Halloween with Wonder Woman

Lydia was Wonder Woman this Halloween!  She loved her costume and still wants to wear it long after Halloween is gone.  Her class parade was adorable and she got to hold the sign up for the entire class...though it didn't last long once she saw the 8 family members there to watch her.  Later that day we had the annual Olympia Drive Halloween party in our front yard.  Lydia was quite the host and had a great time with Raggedy Ann and Speed Racer.  We are so lucky to have such great neighbors with little ones for Lydia to play with.

Before school she loved getting ready - no screaming about clothes this morning

Holding up the Angel Classroom sign at the beginning of the Halloween Parade at school

All dressed in orange for Halloween watching Lydia in the parade.

Back at home after school, during our Annual Halloween black party

 

Micah and Lydia trick or treating...they were a great pair and had a good system down. 

Micah was Boxman and Lydia was Wonder Woman

Longhorn Weekend in Dallas

We went to the UT vs OU game in Dallas with Lydia this year.  Luckily Mary and Brendan still live very close to the Cotton Bowl.  The Texas State Fair was very entertaining for Lydia and she was very good and didn't run off like usual.  Too bad the Longhorns didn't do well...we were back taking naps by the end of the 4th quarter.  For her first UT game, she did great!  I will have to mention that we didn't actually go into the stadium, but the atmosphere around the stadium and at the Fair was a good introduction to game days for Lydia.  She tried a lot of fried fair food too - corn dogs, cheese steaks, funnel cakes, candy corn and more!

The next day we went to the Dallas Arboretum and they had an amazing pumpkin patch.  We visited there last year when Lydia just started walking.  Now she was running everywhere and getting into everything.

Vegas Baby!!!

We finally made it to our Vegas weekend that we've been waiting for since we planned it back in April.  It has been a tough couple of months and we really needed a vacation.

Mary and Brendan had never been to Vegas (believe it or not as they seem to have been everywhere else).  We had a great time with these "Vegas Virgins" and got to stay at the Bellagio this trip. 

We laid by the pool (aka took naps in the shade), took in the sites (aka walked miles to the hotels) and gambled at night (aka lost at the tables).

We got hooked up at this restaurant/vodka bar and got to go into the vodka cooler, it was about 10 degrees and very cold, so good thing they provided the fur coats.  We also went to the top of Mandalay Bay hotel and had the best view of the strip.

It was a relaxing weekend and I was hoping to catch up on my sleep, but I should've known that wasn't going to happen in Vegas.

Here are some "typical" pictures you'll see in Vegas along with some "not so typical".

Learning Early...

I was on my way home from work when Blair called and said she had found this bag with some high heels in it and she took them out and put them on.  Carrying the bag around the house in her high heels, Blair caught her in action. 

Lydia's First Day of School - 2012

Lydia started school today back at Westminster Day School.  We met her teachers last Friday and they are so sweet.  She was very shy and timid around them which is not how she was last year at school.  She finally warmed up and started playing with the other kids and the toys in the room.

Today she wouldn't let go of me and was clinging on/clawing on to me with her arms and legs and then she started to cry once we passed her off to the teachers.  I snuck back around about 5 minutes later and she was totally fine, playing and laughing...it made me feel better.  They said she sat in her own chair at lunch (with no buckle) and didn't get up until she was finished eating.  And they said she napped on the ground on her nap mat with the other kids for over an hour!  I was shocked since she never napped last year at school.  I just can't imagine all the kids on the floor on their own nap mats sleeping.  Friday and next week might be different stories though.

All in all it was a great first day for Lydia and as soon as we picked her up she just kept saying over and over again...Harley! Harley! Harley!  She missed her Harley-girl.  I'm pretty sure Harley missed her too.

Here are some pics from the first day.  She's such a big girl.  And Lydia's Great-Grandpa surprised us with a visit at the school with Blair.

End of Summer Pics

We went to Galveston for the first time in about 4 years to see the bay house and take Lydia out on the boat.  Bubba and Ricca were there and Bubba (Uncle Grant) let Lydia drive the boat...she loved it!

Here we are pulling back into the boat slip as soon as we saw the storm coming ashore.

Lydia really loved riding in the boat and sat on the bow of the boat with her Daddy - she liked the wind blowing through her hair.  Looks like we'll be taking her down there more often now.

We went to City Center for brunch one Sunday and Lydia played around with all the other kids.  She loves kicking the ball and chasing all the big kids around.

On Mondays, Nana watches Lydia and she gets to go shopping and to the zoo...lucky.

During Restaurant Week in Houston, we went to Americas...it was a nice adult night out and very much needed.  The food was delicious!

Lydia moved on up to a big girl chair (sort of).  No more booster seat for her at home, we got this great "grows as you grow" chair.  The best thing I like about it is that she can use it as a step stool while helping me in the kitchen.  I see us baking Christmas cookies together this year - stay tuned to see how that really works out.

Ok, Grandpa, one more time, this is how the iPad works...

Lydia's tutorial for Grandpa is going well...so far, though she looks a little frustrated.

Hanging out with Daddy

Learning how to walk Harley - Harley was very gentle for her first leash walking experience.

July and August

July and August have gone by so quick...

Charlotte turned 2 and she got the coolest car.  Somehow they figured out how to get three of them in the car.  Charlotte is 3 months older than Lydia to the day, so this is also the day Lydia turned 21 months.  

Lydia learned some moves over the Summer.  Unfortunately we think she's getting Blair and my sense of dance style and moves.

This is after brunch at a Mexican restaurant and she loved this horse.

The only time where she kept her sunglasses on long enough to get a pic.  She just looks too cool.

She's taking a gym class now and goes on Mondays with my Mom.  She loves the bars and even practices at home in our closet.

She loves her Daddy.  We took her to the Little Galleria to play around on a Sunday morning and she kept escaping and running around the unopened shops.

 We went over to play with Caroline and Charlotte and all they wanted to do was lock themselves in the kennel and pretend to be dogs and cats.  See Charlotte laughing the background and Caroline pretending to be a sad kitten...

These two are like peas and carrots...right after taking this shot, they both grabbed each others plates of freshly cooked ravioli and dumped them on the floor...no more ravioli.

This was very rare for us...she slept in until 9:30 one Saturday.  The one Saturday that we had to be somewhere at 9am...but we canceled our plans and let her sleep.  She is accumulating many items in her bed these days.  Humpty Dumpty, Brown Bear, Pink Bunny (aka Hop Hop), Ki-Ki and Bevo Paci in the top right hand corner.  And after this weekend she now has Puppy which is a small addition, but nonetheless an addition.  Notice how long she is in her crib, she's very very tall for her age and growing strong.