A Day at the Ballet

Kate discovered a pink tutu in her closet the other day. I've had it tucked away for a rainy day, and it was, in fact, a rainy - or at least dreary - day. I decided it could be part of her outfit for the day, and she decided that she would fly through the house dancing for the day. Not to mention, sidewalk chalk and cookie baking. All in all, a great day home from school.

Halloween Preparations

Kate and Ben got together to practice wearing their costumes, since the big day is quickly approaching! Phee has some great leaves in her yard, and the sun was out - a beautiful fall day for fun as a rooster - and a bat. This year Kate finally gets it - she knows enough that she is a little scared and skeptical, but excited just the same. The other night kids came to the door 1/2 dressed up in costumes collecting food for the Idaho Food Bank and when I closed the door behind them Kate burst into tears, crying that she was "MISSING IT!" She thought treat-or-treating was happening and she was devastated that she wasn't out and about. It took some explaining and finally some distraction to help her understand that she wasn't missing anything. A night or so later we were "Boo'd" - something I had never heard of until my adult, suburban life. The doorbell rang and a gift was left at our front door. I think Kate's excitement over that event is just an indicator of what is to come this Saturday night. She has her bag (a black, felt spider), her costume (a rooster - 2 years in a row) and her flashlight ready, and all of her favorite shows have provided her enough guidance to help her understand that on Saturday she is going to be scared and delighted and she's going to get a lot of candy. She can't wait.

Anna Banana

I may have failed to mention - or maybe I failed to notice - that as of yesterday, Anna became a big girl. Yesterday was a typical day for her, aside from the freezing weather at the pumpkin patch. She ate and slept and smiled and that was about it. Then, last night I put her in her pj's and laid her on the floor, on her belly, in her room on a play mat. (She was in the exact spot where Kate was when Kate first rolled over.) In an instant she rolled over on to her back. I couldn't believe it! So, thinking maybe it was a fluke, I put her back on her belly. I walked out of the room, came back and she was on her back again! So, after a few more times I believed it was true. Especially when this morning, I brought her downstairs and laid her on her play mat. Immediately she rolled onto her left side, then over to her right side, then back again. I suspect by the end of the day she will have rolled from her back to her front. You may wonder why I was surprised that my nearly 3 month old baby rolled over. Kate was a good baby, but never as content as Anna is. Anna requires no bouncing, jiggling or special procedures for going to sleep. She will sit quietly and wait for me to come and get her out of her crib in the morning. She waits patiently while I put Kate to bed, often falling asleep where she lays while waiting. And so, I figured such a content little thing would take her time on her boot-scooting. And so we will wait to see if she is on the move as early as Kate was. I'm praying for a quietly content roller for a long time. No one needs her to start crawling any time soon. She does realize this, right?

3rd Annual Pumpkin Patch Outing

I don't know how it is possible that this is my 3rd post of us - including Kate - at this same pumpkin patch. Which, by the way, has gotten more and more entertaining in many ways. The first year we were there Kate wasn't yet a year old, and the fun stuff was limited (I didn't really want her jumping in a bin of lose corn). Last year they had pony rides (for an extra fee), a cow train and a bouncy bubble. This year we saw a pig race, the pony rides were free - and you got to pick out a cowboy hat to wear, the cow train had a "station" of sorts and she was much more successful at the bouncy bubble. Kate was terribly excited about it all - and unfortunately it was freeeeeezing outside. Somehow we went from 90 degrees a week ago to 41 today. Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for that and Kate's extremities were bright red (maybe purplish?). Oops. And Anna slept through the whole thing while riding along in the Baby Bjorn (the story of her short life). Hopefully my body heat was keeping her appropriately warm. She was the only one in the family wearing a winter hat. Finally this year Kate is beginning to get the concept of Halloween, Autumn, costumes, candy, pumpkins. She loved getting to pick out her own pumpkin - which had the only requirement of being small enough for her to carry by herself. I'm not sure she's going to allow it to sit out on the front stoop, because so far it has gone where she has gone in the house (to include having a nap), but I'm pretty sure she's going to get excited about carving the big one we bought.