The Fi and Vi Log

Fiona was a bear for Halloween. We went trick-or-treating with Jenny, her husband Ryan, and Lyla in Jenny’s neighborhood.

Fiona’s first trick-or-treat experience:

She took the candy and put it in her little bucket that we carried for her.

Some neat pumpkins and luminarias:

Our little teddy bear:

Amazingly, the hat stayed on all night. It helps that it was cold and a little foggy that night.

Getting in the wagon:

A nice surprise along the way was a booth providing free Halloweenies (hot dogs) and water. It was a nice treat on a cold night, especially because we did not eat dinner.

I fed Fiona while we walked. She ate a large quantity of smoked salmon and broccoli and steamed carrots with cheese. When the girls were tired of walking, we put them in the wagon and pulled it to the front doors of the houses. I walked behind the wagon and fed Fiona whenever we stopped. We joked all evening that she was a bear eating salmon.

Here she is eating something else, a muffin maybe:

Thinking, “One day, I’m going to get you back for this.”

Getting her into costume.

These photos are a little fuzzy. Sorry.

Earlier in the day we went to a little party with some other babies. For that party, I dressed Fiona in a track suit she already has, her new white sneakers, and put a headband on her, making her a 1980’s jogger. I only have a couple of photos, taken by someone else. Alas, she refused to keep the headband on. I can’t really blame her, another mom made the head band for me out of paper towels two minutes before the photo. We distracted the kids by giving them something to chew on.

The kid in the green turtle costume sat on Fi at one point, but thankfully he moved. She didn’t even flinch.

Ah, babies. I remember what she was like this time last year:

What a difference a year makes. The last photo (on the left) is still the desktop background of John’s laptop.

Dear Fiona’s upper canines,

Please break through already. I am tired of interrupted sleep every other week, drool fests, whining for no apparent reason, and irregular eating habits, not to mention biting while nursing. Fiona is tired of the pain and of the havoc you reap on her sinuses and ears. The bottoms came in so quickly, why the hold up now? Come on out, you know you want to. And I promise we don’t bite (even if you do).

Sincerely,

Fiona and Fiona’s Mom

I will be soooooo glad when they finish breaking through because then we will be finished until the two year molars. Yay!

Ok, enough of my whining, on to all things Fiona.

Things Fiona does now:

Plays peek-a-boo by covering up her eyes. Blows kisses, goes to the bath when we tell her it’s bath time, even if she is still dressed. She’ll stop what she is doing and go to the bath. Climbs up steep steps and goes down big slides. Steps out the front door without crawling (she uses the door jamb as support) sometimes. I expect it to go full time in the next week. Puts on her own hat to indicate she wants to go for a walk. Takes her pants off by herself. Points at her nose when we ask where her nose is. Shakes her head from side to side when we tell her “no” or “don’t do that” or say the word “know” or ask about her nose, and also when she doesn’t want something. Then she smiles and does whatever it was she wanted to do anyway. She blows kisses at me!

Her latest obsession is the diaper bag. She has taken every single thing out, took all the wipes out of the hand and face wipe container, and mushed up all of her diapers. The upside is that I took it as an opportunity to remove all the things we no longer need, like blankets and burp clothes (I have some in the car just in case). There is so much more room now, I can actually put toys and a small water bottle inside.

Other newish things: She is really efficient at climbing the steep steps to get to the slide at the park and likes to roll (or be rolled more precisely) downhill. She also likes to roll on the ground and learning to roll herself. She is sort of learning to throw a ball and to kick a ball, loves to climb anything, including people and babies, and is climbing into and out of boxes. She also rediscovered her tunnel and plays with it daily. When I lie on the floor, she will run up and throw herself on me. She gives lots of hugs and has been giggling a lot. She still loves books and is very proficient with her sippy cup and is learning to drink from a straw.

John took her to the park and had a really fun time, but she also got her first real boo-boos. A scab on her ankle and some scratches on her wrist and forehead. She didn’t seem to mind or even notice, so we did not make a big deal out of it.

Last weekend we went to a barbeque at my parents’ house and Fiona had a blast playing with ice cubes, taking all the straws off the Capri Sun packages, and eating corn:

Have a water bottle:

Grandma’s toes are so interesting:

I put her hair in pigtails again:

Climbing onto or into a box:

Wearing the box on her head:

Going for a walk:

She put on her hat and started pushing the stroller around to let me know she wanted to go.

Trying to lift the pumpkins:

I think she looks like a little body builder in the second photo.

What’s in the pot? Eh, pumpkin is more interesting:

Helping unload the dishwasher:

She does it every morning. It’s her first chore, but I think she likes it. She is very good at it, and when the bottom rack is empty, she pushes it back in.

She went to her first football game. This is the only photo I got, Fiona making a beeline for her backpack:

She thinks we are distracted enough for her to get to it so she can take it apart before we notice and take it away.

We didn’t stay long (it was a JV game anyway), but Fiona enjoyed running around the bleachers and clapping and stomping when the cheerleaders clapped and stomped.

She’s such a little girl now (as opposed to a little baby):