Some pics from Halloween

Pony rides...









Yes, that's Violet on a pony. Notice my grip on her arm and leg; she wasn't going anywhere!

Here is Olivia trying on her Dorothy the dinosaur costume that mom and I made. Violet was very curious.

What makes Violet laugh...
anything goofy that her sister does
zerberts on her belly
Liv twirling her around in a shopping cart

What makes Violet upset...
Liv closing the door to her bedroom; especially when Violet is scooting down the hallway toward the bedroom
Mommy trying to put her to bed without a bed-time story

Violet's milestones update...
Violet's been saying "da da" for a few weeks now.
She only says "ma ma" when she's really upset and she started that around August. I've only heard her say it a handful of times.
She's become very interested in books and actually looks at them closely while I read them. She keeps flipping back to the front cover as if she's making a note of the book title so she can find it again later.

Halloween at the bakery...

After I saw Liv petting the mummy I decided we really should have a picture. Too bad I couldn't get video.

At the bakery today Violet made some funny faces...


and Liv admired some big girls at the next table.

While picking out pumpkins...


Livy ran from pumpkin pile to pile in search of the best pumpkin...



and tripped over an Oak tree root that poked above the ground. It was her second busted lip in 3 days.

Many people comment on how beautiful Violet's eyes are. We agree!

Violet in the swing...

On our walk last week, Liv presented this magic wand to me.

Lunch with ladybugs...

Olivia’s already showing an interest in driving. A few months ago she asked me if I would buy her a pink tinkerbell car and she wasn’t referring to a toy folks; she was asking for a full-sized car. I know, I know, I can’t believe I’m already having car conversations with my child. Ah well.
Today she also asked her Daddy if he would show her how to drive when she gets older (at least she’s figured out this isn’t going to happen anytime soon). He said yes and then she asked “Will you show me how to t urn on the lights and the radio? And will you draw me a special map to where the ice cream cones are?” Yeah, I want that map too. I wonder what else she would like on her map…parks, pools, candy shops, any tinkerbell tourist hot spots and fairy doors. Oh the wonderful, magical world of childhood. I wish I could bottle it up and give her doses of it as she grows up. Just to spread the magic out over the years.

Liv's auntie requested more funny quotes. They happen daily but for some reason this is the only one I can think of right now. "Check it out at dot com mommy."

Getting three babies out the door is enough to wear a momma out. She's got Bart, Emma, babydoll, a diaper bag and the purse has food from her kitchen.

I don't have a good photo of Violet for today's post mainly because every picture I take of her is blurry. The girl just can't sit still. If we put her on the ground on her bottom she acts offended and rushes to the nearest piece of furniture to pull up on.

She hit two big milestones this week. She took her crawling beyond the tentative one or two knee scooches forward to crawling a foot or two. But she still prefers scooting on her belly when she's got to be somewhere in a hurry.

And the other milestone... she stood up without any help! It was for about three seconds. I was getting Liv ready for the bath and I turned to check on Violet and there she was- standing with her hands in the air. I had to look up and down to make sure I wasn't missing something like a stool she might be leaning on. But there was nothing, just Vi and her solid little legs holding her up. She didn't even wobble; she calmly put her hands back on the stool in front of her and went on about her business.

What Violet likes:
blueberry muffins
Cheerios
doing the robot dance in daddy's lap
bedtime stories with her sister
baths
naps
sucking on the two middle fingers on her left hand
anything her big sister does, especially dancing and singing
and her sister's room

What Violet doesn't like:
teething
getting dressed and undressed

At the bakery

Soccer practice

Fall is finally here...
Olivia spent March to September looking through the hot streets asking "Mommy, where are the acorns?". And I assured her that when the days got cooler and fall arrived the acorns would fall off the trees. They are her treasures. Every moment outside is spent with her crouched close to the ground, fingers cupped around four or five little nuts with their bumpy caps.

Violet is pulling up on everything that doesn't run from her. She doesn't crawl; she swims across the ground like a little fish. We're pretty sure she's going to skip crawling all together and just start walking.

On a walk through the neighborhood... we found a ghost tree and Liv introduced Violet to "the biggest acorn I never seen!".