Annika's first Halloween party

There is one thing that you should know about Halloween parties with nine children in a modest-sized home during an Indian Summer - they are scarier than any witch you'll see on October 31st.

Annika went to a Halloween party this evening at her friend Nico's house. The oldest child was five, and there were two babies at 6 months. The rest were from 12 - 26 months. It was sheer pandemonium. But those kids loved it. Nico has excellent toys, there was plenty of "kek" as Annika says, and hardly a tear was shed. Well, except when they shoved Nico into his penguin costume.

Annika is a "Heffalump" this year. I just found out that elephants existed in Christopher Robin's world. Who knew? Anyway, compared to last year's multitude of sobbing fests when her Halloween costume was within seven feet of her, she refused to take off this costume despite the incessant heat. What a difference a year makes.

Happy (early) Halloween!

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

We took Annika to a Pumpkin Patch today. Met up with some friends whom she mostly ignored in favor of walking up to every pumpkin and patting them. One by one, she said hello to each pumpkin methodically, obsessively. I say obsessively because Chris thinks she shows signs of OCD. Only time, and her therapist will tell.

By the way - I don't remember ever going to a Pumpkin Patch when I was a kid...and there's practically one on every corner in these parts. Is this a California thing, or a phenomenon in the last twenty years-type-of-thing?

A little snotty and a little fancy

Annika discovered that we have patent leather Mary Janes in her size (hand-me-downs - but she doesn't know the difference!) and was quite displeased the other day when we took them off her after a fitting. Screaming and shrieking "Shoes!" Miss Annika was having a Carrie Bradshaw moment. Anyway, we managed to distract her using Jedi Mind Tricks (water out of a sippy cup and a well-worn copy of Hop on Pop) and we got out of that jam. What this proved to me is that 1) at 15 months, Annika is dangerously teetering on the edge of the "terrible twos" and 2) we have a girlie-girl on our hands. I'm not sure what distresses me more. Girlie-girls are expensive.

Anyway, Annika is a little sick today - a low grade fever and some snot. This is usually cause for concern because we are ridiculous first-time parents, but is further compounded by the fact that I was exposed to viral meningitis earlier this week. Before you send me flowers, I have yet to have any symptoms, and I was very minimally exposed. I contacted our trusted health professionals who assured me that it was extremely unlikely that Annika could contract this if I have yet to demonstrate symptoms. It's more likely that she's nursing a nasty cold. So we are doing the humidifier thing, which is annoying because it spits out water all over the place and I even tried a steamy shower, which didn't work because our hot water didn't last long enough. Have I mentioned that we live in the ghetto?

So both subjects came to a head today when we attended a family baptism for Annika's dear cousin Pierce. She was able to sport her fancy dress and "Shoes!" and also was instructed to not touch other children and to keep her hands clean. Fun was had by all, as you can imagine.

Actually, it really was a lot of fun, and Annika had a great time for a sick kid. I think I need to tell my trusted health professionals about the healing powers of shoes and sparkly dresses.

The picture is after the day's events - please ignore the messy room and my massive face.

Countdown

We purchased Annika's Halloween costume this afternoon. Though I am relatively pleased with it, I'm not that excited. Actually, I had something specific in mind, but it appears that these articles can only be purchased in baby size online from random people. So determined not to get my identity stolen from online predators, I took my baby and husband to our local mall to get to the bottom of this costume thing for 2006.

I will not spoil the surprise by revealing the costume here, but please - let's hope it's nothing like 2005. Now, don't get me wrong...we had a nice Halloween last year at Godmommy Lisa's - but the little girl could never adjust to her costume. We have absolutely zero pictures of her either being 1) exceedingly cute or 2) remotely happy. I am hoping that my neutral excitement for this year's ensemble will translate into a more excited baby as I was tremendously looking forward to the sunflower outfit. I remember buying it and thinking "my baby is now *officially* the cutest ever." And that never exactly happened.

But please enjoy this blast from the past -



Is it bad that this picture always makes me chuckle?

Video magic

I've been meaning to show everyone this video for a while. But due to technology, it hasn't been possible. What the heck, Google Video?

She's about 13 months in this picture. She turned 15 months on Sunday...oh my gosh! I've been pregnant/had a baby for two years now!