Elf sighting

Nothing cuter than Christmas jammies! No judging the plastic scissors in his mouth. They don't actually cut.



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Halloween Antics

Okay, so its almost Thanksgiving, but better late than never!  I have been remiss not to share the fun that is Halloween.  Thanks to brother, we have Halloween costumes from years past to practice with.  The first being Blue and Steve.  I guess I must have known I was going to have another baby soon as I bought this Steve shirt for Scrumpy years ago.  How cute are they?

This pairing of course inspired me to find other fun partnerships to represent.  Thank goodness we have friends who have costumes to share!  Buzz and Woody met "Shadow" and "Funny Clown" at the Castro Valley Village to Trick or Treat the day away.  Never have I seen so many children!  The funny part was we ran into another Buzz and Woody and the Woody was named Ethan! 

After the Village, we headed to Nana and Papa's to take a few cousin shots and review the spoils of the day.  I do not know who gets more tired at events like these, the children or the parents.  The jury is still out.

Being carried by "Shadow"

Where did all my chocolate milk go?

Crossett Cousins

Winding down after the candy high

What Have You Been Keeping From Me

This summer, we finally broke down and started using the DVD player in the car. Scrumpy thinks it's about the greatest thing ever.

Just recently we finally turned Possum around And I think he just about went into shock! As if to say, this is what goes on behind my back?! It's hard being the baby.



Enraptured by the mini tv

Rite of Passage

Anyone who has been to Gramma's house in the past year or so knows about the sacred ritual of making cookies. While others have tried to replicate, thank you Auntie Em, nothing beats making cookies from pre-cut dough in a toaster oven at Norwalk. Why? Because when you are ready to go home, Gramma bags up ALL the cookies that weren't eaten, puts them in a ziploc bag and you are good to go for the drive home.

There is no question whether he should have ten cookies allocated to him or not, he gets them all. We have since prevented excessive cookie gorging by limiting the baking process to no more than six.

Well times are a changing! Now Gramma has to prepare two bags of cookies because Ethan is all about equal rights. Our only saving grace is he hasn't figured out how to count so we can get away with a smaller bag .....for now.


Don't think you're getting any Monks!



Gramma's cookies rock! 

Ethan Kineval

My little one has developed a fondness for climbing on chairs and tables. I am not sure when this started and he is quick as lightning.

The scary part is that he knows he's being bad, but doesn't really stop. I blame the stubborn gene on his daddy!





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Cutting teeth

It is 3 in the morning and we cannot sleep. Why? Because our little one is in the midst of cutting at least two molars. Even with significant dosing, he is still quite inconsolable. Poor Possum. Poor Mama and Daddy. Thank goodness Scrumpy learned early on to sleep through noise.



Not even a cupcake can help me


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Baby Julian and Me

Baby Julian came out to play! It's hard to believe that he is almost four months and Possum is 13 months! But they enjoyed themselves as well as babies can at that age. I look forward to capturing many more cousin moments for years to come!






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End of an Era

This week Becca gave Possum the very last bag of pumped milk. I cannot believe that not only did we make the whole year but we actually got a whole other month out of it! The second one is so much harder. Between work and the two babies I cannot believe I found the stamina and determination to wake up twice a night to pump in addition to nursing as well and find time twice a day at work to pump. I think about all those times and all those places I pumped just because I needed to make it fit. And here we are 13 months later. It is a bittersweet time for me. I took great pleasure cleaning and packing up my pump, throwing away my hoses and funnels. But I am a little sad because I'm pretty sure I am done with this phase of my life. I look at my little boy and am super proud that he is who he is all supplied by mama's milk --no formula!
If only I had this type of fierce dedication to working out.



Last bag of pumped milk


Savoring the bottle


So delicious!


All gone!

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Who is this kid

Possum has apparently figured out how to crawl into his " lazy boy" at school for his morning nap. Proof yet again that Becca switches kids on us because he rarely if ever volunteers to nap at home.








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Rock Star

This past weekend, we attended Possum's girlfriend's birthday party at Lake Elizabeth.  Juliet and Possum were scheduled to be born on the same day.  He came a few days early and she came a few days late.  Either way, these little leos know how to have some fun.  My little guy feasted on Filipino BBQ, Puto, Blueberries, Strawberries and Fried Rice.  God, you gotta love these inter-cultural gatherings.  Some shots from the day.

First time in a jumpy house

The theme was Rock Star. 

He looks more Aunt Jemima than Bret Michaels

Juliet and Ethan with their Grammas

First Trip to the Dentist

With Scrumpy, we took him at 2 years old.  At that appointment, armed with a newborn, they admonished us for waiting a whole year to bring him in and glared at us hard as they looked at my newborn and said, "we'll see both of them in a year!" 

I cannot tell you how quickly that year went by!  So we find ourselves at the dentist again, and armed with the knowledge of how traumatic it can be with a two year old, our expectations were set very low. 

While his brother, once again, screamed and cried for most of the visit, including the "let's take a quick digital photo" portion, Possum handled it like most things he does in life, with a smile on his face.  All was good with the six teeth he presented.  And we discovered two more are cutting through, which is probably why he's been so cranky of late.

So another year will pass before we have to go to this bloody appointment again.  In the meantime, we hope all the cookies, candy, and ice cream we give them doesn't do too much damage that neccessitate visits every 6 months!

Smiling in the toy bin (aka baby jail)

Photo of brother screaming for dear life

Photo of Possum, possibly smiling through it all!

Happy Birthday to Me!

August is going to be a very hectic time in the Crossett household for years to come!  Our little guy turned one!  So fast, its mind blowing.  His actual birthday was a weekday, so the celebrations were limited to after work activities.

As a family, we went to dinner and for the first time, Possum got to have his own child's meal!  A true Patrick Crossett son, his birthday dinner was cheese raviolis.  Not only did he eat half the plate (at least six), he nibbled on a piece of Scrumpy's pizza.  When the ice cream and candle came out, he was not shy screaming at us, indicating he knew that was a tasty treat and finish singing already.

Overall, a very good birthday with lots of time for hugs and kisses.

Hungry boy

For such a little guy, Possum sure can eat! A typical lunch is turkey sandwich, string cheese, and blueberries with a milk chaser. More often these days he eats more than brother! I am not looking forward to the teenage years.


Cannot eat fast enough!



Member of the happy plate club!


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You Want Fries With That?

In addition to carwashing services, Possum has taken another job manning a drive-thru station.  Don't judge, diapers are expensive!

Supplemental Income

Due to tough economic times, even the little ones have been put to work.  Here they are, running their own car wash.  As you can see, a thorough job is done by all the employees, service with a smile.  And when they are done cleaning your car and detailing it so that it glistens in the sun, they gladly deliver your newly cleaned vehicle to you.  If only what they earned could pay for childcare.

Standing Man

He has probably been doing it at daycare for weeks now, but this was my first viewing of my baby standing all by himself without any assistance.  Other cools things he knows now, waving good-bye and blowing kisses.  My baby isn't going to be a baby for much longer.

State Traveller

Possum has another trip to Chicago under his belt.  It is almost feast or famine with the travelling.  He was great!  This was a nice opportunity to meet some of his other cousins, including Baby Lincoln (3 weeks old), Hannah, Blake, Makai, Avery and Asher.  Here are a few shots of us invading my cousin Vince's house and tearing it to shreds.  Let's hope that 15 years from now any kind of party these cousins will host will be as tame as this one was.

First Picnic

Memorial Day weekend, we were fortunate enough to have awesome weather, so we planned a picnic with friends.  With colors so vibrant, this gave us perfect opportunity to do a "study of Ethan". 

It also was a great opportunity to go back to a simpler time when we were agile enough to climb trees. Overall, a great day!