You could say I have a lot of catching up to do. Frankly, many people have. So here goes...
Halloween: Oscar was Annie's old costume of a monkey, but how fitting (literally and figuratively). He's constantly bouncing off of furniture and eats more than his fair share of bananas. Annie, keeping with her theme of family pets, was Roscoe, our cat. We went trick-or-treating with Annie's friend and our neighbor, Hayden, and even though Oscar did not nap that day, nothing could keep him from the excitement and sugar awaiting him down our street. Every time he came away from a house, he would look up at me, shocked, and say, "More tindy!!" (aka "candy"). It was so fun watching him try to keep up with the girls and stop to get candy at the same time.
Birthdays: Oscar is now officially and terribly two. As a result, he's really quite excellent at saying, "no," hitting people, throwing plastic objects, and refusing to eat any and all foods presented to him, even if he asked for said foods. On the bright side, he has a great sense of humor, and his vocabulary has exploded over the past few weeks. I can actually understand at least 60% of what he says now. Annie is five, and despite never watching network TV, she still has an insatiable desire for anything Barbie. She takes after her mother, I'm sorry to say. I even feel myself getting secretly excited when she acquires a new accessory. They were both spoiled rotten for their respective days. Annie got to have a birthday party at a chocolate café and then celebrate her actual day with a cake made with a doll whose skirt was the cake. Oscar missed having a party (I wouldn't say he missed it, he still is excited at believing any occasion involving candles is one for which we sing Happy Birthday to You, even if they're just the ones on our dinner table), but made up for it by having his birthday cohort GranBob (who turned 71 the same day) and the lovely Nana present to help celebrate. He hadn't napped that day either (anyone noticing a pattern, here?), so he was a little out of it for the celebration, but I think he was pretty psyched given how much attention he paid to his icing. 
Thanksgiving: Grandparents Part II. Oma and Papa Joe were here to help us give thanks and to get an early start on our winter weight. Even though there were only four grown-ups present for the meal, we had enough food to feed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. But it was great and afforded us plenty of leftovers (which is really the point of Thanksgiving, am I right?). We had a great time eating (except for Oscar; again, no nap and he's 2), but we took a break to do a few other activities as well: the Mad Cap puppet show at the museum (in which mom had a cameo role), trolley ride down Frankfurt Avenue (a small-business mecca), and some good old fashioned park play and walks to keep said winter weight in check.
Now, we're gearing up for our trip for Christmas and New Year's. And if you're lucky, you'll get to hear about it sometime in February. I'm trying, people, really.
