Halloween Pic-stravaganza

Maybe it's the fact that she's been more in her grandparents' care than mine for the past four days, or maybe it's just the chocolate talking, but I'm in a frenzy of adoration for my daughter right now. And that means I cannot, no, no, I can't edit out a single picture. You have to see them all. Because, no matter what kind of cuteness you have seen before -- much of it on your front porch this evening, no doubt, dressed as Dorothy and Scooby Doo and Spiderman -- this child takes the cake. And the spider cookies.

Here is the making of the Percy costume.


The components


Nutmeg paints the train


The finished product


Percy in action

That last shot is from Sunday, when we went Trick-or-Treating and passed out treats at Grammy and Grampy's house in Kenosha. When the first kids came to the door, got their candy and turned away, Nutmeg started to shout, "No! No!" The kids froze.

"Don't go away!" she wailed. You know, we had told her over and over that kids would come to the door to get candy, but we never told her they'd leave right away. But after the second group she got the idea and happily passed out treats.

This is Nutmeg at the Ghostly Gardens at Navy Pier yesterday. She had just gotten through a very difficult (if you're 2) obstacle course and she was pretty pleased with herself:


A little victory dance

Today, Grandma and Grandpa came over so I could go to my midwife appointment (baby looks good, measurements good, appointments every two weeks from now on = not so good). While I was gone, they made spider cookies.


They wriggled and wiggled and jiggled inside her!

When Grandma and Grandpa left, I put Nutmeg down for her nap, promising that if she went right to sleep, we would pass out treats when she woke up and then go Trick-or-Treat with Daddy. I lay down myself at around 4:15, and woke up just after 5 to a darkening sky. I hurried to the front window to check out all the trick-or-treaters on the street, only to find that there were NONE in our neighborhood of two-flats. Now, I know that trick-or-treaters wisely avoid apartment buildings, but I just didn't think two-flats counted! After Epu came home and ate some of the delicious jambalaya my in-laws brought, we all jumped in the car and headed for a nearby neighborhood that Epu had passed on his way back from the train and knew to be teeming with trick-or-treaters. We stayed out from 7 until 8, Nutmeg filled her bag again, and we had a great time.


Counting the haul

Although I'm wondering what to do with all this leftover candy, I was glad that I got to go with instead of staying home to pass out candy. Because my kid is so friggin' cute! I got to hear all the parents ooh and ah over her and her costume, I got to hear her announce things like, "I'm Percy!" and "I'm trick-or-treating." One lady said, "Oh, you're Percy from Thomas the Train."

"Actually," Nutmeg said, while struggling to get her little bag open, "It's Thomas the Tank Engine."