Halloween 4

It just gets more and more fun! This year cousins and grandparents came to our neighborhood for trick-or-treating, and we had special guest star Miss L. and her family join us! Miss L. and Anneke have been buddies since their days at daycare, and now they are big preschool girls together AND neighbors!

I love that this is the look we get when we ask our daughter to smile for the camera. Five-year-old cousin Claire was the trick-or-treating mentor, guiding the younger girls up to porches when they were feeling spooked. When Claire herself got spooked she asked, "who's going to go up to the porch with me?"

The force is strong with cousin Connor. Am I getting that reference right? Poor thing. His light saber burned out as soon as his stroller hit the sidewalk.

This little monkey slept through the whole thing. We returned home to find him clad in a swim diaper and reports that he peed all over grandpa.

Why the long face? because you're interrupting my unwrapping of the chocolate eyeball for the annual photo in front of the Bleck-o-Lantern. Not cool.

Sweet Child o' Mine

I think I'll take a break from a slew of First World Problems to do some mommy-blogging about that sweet girl of ours.

You might remember she's three and a half now. These days she's really into space and the solar system. She and Daddy pasted construction-paper planets on her bedroom wall. At the grocery store the other day she got a mummy sticker. That, of course, lead to a discussion about Death, Burial Practices, and Egypt. Why didn't I just tell her a mummy is a Halloween costume?

She started preschool and dance class. She's really learning some nice skills, like standing in line and how to make friends The other day she got DISSED at the playground by a little girl from down the street. She took it in stride, though. Of course, I wanted to rescue her, but she didn't seem to need it. With all these leaps and bounds, she also enjoys retreating back to babyhood. Don't we all, Anneke...don't we all?

She's still such a good big sister. I love being the four of us.

What a difference a month makes!

Poor baby Ben. Already getting shortchanged on the monthly photo/blog post. I assure you, Anneke had her photo taken on the seventh of every month--not before, and certainly not after--and had a blog post for every month of her first year. Clearly I was looking for something to do during the two looooong naps she took every day. No wonder I had time to open a private practice. Ben is more of a cat napper. And Anneke is a no napper. And I am a want-a-napper who has since closed said private practice. 

So here's our guy at six months and change, drooling and getting ready to crawl! Or was he crawling? I don't remember. It's in his baby book.

And here he is at seven months, getting ready to stand.

And teething!

How to make your daughter into a nerd

Anneke says she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up. I told her that I wanted to be an astronaut too when I was a little boy. I hope she makes it through elementary school before reality sets in.

Baby Love

It's always ourselves we find at the sea

Just got back from a week at the Kroner house. The weather was beautiful. Honestly, it was a bit cool windy on our beach. But I'm including these shots so it will be clear I didn't have anything to complain about.

Oswald West State park, where, after almost twelve years here, I JUST discovered agate hunting!

Sea Lions in Astoria, just returned from California: obnoxious and fun to watch.

Sunset at the Kroner house.

Short hike to the beach.

Everyone loves a brown-eyed girl