Uncle Dan was in town the other night, and the girls spent a good amount of time waiting for his arrival. (I was gone – at a school event – when he got here, but I heard the girls had a blast with him. “I wasn’t shy with Uncle Dan,” Avery proudly told me the next day. “I was crazy!”) While they were keeping watch at the window, I overheard:

Z: “Do you know Uncle Dan, Uncle Gil and Daddy are all brothers?”
A (in a knowing voice): “Yeh, they all grew up together.”

-M

This may be my new fave picture of the girls…

-M

I posted this on Facebook but it’s too good not to share here, too… Last night I was teasing Avery (as I sometimes do) that I was going to take her to the zoo to live with the animals. She requested, in all seriousness, that she instead go live with her best friend, Sofia, and his twin brother. After talking for a few minutes about the prospect of her being away from us, I asked wouldn’t she miss me, Daddy and Zoe? She just shrugged and then said, as way of justification for moving out, “I want you to just have one kid so you handle it really good.”

(And here I thought I was handling things “really good!”)

-M

As mentioned here before, the girls play make-believe all the time – and one of Zoe’s favorite things to do (dating back to when she was just three) is pretend she’s a teacher. Avery was her student one day, and I was touched by a letter that Zoe wrote to her at the end of “class.”

-M

Last Halloween:

This Halloween:

Our Halloween night wound up being way more fun than I thought it would be, given Zoe’s sickness. By late afternoon, as mentioned below, she was feeling well enough to carve a pumpkin with her dad, give out (lots and lots) of candy, and even hang out with friends who stopped by. Avery, meanwhile, had a blast both giving out candy and trick-or-treating with a friend. Added bonus: She got a treat from our babysitter and neighbor, Minnie Mouse (i.e. Sophie).

-M

By the time 5 PM rolled around yesterday, Zoe was feeling good enough to gear up for Halloween. (The medicine and a long nap helped.) She couldn’t go trick-or-treating, obviously, but her doctor gave her the go-ahead to give out candy – as long as she was feeling well enough and as long as she wore gloves. The latter was no problem: Black gloves happened to go perfectly with her costume!

She wound up giving out 500 pieces of candy.

-M

For the second year in a row, Zoe was sick for Halloween. I picked her up from school the afternoon before and knew right away. She was slumped over in a chair, waiting for me and looking white as a ghost. My stomach sank.

I had taken off work for Halloween and was looking forward to the day. I had a lot of work to get done around the house – and after doing my chores I was going to surprise Avery by taking her to a pumpkin patch she had been asking to go to. After we picked up Zoe from school, I thought I might take the girls trick-or-treating at the stores on West Portal Ave. before it got dark, too.

All that went out on the window when I saw Zoe’s face that afternoon and found out the next morning that – sure enough – she had strep again. I was disappointed that our plans for the day were ruined – and worried about our plans for the evening – but then something happened. The two of us just hung out, having quiet time, and I found myself really enjoying it and forgetting about being upset.

I snuggled next to Zoe while we played puzzles on my iPad together, she read to me while I organized my closet, I helped her do her homework (a book review of “The Monster at the End of This Book”)… At one point I told her, “I really like spending time with you, Zoe,” and she said, “I like spending time with you, too, Mommy.” So though she didn’t feel well (which stunk) and though we couldn’t do the fun stuff I had planned (which also stunk), it was really nice just being with her.

I’m not known for turning lemons into lemonade – but in this case, the lemonade was made for me!

-M

Our princess and zebra are ready…

-M

In honor of Halloween approaching, I played Michael Jackson’s Thriller on the way home from school one day. When the Vincent Price part started, I watched Avery’s reaction in the rearview mirror; she first listened curiously, then covered her face with her hands when the creepy laughing started. “I don’t like that man,” she told me with a pout after the song ended. (I was reminded of how freaked out that video made me when I was kid – closer to Zoe’s age than Avery’s.) But after I explained that it was just a song, and the man was just playing a role (and wasn’t really a bad guy), she seemed eager to hear the song again. And now she loves it!

-M

As anyone who follows our blog knows, there’s always a Halloween activity/event to attend this time of year. On Friday evening, it was a carnival at Stern Grove – and the girls, Q and I met up with several friends there.

-M

It’s been almost a year and a half since Avery had her ear-tube surgery. So how’s she doing? A trip to her ENT doc today revealed that the ear tubes are still in and will likely fall out this fall or winter. (They typically stay in place between 6 and 24 months.) We know from past tests and our own observation that her hearing is back to normal, and her speech is age-appropriate, also. We have our first parent-teacher conference of the school year in two weeks, so we’ll know more then – but her teachers also report that she’s doing well.

Sometimes Avery will be in the middle of a conversation – going on and on about something – and I’m struck with how clear she’s talking and how far she’s come. It’s so nice to not have to worry anymore!

-M

We were out of town for last year’s Boo at the Zoo and so decided to make it to this year’s event. Instead of two little ladybugs, we had a witch and a fairy – oh, and Grandma and Grandpa along for the ride!

-M

Grandma and Grandpa came out for a recent visit, and Avery spent a few days with them while Zoe was in school. Among the things on their agenda: coloring, baking, shopping and running around a pumpkin patch.

-M

Speaking of first grade, one of Zoe’s big projects this fall involved apple dolls: making one and writing up a short story about hers. Below is Zoe’s creation, which was unveiled to parents just this week. She named it “Blue.”

-M