Trick or Treat!

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, a lot of the local businesses hosted Friday trick or treat events. Two of those businesses were my brother's work and my dad's work. Needless to say, Norah got plenty of "practice" in before doing the real thing tonight. I was only able to meet up with my mom and Norah at my brother's work on Friday (someone has to bring home the bacon!), but I got a few pictures. I don't know if Mom got any from Dad's work, but I'll be sure to share them if she did.

My brother Bob works in the loan department at a local bank. This year they were all Chicago style gangsters. I find this appropriate on many levels. Anyway, Here's Bob and Norah.

And here's Norah telling me (very earnestly, I might add) that Uncle Bob said she could have a cookie. That would be Uncle Bob's "This kid is totally throwing me under the bus!" face.

And here's our little Trick or Treating group tonight. This is, of course, the best picture one can hope for from four 1 - 2 year-old-girls. We have (left to right) Jasmine the Lady Bug (and Mom Tiffany), Ellie the Piggy, Norah the Carrot and Lily the Choo-Choo Driver. I LOVE Lily's description of her costume!!

All in all, we had a ton of fun. Norah wasn't even freaked out by the 6-foot-tall fire dog costume!

And since this may be the only Halloween that I'm big enough to dress my belly, I even got in on the costume action.

I was supposed to be a tomato but I think I turned out looking more like an apple. Still, not bad for a five minute thrown together costume right?

Happy Halloween everybody!!

Letters of Intent - Maternity Mayhem

Thinking you might be a little hormonal? Got something to get off your chest? Well let it out! Put it in letter form and link up over at Foursons! Trust me, you'll feel better.

Dear Inappropriate Belly Toucher,

You work at a shoe store. A store in which I was looking only to find some warm boots for my toddler to wear through the winter. What I found instead was a woman desperate for an excuse to rub another woman's belly. And no, your excuse was not a good one. "I glanced over and saw you rubbing your belly, so I just had to take my turn." Seriously? That was the best that you could come up with? Here's the difference sweetheart, I was rubbing MY OWN BELLY not yours! Being as you are about 40 pounds overweight I would have imagined that you might be more attuned to other peoples' bodily sensitivities. Apparently that was a poor assumption. Although, not nearly as poor as your assumption that you could ignore my personal space bubble simply because I happen to be incubating another human being.

I doubt that we will ever meet again, since I will make it a point never to patronize the store in which you work. But seeing as this is a small town and I might run into you again, consider this your warning.

Irritatedly,

Managed to Control The Fist of Death... This Time

Dear Blood Test Lady,

Seeing as you've had at least two children I would think that you would know better. Asking my due date is a perfectly logical question, especially considering that you work in a medical setting. I'll even let it slide that when I said, "Two months from today." you exclaimed, "WOW! Aren't you kind of big!?!" But when I explained that I believed I was bigger in part because this is my second child what you said next was downright cruel.

"Oh. Well, I didn't even bother with maternity clothes for my second one." Really? That's so incredibly interesting. So, are you into torturing pregnant women or are you just a complete narcissist? Either way, thanks so much for the information. It certainly didn't make me feel even more like a manatee than I already do.

Enormously,

Still Controlling The Fist of Death

I Guest It!

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist the punny title. But seriously, I’m so excited to announce that I have my very first guest post on another blog! A local coffee shop – which I may or may not frequent several times a week – asked me to lend my sparkling wit and effervescent prose to a “From a Loyal Customer” feature post. I’m fairly certain that’s how they worded it. Yes. Yes, that’s definitely what I heard them say.

Anyway, whether you live in my little corner of paradise or not, take a look! I hope you have a coffee shop in your town that’s as awesome as ours… but I doubt it!

http://www.durangojoes.com/blog/2010/10/25/the-preggo-special-from-a-loyal-customer/

Costumed

Today we had a busy day. Two birthday parties back-to-back makes for one over-sugared, under-napped little girl. The second party we went to was a first birthday for Jasmine. She is currently the youngest little one in our small group, and will remain "Baby Jasmine" (to me at least) until SBJ#2 makes his/her entrance in December. Since Jazzy's birthday is so close to Halloween they did a costume party. I was super excited to try out Norah's costume before the big day.


She had her heart set on being a carrot. Since I couldn't find any pre-made carrot costumes, I went the old fashioned route and made one. Aside from needing a few extra hair clips to hold the headband on I think it's going to work out just fine!


So here are the three girls from our small group. Jasmine was a ladybug, Ellie was a butterfly and Norah was a carrot. Together we had a whole little garden!

Letters of Intent - Laundry Day

Have something to say? Yup! Me too!! Join up with the good folks at Foursons and have a little fun sayin' what you need to say.


Dear Strawberry Popsicle:

Seriously!?! It was my daughter’s second wearing of an adorable new sweater. The sweater was a gift from her grandmother. You managed not only to drip on the sweater multiple times, but to do so only on the cream stripes, not on the blue or brown stripes. Granted, she may not be the neatest eater and that may have contributed somewhat to the drippage. Still, it’s like you were aiming for the areas where you would be most difficult to remove!

You’re on my list,

The Laundry Avenger

Dear Tide Stain Pen:

You are my hero. Or rather, you were. Until your tip snapped clean off halfway through my application of stain fighting liquid onto the multiple above-mentioned stains. The fact that you’d been riding around in my purse, likely uncapped (because what caps stay on in the bottom of the abyss called my purse?), for the better part of the year is a weak excuse. I needed you. You were called to duty. And you snapped under the pressure. That is all.

Frustratedly,

The Disappointed Laundry Avenger

Dear Second Tide Stain Pen:

I can’t tell you how relieved I was to find you in the drawer! True, your brother-in-arms may not have been completely at fault for the utter failure of my initial attempt to remove strawberry popsicle from an adorable new sweater. Nevertheless, you stepped in and got the job done. Have fun riding in my purse.

Gratefully,

The Avenged Laundry Avenger

Dear Tide:

I suppose I should really be thanking you. Not only did you create a product that actually works (YES! The stains came out!!!) but you packaged it in pairs. It’s almost like you knew that this particular product would be used by hurried, overworked moms who didn’t have time to run out and buy a second one when the first stopped working. Whatever product development guy (or gal) suggested that you package them in pair deserves a raise.

Seriously,

The Satisfied Laundry Avenger

PS – I’m sure that you understand the value of the above Letter of Intent. My tens – possibly twelves – of readers have just heard from a trusted and, dare I say beloved, source of my unbiased opinion that your product really works. So... I'm gonna go ahead and call us even.

First Haircut

I probably could have gotten away with letting Norah's hair grow for a while longer, but it was just getting so shaggy in the back. Add to that the fact that she doesn't like getting pig tails put in anyway, and I figured it was probably time for a trim. I took her to my girl Sophie for her very first hair cut.

Sitting on Grammie's lap and looking a little unsure.

The first snips.

She was smiling so sweetly into the mirror for me but the camera was having trouble focusing on her little face.

"So tell me Sophie, will this cut be easy to manage? I don't have a lot of time in the mornings these days. I use the big girl potty in the morning now, you know. It really cuts into my primping time."

Letters of Intent - Baby Talk

Have something to say? Join me (and some other, much more talented bloggers) over at Foursons and link up!

Dear Dora the Explorer:

I know I've written you recently, but I just had one more thank you to add. When my daughter ran down the hill last weekend yelling "ABAJO!!" and then back up yelling "ARRIBA!" my heart jumped a little. When she insisted on naming her favorite toy horse "Caballo" I had to smile.

Having a father-in-law who grew up in Argentina, I'm happy to hear my little girl gain at least a basic appreciation for Latin culture. I was a little worried when we moved to Colorado that our kids would have less exposure to the "Spanglish" we learned growing up in California. So once again, gracias por tu ayuda.

Mucho gusto,

Understands a Lot More Than She Speaks

******

Dear Santa:

Norah is convinced that you will be bringing "her baby" to us this year. While I'm fairly certain that you will have very little to do with it, if you do, please feel free to bring the baby a few days before or after your normal present delivering day. I know that 36 hours or so is a really busy time for you, and we'd be happy to take delivery either early or late.

Also, Norah wishes for me to tell you that "you'd better be nice to her baby". This apparently means, "no kicking, hitting or biting". Just passing the message along.

Sincerely,

Would Rather Not be in Labor Christmas Day

******

Dear SBJ#2:

My body is not a hammock. I'm sure you're much more comfortable then your sister was at 30 weeks, given that she was upside-down already. Rest assured, however, that I am much less comfortable since you've decided that "transverse" is your favorite position. Not only do I feel twice as big as I should, but you also tend to use either my kidneys or my ribs for your daily kickboxing practice. I know we still have about ten weeks before it's time to make your appearance but please, do mommy a favor and start "heading" for the exit.

Sincerely,

Wide Load

Open Gym

Well, it turns out that Norah wasn't kidding when she informed her daddy the other day that she's a monkey. I had the morning off on Monday so we were able to take her to open gym at the local gymnastics place. I'll pretty much just let the pictures take it from here.

There was balance beam walking.

And ring swinging.

And parallel bars.

And ring swinging.

And the single bar (that's what that's called, right?)

She did really well on the suspended balance beam. She was the youngest and the only girl to try it out.

And, of course, what trip to the gym would be complete without a little weight lifting?

As you can see, there was a lot of swinging and a LOT of trying to go upside down. Looks like a monkey to me!

Conversations with a Two-Year-Old

Last night at church the kids watched the cartoon version of "The Ten Commandments" (produced by that little company we'll call The Mouse House). They got about 75% of the way through it and then asked to turn it off and play games.

The following was the conversation we had on the way home:

"Norah, did you have fun watching the movie with your friends?"

"I didn't like it."

"You didn't like the movie? What didn't you like about it?"

"I didn't like the guy."

"Which guy?"

"The talking guy. I didn't like the talking guy."

"Moses?"

"Yeah. I didn't like him and the movie was.... It was..... it waaasss...... it was..... I didn't find anything out from the movie."

"You mean you didn't learn anything?"

"Yeah. I didn't"

"But you got to eat popcorn."

"Yeah. That part was good."

I think the word Norah was searching for was "boring". Not that the actual movie was boring, it just might have gone over her head a little bit. But I was really happy to hear her try to express why. That's a very important concept.

*****

Here's a conversation we had about why Norah's grandma and grandpa were coming to visit but her Uncle Matthew was staying home:

"Why Uncle Massew not coming?"

"He has to stay home because he has to go to school. There are lots of things for him to learn at school and it's too important for him to miss."

"Oh! He learnin' coloring and sharing and playing with his friends. He gonna make something for his mommy and his daddy. He gonna learn drawing and ABC's. And when he all done, Grandma come pick him up!"

(I was laughing pretty hard at this point)

"Well, Matthew is actually old enough to drive, so he might drive himself home from school. Or maybe he takes the bus."

"Oh yeah! He take the bus instead. When I get big, I take to bus to school!!"

*****

Finally, a conversation with her daddy just this evening:

"Daddy, you AWESOME!"

"Aw, I think you're awesome too."

"I think not! I'm a monkey."

Yup! That's our little monkey.

Family Picture Preview!

Our sweet neighbor (and her awesome camera) were kind enough to meet up with us for 45 minutes or so and snap some family photos. Norah was in a great mood and the photos turned out AWESOME! Of course, we just took them yesterday afternoon so we haven't done any photo shopping or any of that yet.

I just couldn't resist giving a little sneak preview.

Hold Me Closer Choni Dancer

My mom and Norah just finished a 6 week class called "Dance with me". It's for toddlers 15 months to 3 years and their caregiver and it teaches basic dance and movement skills. Basically, it was Norah and her Grammie with a bunch of other kids and their moms. But since I work and all of the classes in our town are in mid-morning, my mom was a super awesome, extra fun Grammie and took Norah to what she referred to as "Dancing Class".

The last class of the series was supposed to be a recital. Basically it was all of the kiddos doing all of the moves they'd learned over the course of the earlier classes. Since it was held just a couple of blocks from my work, I took half my lunch break and walked up with my camera to get a few pictures. I actually got some video too, but I can't get it to work right now. So pictures will have to do for now.

But I feel like I should explain something first...

Every other Monday I had dressed Norah yoga pants for dancing class. I don't know why I put her in different pants the last day of class, but I did. My mom took Norah to class in the bike trailer for a little exercise. When she does that she doesn't bring Norah's bag (with her extra clothes in it) because it adds about 10 lbs or so to the total weight she has to pull in the trailer. Just a few minutes into Dancing Class, my mom noticed that Norah wasn't moving much and was tugging at her pants. Now that she's out of diapers (PTL!) her pants were falling down. So... like any good Grammie who has had her share of slightly embarrassing kid situations, my mom made the obvious choice. Strip Norah down to her chonies and let her dance her little heart out. After all, one little girl wore a leotard to every class. It was basically the same thing, right?

So that's my kid in the green tank top and.... very little else.

Makes her pretty easy to pick out though, right?

So she marched...

And she rolled...

And rolled some more...

And crawled...

She even did a little break dancing!

She absolutely loved dancing class. And dancing in her chonies? My tiny dancer didn't mind a bit. I figure, there's a very short window of time when dancing in your underwear is considered cute, so I might as well let her live it up while I can!

Don't Cry Daddy

I'm sure most of you parents can agree with me when I say this...

Sometimes the most inappropriate things our children do and say also happen to be the most hilarious. Say, for instance, when your daughter asks her Grandpa if he has a baby in his tummy like Mommy. Or when she announces to her daddy that he "has hairy boobies" and she "just has little boobies". Both if these scenarios are completely hypothetical, of course...

But I digress!

My darling husband has developed a fantastic coping method for those times when we wish to highlight the impropriety of a situation and hide the hilarity.

He fake cries.

This accomplishes two things for him. First, it allows him to hide the uncontrollable peals of laughter. Second, it forces me to be the bad cop. I have to stay solemn and inform my daughter that her bad manners have made Daddy cry. She almost always apologizes right away, corrects her bad manners and says, "Don't cry Daddy." When she's not covered in food (lots of "bad manners" situations happen at the dinner table) there's even usually a hug in it for him.

It's a win-win for him, and honestly I don't mind. I'm much better at keeping a straight face than he is. She's such a daddy's girl, I'm pretty sure he can't help but think that nearly everything she does is adorable. Besides, I don't think it's a bad thing for her to grow up knowing that the men in her life are sensitive to her behavior. Words and actions have power, hers as well as ours.

This past week, Norah and I were in the car together when "The Only Exception" by Paramore came on. I have to be careful of what songs come on in the car now, because Norah actually listens to the words. The first line of this particular song says, "When I was younger I saw my Daddy cry and curse at the wind."

Suddenly, I heard a little voice on my right-hand-side in the back seat ask, "Daddy cried?" then solemnly observe, "Daddy cries when you have bad manners."

I turned to the left, stifled a giggle and said, "Well, yes sweetie. Sometimes he does."

Wordless Wednesday - Fall has Descended

In case you were wondering...

...Norah loves being a big sister. So far.