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I was having a hard time coming up with a title, so I let Cadence do it. We had a great Thanksgiving, got to see lots of family and eat, eat, eat! We forgot to take the camera with us yesterday to my aunt's so no pictures from there, but here are a few random ones just for fun:

Sani is about 5 1/2 months, and almost crawling now:

Who knew it was so hard to get both kids to smile at the same time!

One day I was trying get Cadence dressed when Sani started to cry. She pulled off her shirt, ran over to him and then began to try to nurse him! This is a keeper to bring out when she starts to date. :)

Little Lady?

Having a 2 year old can be quite the adventure. Cadence wants to be a part of everything we do, and is yet becoming increasingly independent. Her strides towards independence can be as amusing as they are frustrating. It's been amazing watching her transform from our baby girl into a little girl.

I thought she was looking particularly cute this day and wanted to get a picture. It turns out getting a straight picture from from her is quite a challenge as you will see:

Cadence loved the bounce house at our annual church picnic!

She has developed unique ways of eating her veggies. Here she has shoved carrot chips into the crevice of one of her plates. She did eat them all up after playing a bit!

This is her new way of eating green beans. She now pulls them apart and eats the little seeds out of the beans. Sometimes she eats the outer shell afterward, sometimes she gives them to me (what she does with any uneaten food...um...thanks):

Here, it's hard to see, but Cadence covered her hands in Ranch dressing and declared, "soap!". She then rubbed her hands together pretending to "wash" them. With enough rubbing, the dressing sort of absorbed into her hands...disturbing!

After coming home from running errands, I left the room to take care of something with the baby. This is what I returned to...the day's mail scattered on the floor and a brand new box of nursing pads dumped out on the couch:

If you look closely you will see just a couple of these pieces out of place. Cadence did this puzzle completely by herself! No, she can't read, but she's pretty well got the whole thing memorized:

Sani Man

Sani will be 5 months old at the end of the week. The time sure is flying! He's still a pretty happy little guy. You know when he's awake because of the noise coming out of one end or the other....he is one gassy kid! He recently mastered the art of sputtering spit bubbles and squealing & yelling. He keeps a sharp eye on his sister and enjoys her antics. He's rolling all over the place now and can sometimes travel a few feet this way...I think crawling may come quickly like it did for Cadence!

I love being a boy...when I grow up I will be just like dad:
I already am practicing with push-ups:

And wrestling my pillow:

Gotta do more of those tummy exercises:

I even flex my muscles in my sleep:

Ok, now it's just time for a rest:

This is what I think of my baths:

Oops! I don't think I'm supposed to use that finger! Hee, hee, you'll be smelling that one soon!

Halloween

Check out our little veggies! It took some convincing on Eric and my part to get Cadence to even wear her costume, but she finally obliged. Eric helped his sister move some furniture that evening, so I took Cadence to some houses in her neighborhood. She was little reluctant, but once she had some candy in her bag, she got the hang of it!

Bay Trip

We took a trip up north to visit some friends and family in the beginning of October...I'm just now getting to posting some pix! We stayed in Oakland, attended a baby shower, and then visited by aunt, whom I hadn't seen in years. It was nice to get away briefly and reconnect with people.

Here's a view from our room of downtown Oakland:

This is what I saw when I woke up in the morning. Cadence has a very difficult time sleeping places other than home. Kids seem to get into the craziest positions !

Two of my best buds from college, hard to tell she's 8 months pregnant in this pic!

My aunt and her hubby have two cats. Cadence rather enjoyed their play things, including this flexible cube:

My auntie and I:

Little man snoozing on daddy:

Eric was glad I finally took a pic of him when he was awake and had combed his hair:

We got the wiggles out at a park near my aunt's before the ride home:

Tea Time

Every fall the women at our church put on a tea. People get to sponsor and decorate a table however they wish. This was my first year doing a table and it was so fun! I inherited my grandmother's Fostoria crystal and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show it off. A friend from church and I came up with this arrangement:

Hungry Man

Sani is still only on breast milk, though we can start him on cereals now and are thinking about doing it soon. He's definitely interested in eating and drinking. He tries to snatch big sister's cups and paws at our food. One morning, while my back was turned for just a few moments, Cadence thought she would get the process going and share some of her Raisin Bran:

Fashionista

For Cadence it's all about doing things on her own these days, including picking out clothes and getting dressed. Here's a glimpse of a 2 year old's sense of stlye, complete with poses and catwalking:

The Great Outdoors

Now it's starting to cool off, but we still try to have playtime outside. The kids have a fun in our backyard as you can see: