Happy Halloween! **

The baby giraffe and Super Daddy set out to trick-or-treat. Super Daddy holds the reins so the wagon doesn't go to fast.

Baby Giraffe got the idea pretty quickly that, at each door, you hold your hand out and someone will give you something colorful. He liked the red ones. But mostly, he wanted to push the wagon and go-go-go.

Photo by Grandpa
After a while, Baby Giraffe got a little Halloweened-out and enjoyed touring the neighborhood in style.

Front row: Rufus the dog, as a caterpillar. Second row, from left: Masquerade Ball attendees, Mary Ingalls, Pa Ingalls, Laura Ingalls, Ma Ingalls. Back row: Baby Giraffe, Super Daddy, Spider Lady. Not Pictured: Super Mommy, Grandpa.

Here's a roundup of some Halloween fun this week:

Rye plays with the spoons as his cousins work on their jack-o-lanterns a couple of weeks ago.

A family of Halloween fun.

Trick-or-Treating at local shops. The costume from the superhero party was a big hit. Rye seemed to like the pencil favors the best, but really was angling to get into that bright red Kit Kat wrapper...

Head-butting La Dia de los Muertos while trick-or-treating at local shops.

We went to a great carnival put on by a local school. Rye won a lollipop playing the Plinko game--you roll a flat eyeball through the pegs and try to land it in the calavera at the center, below. He also enjoyed "digging for bones" in the giant sandbox, using potato stamps with fabric paint to decorate a tote bag, and playing in the "sound garden."

The school has a fish tank!

More Halloween pictures from an outdoor concert here and playing with a suspicious battery-powered singing dog here.

* Updated with trick-or-treat photos 10/31, late, and 11/1.

Walking

Rye goes shopping at the local library last week. No still photos, sorry.

Rye, 14 months

Rye is using the signs for "book" and "more" more often, asking for the Richard Scarry books by saying "Buh?" and putting his hands flat together. He's also added the word "cheese" to his repertoire, and the sign for "eat" (food, instead of milk). He says "trusssch" when the trash truck comes to get the garbage, and gave a more convincing rendition of "truck" when an old Land Rover pulled up next to us in a parking lot once.

He can climb onto the couch by himself now. He thinks this is awesome. Mommy, whose chaotic desk is just behind the couch, isn't as excited. Rye also can let himself off our big bed, going feet first and sliding down to the floor. He likes to stand up at the kitchen counter and snack on grape pieces or Joe's Os cereal, or lunch.

He is getting accustomed to walks in the neighborhood with Daddy to fall asleep. During a particularly trying night, Daddy went to his room to try to soothe him, and Rye met him at the door. "Shoes?" he asked, hopefully.

Rye could walk if he wanted to, but since he wants to do it perfectly and feel secure, he's not doing much walking yet.

He LOVES to play cars and likes his bulky wooden cars the best, and his Viking Toys cars second best (these are better for the sand and outdoors, anyway).



Rainproof.

Enjoying the waterfall at the Arboretum.



New music class

I told the witch doctor....

Grandpop and Sitti sent a dancing dog for Halloween. Rye was interested to make him sing and make him stop—until the doggie rolled over and did some unnatural things that freaked him out. Treat AND Trick!

Warning: Watching this video will give you a truly horrible case of song-stick.

Superbaby Strikes Again

We met up with a few other mommies to check out The Hollow Trees, a great local band that we listen to in the car on endless loop. The event was Halloween-themed, but the line was too long and hot to wait for the free balloon animals. Rye whipped out his SuperSuit and had a great time playing cars and eating the picnic lunch we brought. But the straw bales for the photo op? Not so much. Too prickly.

O Boy

Grandma taught Rye how to stick O's on his face, which he thought was pretty funny. It won't be long before he's hanging a spoon off his nose and blowing sandwich toothpicks up into the ceiling acoustic tile.

Exploring Autumn Colors

Nana sent Rye some fall leaves from her front yard in Michigan. Rye loved the texture and crunchiness. Then we drew using crayons with fall colors.

Camping—more first steps!

Rye took his first totally unassisted steps on Saturday, making a daring, halting dash from a secure hold on a rock. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, and a few of our friends had front row seats. He walked miles with his wagon around the campsites, clicking around with confidence and glee. Now that he bends his knees when he walks, he's able to move more smoothly and confidently.

The weather was perfect and the company of friends and family was fun, as usual. Rye loved the tent and his first taste of oatmeal, and he loved wallowing in the dirt even more.

Pouring exercise

Rye practices pouring barley from pitcher to cup and from pitcher to pitcher. It's an acquired skill, and he still has some work to do on it. Meanwhile, Mommy has some work to do in the kitchen with the vacuum.

Ready to Walk (and first 'Cheerios')

Rye almost has the walking thing licked. He did a lot of great work this weekend thinking we were supporting him—but we really weren't. Today he walked a little bit while I held only one hand.

In other news, Trader Joes' version of Cheerios are a BIG hit.

My heroes

We celebrated a 4-year-old friend's birthday today at a backyard Superhero party—after a lovely party in the park for Shael, who turned one recently!


Rye can eat his lunch with a fork, Daddy always finds a parking spot right by the door of the store, and Mommy makes milk. What's your superpower?

We all have our heros, whom we look up to with starry eyes for our own reasons. And each of us has superpower talents to celebrate that make us unique and makes each of us a superhero—even though we may go incognito on our specialities. Every once in a while, it's fun to wear a cape to remind ourselves how we really can fly. (And if you can swing the spandex outfit too, more power to ya. Luckily, mine seems to have been lost at the cleaners.)

Happy Birthday, beautiful Shael!