We've got a cube in our house

 His name is still Oscar, and he's pretty gr8!

Do you have to take picture of me??? I want to revel in my loot!

What a cheezer!

Oscar requested a three-layer blue blueberry cake with yellow lemon frosting - I didn't make enough to cover the top but he said that was ok. It was the bluest cake I have ever eaten, and tasted a lot like a blueberry donut. Even better with coffee for breakfast! Good pick Oscar!

First present: a sack full of bones from Baba Yaga

Bone number one

Bone number three

Bone number...SIX!!

Bone number eight

Any more bones for me?

YESSSSS!

Present number two: an impossible-to-extract husband from Baba Yaga

Ah, yes, a new throne. Perfect.

More bones, are you kidding me?

No it's Mad Libs from Aunt Elizabeth! We'll be tortured by being forced to think of plural nouns and adverbs ending in -ly, for days. And then listening to incomprehensible giggling as Oscar tries to read back a story that seems to be about poop and butts.....again. But (ha) really, it's great, there's nothing like Mad Libs hilarity.

I know. More books.

Pa-JA-mas.

More. clothes. wat.

John kept saying, when will he get a TOY???

New kicks!

John is over. it.

We had to hide the Cul de Sac book from Oscar so we could move on with the birthday activities.

Last present. This one's from Gramma. Big moment.

It's square. But not a book.

It says, "Animal." "Crossing."

It's for the Switch!

John says, "Really?"

"Yes, this is the game Animal Crossing for the Nintendo Switch!"

Oscar expounds on how to play Animal Crossing from his throne.

Oscar had the most epic, prolonged extinguishing of the candles. Just watch.

Happy birthday Oscar! What a happy day he had!

Ben chimes in

I can't take videos of Ben straight-on, because he's too into looking at the camera to be interesting. It's wonderful to see him when he gets home from daycare, because he just beams and beams at me with his whole body. It makes my face hurt to hang out with him too long because I'm smiling so much!

And now he's started making all the good baby noises, which Oscar and John of course love to imitate. Loudly. In his ear. Just, you know, to make sure everyone is in agreement. This video doesn't show his full range, but he is very cute.

November's over! Almost there!

This sign was made back in March or April, when Oscar and John opened a cafe in the clubhouse: The best shop in the world. They sold salmon, meat, cookies, and other delicacies. Price: $1000.

This was made more recently, for drawing club 2020. Which avatar will you choose?

Edie (and the boys too) has been making magnificent houses for Lamby out of magnets.

Ben has a brand-new beautiful blanket! Thanks Aunty Liz!

For Thanksgiving, everyone chose their favorite food and then only had to eat one bite of the other choices. John chose uncooked potatoes, brown on the bottom and white on top, which we reinterpreted as roasted potatoes. Oscar chose salad and a nice plump chocolate cake for dessert. Edie chose salad made of olives and pickles, as well as sparkling cider. I chose veggie pot-pie, and Eric chose mashed potatoes and gravy. But sadly, all the mushrooms we bought for gravy were rotten, so he joined forces with John. DLS! It was a real nice feast, and John only cried a little about having to eat a pea from the pot-pie.

Ben has been hanging out in the doorway jumper, cool as can be. Profile shot to show off his cheeks.

I did a little photoshoot with him the other day. He was so good at posing, he could be a part-time model!

Ben was fussy so Oscar asked if he would like to hear the new SkippyJon Jones book. We said Yes! and then Edie and John crept up onto the sofa too, to hear Oscar read to them. Oscar pointed at the words as he read them, so Edie could follow along, and nobly attempted all the Spanish words. And Ben was soothed, briefly. Good job Oscar!

Now everyone's thinking about Oscar's birthday, and Christmas, and John's birthday. Lots of long-range planning going on here (mostly by John).