I could sing.

He is also super possessive over loveys, who gets to sit next to him, etc… and especially of me.  What started as teasing from N and E to Conor… “Conor, mommy is my mommy too” has turned into Conor saying back, “No, MY MOMMY”.  And back and forth with N and E trying to explain that the 3 of them share a mommy.  A recent epidode… On our way to church, he wasn’t sure how to answer this question… “Who is Natalie’s mommy?”  Then we asked, “Who is Natalie’s Daddy?” and he pointed right to Jordan.  Then, we asked “Who is Natalie’s Mommy?” and he said “she lives in a different house.”  Then we asked, “Who is Elliott’s Daddy?” and he pointed right to Jordan.  Then, we asked “Who is Elliott’s Mommy?” and he said “he doesn’t have one.”  Then, we asked “Who is that?” (Pointing to me).  He answered, “Only MY Mommy.”

Here are random pics from the last month.  And, fun fact, post Halloween, his favorite treat was Kit Kats (for a poop on the potty) and now 2 marshmellows.  He told me yesterday that the best foods were strawberry yogurt squeezes and marshmellows.

Do you like my earrings? (He came up with this on his own and has proudly FaceTimed family to show them)

What’s going on down there?

Yum… I’m a baker. Frosting for breakfast – sold!

Elliott had the best season of flag football. Coach Joe and his son Coach Ayden are the best. Positive, well prepared, celebratory but humble. Emphasizes skills like hard work and team work. Feel so lucky that Elliott got to be a part of this team. He tried all the positions but played left and right tackle and guard the most and had some excellent blocks!

He also appreciates his fans – dad, Natalie, Conor, Grandma, Grandpa, Trevor, Pop, Clayton, Nana, Alex, Jira, and Wesley

autographs and pics available through his agent/mother

Any more gummies in there?

Who would have ever thought that this Green Bay girl would yell “Go Bears!”  Well, this one – when my awesome 8-year old is on the Bears flag football team.  Elliott had his first ripping-the-flags-from-an-opponent on Sunday, so we celebrated with ice cream at Let’s Yo!  You’ll see that Conor was scouring everyone’s ice cream for more gummy worms.

The Bears are the first seed in the semi-finals on Oct. 23!  Coach Joe is AMAZING!  His 9th grade son coaches when he doesn’t have his own football games too.  Coach Joe loves the game and loves the kids.  After games, you can hear him complimenting them, but also being specific about what they need to work on next time.  He reminds them to eat well and get a good night’s rest.

The team is awesome too – there’s been a lot of football parties and gatherings.  It’s great that there’s room for everyone with this team.  I signed up Elliott for flag football b/c he hasn’t really been that interested in soccer.  Football in Longmeadow was a more obscure sport – I didn’t realize it was so big here.  It’s been one of the highlights of our move, in my opinion.  (Elliott may not always match my enthusiasm, but he has learned a ton.  He and I have to beat our record of 31 tosses back and forth.)

Conor is on day 3 of potty training!  We tried a month ago and he refused to even put on undies, so we waited.  (And read a lot of potty books and sang a lot of potty songs.)  He was home from school today due to staff PD, so I had a lot of Conor time.  I also had off work, so it was a much less stressful day than when he would be home last year and we’d have a nanny call in sick unexpectedly.  Much less juggling = a lot more fun.

I’m going to eat this (play doh) alligator!

Look how big my pony is! (Pony = tower) Bonus: Can you figure out the pattern like Conor did?

This is like a little chair! I can sit here. (Also, a commercial for Capri Sun in support of extra liquids during potty training)

I help Mommy cook (chili)

Those are my stickers! (aka window clingy things that Grandma sends up – today, Conor did a magic trick. Put one of the stars in his mouth and showed Jordan an empty tongue. Wow. It disappeared! Hopefully non-toxic)

(J&I tried to talk him into wearing the train conductor costume that Elliott had at this age that was so adorable… but this guy prefers blue Batman PJs.)

Nah-nah-nah-nah BATMAN!

Poop ducks out Mommy?  This is the park that Conor and I go to on our bike ride home from school  we like to watch tennis  spin around  play one for the money on the swing and meet friends  one time we stepped in duck poop

EDIT: Less than 10 minutes later, I was walking back from getting Conor’s water bottle and talking on my phone for 2 min with my old boss, when Conor started screaming.  I couldn’t tell whether he jammed/broke his finger at the bottom of the slide or was stung by a bee.  I biked home as fast as I could (1.5 miles away or so) with him screaming, told Jordan to delay going to paddle, called our neighbor nurse to come over and take a look… basically, I think he stung it (even though this is not a high-bee park!) and he watched multiple episodes of Daniel Tiger and Dora that night to distract him.  So, that’s the other side of nice C&E dates.

this is the crew that Elliott walks or rides bikes with to school each morning. (1 4th grade boy, a third grade boy, a second grade boy and née to the crew this week – a first or second grade girl) I was on a run when he was getting ready for school so I caught up with them to give Elliott a morning hug. They were amazed by the awesome cloud formation and all stopped to take a pic of it on their school iPads.

We are so close to WI that the ice cream shop in town has Superman, Blue Moon and Mackinaw Island Fudge! All big kids ordered Blue Moon. Conor asked for “white ice cream”.

last pic is unrelated to the post but shows what Conor likes to draw with chalk – not unicorns or rainbows or dogs or trucks. But sausage pizza. He also discovered at Nanas that he likes pepperoni too. He asks for pizza about every night.

Conor’s newest joke is giving me a hug but not wrapping his arms around me. He just puts his body in mine and has his arms shoot straight out. “I being funny.”

his first joke of “I’m pizza” has expanded to be hilarious other items like “I’m trampoline!”  ?