Happy Halloween

Library storytime on Wednesday was really packed because it was a special Halloween one. I waited to put Alisa's kangaroo costume on until near the end because the room was toasty and her costume is warm and snuggly. I wasn't sure if she'd wear the costume (she freaked out when I put it on her at home last week) and I didn't want to make matters worse by her being way too hot. Storytime ended with a parade around the main floor of the library. Mr Gary led the parade while playing the guitar and singing Halloween songs. It was fun to see all the kids in costume. Alisa had fun parading around and at the end she hopped like the kangaroo she was dressed as. Mr Gary went around taking pictures of some of the kids but he had a hard time getting Alisa's picture because she was hopping and spinning when he was trying. So many people commented on how cute Alisa's costume is. I've never seen a kid dressed as a kangaroo before and I certainly thought it was the cutest. We had to park a block over from the library because the lot was full when we arrived (and we were 10 minutes early, for once!) but that turned out to be a good thing because it meant Alisa could show off her costume more as we walked back to the car. I let her run around in the grass and on the sidewalk at the park by our car before taking off her costume and buckling her in her seat.

Mr Gary reading a story after playing guitar and singing songs:

The room was very crowded:

Kangaroo Alisa in the bean bag "room" after storytime:

Walking down the stairs from the bean bag "room" (kids LOVE these stairs!):

Hopping like a kangaroo:

The usual after-storytime activity of pulling books off the shelf:

Coloring is another usual after-storytime activity. The coloring page today happened to be a kangaroo! (she took over this abandoned paper):

I thought it was cute how her tail stuck out through the back of the chair:

Enjoying the cool air at the park near the library:

Here's Alisa coloring her 1st pumpkin and Craig carving his pumpkin yesterday:

Daddy's carved pumpkin, Mommy's carved pumpkin, Alisa's colored pumpkin:

Alisa is squirming and crying to get away from our glowing jack-o-lanterns (I thought she'd like them but instead she was scared of them):

Our jack-o-lanterns:

When I went to get Alisa out of her bed this morning, I saw that she has a runny nose. There was snot streaming down her nose and spilling over her upper lip. Yuck! We had a rough morning because she didn't feel well. She ate her usual yogurt/oatmeal mix and had most of a banana. She saw me drinking orange juice and wanted some. Instead of giving her my last few sips, I decided to put orange juice in a sippy cup so she could drink it throughout the day (to stay hydrated). Well, she didn't want the lid on the sippy cup. She fussed and fussed and wouldn't drink it. I took the lid off and she stopped crying and reached for the cup. I kept my hands near to help (she didn't want me to touch the cup) because the cup was rather full and I knew she'd have trouble. Sure enough, she tipped it a little too much and it spilled down her bib. The pocket caught most of it but she freaked out and squirmed so some fell out of the bib pocket and onto her bare leg (I hadn't put her pants on yet). I wiped her quickly and got another plastic cup and put just a little juice in it so she could try again and it wouldn't spill so easily. She started to tip the cup but then freaked out and that was the end of that. I decided to wipe her off and get her down. Breakfast was over.

Because her nose was running and she felt a little warm, we had to cancel our plans for the day. Happy Halloween. I was bummed about that because I had baked Orange Pumpkin Cookies to share at the special Halloween Music Time at the library (bi-monthly music class created by fellow moms). Also, I had planned to take Alisa to the Halloween parade at Toys 'R Us because I thought she might like seeing Geoffrey the Giraffe and more kids in costumes. And finally, I wanted to take Alisa to a party at a church. Oh well, we can enjoy Halloween next year (she'll be at a better age then to enjoy it more anyway).

I spent the day wiping her nose while she resisted. She should be fine with me wiping her nose in a few days (that's how it always goes). She did not eat much for lunch so we knew she wasn't feeling well. She even refused to take Tylenol (and she loves that cherry stuff!). She took her afternoon nap a bit earlier than usual and Craig said after he got her up hours later, she fell asleep on him (I was out voting early). When I arrived home from voting, she really wanted me to take her outside. I put her shoes and coat on since it was a bit chilly and we walked up the road. I figured the fresh air would do her some good. She had a blast stepping up on the curb and back down after briefly running in the grass. We saw a few kids in costumes walking with their parents. I decided to go home and get the stroller so we could go for a longer walk and she could just sit and relax. I also grabbed some cheese crackers and water for Alisa and myself. I pushed Alisa all around the neighborhood while she ate the entire pack of cheese crackers (she finally ate something today!). We saw lots of kids trick-or-treating. I can't wait until next year when Alisa will be able to trick-or-treat. And maybe then she won't be scared of jack-o-lanterns.


I made macaroni & cheese as soon as we got home because I was starving and hadn't planned ahead for anything else. Alisa ate some too. She had another burst of energy before bedtime. She was dancing, singing and playing with an orange glow stick in the living room. Craig took her upstairs to put her pajamas on and she wanted to skip reading books and go right to bed. So she did.