Monday, October 31, 2016

Ghouls & Gourds

This weekend was Alex's birthday, and we celebrated at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Ghouls & Gourds Festival!
We started off by trying on Halloween costumes.

Milo ditched his costume when we went to the playground, Penny ditched hers about halfway through the day's festivities.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is big!  It's a good thing we had such an excellent navigator on hand
 Penny tried her hand at building a nest in the excellent children's area.
 Then she tried her hand at something she has never tried before - rolling down a hill.  This was one of my absolute favorite activities as a child - she seemed to enjoy herself.

 And here is a photo series for you.  A story in pictures if you will.  I will give you a small glimpse into what it's like getting a useable photo of my girl:

"Penny, can you please sit on that rock over there?  I would like to take a photo of you."  Result:
 "Great!  That was one for you.  Now can we take one for me?  Can you please smile?" Result:
 "Cool.  Now, Penny, what would you dress up as for Halloween if you weren't being Batgirl?"  "Real or imaginary?" "Whatever you like." Result:
 "Mommy, are you taking a video of me?" "No, just taking some pictures." "Oh, ok, I'd be..." Result:


Sunday, October 23, 2016

Beach day in October!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Brooklyn, so we went to the Halloween Harvest festival on Coney Island.  We started off, as one does, with hot dogs and clam strips and lemonade, and
pro tip - you can sit at the tables at Nathan's in October - NO ONE ELSE IS THERE
then made our way to the beach for a little while.



We rode all the rides, and were frequently the only people on them.  Penny and I rode the roller coaster - twice!  She is such a pro now.  Next summer, she'll be ready for the bigger-kid Luna park.



This did not last - Alex and Milo ended up riding on the bench, but he made a valiant effort!  I'll bring him around.





Only one more weekend until Alex's birthday and Halloween!  We're all so excited that the weather is finally cooler and all the fun Autumn activities are starting in earnest.

Friday, October 21, 2016

Another tooth!

Yesterday when I got home from work, Penny showed me that she had lost her second top front tooth!  She is now the owner of an adorable gap-toothed smile.
Milo has started running over to me with alphabet refrigerator magnets, asking WHAT'S THIS?  and learning his sounds that way.  So far he's got P and Q nailed.  He is also very casually starting potty training, which is both great and terrifying.
 When Penny was having her violin lesson in the living room on Thursday, Milo and the sitter, Sara, were playing with her phone in the bedroom:

If anyone is in need of a child voice over artist, Milo has very reasonable rates.

Monday, October 10, 2016

My midnight visitor

At 12:30am, a small figure appeared in my doorway.
"Mommy," I heard, "I lost another tooth."
I waved Penny over, and she showed me (in the dark) that her first shark tooth had fallen out. Apparently she felt something weird on her tongue, and in her asleep state didn't think anything of it.  After a few minutes, however, her brain kicked in and she checked it out.
I asked her whether the Tooth Fairy should visit right away, and thankfully she said no (I think she wanted to wait until the light so she could see it).

Totally my fault, but Alex slept through the whole thing.

This morning I asked her to take some selfies!


Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Scooters for everyone!

Rosh Hashana was on a Monday and Tuesday, so I stayed home with the kids for the past two days.  We were all set to go to the zoo today, when on a whim we changed plan and bought a new scooter and helmet - now Milo has Penny's old scooter and Penny's got a big one!


Milo has a new helmet, but wanted to wear Penny's old one.
I also took some photos of them doing what they do best.  We had a pretty great couple of days together - tomorrow, the sitter gets back from her three weeks away!  We've missed her!