Pumpkin Farm 2013 (Or, Story of a Running Boy)

It's a tradition for our family (and I'm sure for many area families) to head to the pumpkin farm in the fall.  We happened to have a Saturday with very little planned, so we packed the kiddies up and headed out.  It was my intention to write about our experience at the farm, but as it always turns out, it became all about survival with a two year old.  

It's really starting to sink in that our lives are insane.  All of our children are two years apart.  We've never tried to manage a two year old WITHOUT simultaneously dealing with a baby.  We've never tried to potty train a child WITHOUT simultaneously dealing with a baby.  It's really like we're not ok with parenting without a challenge.  These two teacher-parents are going for the extra credit apparently.  

I've seen other families strolling through the pumpkin farm.  It's almost like they're on vacation.  Like they've come to the pumpkin farm to RELAX.  

There's no relaxing in our lives.  I've slowly gotten used to that.  Case in point:  THE BOY WHO RUNS.

We arrived at the farm 30 minutes after it opened for the day.  We do this on purpose.  A)  We don't want to deal with crowds as our children wait for no man.  B)  We don't want to stop other people from having children just by seeing ours.  

The moment we got there, this happened...

I'm free!  I'm free!

 We usually keep him confined to the stroller, but as he gets older, stronger, louder, and more independent, that is becoming increasingly difficult.  We decided to give freedom a chance.

He ran a good 10 laps around the pumpkins just as a warm-up.  

 I thought the running would subside as he tired.  We've spent a lot of time watching Gator Boys on animal planet.  I see a lot of similarities between aligators and my son.  When the Gator Boys try to capture an alligator, they purposely try to tire him out to make them more docile.  I was determined to do the same.

Run it out, gator.  You'll be docile in 5 minutes flat.
I hope. 

 We're only walked 20 feet from the van, but Durham was on mile 2.  Perhaps I could encourage him to feed the animals?  We used the "enthusiastic parent" voice to coax him away from his marathon and toward the next site.

He followed.  And then proceeded to try to pick up the goats.  

 Because mine is the son who picked up the terrarium filled with hamsters at Ainsley's preschool class and proceeded to carry it around the room like superman.  Who doesn't see a goat and want to pick it up?

There wasn't any food in the dispenser, so we fed the got a piece of grass and moved on.

And yes, there were four other members of the family at the pumpkin farm that day.  At this juncture in our lives, the other members of the family just sit back and watch the fifth.  

"Have you seen my brother?  Me neither.  He ran off."

 Where was Durham?  How does that kid slip away so fast?

RUN, RUN, RUN!!

Ainsley was VERY interested in getting her picture taken.  It's her thang. 

 And then we found the perfect thing for our boy.  A soybean maze.  He ran.

And ran.

AND RAN.

His head bobbed up and down as he ran his little heart out.  

We tried to lure the boy into seeing more of the sites.  He wasn't interested.  And by "wasn't interested", I mean he screamed and kicked and screamed and scratched and kicked and slapped.

Because two year olds are so pleasant.

Ainsley wanted her picture taken again.  It meant not running, so I obliged.  

 I don't know why I do this to myself, but I wanted a picture of the three of them together.  Ideally it would be a picture of the three of them in cutesie matching fall-inspired outfits.  They'd all be wearing boots, the girls would have fall-colored dresses, the kids would be in a patch of pumpkins and all looking in the same direction.

This is reality.

 We might even own the appropriate clothing for the cutest fall pumpkin patch shot ever, but this is Saturday and I work during the week.  That means the clothes are dirty, kids are dirty, and Mama is tired.

There's always one thing that will slow down a running two year old.

Donuts.

 We quickly picked out a few pumpkins and while Daddy was checking out, I managed to get a shot of all three together.  It's not Pinterest-worthy, but it sure melts this Mama's heart.

Wrenn is 7 Months Old!

Feeding:  Our little lady can use a sippy cup like a champ!  We started with sippy cups right at 6 months, and it only took her a few days to understand the basic concept.  She's quite drippy with her sippy cup but gets the job done.  We don't feed her at night anymore, so all of her nourishment comes during the day.  She'll have 1/2 to 2/3rds of a jar of food at each meal followed by 4 oz of formula or juice.  She also has a small bottle before each of her naps and at night before she goes to bed.  

Sleeping:  Ugh.  With the two teeth and a cold this month, sleeping hasn't been great.  She often goes to bed easily at first, but wakes up sometime between midnight and 3am.  We've tried letting her cry it out, but she has stamina like her sister.  At one hour of crying, when Mama and Daddy are going insane because they have to work in the morning, Mama usually goes in to rock her back to sleep.  Wrenn doesn't like to be put down at that point, because she's in such a tizzy from crying for so long, that she and Mama end up sleeping on the chair together.  Ugh.  You'd think after three kids I'd have this figured out.  I do not. She's still taking a morning and afternoon nap, but rarely naps in the evenings now.

Diapers:  Size 3.  Wrenn has slowly been distinguishing herself from her siblings.  One way in which she takes the crown is in wiggliness during diaper changes and clothes changes.  This child is a fighter!  She enacts the alligator death roll whenever she can in order to escape.  Spin, spin, spin!

Clothes:  Anywhere between 9 months and 18 months.  Not much change in size from last month.  

Disposition:  She's not as much of a smiley goofer anymore.  Perhaps it was the teeth and the cold, but she's been a little needy and fussy lately.  She certainly likes her mama and has grown scared of strangers picking her up.    

Places:  We've been to a few football and volleyball games to see cousins this month.

Fun Facts:  She can not only sit up but also crawls all over the house.  At the beginning of the month she was just moving a few inches, but look out for her now!  She's exploring the house, including all the small nooks and crannies that only babies can get themselves into.