Bugs, bonfires and things that go "boo"

Sometimes, I really love our neighborhood. Halloween definitely is one of those times. They close down the streets in part of the neighborhood and everyone really gets their Halloween on. Kids and adults in costumes, over-the-top house decorations, people everywhere...such fun!

Owen dressed as Spiderman for the second year in a row and Nora tolerated her huge ladybug head just fine, and was pretty entranced by all the crazy trick-or-treating activity. Oh, and she had her first taste of chocolate. The verdict? Thumbs up (well, actually it got a frantic hand-sign of "more, more" but I think that's pretty clearly the thumbs up of an 18-month-old). Owen liked his "little super ropes" i.e. Twizzlers.

It all goes so fast. A couple hours of trick-or-treating and it's done. At breakfast this morning, Owen even denied that today is Halloween. According to his calendar, Halloween was last week and now it's winter. Silly mommy and daddy!




This last photo is of the undergarb of Nora's ladybug costume. I thought she looked like a little beatnik.

It's all about the shoes

Yesterday, I went shoe shopping for N. Day care was begging us to please, please get this girl some tie shoes because she was in the habit of removing them. Two strips of Velcro? Worthless in preventing a determined 18-month-old.

Problem is, she has tiny feet. Size 4, which is frickin' tiny. Most normal stores don't even carry size 4. Apparently, in that void between soft-soled baby shoes and size 5 or 6, most kids go barefoot or something. Specialty kids shoe stores carry this size, but you end up paying $45 for the shoes your darling child will wear for 4 months before outgrowing. I was feeling cheap, and quite far away from the nearest kid's shoe outlet, so, on a mall mission I went.

At the fourth store, I finally did find shoes in her size, several styles in fact. That's when I was confronted with one of those decisions that felt like a what-kind-of-parent-am-I type moments. Turns out, I'm a parent that buys these shoes for my dear daughter. Seriously, did anyone expect me to resist?


Yes, there's my daughter with her first pair of Chuck Taylors (playing with her daddy's new iPod no less). She's not even 2 and already she's cooler than me.

By the way, this is my new blog. I think. Thought it might be fun to try out for awhile.