Halloween

For Madeline's second Halloween, she dressed as a dinosaur (again).  She didn't mind the repeat.  In fact, she felt ferocious.

Roar!

I roared back.

Madeline roared even more fiercely!

Being a dinosaur is fun.

This year, we took Madeline out trick-or-treating to a few neighbors' houses.  We left out a bowl of candy while we wandered.

Even with only a few houses, Madeline hauled in plenty of good stuff.  She took a careful account, recognizing that she had three different sizes of Hershey bars!

She liked answering the door for other kids ("Kids!") and eating bits of candy between doorbell rings.

All in all, the evening was so exciting that she had some trouble going down at bedtime.

But we would never have guessed what she found most exciting: a neighbor had put out a broken toilet for trash pickup, and Madeline couldn't get enough of it.  "Potty!  Broken potty!  Outside!  Wanna see it!  People take it -- broken potty.  Trash.  Potty is broken!  I go outside and see potty."  She kept telling us all about it until she was snuggled in her crib.

Sandy II

Madeline's daycare was cancelled today.

Most of her day was spent playing and coloring, but we did have a brief, glorious outdoor excursion around lunchtime.  Madeline was excited that several sticks had fallen in our yard.  "My stick!" she exclaimed.

Even more exciting were some of the creatures that hovered around the house.  Madeline watched a bird alight on the front steps' rail, hover over the dormant garden (as in the picture below), and then rest in front of the picture window.

She also found a cricket.

She followed the cricket from one end of the front yard to the other, pausing sometimes to try to touch it ...

... sometimes to admire leaves ("Oak leaf! Maple leaf!"), and sometimes to jump like a cricket!

Sandy

Sandy came to visit this morning. Madeline and Summer stayed home ...

... but I still went to work in the morning.  I hear that back at home there was much playing.

Madeline discovered this discus thrower and learned to say "discus."  When I got home later, she told me she'll throw the discus when she gets bigger, just like Daddy.

I returned home around one, amid reports of Connecticut highways shutting down and intermittent road closures and power outages in Rhode Island.  Home, though, was snug and secure.

Madeline went down for an exceedingly rare three-hour nap.  When she woke up, we made our first fire in the fireplace.

And after dinner, we took advantage of the fire to make a special treat: s'mores.

Madeline was in love.

We hope you all are as snug and secure as we are up here on the outskirts of the storm.  It sounds like some places (Manhattan, e.g.) are pretty crazy right now, so everyone please be safe.

Pumpkin-carving

Madeline was a character today.

She spent the morning in her monster pajamas, pink socks, and winter hat.

And she was very happy at that.

She was still happy when we got dressed for a grocery store trip.

We had to pry her away from the pumpkins -- she loves pumpkins.

After the store, Madeline napped; after her nap, she decided to wear mittens!

The Eagles lost dreadfully (a waste of Madeline's newfound joy of responding to our "E-A-G-L-E-S" with an enthusiastic, "Eagles!"); then came something much more fun: pumpkin-carving time!  Madeline helped us pick out the seeds for roasting.

We listened to Halloween songs while we carved, and Madeline took frequent dance breaks.

After each break, she got back down to business.

Part of Madeline's business involved picking a jack-o-lantern face from a lineup; I did my best to replicate her choice.

While we carved pumpkins, I had a tasty bolognese sauce simmering in the background.  Yum.

After dinner we took a moment to see our jack-o-lanterns in the dark (mine, Madeline's, Summer's).

Madeline thought this was pretty cool.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day.  It appears that much of the state is shutting down, but as of now our workplaces and daycare seem to be open.  We'll see what morning brings...

Busy Saturday with bugs!

This morning we found a cicada shell!  Madeline thought it was cool but kind of creepy.  She wanted to hold it, but only for about a second.

Madeline also helped me move the patio furniture into the bulkhead in anticipation of Sandy's arrival.

We went to the last outdoor farmers market of the year.  Madeline sat stalwart while I finished using up our CSA dollars.

Then we got some croissants, which we at under a tree while Madeline showed us cool things like pine needles.  "Needles!  From trees!"

She also gnawed on her hand for some reason -- trying to extract every last ounce of croissant-y goodness, perhaps?

Summer had to spend a little time in lab, so Madeline and I wandered over to the Morris Avenue playground and played.  She went to the store to buy a push toy, a fish, and a school bus.

Back at home, Summer and Madeline found a grasshopper on our front steps!  Look closely and you can see it.

Madeline insisted on sitting in the trunk while I cleaned out the car.

We took advantage of about an hour's lapse in plans and responsibilities to go get a rug.  The library/living room must be comfortable so we can have a fire in the fireplace while the outside is inhospitable!

Next up was a delicious Peruvian dinner with Julia and Shawn, who are leaving us soon for sunnier climes.  Julia sent Madeline into hysterics by continuing to offer a forkful of sweet potato after Madeline always, gigglingly refused it.

Finally, we spent a little time continuing to set up the library before bed.  Good times.

Smiley child

Yesterday

Today

Potato Head & Triceratops

Yesterday Madeline ate waffles with her Halloween Mr. Potato Head (Mr. Potato Head, by the way, was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island).

Madeline loves Mr. Potato Head -- especially since we pretended he was an airplane.  "Fly, 'tato, fly!," she exclaims.

Today, however, was a dinosaur-themed day.  Madeline chewed on this triceratops while we waited for the pizza we ordered after realizing that I'd left our planned dinner partially-prepared and cold on the stove all night.  Oops.

Happy! Happy!

"Happy! Happy!" says Madeline frequently these days. Just about every evening after dinner, she asks to sit on one of our laps.

And she sings.  "Happy birthday to you!  Happy birthday to you!  Happy birthday kitty!"  And "Twinkle sky!  Twinkle sky!  How I wonder up above.  Like a diamond in the sky!"

This evening she did not repeat her usual request to sleep in the basement.  (Why does she usually ask this?  We have no idea.)  Perhaps she was too excited by these fun pillows, gifts from friend Kristin.

She was also excited by this special sweater, which fits much better than it did last year (though it's still a little big).

She liked the sweater so much ("Like it! Sweater -- like it!") that she insisted on wearing it to bed.