The sun is shining (contradicting the weather reports), and at least one girl in our house is ready for some partying and trick-or-treating.

Have a fun holiday, everyone!

-M

Despite Zoe’s sickness, Avery and I were able to host a little Halloween-themed playgroup yesterday. Four friends, three pictured below, came by in costume, and something tells me that Avery enjoyed herself more than she did at last year’s party…

-M

This year:

Last year:

It happened again: I jinxed us. Whenever I write about about how manageable life with two kids is, it seems, something happens to remind me that it isn’t all that easy. Indeed, after I wrote my second-to-last post about parenthood, Zoe got sick – and Q and I have been caring for her while scrambling to keep the kids separate so that Avery doesn’t get sick too. (Fingers crossed!) The good news it that Zoe is a bit better today, and she’s been a terribly cute patient (see below).

Still, next time I’m keeping my mouth shut!!

-M

I mentioned earlier that I was hoping for a little alone time with each of the girls, and my wish actually came true tonight (though for an unfortunate reason). Zoe came home from school not feeling well (tired, sore throat) and wound up going to bed before 6. Avery and I, in turn, were able to spend some quiet time together, snuggling and reading books – and I couldn’t help but think now nice and easy it felt. (When you have two, caring for one kid feels like a piece of cake!)

At the same time, though, I missed Zoe – and so did Avery, who I think was confused by her absence. She pointed to Zoe’s room and looked up at me quizzically at one point, and also called out for Zoe, who’s always there to wish a good-night to Avery, a few times. Here’s hoping Zoe is better in the morning!

-M

I’ve been single-parenting it a bit lately: Q’s gone to a few baseball games (go, Giants!) and I’ve been home with the kids. Whenever I’m alone with the girls, I tend to reflect on parenthood and all that has changed since Avery’s arrival – and I’m happy to report that things continue to get easier. Taking care of two is no longer the exhausting event that it once was: I’ve learned how to juggle the girls’ various demands, and double tears or tantrums (which, thankfully, aren’t terribly common) don’t stress me out like they used to. Another bonus: The girls are becoming more interactive by the day, which means they can entertain one another while I sneak away for a few minutes of quiet (or, relatively, quiet) time. And, unless someone is sick or there’s some sort of fluke, the girls sleep long and well at night – which means me and Q feel, for the most part, well-rested and emotionally strong.

With that said, I don’t remember ever feeling so busy – or feeling like life was moving so quickly – as I have since Avery was born (or, more specifically, since I returned to work a year ago). It’s not all bad – I’m the type of person who thrives on being on the go, and I get great satisfaction out of my job and the activities we do as a family – but I don’t want to be moving so fast that I miss out on the amazing little moments that make raising small children (and life in general!) so wonderful. (My biggest fear: that I’ll look back and regret not slowing down and savoring this amazing time.) And I do wish I could have a bit more time to myself or time with each of the girls separately: time to breathe deeply and soak in my surroundings and just be. (Perhaps I’d even blog more!)

But while a bit of calm, and a little bit of down-time would be welcomed in my life, I can’t really complain. I have it pretty good, and – on my good days, at least – I feel like things will only get better.

The other night, (a very tired) Zoe got upset that she wasn’t able to watch the show that she wanted. “This is unacceptable!” she cried out, flailing her arms and legs around. Impressed with her word choice, I asked who uses “unacceptable.” “You do,” she told me.

-M

A wet and chilly Sunday marked the perfect time for the girls to make jack-o-lanterns. Here was the scene in our living room yesterday afternoon.

-M

I was hoping Avery would nap before we went to the festival yesterday – but, as you’ll see below, she and Zoe had other ideas. (And all their jumping around made me think back to this video – from when Zoe was around Avery’s age.)

-M

The rain stayed away long enough for us to enjoy the Noe Valley Harvest Festival this morning. We went last year, too, but this year’s event offered something new and very cool: horse-drawn carriage rides! Here are some pics.

-M

Q and I have always thought that Avery is pretty strong for a baby (er, toddler), and she proved us right this weekend by pushing around a big cart. Those pumpkins were pretty heavy!

-M

I’ve been thinking lately that we need a separate social calendar to manage all the birthday parties we go to. (The number of invitations a preschooler gets is amazing!) I don’t mean to complain, though: I love celebrating birthdays, and so do the girls. Below are some pics from our latest – a superhero-themed one at Grandpa’s Pumpkin Patch.

-M

I forgot how much I love this age. At sixteen months, Avery provides the cuteness of a newborn – but with less of the work! And the description of her sister at this age is true of Avery, as well: “She’s always running around and smiling, playing make-believe games, imitating us, and saying and waving ‘hi’ to people around her.”

Some of Avery’s best stuff: She continues giving lots of “kissies,” and one of her first un-requested ones came a few weeks ago. (I told her I loved her and she leaned in to give me a smooch.) Like with Zoe, she’s always saying and waving “hi” and also “bye,” and she recently started “singing” and dancing (i.e. swaying) to music. She’s mischievous; as mentioned the other day, she knows when she’s doing something she’s not supposed to do and will look at me with a big smile to see if I’m watching. (Luckily, she usually listens and stops what she’s doing once I ask.) And one of her new favorite games: Jump on Zoe’s bed, bury her head in the pillow like she’s asleep, and giggle.

A big change in the last month is her interaction with Zoe – they’re playing with one another more and more often. They recently started chasing each other around the house, and they like to play a peek-a-boo-type game in Zoe’s bed. They also just like to be around one another: Avery gets super excited when she sees her sister in the mornings, and the other night when Zoe was napping on the couch, Avery ran up to her in excitement and tried to wake her up. And just this morning, Zoe said she wanted Avery to sit at her table and eat breakfast with her, so “she can keep me company.”

In terms of communication, Avery has picked up a few words since our last update. She can say “bye,” “no,” and “thank you” – though sometimes the latter comes out sounding more like “da duh.” (A few weeks ago, we started asking her “What do you say?” after giving her things, and she now replies with “thank you” most of the time.) Her level of understanding is also growing – she can follow all sorts of commands (“Go show Daddy,” “Give this to Zoe”) and just yesterday her hand shot up when I asked in the car, “Who wants Mommy to sing?” (That’s the first time she’s done that.)

Avery’s (belated) 15-month appointment was just last week, and we found out that she’s 24 lbs, 10 oz. and 34.25 inches tall. That puts her in the 75 percentile for weight and 95 for height (and, interestingly, makes her slightly lighter but 2 inches taller than Zoe was at that age).

At a party recently, someone mentioned that Avery was a serious baby. I don’t think that’s quite accurate: She remains hesitant around new people, but when around us she’s just our happy little Avery. I can’t help but adore her.

-M

I’ve mentioned before how cute it is when little kids take things literally. I had to smile this weekend, then, when Zoe asked if we had ever been to the pumpkin patch we were headed to for a friend’s party. “No – but I know it’s called Grandpa’s Pumpkin Patch,” I told her. “Oh, then we have to get on an airplane,” she said matter-of-factly, obviously thinking we were going to Madison. I’m sure she was disappointed when I explained that it wasn’t actually her grandpa I was talking about!

-M

In honor of the Giants’ first NLCS game tonight, Zoe sang – with a bit of help from her mom – Take Me Out to the Ball Game. (And seconds after Zoe got down from her chair, Avery climbed up and did some singing herself.)

Go, Giants!

-M

Usually it’s Zoe who does the funny things (and gives me fodder for this blog), but Avery’s also done her share of entertaining recently. A few stories:

-Just like her sister before her, Avery has become quite familiar with “no, no, no.” The other day, she started climbing on a chair and – knowing this isn’t something she’s supposed to do – shot me a mischievous look. Then, before I could even open my mouth, she smiled, waved her finger and said, “No, no, no.”

-When glancing in the rear-view mirror the other day, I noticed that Avery’s eyes were getting heavy. Wanting her to nap, I turned off the baseball game I was listening to and put on one of her quiet CDs. The plan backfired, though: As soon as she heard Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Avery’s eyes popped opened and she started clapping. (Not what I was going for!)

-Avery became particularly fond of a bag of trail mix while shopping with me at Trader Joe’s last Friday. When it came time to pay and hand the bag to the cashier, Avery got really upset: red face, big crocodile tears. Even after the cashier (quickly) handed back the bag, Avery continued to cry – presumably traumatized that someone had tried to take the bag from her. I felt sorry for the cashier – a college-aged girl whose own face turned red over the situation – but I couldn’t help but laugh at how dramatic Avery can be.

-M