Halloween and such

For Halloween this year, Lauren was Snow White at her school, then a ladybug on Halloween morning, when we went to a kids' concert at Santa Monica Pier, and then a unicorn in the evening. She really really wanted a PARTY, but there was a competing party on Halloween at the house of some kids from her school. So we had our "party" of just Alexa and Ryder and their families. The kids bobbed for apples and decorated gingersnap cookies and ran around playing with toys. Perfect, because I couldn't have fit her entire class in our condo. I dressed up as a ladybug for some of the time, and when we stopped by her classmates' party, I dressed as Lauren. I had a curly wig and I wore red and pink together. Just in case anyone didn't get it, I also had a pacifier.

And speaking of pacifiers, Lauren has decided that she is done with them. Officially "they're for babies" and she wants to give all of hers to Laurel. Laurel is our friends Jill & Alex's daughter, who now lives half a block down the street. She's also become Lauren's new favorite person because Lauren's doll Anna was missing for a few weeks and last week Laurel came over to play and in the first minute she was here, found Anna (stuffed in the play kitchen's oven). So Laurel's the hero these days. I need to make an arrangement with Jill to accept anything Lauren is giving Laurel, and later discretely throw away or donate to charity anything (most things?) that Laurel won't actually use. Considering Laurel doesn't take a pacifier in the first place, she's not going to be tempted by a collection of Lauren's used ones! But they'll get out of the house.

We've been trying to work on Lauren's table manners and when she burps or drops something, to say "excuse me" or "pardon me". She likes to say "part of me!" when she burps. If I'm trying to herd her from one place to another and she doesn't want to go, I make it into a race and she likes to declare, "I winned!" .