Happy Halloween!

Alice helps Daddy with his costume.



Alice herself was a puppy. We used ears that my Mom made for my sister Jesse back in our Elementary School days. I added the bows. Alice added the drool.




We also had elements of a ballerina costume and a Rastafarian hat (which is beautiful and will be used as a beret when Alice's head is bigger). The hat was crafted by our great friend Deacon Gloria and we love her for making Alice such a beautiful chapeau.
Ultimately Alice was a Ballerina-Rasta-Puppy:

Daddy's Girl

Everybody asks who Alice looks like and invariably we say she looks like me, because she does, but Alice's Great-Grandmother Bette was the first to point out, using these two photos, that Alice definitely has Tony's mouth...and possibly nose.

Can Lutherans protect us from Vampires?

Last Saturday night Tony and I were driving on a lonely back road. We were lost, it was completely dark, and the baby was dressed up like a puppy dog.

We were trying to find the Austin Zoo, which is really an animal preserve way out in the middle of nowhere in particular. The reason we were headed towards the Zoo at night was for the annual "Boo at the Zoo" celebration. It sounded like fun. Look at the animals at night. Stroll around with other costumed parents and babies in the early evening. Maybe enjoy a little adult conversation after the kid falls asleep.
Little did we know that the turn-off to our destination was going to be completely obscured by total darkness. As a family unit we were getting freaked out. Well, Alice was sleeping, but Tony and I had a strong feeling there might be zombies in our immediate future. We were stupid lost and I was trying to help Tony out by pointing out landmarks using the insufficient illumination of our headlights.

"There is a trailer that says 'Massage by Wendy' on the side."
"There is a sleeping horse."
"There is a creepy abandoned shack."
"Oh wait! I see a sign. It says, 'Holy Cross Lutheran Church'..."

At which point Tony muttered the title of this post.
Being Catholic he really would prefer a good solid Father Something or Other to handle repelling the undead. I totally agree.

We abandoned our search, picked up Indian Food, and went home to play with the baby. We will try for the Zoo again next year...in the daylight.

Tony and Alice saw "The 40 year old Virgin" last night.

The song is "Aquarius / Let the Sun Shine in" and it is now Alice's favorite song. But just the chorus, no other part of the song interests her.

Voting

Alice and I voted last week. I never considered the logistics of taking a baby (plus stroller) into a voting booth. It's a tight fit, but the volunteers were tremendously helpful and even entertained Alice with shiny government forms while I did my duty.

In the past I have been guilty of just voting for members of my party or for women without knowing a thing about them. Shameful. This was due to a lack of preparation on my part. But this year I was energized by the national elections and did my research. I even researched the judges by their records. Yeah. You know it. I found that my choices were much more varied in gender and party than I could have imagined last year.

The picture was taken near the huge sign on our neighbor's back fence. There are more campaign posters (for Obama, McCain, Nader, and even Ron Paul) out than Halloween decorations. I'm glad that everybody in our community seems to be shaking off apathy and declaring their intention to participate together in the democratic process.

Happy 4th Month

Our little sweetums is 4 months old today. She celebrated this milestone by getting shots at the Pediatrician's office. Alice is now old enough to be wary of the Dr's office. Who could blame the kid? She is always stripped down to a diaper in a cold strange room and then poked with needles. This visit she grabbed the Dr.'s tongue depressor and brandished it like a weapon.

Alice has all kinds of new tricks these days. She can roll over with extreme prejudice. She has special distinct grins for Daddy and Mommy. She consistantly says her name ("Ally") a greeting ("Hi") and the phrase that comes after Storytime ("the end"). She enjoys eating not just for sustenance but for the joy of consuming her favorite meal (wait until she understands the concept of variety).

As a result breastfeeding sessions usually go like this:

Alice, sleeps peacefully on her favorite napping spot (Tony).
Alice suddenly wakes!
Alice picks up her wobbly head and looks deeply into Daddy's eyes,
Alice gives him the ole' gummy grin.
Alice flips herself off of Daddy and rolls onto her tummy
Alice scans the room for food.
Alice spots Mommy and scrunches her diapered butt into the air.
Alice suddenly lunges at Mommy's shirt screaming, "ALLY-HI!"
After the meal Alice gives me a grateful smile and says "the end".
(or "grrraraaablllaggaaa" depending on her mood).

Alice, click your heels three times

One of Tony's friends at work is a dance instructor and she gave Alice these lovely golden dance shoes. We always thought that Alice would wear them sometime around her first birthday or at very least at the six-month mark around Christmas. Alas, our little pumpkin already has feet big enough to barely fit into her dancing shoes. The time for dancing is now!

Here she is in her newly shod finery:



Thank you Shelli!!