Happy Halloween

Yesterday when I picked Fiona up from Rita's she ran up to me with great excitement and announced "it's Halloween!"

And I said, "tomorrow is Halloween."

"We go trick or treating!"

"That's right, we're going to go trick or treating tomorrow."

"No, we go now!"

"No, tomorrow."

And with that Fiona burst into tears and screamed and cried the whole way home. She'd gotten into her head after they spent the day decorating for Halloween at day care that when I picked her up it was going to be Halloween itself.

So I'd say she's a little excited for today. When she woke up this morning and I told her that it was really, truly Halloween, she ran to the window so she could look outside to see what Halloween looks like.

Presumably we'll have more pictures and videos after this evening.

I Guess She's Feeling Better

Fiona has a cold, and yesterday she had a fever so we kept her home from day care. She got to watch The Little Mermaid for the first time (twice!), so the day wasn't a total loss. It was her first non-Pooh Disney film, and she didn't get scared at all, which made me wonder if she really understood what was going on. She watched the movie once with each of us, and every time Ursula was on screen we asked Fiona if she was all right, and she said "I'm fine" in a way that made it seem like she wasn't bothered at all.

She had a rough night last night, since her nose was very stuffed up. She was up and down all night from 3am on (we wound up letting her sleep in our bed for a few hours as a sick kid treat). When she woke up this morning for good she didn't seem as warm as yesterday, and she actually ate her breakfast, but at the same time she was very cuddly and tired.

So we weren't sure what to do with her -- on the one hand, we wanted her to rest up and get better, but on the other hand if she was doing better we didn't want to have to do half-days at work again while we tag team parented. So I put the question to Fiona: "Do you want to go to Rita's today or do you want to stay home?"

Fiona's first response was "stay home," to which I said fine and went to talk to Andrea about how we'd split the day. But within 20 seconds Fiona had jumped off the couch and shouted "I want to go to Rita's!" And then she ran into her room and started getting dressed and finding her shoes (to the point where I had to tell her we weren't going to Rita's right that second).

So apparently the prospect of another day stuck with her parents was enough to make Fiona desperate for her friends, since I've never seen her so eager to leave the house to go to day care. More likely, she just liked the idea of it being her choice to go to Rita's. Unfortunately, I can't really use that tactic most days, since sooner or later she'll call my bluff.

Halloween Instructions

Fiona was completely oblivious for her first Halloween, and last year she was mainly confused when we threw a costume on her. But this year, she's ready.

After reading a book in which Corduroy and his friends wear various costumes to a Halloween party, Fiona announced she wanted to be a dinosaur. But that wasn't enough: she also announced that Mommy had to be a witch and that Daddy was going to be a blue monster. After a quick look confirmed that any blue monster-themed masks were going to be a little too scary to wear to a toddler-heavy Halloween party, I convinced her that I could just wear an eye patch and play pirate for the evening.

This evening Fiona's godmother Debbie came by for dinner and we all carved a jack-o-lantern (and Fiona learned the joys of roasted pumpkin seeds). After dinner, she announced that Debbie was going to be a puppy for Halloween.

Since it now seemed that Fiona was assigning costumes to all sorts of people, I decided to give her a little quiz. If you're on the following list, you've been given more than a week's warning to get your costume together, so I expect no excuses come October 31st.

Costumes Decreed by Fiona:

Fiona - a pink dinosaur (this is actually happening)
Mommy - a witch
Daddy - a pirate

Debbie - a puppy (here's where we hit people who probably aren't coming to the day care Halloween party)
Aunt Kathy - a purple dinosaur
Gigi - an orange dinosaur
Nana - a green dinosaur (noticing a theme yet?)
Pop - a pumpkin (OK, Nana and Pop - I want pictures of a dinosaur with a pumpkin in San Diego next week)
Grandma - a toe (yes, she said toe)
Papa - a stroller (hmm, forget the San Diego photo, I want to see the stroller and toe combo)
Tia - a block
Tio - a block
A.J. - a block (apparently those last three will make various shapes together)

A second go around confirmed all of the above, except for Aunt Kathy, who I guess now has a second option. So, Aunt Kathy, if you decide you don't want to be a purple dinosaur, you have Fiona's permission to be... a ceiling fan (preferably pink).

Hey Diddle Diddle

A little video for your viewing pleasure -- Fiona recites her favorite Mother Goose rhyme. Click on the link below to watch and listen.

Suspicious Behavior

At a 2-year old level:

As I was getting dressed the other morning, I could hear Mommy in the living room telling Fiona that she couldn't play with Play-Doh right now. About 15 seconds later, Fiona came running down the hall to see me, and with a big grin asked: "Daddy, I want to play with Play-Doh?"

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At a 6-year old level:

A few evenings ago I was cooking dinner while Fiona played in the living room (we were the only two home). Fiona came running back to the kitchen and announced "I close the door for you, Daddy."

Now, this may have seemed helpful, except for one thing: we don't close the door to the kitchen when we're cooking. Fiona, however, was very insistent -- I needed to cook, and in order to cook, I needed to have the door closed.

My curiosity piqued, I opened the door to look down the hall. Fiona came running back down the hall right away.

"No, Daddy, you stay in there. You cook. Keep the door closed."

Now, this was definitely unusual. So I waited again for Fiona to get all the way down the hall and then opened the door and walked into the living room...

...just in time to find that Fiona had opened a box of overpriced flushable wipes and was in the process of using several at the same time to help her baby doll clean up after using the potty.
Fiona was not pleased that I had outsmarted her efforts to surreptitiously raid the wipe collection.

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And one I'm sure to hear when she's a teenager:

A different evening, and dinner was ready, so Andrea and I were both in the kitchen assembling plates, pouring drinks, etc. As I came into the living room with the food (it's a NY apartment, we eat in the living room), I discovered that Fiona had found the TV remote and was busily watching The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

"What are you doing, Fiona?" I asked.

Fiona quickly found the power button.

"I was just turning off the TV," she replied.

I guess kids are hard-wired for that excuse.

Tipping Instructions

As reinforced by Daddy' s experience at Fatty's the other night.

• When the bill comes, tip on the high end of that 15-20% recommendation
  
• Remember how helpful the waiter was when he took her water back to put it in a special cup, and how he got extra napkins and spoons when we needed them. Throw in an extra buck.
  
• Remember how the owner came over to say hello to Fiona and then gave her an unclaimed toy from the lost and found. Throw in an extra buck.
  
• Take a look at the food still on the table. That's on the table, as in, not on the plates. Throw in an extra buck.
  
• Take a look underneath Fiona's chair. Throw in an extra couple of bucks.
  
• Take another look under Fiona' chair. Throw in another buck.
  
• Take one last look under Fiona's chair. Grab a napkin and start cleaning up yourself.

Not a Milestone I Was Looking Forward To

This morning as we assembled Fiona's bag to head out the door to day care, a very proud Fiona suddenly exclaimed "look! I did it!"

And so I turned to discover that Fiona had figured out how to undo the lock on our front door.

Just what every father wants his not-quite-three-year-old able to do.

Call Vegas

Okay, baseball fans (i.e. Daddy), Fiona has made her picks for October using the rigorously scientific method of Daddy asking her questions like "who's going to win, the Twins or the A's?" Here's what she says:

Tigers will beat the Yankees
A's will beat the Twins
Dodgers will beat the Mets
Padres will beat the Cardinals

ALCS: Tigers will beat the A's
NLCS: Dodgers will beat the Padres (Mommy nearly threw her out of the house for this one)

World Series: Tigers will beat the Dodgers

That sounds like a lot of upsets to me (an all wild card World Series, for one), but who am I to argue with somebody who's been watching baseball regularly since she was three months old?