Fall Cleanup

This weekend we focused on getting the yard cleaned up for Winter, which meant a big pile of leaves for the kids to play in.

Liv was very intrigued by the leaf blowers. She kept saying and signing "more" while we watched, any time Mike would turn it off.

Jump!

Toddlers jumping is one of the cutest, funniest things ever. Liv has the BEST jump. She squats down and throws her arms up and laughs like she is really doing something amazing.

Unfortunately, this video only captures her jumping once. Then we sort of derail. As you can see from her Halloween shirt, this is from last week.

Halloween 2014

Halloween this year was the coldest in history (as far back as the records go, anyway). It seems like each year, the weather on Halloween is a little colder and crappier. Hard to believe it was in the 70s last weekend.

Liv and Ben both had 3 Halloween shirts each (all hand-me-downs or gifts; lucky us!), so they wore their festive gear almost all week.

I tried to get a picture of this adorable outfit, but Liv was too interested in climbing under the high chair over and over again. Who can blame her?

Here's a closeup of her eye. She came down with an eye infection on Wednesday. It looked like someone punched her. The next day, her other eye looked the same. Poor kid. But such a trooper. You'd never know by the way she acts, except she will occasionally point to it and say "eye."

By Friday, she was looking a little better thanks to eye drops from her doctor. I went to the kids' Halloween parade at daycare, which had to be inside due to the cold,

 Ben doing the fish song.

Liv getting ready for the parade. Once she saw me, I couldn't go back to Ben's room. She was glued to my hip. And she'd been crying because they'd just administered her eye drops--no surprise that she is not a fan!

 Ben in the parade. Like I said, the parade was inside...and a little lame because of that. :-(

Liv just wanted to play in the big kid area. She kept trying to have a conversation on the phone using this mouse.

Ben found his sidekick!

And then we came home to play and get ready for trick-or-treat.

Once Daddy was home, we headed out before it got dark.

It was soooo cold and windy. Miserable. We made it to about 5 houses, and Ben decided to call it a night. Liv was having fun despite the cold. She was holding our hands and walking like she had made the grade. If I let go of her hand to help Ben, she held it up and insisted I take it back. So sweet. But made it hard to take a picture, which is why there are none of us actually trick-or-treating.

After we got home, we ordered pizza and waited for trick-or-treaters to arrive. Ben and Liv both sampled the goods as well. Ben discovered a new love for Starburst (no chocolate for this one).

Livvie was less discriminating. She just like grabbing from the bowl and chewing on candy still in the wrapper. Oh, this kid.

After we got home, Ben handed out candy. He loved this and took his job very seriously. At one point, Liv wanted to put candy in the kids' bags like Ben, but she couldn't get out the door, so she improvised by grabbing a piece from the bowl and put it in the potted plant right by the door. She cracks me up and is such a cutie pie.

Here she is doing her new favorite "trick" of climbing up Mike and sitting on his shoulders. Over and over again. Mike is very patient. She has caught on that Dad might stop letting her climb, so she holds tight to his thumbs to make sure he can't get away.

Happy Halloween! Hoping for better weather next year.

Big Girl

Liv has never been a fan of her high chair or booster seat. Lately, she wants out pretty quickly and then prefers to sit on my lap and eat--which is cute sometimes, but also a bit prohibitive for me.

Last Saturday night, she was even more emphatic that she did not want to sit in her booster chair. I held her for a bit, and then Mike held her for a bit, but she was squirmy and kept getting off and on our laps.

Finally I just suggested we let her sit in a real chair and see how it goes. I had him put her in his chair, which has a pad. Pad = less sliding around.

It went great! She is so much more willing at this age to sit and listen to directions than Ben ever was. She happily sat in this chair and ate her dinner. I'd gotten take out--Taco Fresco for Mike and Potbellies for Ben and me (they're right next door, luckily). Liv had a little of both--refried beans and meat off of my sandwich, along with a veggie pouch.

Ms. Independent also has to do the spoon/fork for herself. But she is getting pretty good at it.

She looked so little and adorable sitting in that big chair at the other end of the table from me.

We let her sit on her own again this morning, and it went well. So far, so good.