Happy Halloween!

| October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween everyone!  This year, Sam is being a frog, one of her very favorite things.  I started asking her what she wanted to be for Halloween a few months ago and every single time she told me a frog.  No deviation.  A frog.  So I made sure I got her a frog costume, asap!  She is very excited about Halloween this year and the prospect of getting candy.  She definitely remembers going out last year, but seems more into it this year, most likely because last year when we took her out she didn’t really understand what was going to happen.

Last week we took her to the annual Halloween parade down Saxer Avenue in Springfield. Before we left, we took a few pics of our little girl. I am glad we did, because now the outside is such a wet, soggy mess from the hurricane, I don’t know if we’d get any pictures.

Is this the cutest frog you have ever seen?

The grin on her face says it all — Sam loves her costume!  She was so excited to put it on.  She was giggling and smiling the whole time.

We tried to get a picture of her hopping like a frog, but she was feeling silly and wouldn’t cooperate.

I just want to smoosh those cheeks!

Here Sam is at the parade, ready to go!  She was excited seeing all the other kids in their costumes.

But the BEST part was the unexpected visitation of Elmo!  When she saw him she couldn’t get over there fast enough. I never saw such huge smiles.  She said, “Hi Elmo!” and reached out and touched him.  I think that was the best think to happen to her in her little lifetime!  As we waited in the parking lot for the parade to start, we had to keep going over to Elmo again and again. I think if Sam had her way, we’d have just followed him around the whole time.

Sam and her man. 🙂

Here we are marching, marching….We stopped for a photo op before moving on.

I asked Sam to show me her bag of loot and she obliged nicely!

This was near the end of the parade.  Sam had a great time.  But now the real fun begins — trick or treating tonight!

Hurricane Sandy

| October 30, 2012

I don’t know what it is about Pennsylvania now but it seems like we are always getting hammered by hurricanes.  Fourteen months ago it was Irene, and this year, Sandy.  I don’t know what is worse, getting snow the day before Halloween like we did last year, or a hurricane.  I guess I’d have to say hurricane.  The news had everyone scared to death, and rightfully so, I guess since this hurricane, a huge monster, was set to make landfall right on the New Jersey coast.  Here is a satellite image taken on Monday, October 29, 2012, the day it hit the U.S.  It is unbelievable how large the storm was, extending from Georgia to the far Northeast.

We did everything we could to prepare over the weekend, buying non-perishable food, getting gas for the cars and the generator, stocking up on flashlights and batteries, and otherwise assembling “blackout” gear in case we lost power, which we are prone to do.  More than once, having a generator saved us.  It keeps our refrigerator and freezer going so we still have food, and in the summer, has kept our air conditioner on so we can sleep.  Mark’s physical office was closed on Monday AND today, which has never happened before, but he was able to work from home.  Thankfully, it was my regular day off so I didn’t have to think about work.  So, Monday we spent all day inside looking at the rain and the wind and waited for Sandy to actually strike.  It was a long day, but Sam was so incredibly good.  We played all kinds of games and she kept herself amused the best she could.

We made it through the entire storm Monday without losing power, which was shocking. We only had 2 or 3 blips where everything went black for about 5 seconds then came back on. This happened right as I was trying to get Sam to go to bed. Mark and I were hoping that we could get her to sleep before any potential power failures because, well, it would just be easier that way.  Her nightlight is rechargeable so it would stay on all night and she wouldn’t even notice the lights were out. Just as I was taking her to bed and she was kissing Daddy goodnight, the lights, and the television, blipped off.  My daughter sure has her priorities straight…never once asked what happened to the lights, but the TV, that is another matter entirely!  As we were walking up the stairs, she was babbling on and on to the tune of this:

“What happen to the tee-bee? Maybe it need new batteries….maybe it have old batteries…we got to tell Daddy to put new batteries in the tee-bee….”  I had a hard time not cracking up laughing.  I assured her that yes, Daddy would fix the TV and all would be well.

At any rate, even though New Jersey was hit very hard, thankfully we fared just fine.  No power loss, no water in the house, no damage.  So we are counting our blessings, once again.

The Cavalcade of Bands

| October 22, 2012

Mark is very musical, as you may know, and he really hopes that Sam someday is musical too.  We try to play music for her all the time and Mark has bought her so many instruments.  Currently, she has a saxophone, a clarinet, a trumpet, a piano, a flute, and a guitar.  We both hope that Sam picks up music as early as possible, hopefully in elementary school.  We would love for her to play something. Some of Mark’s best school memories are of his time in band (marching, jazz, and otherwise) and he still talks fondly of his band director from high school. Seeing Sam play with her toy instruments is so much fun that I know it would be even better to see her play for real.

Recently, there was a Cavalcade of Bands at Springfield High School which is a band competition/exhibition of sorts. We took Sam and sat in the bleachers and watched the show. I think Mark would have been really upset if Sam was bored or didn’t enjoy it, but….

…Sam loved it!  She was so excited when the various bands came out and played.  She commented on all the band uniforms and the displays and the flags that the girls in the color guard were waving around.

The emcee told everyone that they had to be fair and clap for every band, which we all did, including stripey monkey!  It was adorable.  Sam made him clap every time.

We had taken the stroller to the high school since it’s a decent walk from home, but Sam walked the entire way back home holding my hand.  She just about ran half the way, and it was nearing her bedtime. I think she was so excited that she had a bundle of energy to burn!  Hopefully the experience, and others that we will expose her to, will foster the love of music that Mark wants her to have.  Maybe she will play sax just like her Daddy!

Dream, dream, dream…

| October 16, 2012

Today in the car Sam and I got stuck waiting for a train to pass, which happens a lot. Many times while we are waiting, Sam talks about how Daddy is on the train, or takes the train, or something like that.  I never understand why, since Mark doesn’t take the train, never has, it was me who rode the train every day to work. Today she was talking about it again, how Daddy and she were on the train, she was sitting in Daddy’s lap, and so on. I asked her what she was talking about and she kept going on and on.  A lot I didn’t quite catch, but I clearly heard her say something about “last week” and the “movie”.  And then in a sad little voice she said she couldn’t find Mommy.  Ah.  It’s a dream she keeps talking about.  When she first started waking up a lot at night, I thought she was maybe having bad dreams. I tried to ask her about it, but I don’t think she even understand what dreams were, much less if she was having them.  So I described them as little movies you see in your head when you are sleeping.  So, in the car, I asked her if this all happened in a dream, and she said yes.  I explained to her that it was just a dream, that Mommy is right here, and Mommy always comes back so she doesn’t need to worry.  She got quiet and seemed to think about it for a minute then she said, “Maybe Mommy had to go potty.”  Ok.  If that is what we are going with, sure, that is where Mommy was.  If it helps her dream have a different ending, where Mommy does come back, or at least she knows where I am, I will go with whatever story she wants.

I find it interesting, this age, when they really start to dream.  It must be so confusing to them. The difference between reality and dreams.  Sometimes even as adults, when you wake up, it is hard to know if you were dreaming or not, so it must be frightening for a child her age.  She is still waking up a lot, every night actually, and sometimes she seems upset, sometimes not.  All I can do is hope that her dreams are not scary, and that eventually she gets to a point where the dreams are not enough to keep her from going right back to sleep.  I had such weird sleep issues as a child (sleepwalking, night terrors) that I am always on the lookout with her for any issues.  So far, so good.  I am a little exhausted from being woken up every night at anywhere from 2:00-4:00 a.m., but at least I can get her back to sleep (albeit in our bed) and tell myself it could be worse. Oh Sammy, one day when you are about 16 years old and want to sleep every day until noon, I will be in there with pots and pans waking you up!

If only it were this easy…

| October 16, 2012

This morning while I was getting ready for work, Sam asked me why I had to “go to the office” (which is what she calls it). I explained to her that I need to make money so we can buy things.  Later, on the way to my mom’s house to drop her off, I mentioned how she and Grandmom were going shopping today.  She asked if I could go and I reminded her that I needed to go to the office.  She again asked me why.  This was the conversation:

Sam: Why you have to go to the office?

Me: I told you, Sam, we talked about it this morning.  Mommy has to go to the office to her job. I do my job and work and they give me money.  We need money to buy things like food, and books, and toys.

Sam: I give you money!

Me:  Awww, that is so nice, Sam!  You would give me money so I don’t have to go to work?

Sam: Yeah!

Me:  Where are you going to get money?

Sam (very matter of factly): From my cash register!

Oh, Sam, if it were only that simple.  But it was so very sweet. 🙂