Decorating the Tree and Cookies

Winter Wonderland at BC

Breakfast with Santa

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for all of the wonderful memories and times that I have with the kids.  The only downside is that we are so busy with these moments that I am months behind on this blog!  And catching up is the hardest part.  So from Thanksgiving through Valentine's Day, we will be heavy on the photos and videos, and short on the stories!

Poor E was sick over Thanksgiving, but we still managed to have a great time with our family.  This was the first trip to Ba Ba's where C got to sleep on an air mattress, which he thought was very cool! We are so lucky that the kids are really starting to enjoy each others company--I think they are truly thankful for each other!

Happy Halloween: The Tale of the Two Mickey Mouse Ears

Since M and I became parents after we both lost a parent, there are parenting moments that are bittersweet.  I knew that Halloween would be one of those moments.  For M, Halloween was his Dad's birthday.  For me, my mom was the queen of homemade Halloween costumes.  Two that stand out in my mind are Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and a black cat.  When I was Dorothy, I had red sparkly shoes, the kind that were glued and then covered in sprinkles. I think my mom would get a kick out of the fact that now you can buy "ruby slippers" from Target this time of year. My black cat costume, shown here for my second Halloween, was black velvet and the big pink bow and pink lining of the ears was dotted with little raised white polka dots.  For my third Halloween my mom managed to get me costumed two days before my sister was born, and years later she helped my sister and I enter a pumpkin decorating contest days before my brother was born. (I won a prize for her design of Cinderella's carriage.  My sister's was a fan favorite, Minnie Mouse).

I am a knitter, but not a sewer.  A couple of months after C was born, I lugged my mom's vintage sewing machine to a one-afternoon class at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  While the instructor was very patient, I was the only person in the workshop that didn't have a newer, more automatic machine.  It took her about five extra steps to get me to the next instruction.  Without the time to practice, I quickly forgot whatever I managed to learn.

Now that C is three and he has a 9 month-old sister, I am a little wiser.  I realize that there is no way I have time to even try to learn how to use a sewing machine and make two costumes.

However, C is also wiser.  He knows what Halloween is all about. And he knows exactly what he wants to be: Mickey Mouse. Oh, and his sister has to be Minnie Mouse.  Because Mickey and Minnie are brother and sister.


That wouldn't be a problem, if there were costumes in his size.  But every Mickey costume is made for smaller kids.  I try to talk him out of the idea, but it is impossible.  He reads a Halloween poem about kids scaring their mom and he says, "I won't scare my Mom because I'm going to be Mickey Mouse, and Mickey Mouse is NOT scary."

So I try to figure out what I can get away with.  I test him, "Mickey wears red pants, right?"  "No, Mom--shorts!" "Red shorts or pants?" "No, shorts!".

We go to numerous stores together, but nothing.  I easily get his sister's Minnie costume. He keeps asking for his costume.  I tell him we will make one.  He wants to make sure that it is a real costume and "not out of paper".  I promise it will be a real costume.

I do some internet research.  I find Disney licensed Mickey ears and some bright yellow fuzzy slippers.  I go to a store on my lunch break and find red sweatpants and black leggings.  At another store, I get a black turtleneck.  Finally, I buy two large white buttons.  That night, I cut the sweatpants, do a very rough hem job by hand, and sew on the buttons.


That Saturday, I tell him that when we returns from breakfast with M, his costume will be here.  I put it in a gift bag, in case he thinks it is not a real costume.


When he gets home, his reaction is better than I expected.  He squeals with glee.  He puts on all the pieces.  Poses on the steps with the pumpkins.  He begs E to wear her costume (though she refuses to keep her hat/ears on).  He proceeds to wear it all day (to the Halloween party on the town green) and to a pot luck dinner (where none of the other kids were wearing their costumes, but he insisted).


I felt great.  It was a great 24 hours.  Until I learned a new parenting lesson: don't let your child play with their Halloween costume until Halloween.


The next morning, I took the kids on their first wagon ride together.  He insisted on wearing his ears.  I have a photo of them, ears resting on this lap, before we took off down the street.  We walked the block and then spent the afternoon in the yard. Just as it began to get dark, and Hurricane Sandy was approaching, he asked for his ears.  And I realize that we lost them.  Both M and I comb our street...as the rest of the neighbors are doing storm preparations.  They are just nowhere to be found. 


When M and I finally accept that we just aren't going to find them, I break the news to C. He sobs.  "But I want them!"  I promise him that I will make him some new ears. "But I want my costume ears!" "I know that, buddy", I tell him. "I will get you some new ears. "


My heart was breaking.


With the storm coming, there was no running out at the last minute.  My mind begins to race.  I go into my daughter's room and grab an unworn hairband that was a gift.  I find a hand-me-down black velvet outfit that doesn't fit her.  With scissors, duct tape, and cardboard, I make a pair of ears. 


A couple of minutes after he is put down to bed, I sneak in and hold the ears up to him.  I need to know before I go to sleep if these ears will be okay, or it there needs to be a Plan C. 


"Buddy, are these ears good?"


He squints in the dark and says, "These ears are perfect for a costume!"


So, with a little help from M, who reinforced my ears with a coat hanger, our little guy had the costume that he wanted.  He wore it to his school's Halloween parade and out trick-or-treating.  When I look at the smile on his face in these pictures, it seems just as big as mine in the black cat costume.


At closer look at my baby book, it looks like I was a black cat for my second AND third Halloweens.  I think being a good mom is a handful for anybody!

Happy Halloween!  Ours was truly happy and very sweet

Ba Ba visit

We had a nice visit with Ba Ba this weekend.  He wanted to experience what our Friday is like (what we call the Ma Ma, C, and E day.  He watched C play "soccer" and sing "rain rain go away" with his little friend once it started drizzling. We all went to the grocery store, and we took C to the bakery and the playground.  E and Ba Ba watched me and C play football (which is pretty much throwing the ball and running sprints). We took a walk around the neighborhood to see the Halloween decorations.  And the most exciting part of visit...E crawling!  (I will try to take a video of this soon).  I get the sense that E knew how to crawl for a much longer time, and she has just been holding out on us.  In two days, she went from inching her first crawl, to covering a third of the living room!

Sleepover vs. separation anxiety

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a good friend's wedding.  While I was gone, Mimi came to visit.  C couldn't have been more excited for the visit.  Mimi got to "sleepover!"  He knows her so well...the first thing that he asked her was "did you bring me pajamas?"  She brought him footie doggie pjs. He loves them.  He says," I can walk in these because they have feet. I am so excited!"  Aunt Malou sent Mickey Mouse pjs (which he insisted wearing 4 days in a row...thank goodness Mimi did so much laundry!) and Toy Story books.  C got to make Halloween projects and decorate our dining room table with the "nice witch".  E was also a good little girl.  Until I came home, that is.  That Monday, I took E to her 9 month appointment and she was great.  19 lbs, 14 oz.  But when I put her down on the examining table, she screamed. She cried so hard that she formed two little tear puddles on the paper.  As soon as I picked her up, she stopped.  The next two days, she was the same at daycare.  Her teachers thought something must surely be wrong with her...she didn't want to eat, she cried and screamed and was inconsolable.  Until I can to pick her up and immediately, she would calm down and be quiet.  And even smile.  She was so fussy, even sometimes with Da Da, that I did take her to the doctor's two days after her well appointment.  And all the doctors could say was, "she's fine."

Fine, but having quite a hard time separately from Ma Ma right now!