I had my doubts.  Sophia's a fairly shy kid and I just couldn't imagine her going along with the trick-or-treat game.  But she did it just like a pro... the door bell ringing, saying "Trick-or-treat!", wishing people a Happy Halloween, and not being scared by being out past dark with crazy costumed people milling about.  We got a few really nice pictures of her excitement.  Although it was a non-event for Ella, I really got a taste of how exciting something like this can be for a toddler.

The ladybugs are ready to go!  Ella was checking out that snazzy ghost candy-snatcher of Sophia's...

Full moon at dusk (and about 60 degrees)...

Ladybug with excitement in her eyes and spring in her step...


One of our neighbors turned a recently fallen tree into a work of Halloween art:


One little ladybug had a pretty boring time of it in the stroller.  She chewed on a toothbrush most of the time, which seemed to be a decidedly anti-candy statement.


Showing off the haul:


There was a "Trunk-or-Treat" in the big parking lot at the end of our street... a traffic-free zone where various organizations had set up booths (or used the bed of a pickup truck) for the kids to walk around and trick-or-treat at.  It was really nice... well-lit, no cars, plenty of kids' costumes to look at, and some simple games to make the kids earn treats.  They even had a few bounce houses and a performer.  Sophia made us walk around twice.  On the walk home, she must have said, "Mama, I want to eat my candy now" about 10 times (this is only about 4 houses down from us).  We did let her pick out one piece to eat before bedtime.  She chose a Crunch bar, which is so inferior to the other options that I'm going to have to teach her a thing or two.

One last word of warning to all of you who think it's safe out there among the sweet, innocent ladybugs.  There are monster ladybugs lurking among us... Esen found out the hard way tonight.  Keep your guard up out there or this could happen to you.

Pumpkin carving festivities:

The Pumpkin Pie was one of my crowning pumpkin achievements, but Esen and Jenn held their own as well.

Trying the costumes on early (for grandma and grandpa):




Before school on Friday (Sophia determined that her ladybug wings weren't really nap-friendly, so she wore last year's witch costume):

When Ella's ladybug shell came off at school, everyone thought she looked like a little thief.

We're going to attempt some trick-or-treating this evening, but I'm not really expecting it to pan out.  I mean, I just can't imagine Sophia ringing a stranger's door bell and then actually *SAYING* something to the stranger that opens the door.  Maybe there will be enough kids out that she can watch and observe how it is done.  Either way, we have a lovely day (sunny and high-60s)... perfect for ladybugs to walk around the neighborhood.  If I get any more cute pictures, I'll update below tonight.

Grandma Sautner's camera took such nice pictures while they were here that I'm not sure I need any words!

It took a few minutes to get this ladybug to sit still and sit back so that you can actually see how big she is compared to the pink pig.  After her usual amount of devilishness, Ella finally relaxed for a second so I could snap a few pictures.


Esen is in Prague until Tuesday night (and has been there since Wednesday), so I've been slogging away with the single-parenthood.  Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa Sautner came out for a few days and were an extremely welcome set of extra hands!  More photos of their visit to follow (and they are awesome because somebody was smart enough to bring along the digital SLR!).

It was time.  Sophia's never had her hair cut (except for me trimming her bangs enough so that she can see), but she's started asking for it lately.  I think this is because her BFFs Olivia and Emma both get their haircut.  Anyway, both Esen and I got haircuts on Friday (hey, it was a furlough day for us) and our beloved coiffeur James offered to make Sophia's first haircut a positive experience even though he generally doesn't cut kids' hair.  So, Saturday morning during Ella's nap, Sophia and went to the salon and got the job done.

Stage 1: Uncertainty (which meant that she insisted on sitting on my lap throughout the event)

Stage 2: Regret... at requesting haircut at all because it was not shaping up to be quite as fun as she'd been led to believe by the Asian posse.

Stage 3: Action... she actually sat incredibly still the entire time and James proclaimed her the best customer of all time (in the under-10 category anyway).

Stage 4: Displeasure... the "Esen frown" came out about half-way through and did not retreat.  She wanted to hold my hand under the smock for reassurance.

Stage 5: Relief!  After she hopped down off my lap, Sophia began her gradual movement toward "Haircuts are awesome!" view of the morning.


I had packed a small treat in case I had to lure her into the chair.  Because I didn't actually need to do any luring, we went to the cafe around the corner to enjoy some chocolate chips and celebrate her bravery.  She didn't cry, she didn't even whine or whimper... for a fairly shy kid like Sophia, this was a big successful step!

All smiles back at home...

Below you can get some sense of the length change... basically a few inches shorter just in the back where her mullet had begun about a year ago.


I must admit that I don't love the cut.  Almost immediately, I missed the soft waves of hair on her little shoulders and the way it flipped up around her face.  James wanted to give her a little graduated bob that would have definitely been too short for my taste, so I'm glad that he just cleaned it up a bit instead.  Mostly I'm grateful that it was such a good experience so that future haircuts will good and fun rather than torturous and filled with tears.  Maybe next time I'll let him put some pink stripes in... now *THAT* is something she'd go for!

Swinging!  Sophia has been asking to practice her new skill and fortunately the weather has been great, so we've been at the park a LOT:
   

Here's more video from the next day:
   
We're heading to the park again shortly... by request, of course.

Here's one more video (which I won't embed so that I don't get in trouble with the blog nudity police)... it's pure cuteness and worth clicking on the link!
http://www.motionbox.com/videos/4c96d1b71d1be7c1c3

As most of you loyal readers know, Ella has had more than her fair share of ear infections.  The ENT specialist recommended that we put tubes in her ears to help the fluid drain, which will prevent it from sitting in the ear drum and getting infected.  It's a simple surgery... they put her under with general anesthesia, cut little slits in each ear drum, suck out the fluid (if there is any at the moment), and then insert tiny little tubes in each slit.  It should take about 20 minutes all together and we expect to be home by mid-morning.  I predict the fasting will be the hardest part.  You tell a 1-year-old that she can't have anything to eat or drink when she's starving.  I'll post a brief update below when we get home to let you all know that she's doing fine.  Wish us luck!

UPDATE: Ella did great!  She dealt with the fasting pretty well, was a good patient despite a chilly hospital gown that was made for a 6-year-old, and was declared by the nurses to be the sweetest baby they had dealt with all year.  Although I found it difficult to hand her off to a nurse I had met 2 minutes before and in such a sterile, scary environment, I barely had 10 minutes in the waiting room before the doctor came out to say she was done.  When I went back to recovery, she was surrounded by cooing nurses and just laying in a pile of blankets in a bed looking like an angel.  After a quick nap at home, she was running around like normal for the rest of the day.  I'm hopeful that we have many happy healthy days (and sleep-filled nights!) ahead of us.

First #1:  Swinging... by HERSELF!  That's right.  Our little Sophia, just past 2.5 years old, can hop on a big girl swing, pump her legs, and swing ALL BY HERSELF!  Her best friend, Emma, taught her how and now they can be found monopolizing the pair of swings on the school playground.  When I showed up to pick her up from school on Thursday, she made me come over to watch her do it.  You would not believe the pride I saw on her face and the pride that swelled in my heart.  Shit, my eyes welled up with tears I was so damn proud of that kid.  She could tell that it was over-the-moon genuine pride, too, because the hug we shared afterward was amazing.  I'll get it on video next week to share.  She'll be such an old pro by then, though, that she'll probably seem like it's no big deal. 

First #2:  Showering with mama!  I also don't have any pictures to share with you of this event (for obvious reasons), but it was something I've been trying to make happen for a long time.  Both girls showered with me today (not at the same time, for obvious slippery reasons).  Not surprisingly, Sophia made Ella go first.  Ella liked it well enough that Sophia was convinced to get in next.  She was a little tentative at first, but I had to drag her out of there after about 15 minutes!  I'm not sure that we'll switch over to showers anytime soon, but it's always nice to have an alternative to offer.

First #3:  Playdate with real-live FRIENDS!  A few weeks ago, Sophia said to me, "Mama?  Can Emma and Olivia come to my house?"  Emma and Olivia are her friends from school... we call them the Asian posse because Sophia has chosen practically the only two Asians at school as her best friends.  I emailed their moms and conveyed Sophia's request.  Fortunately they were game and we had them over today.  I took some pictures of Sophia with Olivia, but Ella woke up from her nap by the time Emma arrived, so I didn't get back to the camera after that.  It's a shame, too, because Emma's little brother (Christian) is in Ella's classroom, so they were able to play, too.

They played so sweetly in the tent while we enjoyed coffee in the nice morning air:


They ate snacks in the playhouse:


They hugged:


It went down hill for Sophia as it got close to nap time and as more of her favorite toys got played with by STRANGERS' HANDS, but I think we'd do it again.

First #4:  Oktoberfest WITHOUT babies.   Esen and I got a babysitter for the girls last night and went off to drink good beer under a full moon at the Oktoberfest.  It was nice, although I don't think we actually talked to each other the entire time because we met friends there.  Oh well.