The Plessmans Go Pumpkin Patchin'

'Tis the season! We met up with our friends Rusty, Jennica, and Henry at a fun little pumpkin farm today. We came at a great time: just after the early afternooners, and right before most people were home from work.  It wasn't overcrowded, and since we decided to go before October 25th this year, there were plenty of non-rotten pumpkins left in the patch! You know what they say: the early bird gets the gourd (or something to that effect). We caught the last hay-ride of the day, took a peek at the petting zoo, and scoured the fields in search of the perfect pumpkins. I love picking out pumpkins and Christmas trees; I'm very particular, and very weird. But eventually, we found a few worthy candidates to take home with us. Mission accomplished! It was kind of windy, so try to ignore my crazy hair and goobery bangs. 

I adore the fall. I always have, even before I owned a pair of Uggs. And I don't even drink pumpkin-spice lattes, so you know the love is real.

8 Months

Jace turns 8 months tomorrow. These last couple of weeks have brought out all the stops: tons of new tricks, a big boy haircut, increased fussiness and night wakings, and possibly some teething (I can never tell). This little fellow is growing right on up! At 8 months, Jace...

-Is up on all fours, rocking back and forth, scooting backwards, but has yet to crawl forward. He does a little inchworm to grab something out of reach, but I can't call it a crawl. He's so close! I think this is part of why he's been a bit of a fussy pants these days; he just wants to move but hasn't quite figured out the most efficient method yet.

-Had his first haircut! He was looking a little shaggy, and a few people asked me how old "she" was, so we decided it was time. He cried through the entire process, but after it was over he smiled at his reflection like he was quite pleased with the results. As he should be! He is the handsomest baby on the block, in my humble and entirely un-biased opinion.  

-Smiles when we say his name, looks at Colt when I say "Where's Dada?" and looks at me when Colts says "Where's Mama?" Smart cookie.

-Growls. He growls All. The. Time. He thinks it's hilarious (it is).

-Loves to be "in on it." When Colt or I laugh, Jace looks over and smiles and laughs with us. When we cheer (like when Tanner Mangum threw his first Hail Mary), he looks us right in the eye and squeals and screams over and over again. He wants so badly to be right in the middle of things. Even when Colt gives me a kiss, he stares at us and gives us the biggest, gummiest grin. It's a little bit intrusive, but we love him anyways.

-Can pull himself to a stand. However, he is always choosing the most inopportune times to practice, like when he's in the tub. We've had a few slips and slides lately, and bath time has become quite the workout as we're busy trying save him from himself.
-Doesn't do so well being away from mom and dad. 

-Babbles "mamama" and "dadada." It's not intentional yet, but it's fun to hear him say those sounds.

-Gets a kick out of bath time. When we start running the bath water and carry him over to put him in, he squeals with joy and does the running man in mid-air. He's always throwing himself forward onto his tummy so he can "swim," and he maneuvers himself around in there pretty well when he's on his belly. He also enjoys drinking his bathwater. Yum.
-Pushes his arms through his shirt sleeves when we are getting him dressed. It's made putting his clothes on a much less traumatic experiences.

-Constantly pulls his socks off. We've lost so many socks in the grocery store because he yanks them off and drops them when I'm distracted. 
-Loves his books, especially his book of colors. He turns each page, I name the color or the animal or what-have-you, he jabbers away at the pictures, repeat.

-Loves "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." He stops crying immediately when I sing it to him, and always starts up again as soon as I start the line "and dried up all the rain" because he knows the song is ending soon. If I start to sing it from the beginning he stops crying again.
-Recognizes the entrance to our apartment building, and becomes super excited when he sees it after I take him out on walks and such. He knows he's home!

-Thoroughly enjoys the carrots and potatoes from our Sunday pork roast, applesauce, Cheerios, and the oatmeal I eat for breakfast. Actually, he's super interested in anything I eat. He could care less what's on Colt's plate-it's always my food he's eyeballing.

-Plays "tickies." We tickle him, and he sometimes tries to tickle us back. We pretend to laugh, and he gets a major kick out of it.

-Likes to play with everything he sees us use. His favorite toys are a spare toothbrush, keys, and my water bottle. He'd chew on my phone all day, but that's a no-go. Sorry little man. You still spit up too much to be trusted.

Evergreen State Fair

We made it to the last day of the Evergreen State Fair. We are on a budget, so we just walked around and explored the grounds. We showed Jace all the animals (he was much more interested in watching all of the people), smelled all the delicious fair food, and marveled at the bravery of those reckless souls standing in line to ride the carnival rides. I've never trusted portable roller coasters. If it wasn't standing there a few weeks ago, I won't ride it. But it made us excited to take JJ to Disneyland next year with all of his cousins. Everything is that much more exciting and novel when you get to experience it with a little one. Colt has never been, and he's a bit cynical about how much he will enjoy it. But I think he's in for a treat. 

7 Months

Oh my little Jace-Man,

You are seven months old today. Everyone says big changes are just around the corner, and I am already getting glimpses as you hold onto my fingers and pull yourself up to a stand all by yourself, or when you reach for something and lean so far over that you're almost on your hands and knees. Soon the era of "immobile baby" will be a thing of the past, and I'll have a curious little mover. I'm so excited for those changes, but at the same time, I'm not sure I'm ready. You're growing up so fast, and based on how hard and fast you kick those chubby little legs when we pick you up, I think you're going to be pretty swift of foot. 

You are doing so many new things. You can pull yourself to a stand, and are so close to realizing that you can support yourself on all fours, although you immediately push your knees out straight when Dad or I let go of you. You know your name and love to play "Where's Jace?" and "Peek-a-Boo." It's been so neat to see you learn who you are and start to purposefully play games with us. You connect your roll-overs and can cover a respectable amount of surface area in a short period of time, but only when you're in the mood. Most of the time you're perfectly content to stay where you are. You've become a side/tummy sleeper, and we had to take your lovey away, because you liked to bury your face into it during the night. You play pass with your tiny basketball, and hate having your face and hands wiped. It's quite the crisis. You've also started to reach a little for me when I come to pick you up, and monkey and pig noises never fail to make you laugh.

You have funny little quirks, like crossing your ankles when you eat, and making "The Grudge" noise when you are super relaxed and trying to soothe yourself to sleep. You also love to practice putting your own bink in your mouth while you're trying to take a nap, but your aim is a bit off so you usually fall asleep while chewing on the outside of the paci. You stick your tongue out all the time, and you've started to give lovely (and slobbery) open-mouth kisses. That might be my favorite trick of yours to date. 

You are a blast to hang out with. Sure, sometimes you're a bit of a fussy-pants, but there's usually a reason, even though it can take a minute before Dad and I identify that reason (sorry about that). But you are my little buddy, and we go everywhere together. You love to dance with me, and you love acoustic guitar. You smile at strangers and make new friends wherever we go. When you laugh hard, you start to snort, which basically means we were meant for each other. You are obsessed with watching me drink soda, and seize every opportunity to grab the bottle and try and take a swig or two yourself. One day, son. But not today. 

As much as I look forward to bedtime and a couple hours to myself, I look forward just as much to when you wake up at 6:00 am and I get to come get you and bring you back to bed to snuggle for an hour or two before we're fully awake for the day. You love an adventure, and are completely content in your pack when we go hiking. We took you inside Cabela's last weekend, and you had the biggest smile on your face from the moment we walked inside to our eventual exit. You grinned at every person who walked by, even if they didn't pay you the slightest bit of attention. You loved it in there, and we loved taking you. It's so fun to show you new things, and figure out what makes you happy.

You've made Dad and I more adventurous, more willing to take certain risks and less inclined to take others (no more 100 mph rides on that motorcycle, right Colt?). You bring laughter and smiles, silly voices and piggy faces, sloppy kisses and early mornings, and endless amounts of joy to our hearts and to our home. It's never easy, but it's worth it.

 You won't be my baby forever, but I hope you are always curious, always adventurous, that you remain sweet and friendly and strong and observant and determined and wonderful. We love you, little man.

Love, Mama

Lake 22

This last Saturday, we stuck JJ in his Poco Pack and headed up the mountains to hike Lake 22. The trail was steep, the views were breathtakingly beautiful, and the company was pretty rad, too. I love these adventures with my boys.

The Clock On The Wall Has Been Stuck At Three For Days, And Days

Sometimes being a mom is hard. Rewarding, joyful, life-changing, absolutely. But also, difficult. In our house these days, it's particularly hard to be a mom (or dad) between the hours of 3 and 5 am. 

We've been tweeking and changing various aspects of Jace's routine slightly to see if it helps him stay asleep, and it at first appears to work. The little angel sleeps through the night! But, we've learned, it's merely a cruel psychological ploy to wreak havoc on our increasingly fragile sanity. Because when we do exactly the same thing the following night, he returns to waking around 3 and cries until 5. What the cuss?! I know I shouldn't be complaining because an 8 hour stretch at night is awesome (knock wood). Good job Jace! But waking up at 3 and screaming for two hours isn't ideal, am I right? 

I try and tell myself it's just a phase and eventually, one day, he'll sleep more consistently. Then I feel guilty for wishing these days away, because they are short and soon he won't be my baby anymore. And then I feel sort of ashamed, because it's my fault he isn't sleeping. I must not be doing something right; there's something I'm missing. I've discovered this weird quirk in myself that I didn't know existed until Jace was born: for some reason, I associate good sleeping with good mothering. If Jace isn't sleeping through the night when the doctor says he is old enough to be doing so, I just must not be doing this whole mom-thing very well. Is it just me, or do all moms experience this frustration-guilt-self doubt cycle?

However, he generally wakes up in the morning happy as a clam at high tide. So at least there's that. And those smiles. And those blue eyes....and chubby legs... and giggles.

There's that. 

Conquering Lake Washington

Clearly, I cannot keep my eyes open if there is a speck of sunlight. It's the Oregonian in me.

My parents gave us a date night for Colt's birthday present, so we decided to go kayaking on Lake Washington. It was a blast! We paddled around and looked at the beautiful lake houses on shore, then drifted towards the middle of the lake and just floated, watched the water airplanes take off and land, and chased the wakes from the boats driving nearby. It was a gorgeous day and we had so much fun. Colt was sitting in the back and he took most of the pictures, so there aren't too many of him. Which is a shame, because he looks mighty fine in a life jacket. 

Life is so much better with Jace, and we wouldn't have it any other way, but it was nice to get out by ourselves and spend a few hours alone together. Turns out, I'm still kind of funny, Colt's still good at flirting with me, and we still like each other. :)

Thanks for the great gift, mom and dad! Love you guys!