She Enjoys Being A Girl

Remember how Nancy (aka Nona) came and whisked Imogen off for an adventure yesterday? Well, she took Miss Idgie for her first trip to Nordstrom. I must say, this is something I would never have done myself, and I was completely skeptical of the entertainment value of the entire outing. I could not have been more wrong. While I'm sure if I had taken a 13-month old into Nordstrom and turned her loose in the shoe section, the sales girls would have glared at me while judging my questionable mothering skills, it turns out that when a vivacious, outgoing grandmother shows up with her irrestibly cute granddaughter on her first shopping trip, well, sales girls just eat that s#@t right up.

My daughter is a girly-girl. When I was little, I preferred toy horses to dolls and only put on a dress for the annual Christmas party at the Petroleum Club where my grandfather worked. And though I must admit that I do enjoy having a girl (truly, girl clothes are cuter than boy clothes by a mile, and c'mon, the ponytails alone are almost unbearably adorable), I'd still never take her shopping at Nordstrom. But look what I'll be missing, because Nona and Imogen had a complete blast.

Here is Imogen making her grand entrance into girly-girl department store heaven.

First stop, of course, was the shoe department, where she also got a pink balloon.

Then off to look at purses.


Next stop, admiring and trying on bling.


Then it was on to makeup and hair.


And of course some clothes to go with all the accessories.


A short break from shopping...


...and then Miss Idgie was ready for a nap.


She's only 13-months old, and my daughter is already more fashionable and glamorous than her mama. Hooray for sugar and spice and everything nice!

If I Do Say So Myself

First off, happy birthday to me! I'm 37 years old today. I've decided I'm ok with 37. So far so good. I spent the morning out adventuring with the kids (and finding a secret elevator!), and now Elliot is at school and Nancy (aka Nona) has whisked Imogen off for a couple of hours. Kid-free time? I'm not sure what to do with myself! Later this evening there will be presents, and then Nancy is outdoing herself and babysitting so Thomas and I can go out to dinner at Equinox, one of my favorite restaurants. Woo hoo!!

So I must show off a couple of projects to you today. This past weekend, Thomas and I finally completed a much-planned but much-procrastinated piece of art. A couple of years ago, Thomas salvaged and old window, and last year he painted it (though it is mostly still in its shabby chic distressed state) in preparation for becoming a picture frame for our kids and all the nieces and nephews. And now, ta-daaaaaaaaaa!

It's hanging in our kitchen nook and looking more amazing than this sun-causing-a-glare picture can relay. Also this week I completed Scat Cat, a knitted doll after the character in Jack's Big Music Show, and companion to the Mel the Dog doll I made for Elliot a couple of years ago. Scat Cat has already been on many wonderful adventures with us, including to the dentist yesterday (one of Elliot's fillings was coming out, and he was a super champ while they fixed him up). Here is Scat Cat herself, posing with our soon-to-be-carved Halloween pumpkin.


And of course, what post would be complete without pictures of my most gorgeous creations to date? First up, here is Imogen with her recently discovered belly button.

And Elliot finally let me take a picture of him this week, while he was elbow-deep in peanut butter (can you believe this is a kid who a little over a year ago wouldn't get his hands dirty for anything?)

So now I'm off to enjoy the rest of my fabulous day. A very merry un-birthday to the rest of you!

October Makes Me Happy

I love October. The colors are gorgeous, the autumn weather is perfect, and it contains three of my favorite days of the year - Elliot's birthday, my birthday, and Halloween. Since my birthday is on a weekday this year, I decided that I deserved this entire weekend to do whatever I wanted. Thomas is currently being the best husband ever and has taken both of the kids to the park. Woo hoo!

We're all getting into the Halloween spirit around here, as you can see.

And here is Miss Idgie absconding with her brother's jack-o-lantern bucket.


Our little girl is now walking like a pro. She's stopped crawling completely, and though she still falls down quite a bit, she picks herself up and keeps going instead of scooting the rest of the way. Here is a little update on her walking prowess.

And here she is yet again posing in brother's Mariner's cap with Mama (I'd have a picture for you of Elliot's new haircut, too, but he is currently refusing to have his picture taken!).


Even though he won't say cheese, Elliot is still quite the card these days. His favorite thing to say when you ask him any question is, "I have no idea." And my favorite Elliot statement this week was when he went upstairs to find Papa, who was sleeping in much too late for a work day, and said, "Papa, you forgot to wake up!". That's my boy.

And I must show you another video of Elliot playing the piano at fun school. He is playing a song that he wrote all by himself! The music teacher, Chase, is quite wonderful. He color-coded all the keys and had the kids write songs using colors for the notes. Pretty ingenious. Here is Elliot's song.



I hope y'all are having as wonderful an October as we are!

Return to the Emerald City

This past weekend, Imogen and I returned to the Emerald City for a girls' weekend with Aunt Tess. We stayed in a more modest hotel this time around, but we did have a great view of the Space Needle from our room (as long as you ignore the apartment building it's sprouting up from!).


We had a fabulous weekend of shopping, eating, and just good ol' relaxing in the big city. We of course had to recreate the "Imogen with the Space Needle" shot from last spring.

We also had a blast with cousin Grayson's stuffed velociraptor, who came with Tess to keep her company and who we took all over Seattle. He also posed with the Space Needle.


And he visited the Pike Place Market, where he ate at the Crumpet Shop.


And he posed with some public art and funky event posters.


He tempted the local leash laws...


...and took a break on the pumpkin display at Whole Foods.


Finally, here he is in a shot for Elliot's benefit, pushing the elevator buttons at our hotel.


Also while in Seattle, Aunt Tess taught Imogen to "give her five."

Hooray for girls' weekend!

In other news, this past week Imogen has finally decided that walking is worth the extra effort. Here's proof.

You go, girl!

Lucky 13

Happy 13 month birthday, Imogen! As a bonus for lucky number 13, here are 2 sets of Elliot and Imogen at 13 months old comparison photos.




And speaking of numerology, this is blog post number 111. And it's a full moon today. So let's be careful out there.

My Own Private Film Festival

I have a few videos to share with you today.

First up, here is Elliot playing "chopsticks" on the piano at fun school. The piano was donated to School of Autism by a wonderful woman named Lucy who serendipitously happens to have been the paraprofessional for my dear friend Ellen's son when he was in elementary school. Small world. The school just hired a fabulous man named Chase to teach music to the kids part-time. Elliot especially is loving the music lessons.



Next up, here is Imogen after bath time. Whoever said Casper was the friendliest ghost? He can't hold a candle to Miss Idgie.



Last, I'd like to invite you to view this hilarious but so-true-it's-depressing video about Sarah Palin.

And while we're on the subject of politics, I hope y'all will read this very well-written anti-Palin article written from the perspective of a mother of a special needs child. The author expresses exactly what I've been feeling about Palin since day one but couldn't put into the right words.

I hope everyone out there is planning to vote!

On the First Day of Halloween

Autumn is my favorite season, and October is my favorite month. In addition to being the month of my birth, it also contains the best holiday ever - Halloween. Perhaps my affinity for Halloween comes from it being two days after my birthday, or maybe it has something to do with my love of horror movies. Either way, I figure if Christmas can have 12 days, then Halloween, being the far superior celebration, can definitely have 31. So, happy 11th day of Halloween!

This morning I hauled all 10 boxes of Halloween decorations out of the basement, and they are now stacked on the dining room table awaiting the decking. A couple of years ago I decided I had entirely too many Halloween decorations, but lately I've come around to thinking that one can never have too much of Halloween. So, bring it on, Atman (he loves to send me Halloweenish things!).

Yesterday was the second annual field trip to the pumpkin patch at Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island with Elliot's school. We had a complete blast. Here are some pictures from the big afternoon.

First up, here is Elliot having a little fun while waiting for the hay ride. An added bonus for the day was the attendance of Elliot's good pal, Fiona (see smootching below).


And here is the whole gang on the hayride out to the pumpkin patch.


Once in the patch, Elliot found the perfect green pumpkin.

And here's me posing with the kiddos with my newly-chopped off hair. (When I came home from the salon, Elliot said, "Wow, you look great! Like Aiden's mom!" All you Rangers out there will know that's a nod to K8.)


More pumpkin (and zucchini!) picking fun with pals AJ, Kerry and Griffin, and Kevin (whom the kids lovingly refer to as "Poppy").



Some shots of the hayride back to the farm store. That's Elliot with his pal Xander.


And here are some of the animals we saw on the farm.


Last up, here is Miss Idgie chewing on a crazy gourd. Imogen had a blast at the pumpkin patch, too. Compare this shot to last year's (she slept through the whole adventure that time!).


Happy, happy autumn, everyone! Now go get those skeletons out of the closet and get started on your costumes!

For All You Queen Fans Out There

High Five

Happy birthday, Elliot! Our big boy turned five on Saturday. He had a fantastic birthday. Here's a recap of a perfect birthday for Elliot.

1. Sleep in and then get up and open presents from family right away. Favorite presents: stuffed owl from little sister and book about elevators from the Whites.
2. Read elevator book over and over again while Papa gets showered and dressed.
3. Go to Ikea with Papa for breakfast.
4. Go elevator riding with Papa.
5. Eat lunch at Burgerville.
6. Have a birthday party with a bunch of his friends at the community center, complete with loads of indoor play park toys, presents, a Blue's Clues theme, and, of course, cake (a GF/CF success!).
7. Go home and play with new toys. Read elevator book several dozen more times.
8. Go to Burgerville (again!) with Papa for dinner.
9. Get ready for bed. Read elevator book for bedtime story.
10. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Here are some pictures of Elliot's birthday party. (Note the matching Blue's Clues "Steve" shirts on Elliot and Thomas.)

Imogen held her own with the big kids and got lots of rides.

Back at home, Cinnamon the owl modeled one of the party hats.


And Elliot got to try on his Blue's Clues Halloween costume for the first time (and read the elevator book some more).


It will be a hard birthday to beat!