Darth.

A halloween preview: Lord Vader, and Associates

HPD to me!

Here is the lovely drawing Preston drew me for my birthday.

I, obviously, am the bigger one on the left. What's that? Why is my stomach-area filled in with a bright pink blob?? Well that's because Preston felt compelled to draw "a baby in my belly." Apparently he really, really wants a little sibling. Sorry buddy. The outlook isn't good.

****Disclaimer: just to clarify, there is no baby in my belly.

Also of interest: note the vertical line down the center of his body. What is that, you might ask? That's his esophagus. 

Apple picking (LATE POST FROM SEPTEMBER)

After a week of all new faces, we rendezvoused with some old friends this weekend for some good old-fashioned familiarity. Here's Pman hanging with his old pre-k buddies, Wesley and Leo. 

Sidenote- Lesson of the day: One should more closely monitor their 4-yr-old's indiscretionate apple-picking. After getting home and inventorying the stash, I am convinced Preston mostly picked up drops. (drops: the apples you find on the ground that either A. someone picked and subsequently disposed of, or B. someone picked, took a bite out of, and subsequently disposed of.)

The Beak & Skiff Estate.

Best buddies!

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C'mon...how cute is this?!?

3 boys watching a pony ride...wishing their mom's would cough up the 5 bucks so they could do it. A good lesson in "you-can't-always-get-what-you-want."

Preston and I swung by another one of my favorite orchards on the way out of Lafayette and enjoyed sharing a jug of cider. Aannnd maybe some more apple fritters.

The End.

My apologies...but it seems now that Preston has commenced the 5-day school week, and I have returned to the 5-day work-week, I think my already-dismal blogging record is just going to get worse. 

But, here are a few snippets from this week:

Preston has declared he wants to be a teacher when he grows up. Initially, he said he wanted to be a Montessori teacher (that's a good sign, right?), but by the end of the day he changed his mind- he wants to teach college kids, "like Oompy."

We are now in the habit of pretending it's his birthday every night, when it's time for his bedtime snack. He insists that I light the scented candle on the kitchen table so he can blow it out, and that I sing him happy birthday when presenting his snack.

He pretty much single-handedly assembled a lego Stormtrooper (rated for 7-12 year olds) by himself, by looking at the picture on the box. There were a few pieces that required more intricate assembly, so I helped thumb through the appropriate instructional pages, but mostly just watched as he was able to identify basically all the pieces by himself, and put them together by looking at the pictures, with very little assistance from me. He showed incredible focus and, more importantly, patience with himself, all the while. He didn't get frustrated with himself when he dropped a piece on the floor or had to deconstruct and reconstruct...which is not a typical Eckrich trait. Rapid-onset frustration and self-abuse is more our style. Maybe he'll escape the curse! 

Our weekdays may be a whirlwind, but we are still enjoying most weekends at the cottage w/ Oomp and Gigi!