FIRSTS, FLUBBER, FLUENCY & THE LETTER "F"

October was the month of just about everything. We had lots of "firsts" -- everything from holding baby chicks to Ruby's first Halloween (while conscious) to Zoe, the Alphabet Queen, sounding out words.

It was a fun month. The girls were buried in giggles, tantrums, silliness and moments of bliss while:

1. Visiting The Children's Discovery Museum*
2. Celebrating friends birthday parties
3. Baking brownies (I think we made 4 batches!)
4. Making new friends*
5. "Girling-out" with manicures and pedicures
6. Riding horses*
7. Dancing at ballet class and "dance parties" in the house
8. Playing with lots of "Flubber" (pic above) and Play Dough
9. Parenting lots of pretend babies (and dance parties with them as well!)
10. Trick-or-treating, of course
11. Pumpkin carving & decorating and cooking pumpkin seeds
12. Performing at a Halloween show (will update post w/video! some pics linked here though)
13. Playing with lots of friends (play date city!)
14. Practicing lots of letters and sounds (Zoe is alphabet-obsessed!)
15. Showing off with words (Ruby's crazy fluent sporting 8-word sentences throughout the day!)
16. Going to the Disney Princesses on Ice show
17. Picking pumpkins and petting/holding baby chicks*

*More on that below

We finally joined The Children's Discovery Museum. I love this place. It's packed with every possible grain of fun you could think of. Bubbles, water play, face painting, gravity... And you get to touch everything. I have a sneaking suspicion we'll be there a lot in the coming year.

Zoe's thriving so much at school and I think (o.k., please don't let this jinx me) we are over the year long "I throw a tantrum every hour" stage! Please G-d! She's doing great with Deily now and my love-bunny is baaaaaack! Fingers crossed. Salt over shoulder.

School is going great for Zoe and she's made a lot of new friends. She says that she is now friends with (from school) Clara, Lauren, Kimi and Amanda and is "getting to know" Gabbie, Bea, and Sophie. ;-) She's such a big girl -- going on drop-off play dates! Children's Center has a strong focus on the kids building friendship/socialization skills which is probably the most important skill to learn right now. And, speaking of learning, it's super fun to see Zoe so excited about school and learning. She loves the alphabet and writing her letters. Each week her class has "Wonderful Wednesdays" where they focus on one letter and the kids bring in a "share item" that starts with that letter. They started with "f." Apparently, new studies show that this is the easiest one to start with. Interesting, right? She's also starting to sound out words and wanting to know how to spell. It's an exciting time for her!

Ruby is also doing fantastic at her school. It's great practice for next year when Mommy doesn't go with her anymore (hard to imagine). And, we've been getting some special Mommy-Ruby time together. She loves all the art projects and learning to ride her bike. She thanks the teacher most days and sometimes gives her a hug. So sweet.

Ruby has inherited my adventurous/dare-devil streak. She's the one jumping off the couch (and trying to jump in the pool) and climbing everything possible. Zoe and I were signed up for a mommy & me horsemanship class but between the smell of the barn and the height of the horse, Zoe was practically running out to hitch a ride home! Deily and Ruby came to our next class 'cause I had a feeling Ruby would jump at the chance to get on that huge horse. She got special permission to ride (the youngest tot they've ever had riding) and would have mounted the horse herself if she had the strength and height. Ms. Rubes was thrilled to be up so high (seriously, this horse was huge for ME!). Her riding helmet was sinking below her eye level at one point and her shoes literally fell off they were so big. Her next lesson we brought her bike helmet and Zoe's old cowboy boots which were still two or three sizes too big but they did the job (it was hilarious to watch her walk in them!). Ruby is simply filled with fun!

We went out to pick our pumpkins and play around in the local Halloween "farm." O.k., it was in a parking lot but there was a lot of hay and animals. And jumpy houses... And a haunted house... We all held baby chicks for the first time (a "first" for all three of us...how cool is that?). I want one except for the fact that they grow up to be big chickens. As Ruby likes to say "I waaaant it! I waaaaant it!"

Halloween was a huge highlight for the kids. This was Ruby's first true Halloween since she didn't understand what was happening last year, I'm sure. It was so fun to see her go up to her very first house (and all the subsequent ones) and say "trick-or-treat." (note: when looking at the pics, the one with Ruby holding a GIANT candy bar and looking happier than someone who just won the lottery is her FIRST house!) And, I'm happy to report that both of my girls said "thank you" this year. Ruby's first year to be able to say it, of course, and Zoe's shyness did NOT overtake her this year (I have a feeling her sweet tooth propelled her). Both of their "thank you's" and "trick-or-treats" were practically inaudible by humans but, that was o.k. One step at a time!

Besides all of the above the only other notable on my end was a raging toe infection that had me popping Advil every few hours (antibiotics did the job). Oh, and I read the Twighlight series. It was gripping! It's been a while since I've gotten so sucked into a book series. I have my calendar marked for the movie (November 20th!). Note to Bubbie & Zaydie -- we are definitely taking you up on babysitting one night so Greg and I can see this movie! ;-)

Greg and I are trying to keep up with our usual schedule plus a sprinkle more. We've taken on an extra project: educating ourselves about the housing market. We've starting looking a bit in hopes of buying something early next year. The amount of remodeling/updating needed for some of these homes is a scary prospect but we think we can find something with solid bones, at the very least. I'm tickled pink at just the IDEA of putting down some roots. More on that saga in the coming months (we hope!).

Here are a bunch of October pictures. If you missed the links throughout, click here for pictures from Disney Princess on Ice, Halloween, and Zoe's Halloween show at school.

Lots of little videos here (all combined in one video below)! Will post Halloween show in another post. Click below and enjoy!

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