So I am not reading any more blogs until I write in my own. I get so hooked on other people's lives, I stop recording my own. Quite a lot has gone on since my last post and I am really tempted to talk about Prop 8...but I don't know that I have anything new to say, so it will suffice it to say we have spent more time on the corners in Rancho Penasquitos.


We do have more going on in our lives besides Prop 8, not much, but at least something. On Saturday there was the Annual Combined Ward Halloween Party. Jared signed up to make Chili for the traditional chili contest. He said that he was going to make it this time because he has never made it before but he thought he could do a pretty good job. I guess he was disappointed that we didn't win with my chili last year. Anyway, I had full confidence in his abilities to make a delicious chili, however, I worried a little bit about the time he had available to throw it together. At about 8:30 on Friday night I asked if he was still planning on making chili, or if he wanted me to go ahead and do- this being asked as I am pulling out all the basic chili ingredients and the crock pot to throw them into. He consented to getting up and cooking it right then. He looked at the ingredient list on a can of chili, asked me a few basic questions, and the rest was up to him.

Saturday was a crazy busy day for him, which included a "drive-thru" at the house for lunch (in other words, me running out the food I threw together to his car) and showing up an hour late for the party. It was my privilege of following strict orders to take and deliver the chili on time so it could be in the contest. If it wasn't for the chili, I may have finagled my way out of attending the party- only because it would just be Corban and me, no daddy. Luckily we have great in-laws that are really into Halloween and we just happened to visit them on Thursday night/Friday morning. They kindly offered us a darling costume that was super easy to have Corban dress in, meaning no work for mom. And this was the result:

And Jared, well he showed up just in time to try the chilis before announcing the winners. And he walks home with this:



Interesting enough, he didn't vote for himself. I somewhat predicted the outcome when talking with Liz the day before saying Jared would be making the Chili and he would probably win because this was his first time. He just happens to be really good at cooking without a recipe.

I really have had a great day with Corban. This adorable baby has even been more adorable today. It started at 4:30 am when he woke up wanting a bottle. He was VERY awake by the time I got into his bedroom. When I picked him up he was "talking" with more clear sounds (not actual words) than I have ever heard from him before, and he would kind of whisper while he was doing it. When Jared came to drop him off at the corner for sign waving, he told me of his similar observation, however, he said that he actually heard him mimic the word "stop."
Next adorable thing was at sign waving. This boy loves to be apart of the action. I hold him in the front carrier and he just squeals and screams as the cars are honking and zooming by. He likes to raise both arms in the air and swing them down quickly- I use this as an opportunity to tickle him and get the most contagious laugh out of him. On our evening waving, he ended up wearing himself out and fell asleep after me feeding him a bottle.
Back to the morning. He insisted upon skipping his morning nap to play with Nika. I had put him in the highchair for breakfast. He took a few bits of wheat toast and plain yogurt with applesauce and began his loud grunting tyrant. So I do the usual "all done" sign and he stops immediately and gives me a smile. I am so amazed at how fast he caught on to this sign, if only I was good at using more signs with him we could be having conversations by now. After cleaning him up in our usual way, which includes letting him sip water out of the palm of my hand while I attempt to wash his face, I shook his hands dry while singing Musikgarten's song Hands A Washing. Our favorite part is the "so now we'll have to shake them, shake them, shake them, shake them. So now we'll have to shake them, shake them til their dry." After that I sat on the kitchen floor with him trying to teach him to clap his hands. He loves it when I hold his hands and do it for him, but he has yet to do it himself.
At this point I decided it was eminent that I take a shower (I was still in sweat, but dry, gym clothes). I decided to take a shower/bath with Corban because he loves them so much and he was still very awake. That was fun! I usually am just on the side lines, watching him have all the fun. I think we both enjoyed playing water slide, big splashing, and waterfall from the pelican pitcher. It was tough deciding when it was time to get out.
Later in the day, while working on something in the kitchen I turned around to see Corban tackling his lion. It was ADORABLE watching him roll over with the lion in a tight grasp. I guess he really is learning from Nika. He does tackle Nika quite often, sometimes catching her off guard, but usually she knows it's coming.

I took him to see daddy at Poway GS after sign waving. Daddy was busy working on his computer and was being wrestless in my arms so I decided to meet him half way with the action. I would bounce him high in the air and bring him down quickly, and then repeat right away (an amazing workout for the arms). This had him laughing so hard. I couldn't stop just because his laugh was so adorable. We also had some time in the mirror, one of his favorite parts of the stores. He loves to look at himself and others in the mirror. It usually starts with studying the picture he is seeing, and then you see his face light up as he realizes who he is looking at.

Last one I am going to mention due to time was him trying to climb into the bathtub. He was so tired tonight, but was also very wired. It was just about 10:00pm and it didn't seem he would be willing to lay down anytime soon. He had followed me into the bathroom and crawled up to the bathtub, like usual. So I gave in, I started a bath for him. As I undressed him, he remained clasped to the side of the tub and proceeded to lift his leg up as if to climb the side of the tub. He actually does this almost everyday as I prepare his bath, but it so cute EVERY TIME! The bath was short lived because I took out at first sign of tiredness- rubbing the eyes as he moved toward the side of the tub, as if to say he was too tired to be in the tub any longer. Sure enough, he was in bed and asleep within 15 minutes of getting out of the bath.

Time to get some ZZZZZ's before Corban wakes up...or before I need to be up to wave signs- whichever comes first.