the octopus and the sushi

z & p celebrated halloween a day early, hosting a halloween party at our house for friends (over 15 of them total, plus moms) in the medway mom's group.

penny slept nearly the entire time, but zack got to play with his pals and partake in the fun activities: "bobbing" for apples (with a ladle), decorating pumpkin cupcakes, pin-the-tail on the pumpkin, a scavenger hunt, and trick or treating on the deck.

best of all, all the candy and treats were "safe" for zack to enjoy, so we made sure there were lots of treats and no tricks!

dusk at the farm

last night, zack, penny & mom joined others in a champagne toast (ok, they had milk and formula) to celebrate the turning of the land at medway community farm. it was a chilly but beautiful night.

strawberry shirt

this is one of penny's favorite shirts. it was given to her mom by her dear friend essie during her last visit to san francisco, back in august 2008. mom will be so sad once penny outgrows it....she is going to need a doll that can wear it.

also, penny is into smearing food in her hair and all over her tray. troublemaker, just like aunt essie.

whole fun

zack, penny & mom spend quite a bit of time (not to mention money) at whole foods, where we're able to find lots of the brands that are safe for zack to eat. while it's usually a bit chaotic (penny trying tirelessly to stand up in the front of the carriage, zack biting into whatever i throw into the cart, and at least a meltdown or two), i managed to capture a sweet moment as we gathered our produce. and, no, there's never any room for the groceries.

snow babies

yesterday, we had our first "nor'easter" of this winter. the little keenans loved watching the huge flakes fall (for over 4 hours!) and we headed out as a family to one of our favorite, cozy haunts: the medway cafe.

look who's walking

last october 18, when i made a blog posting about zack taking his first steps, i never guessed that exactly one year later i would be doing the same thing! penny sue took a few steps last night, in order to bring daddy the stuffed basketball. so cute. penny's first steps were at 11 months old and zack's were at 13.5 months. penny is still trying to figure out what this means, but mommy already knows: we're gonna have our hands full!

cards all around

thanks to aunt pat for sending us some cool halloween cards. (penny, the goat, is trying to eat hers of course...)

eleven months

penny turned 11 months old today and i cannot even believe that we'll be celebrating her first birthday a month from now. after seeing how quickly zack has grown into a little boy, i have really been savoring ever snuggle and sweet goo and ga. actually, penny's been a but of a chatterbox lately, adding to her repertoire the words "ball", "big bear", "ba ba", "bzzzzzzz" (bee buzzing sound), and waves and says "bye bye". (i think she's got the "b" sound down, don't you?) her sweet voice is enough to melt mom's heart over and over again.

we love you, beautiful penny.

so long, sox

penny thought that standing on the furniture and cheering might help the red sox win today but, unfortunately, even that was not enough. thanks for a fun season, sox. see you in march.

thanks, uncle john

uncle john came over to watch zack & pen so mom & dad could have a night out. i know zack enjoyed it....

being serious at the fall festival

this past weekend, mom took the little keenans to nonnie's work (sepracor) for their annual fall festival. zack got an airbrushed soccer ball tattoo, and in true two-year-old style, moved his hand away halfway through and knocked the stencil out of the guy's hand. we went on the scrambler ride and even got some free fleeces. finally, the band was able to crack zack's frowny face. so serious! (penny was there, she just was parked in her stroller most of the time...)

penny's big girl car seat

the keenan family is officially saying "bye bye" to the infant bucket carseat and have installed penny's new "big girl" car seats. one plus? zack and penny can hold hands much easier now. (zack used to get so frustrated when he would say "hold hands penny" and she couldn't reach him.) i love these two...

it's working!

so far, zack has been quite successful with the potty training!

we've only had a couple of minor accidents here and there (when mom was on the phone with auntie heather for a very long time and not paying attention and also when an upset tummy temporarily derailed our progress).

it's still a mystery to me how we'll actually be able to leave the house etc. but hopefully that falls into place at some point.

look, ma! i'm doing it!

life with two....becoming pals

zack and penny are playing together more and more every day. here are two recent videos of them palling around with penny's "truck".

poopie potty one more time

i've got a little guy here who is absolutely taken with the idea of going potty. he sits and sits and sits and sits, and when mom says "ok, zack. all done?", he replies "no thank you. poopie potty one more time." he'll be there 15, 20 minutes at a time, reading his books and peeking at his progress. by days end, his arms are covered in stickers, each one a reward for "success".

so i guess, as reluctant as i am to embark upon this journey, we're going to be (already are?) potty training. stay tuned.