OMG, we had the BEST time tonight with Emmylou! She loves Halloween and trick-or-treating, just as we had expected considering her passionate love and adoration for any kind of candy. Emmylou loves it so much that it's one of only three signs for food that she knows: apple, milk and candy. So practical.

So what was she for Halloween? After having so much trouble with Emmylou's Carmen Miranda hat, I finally decided to get the second place peacock costume as a back-up a couple of days ago. And thank God I did, because as it turns out, the hat was the least of the problems with the costume. When I said she'd look like a slutty clown without the hat, I had no idea it could be so bad: her pants kept falling down!









But we did manage to get her put together for a quick picture (this lasted at the most 8 seconds) before changing her into the peacock...



All ready to go trick-or-treating...



Walking up to the first house (then she tried to actually go in to most of the houses)...



She rode in her wagon in between houses...



While her entourage waited at the sidewalk- five adults for 1 child! (That's Lizzie dressed as a football player and me as a cowgirl/hillbilly)...



I don't even want to think about how much candy Emmylou ate tonight!

I hope you all had as much fun as we did!

What we did during a long wait for a table yesterday at Chuy's:



Funny how Emmylou's the only sane-looking one, huh?

This evening we took Emmylou down to City Hall for the parade to the Children's Museum where they were having the Bats N' Cats Ball. Why is she not in her Carmen Miranda costume, you ask? Well, we're having some wardrobe malfunctions with it. The hat, which is the definitive piece of the costume, won't stay on her head and if she doesn't wear it, the rest of the costume makes her look like a slutty clown. Call me crazy, but that wasn't exactly the look I was going for. I've tried moving the velcro fastener and putting ties under her chin, but nothing seems to work. I'll keep trying, but I can't make any promises that she'll show up as Carmen Miranda come Halloween night, so apologies to all who voted for that costume.

So, in desperation for a costume this evening, I grabbed the goldfish one from last year and was glad to see it still fits.



Lining up for the parade...



Riding on Daddy's shoulders for the long 2 block parade route...



Arriving at the Children's Museum...



They had musicians and jugglers/weird performers...





One of my favorite costumes we saw: King Kong--Empire State Building--Fay Wray/Jessica Lange...



Inside, playing with all the other little creatures...



Saying hello to her fellow species...



With mermaid Lizzie-- they kind of go together, right?



No party's complete without balloon animals, People!



Emmylou and Daddy checking out a real, live Stellaluna-looking bat (you can really appreciate my photography skills in this photo)...



And, Emmylou's very first tattoo. She got it from the bat people and once we put it on her, she hated it and kept trying to rub it off! We told her to remember that feeling, especially considering her daddy is in the midst of getting his tattoos lasered off. That's one adventure she can do without.

Sometimes I think I get so used to doing all the things that come with hanging out with Emmylou 24/7 that I don't think twice about what a normal day is really like for us. After being away from her for 4 days while we were in New York, I have fresh eyes to see that although we always have fun, she really is a handful and it's not just my imagination. So here are some stats I collected from today, between our outings at the gym, grocery store, fabric/craft store (for Halloween costume supplies) and the park:

Number of Maisy episodes watched by Emmylou: 1.5

Number of airplanes pointed out by Emmylou: 3 (+1 helicopter)

Number of balloons hovering over the produce section of Central Market because of Emmylou: 1

Number of crushed Cheerios on the floors of Central Market and Hobby Lobby, collectively: at least 50

Number of times Emmylou wanted to use her chapstick and climbed onto toilet to reach upper cabinet: 10 (at least)

Number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches fed to dog by Emmylou: .5

Number of naps taken by Emmylou: 1 (it was a long one, thank God)

Number of times Emmylou climbed on Lola's back: 3

Number of times Emmylou pushed all the buttons on the DVD player or cable box even though she's forbidden to touch them: 100 (low estimate)

Number of playground pebbles found in Emmylou's diaper at bath time: 8

Number of times Babo was bathed in toilet by Emmylou: 1

Number of times Babo went through the washing machine: 2


Yep, just another day...

Gary and I got back late Monday night from a fantastic trip to visit our friends Eric and Missy. We got to know them in Baltimore and about 3 months ago they moved to the town of Sand Lake, NY, about 20 minutes outside of Albany. They have a beautiful new house situated on about 10 acres and even if it hadn't been the height of leaf color-changing season while we were there, it still would've been amazingly gorgeous. So while we were going on a tour of microbreweries (research turned up a lack of wineries in the area), Emmylou stayed with Grammie, and from the looks of the photos she took, they might've had as good of a time as we did, although I bet her stay didn't involve crashing through a screen door after mooning everyone like her Daddy. Good times, People, good times.

Playing at the Incredible Pizza Place with my friend Tiffany's kids Hadley, Ashton and Maddox (unfortunately, no picture of Foster!)...







Emmylou spent over two hours playing with this wagon she and Grammie found at a garage sale Saturday morning...



Then they took it to the zoo with Amelia to go back and see the butterflies...





Making pumpkin bread back at Grammie's...




And taking a couple of important phone calls and covering Grammie with stickers...




No wonder she was exhausted when we got her back Tuesday morning!

I was surprised to find out today that Emmylou actually does listen to me every now and then.

A couple of weeks ago she pulled a lint brush out of a basket in the bathroom and I told her "that's for Lola's fur." I guess I forgot to mention that it's actually for our clothes because of Lola's fur, because when I walked into the living room a few minutes ago this is what I saw:

Dear Emmylou,

This past weekend, while we were in New Orleans, you turned nineteen months old. What a big girl you're getting to be! It was so much fun getting to watch you with people who haven't seen you in a while and I'm pretty sure they all thought you were pretty neat.

Here are some things you're loving these days: your new squeaky shoes, chapstick, drawing with markers on your easel, eating Fig Newtons, putting things in the trash, and spraying yourself with Off bug spray (because that means you get to go outside). I think I hear you say the word "outside" about a million times a day, so I've been trying to take you to the park at least once a day so you can expend some of that boundless energy you have.

As you may have noticed, you've seen lots of animals recently but that's because you really seem to like them. Today you were enamored with the lobsters and crabs at Central Market and they had a giant cow in the cheese department that you loved (as we passed it you told me "more" so we turned around and spent a little more time with it, you moo-ing). I think you like them so much because books are your favorite things these days and most of your books are about animals.

Although you've started a little hitting recently, for the most part, you're still the sweetest little thing ever. You are so cute when we ask for kisses. We love the way you lean over to give them with your lips pressed together, chin up, saying "mmmmm...". You also know the good way to hug these days too, throwing your arms around our necks and squeezing your head into our shoulders. Ahhh. There's nothing better.

My favorite parts of the day are seeing you first thing in the morning (a bonus if it's past 7 am), sharing an apple with you in the afternoon (you and I are both obsessed with the Honey Crisp ones) and reading Goodnight Moon together before bed. Even if I'm exhausted after a long day running around after you, I think I tell your daddy "I miss Emmylou" every night once I'm laying in bed to go to sleep and you're off in your own bed. That's how much I love you, Emmylou! Thanks for always being the best part of every day and keep those kisses coming.

Love,
Mama

Yikes. Yesterday Emmylou was "that kid" in music class. After walking up to two different little girls in the class within 15 minutes and slapping them each on the head*, I decided to take her home.

It's kind of exasperating because out of all of the kids in the class, she is the only one who doesn't sit in my lap the majority of the time. Instead, she roams around the room or tries to open the tub of instruments before it's time, or play Miss Carey's guitar, or take her necklace, etc., etc. And Miss Carey, who's very much into Montessori teachings and letting the kids "learn in different ways" thinks it's fine for her to be roaming around, so I always feel awkward redirecting her or even trying to pull her back into my lap (which always elicits a shriek and lasts about 10 seconds). So usually I just feel like a complete idiot, stressed out, watching Emmylou like a hawk, singing songs (complete with the hand motions) all by myself without a partner.

Anyway, yesterday I was getting over the stomach flu and just couldn't make it through the entire hour of class after her antics early on. After nearly crying on Gary's shoulder when we got home, I decided to get a grip and realized that although I need to be firm with her (of course, she CANNOT hit), I need to not get so upset and try to have a sense of humor about things. Emmylou is obviously a "spirited" child (is that the nice way to say it?) and although I want her to behave, I really don't want to break her spirit.

She reminded me of this later that afternoon when she pulled my "Free To Be, You and Me" book off my bookshelf.



Ah... weren't those the days?!




*Is it maybe not so bad if she happened to pick the two most annoying kids in the class (excluding herself)? Maybe it means she's a good judge of character? (Just trying to keep things positive here.)

Okay, after I did that celebrity meter on that last post, I kind of got obsessed with the site and had to do another one of their offerings. Even though everyone says Emmylou looks like Gary, this look-alike-meter says Emmylou actually looks more like me! I even did it twice because the first time it said we were 50/50 and I didn't believe it. Then I uploaded different photos and it came out with these results:



What do y'all think? I'm always curious if anyone can see one of us in her more than the other.

Emmylou continued her tour of Wild Kingdom today with a trip to Sea World. I thought she might be a little too young to enjoy it, but she was riveted during the shows and loved seeing the animals throughout the park.

Feeding the dolphins (but that's my giant arm holding the fish for the dolphin)...



Captivated by Shamu...



Trying to give Shamu a piece of popcorn...



Giving the sign the trainers showed us to get Shamu to splash the audience...



And all tuckered out on the way home...




On a totally different subject, I thought this was really cool. Bethany put it on her blog and I just had to see what celebrities Emmylou looks like:

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Angelina Jolie, Madonna and a Spice Girl in the top 3?! And I love that Bob Marley somehow figures in there...

Yesterday Grammie invited Emmylou and me to go to the San Antonio Zoo so we could see the exhibit "Butterflies!" with her. Here are some photos.

There must've been thousands of butterflies in the little greenhouse- we had to be careful not to step on them (especially with Emmylou's oh-so-offensive Crocs)!


Which one do you think is prettier?


I like that one!


Think they'll land on us?


After seeing the butterflies, we checked out the rest of the animals at the zoo. Emmylou loved the monkeys.




And the elephants.


We couldn't leave without using the Mold-A-Rama machine to make a plastic animal souvenir for Daddy. I felt like I was 7 years old again feeding my quarters into it!


Since at one time Gary had a Savannah Monitor named Alice, we decided to make him one of the Komodo Dragon since they look kind of the same.


Too bad it looked more like (I hate to say it) a shiny turd.

Emmylou has a fantastic daddy. Not only do they enjoy playing at the house everyday (which is pretty convenient since Gary mostly works from home), he loves taking her out, just the two of them, to lots of fun places. Last Saturday, while I was hiking, yoga-ing, getting massaged and just flat-out relaxing at The Crossings (love that place!), Gary took Emmylou out to breakfast and later on to lunch followed by a stop at Terra Toys, a great toy store near our house.

And while I'm sure they look adorable out-and-about frolicking around these fun-tabulous places, the reactions he gets from people are unbelievable. He says they stop him constantly and tell him how cute he and Emmylou are, what a terrific dad he is, how much they enjoy seeing him and Emmylou playing, eating, walking, (breathing?) and so on and so on. And it happens time and time again! On the cruise, we had a deal where Gary could go to the casino every night (and I'd stay in with Emmylou to go to sleep) if he took care of her on the three days we were at sea (so I could lay by the pool without chasing a toddler). He told me that one day, after numerous people had stopped to lavish that never-seeming-to-end praise, that a couple actually offered to buy him a drink because he is "such a good dad!"

Now, I'm really happy that he and Emmylou get along so well and that I'm apparently married to the Father of the Year, but let me just contrast this to what I get when we're out and about...

On Friday night, I took Lulu to Phil's for a burger and to play on their playground. Just as I set her free to play and started looking around for whoever might find us so adorable they wouldn't be able to resist buying me a drink, a rather surly looking woman came up to me and said, "Uh, ma'am, those shoes she's wearing [points at Emmylou], uh, are those those Croc shoes?" And here it comes... the umpteenth time I've been told that unless I take those Crocs off her feet immediately, she'll have nothing but shredded stumps at the ends of her legs the next time we ride an escalator at the mall.

I smiled and said, "Yeah, I did hear about that [head tilt], but she's so small I always hold her on escalators. Thanks [another head tilt]."

Awesome.

Oh my God! 39 comments! We are certainly feeling the love here. Thanks to everyone who left their vote for Emmylou's Halloween costume. Gary bet me that we wouldn't get more than 18 votes and we got more than double that! I'll enjoy spending the 25 bucks he owes me (sure wish we had bet more).

Here are the results:

Carmen Miranda: 23

Peacock: 11

Monkey: 2

Puppy Dog: 0

So it looks like Carmen Miranda is the big winner, however, Alex did provide an excellent alternative to my suggestions. Although I'd be happy to never lay eyes on another raisin since they exploded all over my car and house just a short while ago, I do think a California Raisin costume would certainly be appropriate.



So here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to order the Carmen Miranda costume but also start researching how to make a California Raisin costume since I'm pretty sure you haven't been able to buy one of those since sometime around 1986. And since Lulu had two costumes last year, I figure it's perfectly fine to keep that tradition going. We'll be going to a Halloween parade and party at the children's museum on the 28th where she can be Carmen and then on Halloween night she can be a raisin.

God, she is going to hate me in about 15 years, isn't she? At least I can blame it partly on you people!

Now that Halloween is a month away, it's time to start thinking about a costume for Emmylou. Although I probably can't top last year's Suri Cruise and Goldfish costumes, I have managed to find a few that are pretty cute. And I'm leaving it up to our faithful readers to choose which one she wears! So, here are the ones to pick from:

Carmen Miranda...


A monkey (she's good at making the monkey noises)...


Pretty as a peacock...


Or, her favorite animal, the "Woof"...


Please leave a comment with your vote, even if it's anonymously or if we don't know you (or if you have a better suggestion than the ones above). Gary and I have a bet as to how many people will vote and I want to win, so get your friends to vote, too!

If you've never left a comment before, just click where it says "# Comments" after the posting and you should be able to leave your vote without needing a Google/Blogger account.

People, here's some advice:

DON'T GIVE A KID TOO MANY RAISINS!

How do I know I gave her too many? Because I saw how many I had to pick up yesterday and last night when she threw up in my car, her bed, and later, my own bed. It was not a pretty sight, and considering that I hate raisins, I'm pretty sure I'll never get over that now.

I guess it might have just been a coincidence that she got some kind of stomach bug, but I'm not going to pretend that the previous days' steadily-increasing raisin intake to mammoth proportions didn't have something to do with it. Poor baby. At least she's almost back to normal now!