Is anybody reading this? I think I have sufficiently diminished my audience to the always supportive girlfriend and obligatory read from the husband. You know who you are. So the pressures off and I will post when I darn well please. Actually that's not true at all. My desire is greater than one would think if only I could get the toddler to go play for a good half hour while I struggle to put a few cohesive, semi-interesting notes about her on the screen.

The little one is displaying more independence of late and it's bittersweet for Mom. The thought of my helpless little baby who depends on me for all life substance morphing into the head-strong, do-it myself little person breaks my heart a bit. Then I get over it, especially when the reality sets in that I just had my morning cup of coffee uninterrupted and washed all the dishes without a little person attached to my legs. And just when I think she can't get any cuter...sorry, I'll stop right there.

A favorite in the house right now is the Hulabaloo band. It's actual parent tolerable kid music. Although, with repetition all things become tired and so this CD is no longer met with the parent enthusiasm as it once was. Time to buy their other CD. It's funny that kids are the opposite. The more familiar and repetitive, the more attached they become.

The little one has mastered operating the play button on her CD player and thus has discovered new freedoms. We will be contently playing downstairs when out of the blue she says, "music (pause) on" and marches upstairs to her bedroom. When I don't hear from her for 10 minutes or so my curiosity brings me upstairs to find her laying on her floor or reading a book while swaying to the sounds of She'll be Coming Around the Mountain. Then she'll look up at me and say "whoa back" and "hi babe" and I just wish someone else was with me to share the moment.

And I Give You...The Ah Puh Tuss!

Yep, she picked it. If you haven't heard already at The Most Significant Thing, the little one picked her costume and it garnered her winner of the costume contest! Here is our little "ah-puh-tuss" receiving her award certificate from the nice girls at WeeStart

I'm still whirling from the fantastic Halloween festivities. It was a good one to be sure: the pumpkins were carved with skill, cute kids running around in equally cute costumes, fun friends, lots of sweets, and more rings on the doorbell than you get all year. I consider yesterday the primer for the "biggy" holidays that will soon be upon us and judging by the enthusiasm of the munchkin, it's going to be an exhausting, but beautiful Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I struggle to express how enjoyable it was to watch her figure out the whole trick or treat thing. I can imagine what she was thinking. I'm dressed in this funny costume, it's dark outside and we are going to knock on the neighbor's doors? From the moment the first familiar face opened the door and handed her a piece of candy, which she promptly placed in her bucket, she was hooked. It didn't take much coaxing to get her to the next house and although she had never had candy before, she knew it was something special. As her bucket got heavy, I thought I would help her carry it, no way. I was met with resistance as she tightened her death grip on the handle opting for me to carry her, bucket firmly held.

In an effort to be festive, the family dressed in theme, for the second year in a row. Bouncing of the marine motif from the octopus, we appropriately dressed as pirates. It seemed fitting since the pirate ship is already docked in the driveway of the house.

The little one seem thoroughly unimpressed by our pirate costumes. You win one contest and you become a costume snob.

So we cruise into November with only pictures to remind us of the good time and a little voice who from time to time exclaims, "Ah puh tuss" and "bucket" as she ingrains the memory a little bit deeper in her active little brain.