RAWR

I am awfully behind on posts here. Thing is, there is so much going on! I can't even get the highlights up here before we're on to the next. Whew. But in an effort to catch up, here is a mishmash of pictures from Halloween (I know, I know). For Halloween this year, Little One went as Her favorite animal, because Her parents thought it was so funny when She said "rawr!" in costume. She did not wear it trick-or-treating, because a)She goes to bed at 7pm, and who's handing out candy before dinnertime? And who thinks a cranky lion is cute anymore? and because 2)Everything in, on, or around a snickers bar is the Little One equivalent of Kryptonite. But She did get to go to a weeks worth of dress up parties, including O's birthday party, where his mother was thoughtful enough to include this notice:

Good lookin' out, O's mom! These two hit up a couple parties together, in fact. Here are some pics from those and others. And um... happy halloween. Ahem. Just a teeeeny bit late. :

The lioness


O took her cruising in his sweet ride


On the prowl

With Her prey


Caught by the lion tamer!


What does that lion say, Little One? Tell us now!

RAAWWWRRR!

Training for Everest

Little One is a climber. Not in a B-list actress dating a mega-star kind of way, Peanuts, that's a social climber. She's a literal climber. She's already conquered the stairs, the playground slide, the dogs, and various pieces of furniture. BOR-ing, She says.

So Her climbing trainer (aka grandma) took Her out for a taste of real mountaineering. True, there are safety dilemmas in encouraging altitude fearlessness in toddlers. But then again, I am a munchkin, and J is rarely home. SOMEone has to reach the diced tomatoes on the top shelf.

A lesson from Little One

Take a look at these suckers.


Tschyah! They're pretty tricky.


But here's what you do. They go up here...


...are you getting this Daddy?


Maybe you need a demo. They go like this...


...See? Like this.


Are you paying attention?!

Giving Getting

It has come to my attention that in posting birthday pictures last month, I neglected to include present-opening documentation. This, I am told, is an intrinsically necessary part of birthday picture sharing. So, here we go.

We did not open presents at the party. Because it was the first one and Little One expect any, and so why incite riots among the many toddlers for no reason? Even though no one cried or perpetrated violence, Little One still had fun opening them. And She's still having fun playing with Her cool new treasures. So thanks, everyone! And also, now, you're welcome.

Woo Hoo!

Floating on Air

Did I not tell you that New Mexico is fantabulific in the fall? I did! I told you about the air and the sky, the purple asters and yellow aspens and the pinon coffee and the roasted chilis. But I saved one of the best for last.

The Balloon Fiesta! Every fall, Albuquerque throws a big party for all the people loco enough to drift through the atmosphere dangling from a bag of hot air. The party is huge and everyone is in a giggly, effervescent mood because, well, the air is filled with giant balloons! It's like being in a happy dream. Or a Dr. Seuss book!

We had to drag poor Little One out of bed at 4am into the Brrrrr. But once we saw the first little glowing orbs over the Sandia skyline, it was worth it. Little One had a ball. She stared and stared. She wore Herself out trying to point to every single balloon and ask, "that?"... "that?"...."That??" She played and took in the scene and fiesta-ed until She collapsed into a comatose state in the car.

There were hundreds of balloons that day, so many it was like someone just threw a patchwork quilt over the whole valley to keep us warm. Little One loved them all. I agree, they were beautiful. But I have to admit that out of all the colorful flying objects in the sky, I did single out a particular favorite.

Thanks for all all the fun, NM familia! Little One and I can't wait to fly back soon.

E and I taught M everything she knows, vatos.

A girl has to learn how to be a linda chulita from somewhere. Poor Little One, it's in her blood, but she's been too bereft of the necessary quantities of eye liner and hairspray to be a true New Mexican girl. Lucky for Her She has a Tia to show Her the ropes! But hold on there Tia, I said. Let's not graduate the Little One to 5-inch hoop earrings yet! I decided we should start our little DC urbanite out slowly, maybe just giving Her a general Out West introduction first, before teaching Her how to enunciate "eeeeee-ho-ley". The familia was on it. Nana started Her off right by providing the proper kicks, and Tia M gave Little One an overview of the most vital stereotypes to subscribe to, like:

How to play a mean 5-card-draw (or speed):

How to utilize the local transportation facilities (or pretend to):

How to consume Nana's 10-alarm chili without tearing up (no really, She ate it up it was amazing):


And, of course, how to mosey (with the help of TiaM's BFF):


Nice tutoring, fam! Little One was a bien estudiante. Next time maybe we'll kick it up a notch, and throw some hydraulics on the stroller. Orale!