Happy Halloween! Want some candy?

Vi had an excellent, excellent Halloween.

Starting with a good mood, and lot of energy, Vi snuggled, mostly naked, on the sofa with Daddy for a book and a banana. Super happy campers.

Louise (Mumsy) came for Vi at 10, and they went off for swim class. We had a few minutes to ourselves, then hurried to the pool for the photo ops.

For the next several weeks, Vi and Mumsy will have the morning to themselves, as will we!

What a great thing.

I just have to say, Vi looks so much like a photo of her great-grandmother Gay Badenhop, Dan's maternal grandmother, here:

After swimming class, we went home and had lunch, then I put Vi down for a nap. A very successful put-down, by the way. We are now able, since the epic battle of 2009, to tuck her in, say night-night, and walk out of the room. She goes to sleep. On her own. Really.

We folded laundry and did dishes, then we laid down for a rest, too. About an hour later, I heard a little cough near my head. I thought, "That's a strange noise for the dog to make." Then I heard it again. I rolled over, and there was Vi, staring and smiling in my face. "Hi," she whispered. "I awake." She climbed in bed with us, and yelled to Dan, "WAKE UP - I KISS YOU!!" She practiced some butterfly kisses on us, saying "blink, blink, blink, blink" the whole time.

I made Vi some hot cocoa (because she saw Dan having some), and left her to drink it. When I came back, she was saying "I need a paper towel," and her face was covered in white granules. I realized that I had left her to drink her cocoa next to the sugar bowl...oops. She had gotten a spoon and was eating sugar by the mouthful. Getting a head start on Halloween, I guess!

Many of you know the story of Vi's costume - Last week, I was doing some preventative damage control, and explaining the whole Halloween dress-up thing to Vi. I started to tell her what her options for costumes were, and she interrupted me to say, "I wanna be a monkey." A good friend ordered a monkey costume and had it shipped to us. She had a store credit with a costume company and wanted to get rid of it. (Can you hear the foreshadowed doom? Or is that just my hindsight kicking in...) Here is what arrived at 5 pm on Thursday, approximately 16 hours before the Halloween parade at day care:

My good friend Adrianne was to the rescue, with her creativity and sewing skills. We were able to take the brown fabric and "fur" from the costume above and create a super-cute monkey costume for Vi in the nick of time.

Grammy and Papou came over in the afternoon (with candy and a cupcake!) , and we played dress-up, carved a pumpkin, and got ready for trick-or-treating. We made Grammy and Papou dress up:

Her little tail would wag whenever she wiggled or giggled. It was super-cute and had Dan near tears all night.

One of the highlights of my evening was dressing MYSELF up. I've been a sexy/slutty witch many years in a row now, and this year was no exception. I lost a ton of weight (okay, not 2,000 pounds, but close...) and when I put on the costume, I realized that for many years in a row now, I've been a pudgy witch who wants to look sexy...ha! It was pretty funny. THEN, a little girl came to the door trick-or-treating. She said, "I like your outfit - what are you?" I said, "I'm a witch." Without hesitation she said, "Yeah, a HOT witch!" Her mother's jaw hit the floor. It was hysterical. Her mother said, "What a nice compliment, sweetie...even if it is coming from a 7-year old girl..." Oh, god, I'm still giggling about that one.

We took Vi trick-or-treating to four houses. The first was Dick & Terry's, where we spend a lot of time, anyway. Vi knocked and said, "trick or treat! come on in!" and walked right in. Wandered over to the sofa, found a bag of chips and started eating them. Helped herself. We went to the next house, and she thought we were supposed to go inside and visit. It was pretty funny. The last two houses, she shushed a barking dog, and blew lots of kisses and shouted "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" to everyone. We went back to Dick & Terry's house to visit for the evening. Vi helped hand out candy to all the kids. She love it. She would gasp, her jaw would drop, and she would run to the door saying "More kids!" The kids would knock on the door, and Vi would knock back, saying "Trick or treat! Want some candy? Come on in!" She handed out candy, said "you're welcome" and "happy halloween" to a few kids, and was so excited to participate. We were all in hysterics over her excitement all evening.

At 8:00, I told her it was almost time to go home for a bath and go to bed. I asked, "are you tired?" She said "N0," then started walking to the door and quickly said, "'Night, guys. I wanna take a bath."

Bath and jammies, one quick ABC story, and she was down.

As for me, this HOT witch (Did I tell you that story yet? About me being HOT?) is going to bed.

'Night, guys. More pictures HERE.

Stop the madness.

Last night I had to show Vi that she had gotten her stubborn streak genetically. From me. And that I had been honing mine for 32 1/2 years.

Vi woke up at 11:30, crying and screaming for me. Dan kindly got up and went into her room, which is literally next to ours. She almost fell back asleep, but woke up in a rage when he got up to leave the room. After 20 minutes of trying, he came and got me.

I tried for the next 2 1/2 hours.

That's right. From 11:48 pm to 2:38 am...okay, that's almost 3 hours...I tried to get Vi to go to sleep.

I started with my usual "I'm too tired to change these habits tonight" technique of laying down with her and snuggling until she was out. As with Dan, when I got up she was NOT happy.

Next, I sat on her bed for a while, holding her hand while she drifted off again. When I stood up to leave, she cranked up the volume again.

I decided then to see if she would "just do it" on her own tonight. I told her, "Vi, I'm not going to sleep in your bed. I'm tired, and I want to sleep in MY bed. You sleep in YOUR bed. Good night."

She started using every trick in the book, every tool in her bag, every word she could use to get her way - sleeping with me, either in The Big Bed as she calls it, or in her Big Girl Bed. Either way, she would be a neck-poking, nose-pinching, elbow-digging bed hog, and I would wake up un-rested with a neck ache. From too much "snuggling."

Lines she tried on me:

• I need a drink of water
• I want some hot milk
• I don't want that blanket
• I need a blanket
• I need a bubba
• I want a different bubba
• I don't want a bubba, I want a Pac-i-fi-er.
• I DON'T WANT THAT BUBBA.

It was becoming clear that the "needs" she expresses every night are just tools to get us to give in and lay down with her or bring her to our bed. She was manipulating us - not in a malicious way, but basically trying to elicit a certain response from her test subjects. And we always gave in, until last night. Well, we equals me at midnight. Dan was already snoring away in The Big Bed, and I made an executive decision to stand my ground and enforce a new policy.

The talking and crying continued:

• I don't want to go to sleep
• I want to get in the big bed
• Mommy? Wanna come back in my room? Wanna lay down, with meeee? (sweet, sweet, sweetly spoken.)

I almost gave in. Her words! She was speaking so clearly, being polite, inviting, and sweet. How sweet! She just wants to snuggle. What's the harm? If I won't snuggle with her now, years from now I'll regret it, I started to tell myself. I may have been thinking out loud at this point - who knows. Unfortunately, this all happened on a Tuesday night (into Wednesday morning, for you sticklers) so Adam and Dylan were upstairs sleeping in our guest room. Dylan wasn't disturbed, but poor Adam was kept awake by the Sleep Summit of 2009.

I realized, though, that I had to stick to my guns. I had been strong in the new policy for over 45 minutes. (Well, just at 45 minutes I went into the bedroom and told Dan I was going to, and this is a direct quote, "chuck her out the fucking window." When he started snoring again instead of talking, I decided to kill him in his sleep after I got a drink of water.)

So, back to me being strong and awesome. I knew that there was no turning back at this point. If I gave in after such a long fight, then the next time I tried would be even worse. She couldn't win this one, or else I would really pay for it. I could out-stubborn a mule.

I stood in her doorway, speaking softly, telling her "Good night. It's nighttime, it's time for sleeping. Lay down and go to sleep." She would reply, "No." Just that - a firm, sour "No." In between requests like:

• I wanna hug your neck
• I want to take off my jammies
• I need a new diaper (she didn't)

she would cry and scream at a ridiculous level. In these moments, I was glad to have company - I reminded her that there were people sleeping, and to use her quiet voice so she wouldn't wake up Dylan.

I stepped outside her room, and leaned on the hallway wall. More claims:

• I pooped (she hadn't)
• Ow, Ow, OW!
• Mommy? Lay down, mommy. Lay down with meeee. (again resorting to nearly irresistible sweetness.)

I stepped further down the hall, and stood in my bedroom doorway. I got a pillow and sat on the floor. She asked me "Where are you, Mommy? What you doing, Mommy?" several times. The final half hour or so was the most painful. She was crying intermittently, kneeling in her bed, occasionally folding forward to rest her head on the pillow. Then up again, crying and screaming, saying over and over again, "I wanna snuggle my Daddy in the big bed, Mommy. I wanna snuggle my Daddy." This was definitely the most heart-breaking part for me - at first. I remembered all the other "tools" she had been using, and what her goal was. Her goal wasn't to snuggle with Dan. Once in The Big Bed, she would - and I know this in every inch of my body - wrap her arms around my neck and keep me from breathing like a healthy human being. I had to keep telling myself this - I wasn't denying her something she needed, and that all three of us need to start getting regular, dependable, recuperative sleep. I told her, out loud, "I know, honey. I know you do. It's hard when we can't do everything we want to do. It's nighttime, though, and it's time for you to sleep all alone in your bed. You're a big girl, and I know you can do it. I love you." I must have said, "I know, I know," forty times. I opted for "I know" rather than "It's okay; you're fine," because that would just be a lie.

Her words got softer, and the time between cries got longer. After 20 minutes of silence, I covered her in cozy blankets and crawled into The Big Bed.

I was completely wound up, cold from sitting on the floor, stressed about a full day of work ahead on so little sleep, and Dan was snoring like a wookie. But, I knew I had taken a step in the right direction. My kid will learn some independence, some self-soothing, and some boundaries. And, hopefully...I'll get some sleep.

My sleep problems guru, Dr. Sears has suggestions for parents on his website. Actually, it's not just "him." The awesome thing about Dr. Sears is that it's him, his RN wife, and his gaggle of genious kids who are also MDs. He's, like, 5 doctors, so he's, like, 5 times as helpful.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp

Elmer's, Fishy and a Monkey, too

We took a trip to Target on Saturday to get some diapers, Halloween candy, a hand soap refill, and a second paintbrush for Vi to share with Dylan on Tuesdays. This was Vi's first planned diaper-free outing.

We found the diapers easily, then went on a hunt for the hand soap we like. Vi was walking in front of the cart, practically shouting "Where ARE you, soap? Where ARE you?" The people behind us were either laughing with me or at me - I'm not sure.

Even with very limited exposure to candy, Vi was right on top of this part of shopping. Grabbing Mike & Ikes, Junior Mints and Nerds. We peeked at the costumes for a minute, but she really wasn't into it. I was still, at this point in the weekend, thinking that Vi didn't "get" Halloween and we wouldn't be doing much in the way of dress-up.

Arts & Crafts. I found the paint brushes, Vi grabbed tempera paint and tried to hoist it into the cart, and I picked out a jumbo pack of construction paper. This is one of those aisles in the store where I can really go wild and have to tame myself. Next, Vi was holding some Elmer's glue, saying, "Wanna make a school bus?" Hours of shapes and glueing and painting and drawing were dancing in my mind, so of COURSE I wanted to make a school bus. We now have a whole bin of arts & crafts STUFF which is keeping Vi so entertained and engaged (and away from the TV.) Those $15 have really revolutionized our evenings. (Duh, Lindsay, DUH. Going back to the basics is usually the answer...)

Also on Saturday we drove up to Bath with Granddaddy to visit the YMCA where he works out. Anyone who knows my dad knows that he keeps diligent records of his workouts, tallying cumulative pounds for each session. "I did about 47,000 pounds today." The Y has a pool with family swim time, and Dad had 2 free guest passes. Vi starts swimming lessons with Mumsy on the 31st, and had never been in a pool before. So, off we went to introduce Vi to chorine, echos, and floating. Was I nervous? Yes. Was she? Apparently NOT.

Vi took to the water like she had been in a pool every day of her life. We got there just as a swimming class was ending, and all of the kids were climbing out of the pool, taking off back-pack floatation devices. Vi walked right over to the basket and grabbed one, and tried to put it on herself. We walked into the pool, down the stairs, and started swimming. She wanted to jump into the water, to blow bubbles in the water, to go under completely, to kick, to paddle, and, most impressively, to swim by her "shelsh." (I manna sim my myshelsh!!) We had a blast, and she is so excited to go back to the pool again soon. We are lucky to live across the street from the community pool in our town, so we can drop into family swim once in a while.

Sunday evening, as I was putting her to bed and talking about the day, I started to talk about Halloween. I don't want to get all the way to this Saturday and find out that she "gets it," and be totally unprepared, so I figured I would start explaining to her what her buddies at school might already be talking about. I told her she could dress up if she wanted, and she could be a clown, a kitty-ca--"I MANNA BE A MONKEY," she interrupted me to say.

"A monkey?" I ask, smiling at the way her personality is shining through in this sweet moment.

Nodding, she says, "Yeah, a monkey. Oo-oo, ah-ah. And you be a bee, and Daddy be a horse. No, Daddy a bee, and you a monkey."

"I'm a monk--" I start.

"NO! I a monkey first," she explains.

"Can I be a mommy monkey, and you be my baby monkey? And, I'll carry you on my back through the jungle?"

"Uh-huh. Oo-oo, ah-ah." And then she pointed at her bed, ready for sleep.

I immediately get on craigslist and facebook, looking for a monkey to borrow or a cheap monkey to buy. My sister's facebook status, within minutes, is asking her friends the same question: anyone have a 3T monkey costume to lend? And, by morning, her friend (well, my friend, too!) has one on its way to us.

When Vi woke up, I asked her to tell Dan what she wants to be for Halloween. She said, "An elephant."

Of course. An elephant.

Don't worry - by bedtime last night, when I asked her again, she was back to the monkey. Oo-oo, ah-ah.

A Car-di-nal

I was reading a book to Vi and her friends at school this morning, and every page had several animals. The kids would point and say the names of the animals, as 2-year-olds do. We got to a cardinal, and Vi said, very deliberately, "That's a Car-Di-Nal."

Many of you know that Vi is the namesake of my late grandmother, Vigolia. Vigolia's favorite bird was a cardinal. Whenever I am feeling down, tired, sad or frustrated, a cardinal will appear.

Just like today.

Would you like some eggs?

In case you didn't know...


........I was KIDDING about selling my eggs.

Here - laugh at this video.

First Snow!

It snowed here last night, leaving a wet covering of white flakes all over the yard. This morning, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and the world is denying that the mixed precipitation ever happened. However, there is a chill in the air and hot cocoa on my mind.

The highlight of the weekend was Saturday afternoon and evening. I modeled jewelry for Turtle Love Committee's new line of necklaces. I'll let you know when they are made available! We then spent a lovely evening visiting with friends whose daughter is about 6 weeks older than Vi. The two girls played really well all night - taking turns, singing songs, make-believe baking...it was all very sweet. As usual, Vi ended up naked. Is this something other kids her age do? I mean, the kids she plays witih usually follow her lead, so I know it's not totally weird...but Vi is ALWAYS the instigator in the "I wanna be a naked baby" game.

We bought Vi some more big girl underpants this weekend, too. She'll start wearing them to school soon. Hurray! My favorites are the Thomas the Tank Engine boys' underpants. There's something very cute about a little rumpus in boys' briefs.

Today is Monday, and the morning came too early. As I mentioned before, hot cocoa would really be nice today. Especially wonderful if enjoyed on the sofa, in front of the wood stove, in my pajamas. Yes, Winter is here.

STRESS!

I'm so stressed about money! This has been such a difficult year for us, and I think we're both going to need to pick up extra hours at odd jobs to make ends meet for the rest of the year.

Any suggestions? Should I sell my eggs? Sell pies? C'mon, creative readers - any ideas for me?

Silly kids.

We had another super sleep-over last night. While we were eating dinner, Dick and Terry popped over to say hi and have a glass of wine. Vi shrieked and did her "happy to see you" prance.

And then, she took off all her clothes. Her new catch phrase is "By myself," or "by myselsh." She had some trouble when trying to take off her diaper before her pants before her shoes, but she did most of it by herselsh.

This inspired Dylan to strip, and then it was bath time. Plenty of splashing, washing each other, tons of bubbles, and we sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." Vi's new thing is to take a rubbermaid container, fill it with water and bubbles, and tell us that there is a Big Spider in it. The appropriate reaction, for your information, is "WOAH!" or "WHAT?!?!?" Dylan started doing it, too. It's really funny...she starts saying and doing things she hears and sees Vi doing, which is all good and fun until Vi sets a bad example. (Like stripping in the kitchen.)

Sweet, silly kids.

Pictures!

Here they are, in multiple albums.


Vi's Birthday, End of July: Click HERE

August, Eustis, Pool, Summer: Click HERE

September: Click HERE

The first week of October: Click HERE

Twenty-Five Hours in a Day, please!

I'm trying to upload the pictures from the past two months, so I can share them with you. If I just did it once a week, it would take fifteen minutes. But, since I can't usually find fifteen minutes, I put it off and put it off...and now the "time remaining" message is so awful I can't even look at it!

I'm relying on these pictures to form an outline of what I need to write. My "list of things to write about" post last month is a start...

I'm hoping to find plenty of time during this long week to post some of these memories. All I know is that we have had so many sublime moments, where we look at each other and say, "I hope I never forget this moment."

Like tonight - Vi was standing on a chair, eating peanut butter from the jar, and declaring it "sticky" with her mouth full. She was rinsing it down with grape juice from a wine glass - her favorite drinking vessel. She turned around to see Riley staring up at her - possibly begging for the PB. She proceeded to say something very deliberately to him, but we have NO idea what it was. Something about how she was up there, and he was down there, and she was eating, or..oh, I don't know. But she meant every word of it and it was oh so cute.

Or, when I wanted to try on her winter outerwear - hat, mittens, boots, and coat - which I had just found at Lots for Tots. (A total steal - IF they fit!) I should add that all she was wearing was her underpants. She put on the hat, and said, "I like my hat." She put on the mittens, and mumbled happily about those. She let me put on the boots, but refused to wear the coat. She pranced around for a while wearing this silly ensemble. I still haven't gotten her to put on the coat. Hmm...

(Still trying to upload those pictures. Technical difficulties...)

In other news, I had my first weekend off last weekend! I took a half day on Friday, and drove to my sister's in NJ. No Vi, no Dan, no Riley, no Mitten, no NOTHING. I EVEN SET MY OUT OF OFFICE AUTO-REPLY. Noelle had a hen party on Saturday night, which was great. She, of course, has a collection of dynamic friends who were also so happy to have a night off! Smart, funny, independent women. Cool moms. Not that I'm surprised - birds of a feather, right? And Noelle certainly fits that description. We had ALL DAY SATURDAY together! Just me and my sis! It was such a huge treat for both of us - it's like we haven't seen each other in years! Plus, I got to hang out with her kids some, and enjoy them without distraction, in their own environment. Do I need to mention how amazing all of the food was? I need to get (and share) the recipe for Cowboy Caviar - it had black eyed peas, cilantro, celery and a light vinaigrette. The owner of Ciao Bella Gelato was at the party, with plenty of gelato to share! Yum.

One of the treats this fall has been all the extra time with Dylan, Vi's best buddy at school, whose dad lives across the street. He is completely renovating his house, so it it open to the weather and very cold at night. On the nights that Dylan is with Adam, they slumber party over here. Vi and Dylan were feeding each other last night - making choo-choo noises and all - and they love bathtime together. Tonight, I told Vi that she was going to take swimming lessons with Mumsy in a few weeks, and she replied, "No, I don't. I swim in tub-tub with Dylan."

That's just the sort of thing she says lately. Like, sentences. That make up paragraphs. THAT MAKE SENSE. She's constantly asking "What THAT?" or reminding us of something that happened, or trying out new phrases. She can count to twenty, sing ABCs, Happy Birthday, and Twinkle Twinkle all by herself, and does not put her baby doll down.

Unless, of course, she is throwing herself to the ground in a tantrum.

She is totally, wonderfully, hilariously, infuriatingly TWO.

And we hope we don't forget a single moment.