State Fair!

We went to the NC State Fair today (on Daddy's birthday, no less, with gorgeous weather)! We walked all over and had a great time.

In the North Carolina agriculture building, Karston and Cale each had a sample of fresh peanut butter. After Cale cleaned his popsicle stick of peanut butter, he looked looked up at Stan longingly, and pointed woefully at the empty end of his popsicle stick. Yeah, he got a fresh peanut butter delivery for that cuteness! Who needs words? I was proud of Karston who did the taste test between regular and unsweetened (no molasses) because he picked unsweetened as the tastiest! He's right, the jar of unsweetened just-peanuts peanut butter we brought home is mighty tasty! At the fair, Karston ate french fries, chocolate ice cream, peanut butter, and drank chocolate milk. Cale, of course, ate everything we offered him, and he really wanted that chocolate ice cream too! (Milk allergy said no.)

Both boys loved the merry-go-round, so we'll need to take them to the Christmas carousel again this year. I had to pry Cale's fingers off the pole when the ride was over because he wanted to stay on that horse forever. Karston wanted to ride it again, and the second time, after he made sure I was hugging him securely, he even let go of the pole to wave to Daddy! Karston and I went on another spinning ride (spinning apple chambers on rotating arms ... which inaccurately reminds me of school when I learned that the polhode rolls on the herpolhode), but it wasn't as good as the merry-go-round. Most of the rides were for children over 42" so we skipped those.

Karston wanted to play one of the fishing games. Since Cale looks up to his big brother, if Karston had a fishing pole, Cale had to have a fishing pole! Karston caught two, Cale caught one, and Karston selected a plush pink pig as his prize. I asked Karston if his pig could fly, so of course the answer was YES. Pigs fly when you ask a kid if the fun new stuffed pig can fly.

After all the playing, the kids conked out in the double stroller (thankfully, we brought long not wide). We went to kid-boring exhibits, and then trekked over to the petting zoo. Karston had been asking to go to the petting zoo at the fair for several weeks, so we went. We woke Karston up, he was groggy, but he thought animals were worth waking up. I stayed with the sleeping Cale. When Karston and Daddy came out, Karston was over his grogginess and was excited to tell me all about the animals. He got to feed the animals! The cow slobbered, the goats wanted more food, and the animals nibbled food right out of his hand! So we left the fair very much on a high note.

As we were leaving, Karston said he wants to go again next year. (He knows it's annual!)

Wake Up Jump

This morning at 4:14 am, I woke up when Daddy said Karston??? and I wondered why he said it like a question. Karston said, Hi Daddy, I came in here two times before, but you didn't wake up, and I wanted you to sleep in my bed. OK, so that's why Karston's here, but why the question? Then Daddy asked, Karston, were you jumping? -Yes Daddy! I was jumping next to you.

I can just imagine the early morning fog in a darkened bedroom, and that thought, Is that my child jumping just in front of my nose at the edge of the bed? There are some aspects of parenting you just can't expect in advance, and I think this is one of those!

Nineteen

Cale has added some new moves: when you mention dancing, Cale will grin and carefully step around in a circle. So when Mickey Mouse says it's time for the Mouse-ka Dance at the end of a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode, Cale starts dancing if he wasn't already.

I gave Cale a haircut yesterday. In the front, because he wouldn't hold still, it's ... ah ... not my best work, but at least it's out of his eyes. In the back, because he would hold almost still while watching Karston or Daddy, I did a respectable job. At least he's got enough inherent cute to overcome a bad hair cut.

I think Cale is regressing on his vocabulary. He's learned that point and grunt is faster than adults trying to figure out what he's trying to say. He still babbles all the time, providing his own running commentary, voice-over narrative, and laugh track to his playing. But words? Pointing is faster.

The other regression recently has been sleeping. Cale used to sleep through the night, then he needed 5am cuddles, then 4am, then wide awake around 5am, and now he doesn't sleep well at all on his own. However, he's also been eating just about non-stop during his waking hours, sometimes eating more in a day than I do, so I think he's having another growth spurt. This cheers me up, because he goes back to his good sleeping habits after the growth spurt, so I should be allowed to sleep through the night again some time soon. I'm looking forward to that! I don't mind getting up at 5-something in the morning anymore, but I'm happier about it if I've slept.

Cale has started playing with Karston more. Early childhood play is more adjacent than together, but we've noticed that they play together now. More fun!

And all this just in the past month, between turning 18 months old and 19 months old.