Happy Halloween

This picture was taken this evening as we were winding down from the days activities. This is what she wore all day under her costumes. She wore her princess costume to storytime and grocery shopping (the deli dept. there was giving out little trinkets & snacks - whish she enjoyed getting!) The slippers are 2 sizes too big, but they are so thin in the toe box that they will never fit her later on. I just got these in this lot of shoes I bought off of craigslist. She fell in love with them and likes to wear them, so I let her. She would never be able to wear them later on. She still has a chubby foot, although is is not as chubby as it once was.

Anyways, we went to storytime and the librarian said several times how cute she was. We went gorcery shopping afterward and I managed to get ones of those "car" carts, where they have a car in the front of the cart that she sits in and rides & pretends to drive. That kept her occupied, as long as I was pushing. She thought it was fun and it worked out very well. It was probably one of the best shoppnig trips we have had. The only sticky part was when we were checknig out and the candy was at her height. But after moving the cart over some more, it was not a problem anymore.

This late evening we went to the Halloween Open House for the Children's Play Gallery in Delafield. Remember to click on the picture to enlarge the images. Anyways, they officially open tomorrow, but tonight they were doing a special open house with a puppet show. Isabel couldn't sit still for the puppet show and just wanted to play (as did some other young ones and that was ok) and I didn't think the puppet show was that great anyways.

I thought it was pretty neat inside. There are lots of toys, books, activities, etc. for the kids to play with. It is separated into several different areas that include: Under 2 soft play area, reading/puzzle room, sand & craft tables, House w/ slide & dolls, etc. (refer to the picture of her throwing a doll down a slide), construction/ building area, huge pirate ship play area w/ slide, puppet/theater area, kitchen/grocery store area, & other rooms for classes, etc. It actually had quite a bit to do. Isabel & I never did get around to doing everything in the 2 hours we were there. She loved it.

We will definitly go back again, but I am not sure how often we can go. At $14 for the both of us and us having only one income, it's not something we can do too often and still go to other fun places. They are a for-profit company, so there is no membership like Betty Brinn's has. The huge plus for this place is that is it only a 7 minute drive rather than a 35+ minute drive and parking is free (Admission for both of us at Betty Brinn's is $12, but with AAA you get BOGO free.)

One thing to note is that she is running a Playgroup on Tuesdays from 10:15-11:30 ad it has a structural component to it for the parents (i.e. meeting/discussion.) And if you go then it only costs $5 a person. So, that I think it cool and I am more apt to go then.

A Very Nice Late October Tuesday

We had some fun today. First we met our friend Miriam & Sophia at Wirth Park in Brookfield. Although, it seemed that the girls wanted to play on different things most of the time so the moms didn't get to talk too much.

Then she took a really nice afternoon nap and finally we went to Concord Zoo again. I think we have been there enough now that she recognizes it once she gets out of the car. With the Ymca, she didn't recognize until we were in the building, but now she recognizes the outside of the building and gets excited when we drive in the parking lot.

Anyways, we just took a short visit to the petting zoo to go feed some animals. The first brown goat was her buddy. She did get a little scared by the loud hee-hawing one of the donkeys made.

They had decorations up all over the zoo. I guess there was a haunted hike this past weekend for kids. I am sure it would have been too scary for her, but it's nice to know that they do something for Halloween.

As for Halloween - it's finally here, even though we have worn all of her costumes. Don't worry - there isn't a fourth costume coming out tomorrow. The kids are dressing up for storytime tomorrow, so I think she will wear her princess costume for that. And then in the later afternoon we are going to that grand opening (kids are supposed to dress up if they want), so I will probably put a different costume on her for that, maybe the mouse one again.

Stonefire Pizza

This morning we met a couple of moms and their littleboys who are the same age as Isabel at Stonefire Pizza. We have never been there before, as they don't have them in MN. The best way to describe it as an upscale Chuck-e-Cheese (since most people are familiar with CEC.) Anways, the realkly nice part about SFP is that they have this big toddler area with lots of different room (pretend pizza making room, water play room, blocks room, face painting room, train room, & climbing & slide room.) We did even play in all the rooms. SFP has this "Mommy & Me" time from 9-11am M-F, and it's $5 for mom for continetal breakfast & $2 for kids over age 2. So, since she is only 17 months, it just cost us the $5.

We had a blast. The continental breakfast was nice too. The had fruits, muffins, danishes, cereal, juices, milk, coffee, & teas. And they also give you the option to stay through lunch and only pay $4 for the lunch buffet, which I hear is fantastic. Otherwise, lunch buffet is $9 for adults.

The older kids area is on a completly different side of the restaurant, which I can see would be hard if you have kids of different ages groups. In the older kids area they have rock climbing, lots of video games, and much more.

And I have to give them kudos for their family bathroom. It has a nice changing station with diaper pail and has a child's bathroom stall with a low small toilet, child's low sink & paper dispenser....plus they have an adult of all the sme things & urinal too. I was just suprised to see such a well thought out bathroom. It certainly makes bathroom times easier.

Next time we go I have to remember to bring more of change of clothes. Even though she was wearing the plastic smock, her pants still got soaked & her socks, & her sleeves (which I forgot to pull up when she went in there the last time.)

We will definitly go back again.

Halloween in Oconomowoc (apparently lasts for a week)

Well, today is trick-or-treating in town & the annual Halloween parade. We did trick-or-treating in the one shopping plaza that we were going grocery shopping at. She made a pretty good haul from just the few stores that were passing out stuff. She was super excited to get candy in her Halloween bag, although she didn't like going up to strangers. But she sure wouldn't give up her stash to mom & dad. Today she was a mouse. It was this little costume I got for free from someone and it goes over your clothes. It was good for today since it was a bit chilly & windy.

The businesses do trick-or-treating before the parade and then the parade was at 4pm and after the parade there was a picnic in the park and the Lions Club gave away free hot dogs, apple cider, hot cocoa, snack cakes & apples. So, we went there for a little bit and she went down the slide a couple times. Now there is trick-or-treating at the houses (we're not doing that.)

So, three Halloween events and we haven't even reached the actual day of Halloween. Well we have a couple more things, but they are on 10/31. We will have storytime at the library, which is dress up that day, and then in the early evening we are planning on going to the Children's Play Gallery for their grand opening celebration. Kids are supposed to come in costume and they can play around and they are also having a puppet show.

She loved putting on this costume today. She kept giggling as we put it on. She didn't giggle for any of the rest, so this one must have been her favorite.

Halloween Parties & Costumes

This is her pumpkin costume. I got this one because it is nice & warm so it would be good for outside activities or it's like a sleeper, so evening activities that we can put her right to bed in it afterward. So, we wore this costume last night fr the YMCA Halloween party. It does come with a hat, but she didn't like the hat. We went a little early and went swimming first and they afterward partipated in the Halloween party. She got some cute trinkets that will be fun to play with for a few days before they get lost. Lucy the cat loves swatting at the spider ring she got.

Here is Isabel in her Princess costume. She wore this today to the M&T Halloween Party. We had a good time there and it was so cute to see all the other kids all dressed up. We still have a couple more Halloween events over the next few days, so she will get a chance to wear them again.
At the M&T Halloween party, there was a Mommy&Me craft set up to make placemats. Isabel stuck all the small stickers on and Mommy did the rest. It was a very neat idea. Actually, at the Y they had some crafts & coloring. Isabel did some coloring, but we passed on the crafts. There was one I thought was neat and I hope I can remember it for next year.

Pumpkin Slide Show

Enjoy watching Isabel dig out the guts of a pumpkin, help fill a pumpkin bag, and hang out in a pile of leaves with her jack-o-lantern. The first picture is from the first time she touched the slimy seeds. At first she thought she was supposed to put them back in after I took them out. It was cute.

Playgroup at our House

Cable was out last night, which meant the internet & phone were too. Bah! We had to watch all our tivo'ed programming and when that was done, there was nothing more to watch. But it is back this morning and I can type my comments.

I didn't take out the camera until right at the end when only a few kids were left here. But here she is playing in the leaves with Sam and Lucie. We had a lot of moms & kids here. The kids seemed to be more interested in playing in the leaves and throwing rocks into the lake than with all the outdoor toys we have.

I think today Isabel & I are going to get out there and make a bag of leaves. I bought one of those large pumpkin bags to fill. I think she will get a kick out of that and will probably think it is one big pillow. And yesterday, I bought us a pumpkin to carve. I am sure I will have some funny pictures from that. She has never carved a pumpking before and it will be interesting to see how she is with all the pumpkin guts.

In response to CatWoman's question - I do have a costume for her, in fact a couple. So, you'll just have to wait & see what she looks like. Costume #1 will be work tonight when we go to the YMCA Halloween Party and then Costume #2 will be worn tomorrow morning when we go to the Halloween Party for our playgroup. So, you will see them very soon. We have a few Halloween events to go to, so she'll get to wear each one a couple times.

Pictures from Playdate @ the Zoo Yesterday

Ok - so here are some pictures from our playdate yesterday with Carrie, Leah & Ryan at Concord Zoo. We have only been here 5 weeks and have already been to this petting zoo 4 times. Isabel loves it. There are ducks, peacocks, & chicken that are free range & she loves to see if she can catch one. She can't.

You can see her smile behind that pacifier as she feeds the donkeys some corn.

The first picture cracks me up because she is pressing her face against the glass looking at me. She loves playing in these play houses that they have at the zoo.

Earlier on Monday we went & toured 3 houses and went to Think, Play, Learn & bought a memory game (we use it for matching, she likes matching things) and then we went to playgroup. The rest of our week from Wednesday on will slow down.

The past few days she has been practicing saying "Osha" Now, is it supposed to be "oh shit", in that case, I think that is daddy's fault. She doesn't use it in any particular context. I just think she likes the sound of it and keep practicing it. It does kind of sound like "oh shi" without the t, she leaves off the "t".

On Friday, she did push through her top two cuspids. So, now she has 16 teeth.

A Fun Day

Well, these are pictuers from the end of today taken with mommy's camera phone. We went to Chuck-e-Cheese. Isabel had a blast there. This one has a separate toddler area with a slide and things were spread out nicely so things were not crowded. Plus, we were there on a Tuesday evening, so it was not busy. She loved the slide the most.
This picture is at the top of the slide where they have some activity toys to play with.

Earlier today we went to tour a house, then went to storytime, and then had Michelle & Noah over for a playdate. So, we had a pretty good day all day.

Tomorrow we are hosting playgroup here, so we are hoping it is a nice afternoon so that we can play outside.

Pictures are coming

I now have Photoshop Elements 6 and I am trying to figure out some of the differences and am not sure what exactly happend to the collages I created. So, there will be pictures from yesterday's playdate at the zoo on here sometime.

17 Month Measurements

Weight Measurements

Still tracking in the low 80th percentile.......

Length

Still in the 95th percentile, but before she was so off the charts. She has kinda hit a plateau here the last few months. She will have to grow some during the next month or she will fall out of that 95th+ percentile spot she has held since birth

17 Months Old & A Visit from a MN Friend

Playing Catch Up

Oh, it's been a busy week and it will only be a busy weekend too. So, I guess I am picking up where I left off, which was Tuesday.

Tuesday we (Isabel & I) went to tour Oconomowoc House #5 and the upstairs had too short of walls/ceiling. So, not interested. Then we went to storytime at the library, which was a good time and we stayed and picked out books & toys to check out. I like that some libraries have toys you can check out; it gives the kids something new to play with for a little while without having to buy more. That afternoon, Isabel & I went to a park and played. She got to go down the tallest slide all by herself. She's becoming such a big girl. Then we went to the YMCA as a family to go swimming.


Wednesday we went to M&T playgroup in the afternoon. We had a good time and met some new people who also relocated for Harley.

Today we had a playdate at our house in the afternoon with some other people mom met off MM.com. Their names are Carrie, Leah, & Ryan. Ryan is the same age as Isabel and Leah is 4. We had fun with them.

Tomorrow we will probably go to the Y in the morning and then we are picknig up some cupcakes we ordered from Schatzie's Cakery. A special treat for our weekend guests. The sometime in the afternoon, Carrie, Kyle & Gavin will arrive. We're going out for a fish fry for supper. Not sure what we'll do Saturday with them, but we have some options. We'd like to take them to the Gelato place for sure. And then Sunday they are going back to WI and then in the late afternoon we have a funeral for mommy's great aunt who like in the area.

Weekend Review

Sorry there has been nothing on here for a few days. Daddy was working on the computer and I was waiting until he was finished, but he is not yet. So I thought I would get some pictures and updates out there.

Friday we went to M&T playgroup and had fun and Lucie's house. Then we went out to eat at Fiesta Cancun. We ordered their Nachos as an appetizer, and it pretty much (with the chips & salsa they gave us too) ended up being our meal and we packaged up our actual entrees. On Friday is was 10 years that Mommy & Daddy have been together. We got married 6 years ago, but together for 10.

Oh! And I can't forget to mention that she pushed through her lower L cuspid on Friday afternoons. She took one of her long naps (3 hours) that she always takes when she pushed through a tooth.



Here she is at 73 Weeks. I know we don't count in weeks much past the first few months, but I keep it going because I take a picture of her every Saturday since she was born on a Saturday and I have now been doing that for 73 weeks.

We went to view a house in the area on Saturday morning, then we went to the local Harley Dealership for a little while. And since she wouldn't take a nap, we went earlier than planned to the Concord Zoo so that daddy could see the animals and feed them and pet them with us. This is the 3rd time Isabel has been here. We like it.

Then Sunday we went to an open house, then to Auntie Phanie's & Uncle J's to watch the game, and then again to check out houses. It was nice to see Auntie Phanie & Uncle J again. They make Isabel laugh.

So, it was a busy weekend.

We had playgroup today and we had fun there. And then we went grocery shopping for lunch and right now she is down for a nap. We're getting to the point where she just takes a 2 hour long afternoon nap and for the most part has given up the AM nap.

As for plans the rest of the week - we are going to storytime and then we have playgroup again, and maybe mommy will get a playdate set up for Isabel, and some time just Mommy & Isabel will go to the Y to play and/or swim and we'll also go as a family, and then on Friday Carrie, Kyle, & Gavin will come to visit us for the weekend. They are our first visitors from MN to come stay with us and it will be there first time traveling with Gavin. So, another filled week, but that is how mommy likes it.

Pictures from Yesterday

I just never got around to uploading these pictures yesterday. She just loves playing with kitchen towels and cloth napkins. I suppose they are like scarves or a cape or a blanket. She's such a silly girl with the kitchen towels. Here she thought it was fun to play with it while laying on the floor.

Yesterday, we had a playdate with Michelle & Noah. We had a really good time. Today we'll go to the Y and then in the afternoon we have M&T playgroup.

Playing Dress Up

We call it "playing scarves" because it started out with some silky scarves grandma made her, but now we have included a little wispy skirt and a fuzzy hat.

Always Learning....

Some of the things she has recently learned are:
* How to say "duck"
* How to say "dog"
* How to eat with a fork
* How to pull the tops off acorns
* How to take marker caps off
* Dipping everything in ketchup
* Throwing rocks into water makes a big plop & is really cool!
* Where her head, eyes, nose, feet, belly, shoulders, ears, and hands are
* That words on a paper are to be read (she reads me my mail all the time, at least she finds it interesting)

Some of the things she is working on:
* How to put her shoes on (she is doing this all on her own, she loves wearing shoes)
* How to put marker caps back on the right way
* How to dress her babies
* How to make a ride on toy move forward
* Figuring out just how helium works
* Learning how to kick a ball
* That no matter how many times you try, crayons don't taste good
* Getting Molly to come to her when she calls her (Molly doesn't quite understand that is her name: Ah-eeee!)

Pat-a-cake

She loves when I sing Pat-a-Cake to her. Usually I do the clapping back & forth with her, but it's hard to do that when I am holding the camera. She's always anticiapting the next movement and does it before it's time. It's cute. At the end we always throw out hands up for "Baby & Me", but she does it way in advance.

Peek-a-boo

I took these 2 pictures with my camera phone. It did a pretty decent job. I took these pictures while we were at Concord Zoo with Janie, Will, & Jack. Isabel loved it even more this time, now that she knew what to expect. She got a kick out of feeding the animals the oats & corn & grass. She really liked feeding the ducks corn. One of the donkey there scared her with it's very loud "HEE-HAW, HEE-HAW!" She was looking at it as if she was thinking - what the hell is that?

This morning the two of us went to the Y swimming. She loves it so much there. Although, I wish she had a little fear of the water. She is absolutly fearless when it comes to water, which keeps mommy & daddy very active when we are swimming with her. Tonight is daddy's last night of his class.

Tomorrow we are going to go to storytime at the local library and that is really all we have planned. I am glad the cold front is coming through. I can feel the humidity drop. It was gross earlier when we were outside playing for 20 minutes and we got all sweaty from hardly doing anything.

Another Saturday

It's hard to believe that a year ago this time she was just sitting in her Bebe Pod because she couldn't sit on her own. Now she is running (as much as a child who has only been walking for 2 months can run) and doing sign language and chasing the cats and eating everything (a year ago we were just in the beginning stages of giving her rice cereal and pureed bananas.)

We were by the lake throwing in rocks and before you know it he diaper is completly soaked, as well as her shirt. So, I brought her in the house and changed her into one of her swimming suits. We stayed home all day today. Daddy is at his motorcylcle safety class today. I figured we would stay home; tomorrow is going to be the busy day. Tomorrow we are going to go check out another open house and then are going to the Commnuity Harvest Fest in town.

Yesterday she spent some time in Kidcare at the Y while mommy took a class; we spent some time at home; checked out an open house; and finally went to the Pajama Party Storytime at the bookstore in town. She did good with that, but I think it was because they gave each of them a little baggie of animal crackers.

Playing So Nicely Today

We were home for pretty much most of the day, although we did get out in the evening to go to the YMCA. She likes playing with her babies. She swaddles them and puts them in their highchair and feeds them bottles, burps them and pushes them around in the stroller. She doesn't quite get the changing bit yet, but that will come. She's a good little mommy.

We also played with rocks in the lake again. She laughs when she throws them in and they splash. The big the splash, the louder she laughs.

And then after dinner we went to the Y. We went swimming. Lately she has taken to crawling in the pool, which drives me nuts. I haven't quite figured out if it is because she is trying to swim or she just wants to be completly in the water since it is so warm. Anyways, when she does that I end up hunched over so much and my upper back gets sore. So,we went out to the deeper part where we just swam all over the place and there was no hunching for mom.

Tomorrow I thought maybe I would try a class at the Y and put her in kidcare and see how that works out. Kidcare is very affordable and I could use the exercise. And then tomorrow wevening before bedtime we are going to go to Books & Co. to their pajama party. I guess they do one the first Friday of every month. I'm not sure how it will go, but the only way to find out it to try it. Daddy has his motorcycle safety class tonight, tomorrow night, all weekend, and Monday night. So, us gals are on our own most of the time.

A Better Day....

Today we sarted out at storytime, but left after 15 minutes because little girl couldn't sit still and wanted to get into everything and I didn't feel like dealing with her having a tantrum.

Then we met M&T at the Y to go swimming and we were there for an hour. That was a good time.

We were home for lunch & naptime (during which I made a yummy apple cake) and then we went to Cushing Memorial Park in Delafield to play. It's a neat park. It's this big wooden fort with several slides in it and different sandbox areas.

Keys are NOT toys

So, it's not unusual for me to give her my keys to play with. And frequently when we are getting her into the car she steals them out of my hand and I let her play with them while I unload the cart into the car.

Well, today changed all of that. She was playing with the keys (all strapped in her car seat) and I was unloading the cart. I shut the back door to the Tahoe and I heard this "whoosh" sound of the lock on the doors. As I walked to her door, I heard it again. Oh shit! I grabbed the handle and sure enough - she locked ALL of it. One "whoosh" locks the driver & passenger doors, but the second "whoosh" is required to lock the back doors. Had I been thinking quick enough I would have opened the back door again rather than go to her after that first "whoosh" - but I didn't.

So, the result was me looking at her dangling my keys at the car window, offering them to me. I tried to convince her to keep pressing buttons, but she just wanted to hand me my keys. And there it was - PANIC! My 16-month old daughter is locked in the car with my keys and with my cell phone.

Luckily, a woman with a toddler pulled up next to us. I was so freaked out about the whole situation that I could barely get the words out to ask this stranger to borrow her cell phone.

I called Andy & he said he was on his way and to call the cops. I called 911 (never actually had to do that before) and they transferred me to the local police department, where they said they were sending an officer and a lock-out company.

I felt like an idiot and thanked the lady for her cell phone usage. She told me she had done it before too - same thing. Guess it's something we learn the hard way.

I don't know how long she was in there exactly. It felt like forever, but it was probably 15 minutes. I wasn't wearing a watch and the clock I use is on my cell phone (in the car.) The cop came and about 30 seconds later the lockout guy came and I had my baby back. She was calm the whole time. I stood by her window with my face pressed against it singing songs to her. By the end she was sick of the singing through the window game and wanted to hold her dolly (which was out of her reach) and wanted me to pick her up. When the door got opened, she started balling (I think she knew what was going on.) I grabbed her out of her car seat and held her tight and told her mommy would never again give her car keys to play with in the car. Daddy arrived a couple minutes after the guys left.

October Outfit

She got this outfit as a going away present from her old daycare. I'll have her wear this several times this month.

All Done

Pretty Fingernails

I painted her fingernails when I was painting my toes today. She's such a little lady with her fingernails painted.

It turns out she has an insect bite by her eye. The swelling went down enough last night that I could see the bite today, although now that the swelling is going down, the bruising is setting in.

We went to playgroup this morning and that was nice. She took a nice long nap afterward and then we went to check out Tobin's. We didn't end up buying anything, just took their tour & got our free gift for moving into the area. There was too many breakables to really be there with Isabel. This evening we went to the Y swimming, all three of us.