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Ahh, what a day full of challenges it has been. Today was the day of our play group's Halloween party, and I was just as excited as Logan. We were going to paint pumpkins, snack on treats, and play with other kids. I put Logan in his Halloween costume, which I stayed up late last night to finish, and he took to it as any toddler probably does: "Mom, this thing is wratchy! (scratchy) I don't want to wear it!" He was referring to the eye patch and bandana I had made. I gave him a package of M&Ms to pacify him while I quickly snapped some pictures. Then, I put Auden's parrot outfit on. It was adorable, if I do say so myself, and we were all set to go when I noticed Logan needed a diaper change. So I put Auden down in his car seat while I changed his brother. I was two steps away when I heard an explosive rip from Auden...and the rip wasn't his costume. Ugh, so I changed Logan, picked up Auden, turned him around, and saw a huge wet spot on his back, just above the adorable little tail feathers I affixed to his onesie last night. Arrrgh--a blow-out! I had no choice but to take him out of his costume, rinse it out, and hang it to dry. What a disappointing turn of events.

We were about 15 minutes late for the party, but Logan was super excited. "Mom! There are kids!" He said, and he did his little wiggly dance of joy. But as I was opening the door, I bumped him as he was scrambling to get in, and he fell down on the step, scraping his shin. I felt really bad about the fact that he was hurt, but man! From the screams that were issuing from his little body, you would have thought he had lost a limb! Since his scrape was bleeding just a bit, I decided he needed a band-aid. That just made him more hysterical. "No want a band-aid!" More screams. More tears. I tried taking him outside to see if he would calm down, but to no avail. I picked him up, lugged Auden out the door, and Logan continued to scream and cry the entire way home. I put him, still screaming and crying, into his bed with his blankie, covered him up, and he continued to scream and cry for another 20 minutes--an epic tantrum that lasted about an hour in its entirety. Throughout the whole episode, Auden was sleeping soundly. I sometimes wonder if they got his hearing test right at the hospital. Who could sleep through screaming like that? I'm really thankful that he is able to sleep through those disruptions, though, because it's about the only thing that keeps me sane in those moments. This is the second epic tantrum Logan has had in two weeks. And here's where I realize how schizophrenic a toddler is. When Logan woke up from his nap and I asked him if he wanted lunch, he replied, "No thank you. I'm not really that hungry." He sat down with a little bowl of cashews for a snack, and he asked, "Mom, do you want to share with me?" He gave me a few of his cashews, and so resumed the pleasantness of the afternoon.

Auden is cooing quite a bit now, which is a guaranteed heart-melter. His eyes are growing lighter; I think he'll have Eric's blue eyes just like Logan does. He loves to kick on his Einstein mat and set off the little flashy lights and tune of the star that sits at the top of its arch, and he's quite fond of his bouncy seat, which has a little rainforest scene that comes to life when he bats at one of the toys dangling in front of him. He smiles at the lights and little monkey and frog that move around. So precious. So that's what they're like before they are tiny walking time bombs of emotion...