Halloween was no big deal this year. I have to admit I've been a big preoccupied what with having a three month old and all. Also it may have something to do with the feisty and sometimes assertive (ahem) two year old we're trying to parent. I wasn't even sure we were going to do anything other than retreat (treat! get it?) to Nana's and eat her candy stash while hiding from trick-or-treaters. Luckily my friend Shelley invited us over and bribed us with pizza. We took our two year old girls around the block for a quick trick-or-treat then beat a hasty retreat (treat! oh, never mind...) back to her house for supper. The guys stayed behind and watched Carter. He slept the entire time.
Cailin reused her strawberry costume from last year:
It ain't gonna fit next year. She can manage to squeeze the hat on, but I'm sure it pinches her head so bad she can't remember her dad while she wears it. I'm glad a hoodie fit under it though. It wasn't all that cold out, but the wind was freezing so we didn't stay out for long. Just long enough to get some cute pictures of the girls and a surprisingly large amount of candy. Cailin wasn't feeling assertive, but rather shy and hung back from the doorways and refused to say 'trick-or-treat'. Or anything at all. She tucked her hands into the costume to stay warm and obediently followed us around. Aside from one house that had gravel Cailin got excited to play in, she didn't take her hands out. It was funny how both girls dropped everything to play with rocks. Fisher Price ain't got nothin' on rocks. Or sticks.
Not to be outdone, Carter dressed up too:
Heh, that's Cailin's shirt from two years ago. Mr. Smiley Pants looked adorable in it, even if it did have a little too much purple glitter on it for his dad's liking. He chilled out with the guys while we ran around in the wind and watched a little hockey. His first Halloween was a success.
For our own trick-or-treaters, I put a bowl of candy out on the front step. I hoped that would prevent anyone from ringing the doorbell and stressing Bailey out. As it was, she was hiding downstairs when we got home. I wonder what happened to make her do that? Also, only half the bowl of candy was gone. Since we don't get many kids over on Halloween I'm guessing it was either one or two greedy kids, or a bunch of very polite kids. I was hoping they would relieve me of the entire lot, but alas now I have the arduous task of eating all those sugar bombs myself.
As for Cailin's trick-or-treating horde, I put that in a bowl up in the cupboard and it's being used for potty training bribery purposes. She refuses to sit on the potty these days. Today I got her to sit on there three times for the price of a sucker and a few rocket candies. She told me a few times she had to pee, so looks like we're getting on track. She can easily do all the steps needed to use the potty all by herself so I hope it goes okay.
Carter is now three months old! I can't believe the time is going by so fast. In another month he might be ready to play in the Jumperoo and have a taste of rice cereal. It's crazy. He's growing like a weed, around 16lbs now, and he sleeps all night.
Cailin is also growing a bit. She hit 25lbs and is out of her 18 month pants. They still fit around the waist, but they are way too short. Kinda looks like she's expecting a flood at any moment. We're struggling with her 24 month pants. They are too long and too big around the waist. Most of them have adjustable waists, but even those don't go small enough. Back to the farmer rolls. Her shirts are size 3 now. I can't believe how fast my children are growing before my very eyes.
The house is still working out well for us. With the great purge of aught '11, we now have lots of room to play downstairs. Cailin spends her evenings going up and down the stairs to play on both levels. One of her favorite things to do right now is lay in our bed with the iPad and watch youtube or play Angry Birds. Unfortunately I'm not too keen on the snacks she insists on eating in there. I try to talk her into eating crackers on her father's side of the bed. As a side note, if I find one more goldfish cracker in that bed, I'm so firing the dog. Also? I'm getting pretty tired of the Nutella* found in random places on my WHITE bedding. Also also? Nutella doesn't look too healthy when you first catch sight of it out of the corner of your eye when it's smeared on the bedspread. With Bailey and a kid in a diaper, you can never be too sure. Anyways, moving on.
So it's November now and it's cold out. The house is cold and I'm a complete wimp. You would never know I spent 8 winters of my life working outside. I'm not looking forward to this winter at all, but a strange thing is happening to me. I'm actually starting to look forward to decorating for Christmas. Must have something to do with paring the Christmas decorations down to two boxes and being completely organized. I'm also looking forward to seeing the wonders of the season through Cailin's eyes, and Carter's too for that matter. I'm doing all my shopping online and avoiding crowds, and I'm making presents in my spare time. I think it's going to be a lovely holiday.
*for those of you not familiar with the deliciousness that is Nutella, it is a chocolate hazelnut spread not unlike peanut butter. Except for the chocolate and hazelnut part of course.
There was cookies, cupcakes and happy kids (of course!).
