The Halloween Post

We had a lovely Halloween.

We started by picking pumpkins at our local farm. We never carved out an opportunity (ha!) to carve them, but hey, we got pumpkins. That's still something, right?








Then we participated in our Main Street community's Trick or Treat.


Senpai and Rosemary had their picture taken by the local newspaper! They're photo #8 of 10. :-)



Rosemary spent the entire evening in Daddy's arms. And brrrrrr!, it was cold! After the requisite visit to the port-a-potty at the end, I asked her if she wanted to get on the hayride that was taking people around the block and she said yes. It was loading right then so we hurried over. As she ran she tripped and fell flat on her face on the pavement, but she immediately got right back up and kept going, not phased in the least! My big girl.




Next was the special Halloween themed Storytime.






And finally, we went trick or treating on Halloween night.



We don't have the best neighborhood. Our neighbors' Halloween inflatables were all slashed this year. :-( 30 or so inflatables, all trashed. In response to the attack, the neighbors decided not to give out candy, and I agreed: we stood by them by not distributing candy either. No one came to our door with the lights out, but I'm not sure there were any trick or treaters in our neighborhood to begin with. I didn't hear any kids on the street and most houses were dark.

Because we live in such a lousy neighborhood, we went trick or treating on base. We didn't take Rosemary trick or treating last year. The events we did do that involved asking people for candy was more like Senpai and I doing all of the work while Rosemary looked on. She got it this time. She was on her own two feet walking to the different houses (still needing Daddy's help going down stairs, of course), saying "Tri-a-tree!" She also said "knock knock" as she knocked on doors, and "Thank you!" when she got candy. Sometimes she also said "Bye!" as we walked away. So cute! I love that she is getting to be more outgoing.





Poppy enjoyed riding in the Boba with Mommy this year. I'm looking forward to helping her toddle along the sidewalks next time. :-)

4 months, 2 1/2 years, and Peter Pan

Hello! Here I am. Did you miss me? I'm stopping by to let you know that on the nights where I really have something important to say, I'm too tired to sit down and type it out. Then on the nights where I have time to sit and write, I have nothing terribly interesting to say. Simply put, when you don't hear from me, just imagine all sorts of deep and profound parenting moments going on, and when you do hear from me, you can skim it because it can't be that great, lol!


Poppy is 4, almost 5, months old. She reaches for toys, smiles like she means it, and dances her little heart out on the changing table. The girl is a kicking machine! Though she still needs her reflux medicine and will tell you on the dot when she needs her next dose, spit-up has dramatically reduced. She still can't handle dairy. I cannot wait to one day (not anytime soon, mind you) wean her off breast milk and then have an ice cream party all to myself. Chocolate Milkshake? Sure! Mudslide? Even better! Let's whip up a pot of macaroni and cheese, too, just for good measure, hmm? Alright, I need to stop salivating on the keyboard! I must say that Senpai has been my savior here in the keep-Mommy-dairy-free effort. Without his trips to specialty stores in St. Louis to keep me stocked on dairy-free yogurt, cheese, butter, and (even more importantly) CUPCAKES and BROWNIES, I would've gone off the deep end a while ago. I'm not saying I would've given up on breastfeeding Poppy-- nuh-uh, I've got an iron will there-- it's just that I would most certainly be more miserable about it. Poppy and I thank you, Senpai.




Rosemary is growing like a weed. She is 2 1/2 now. It is safe to say that she is daytime potty trained. We're still working on reducing accidents at night. Though I say she is daytime potty trained, there was a rash of accidents recently because I up and moved her little potty from the living room into the bathroom with no warning. Apparently I was supposed to move it gradually-- about a foot a day-- until it ended up in the new location. Whoops, oh well. It was two days of messes, but she has since recovered nicely.



Rosemary's favorite game at the moment is to be chased. If no one is chasing her, she'll still run around in circles and say, "Peek-a-boo! I see you!" when she gets back to you. She has recently picked up my saying of, "Sleep well," when I put her down for bed. As I leave the room she could say anything from, "Nigh nigh," to "Sleep well," or even "See you later!" And sometimes all of the above. Though she picks up new words and sayings every day, she still strings together long sentences of gibberish just to hold your attention for minutes at a time before finally ending with a single real word. Granted, she has been throwing more real words into the middle of those gibberish sentences: "Pan! fgdskjds;odopid In the sky! dfkljdsofiufwei Fly! gfoepewop[eiof Smee! dkljfdoewiofl In the water! fgopifdoifnewkfn Tick tock!" She has so much to say about Peter Pan, it's adorable. :-)

Speaking of Peter Pan, that is our costume theme this year. Rosemary is the plucky boy herself, while Poppy is none other than the impetuous Tinkerbell. Senpai and I will be Captain Hook and Tiger Lily respectively. Here's a sneak preview of our little pixie:




Well, time to sign off.

Poppy looks adorable as ever, and I.... still look like a mom.