New friends and a lazy Sunday

Sorry it took me a while to post this... this week has been HECTIC. I got called for Jury Duty last Friday and was picked to be on a jury on Monday, so I've been racing to work in the morning, then leaving to go to court by 10am in downtown LA, then racing home to grab Amanda before daycare closes.

Anyway, on Saturday we had 3 of my old friends from KFI, their spouses and their kids over. We haven't seen them in over two years now, so we went from one kid last time to FIVE this time, with another due in December! Wow! Amazing how fast families grow. Anyway, there were 5 kids all 4 and under in the house. They all had a blast! It was so much fun to see how they all interacted and played.. their favorite was Amanda's ball hopper that spits balls into the air, then they fall back down a spiral only to blown back up again. Ironic since it's recommended for kids 9 months & up, and no one was interested in it until they were older!

Anyway, here's a pic of when the three girls were playing with it in the hallway, with one of the boy's head at the bottom, approaching them:



Eventually everyone else cleared out and just Amanda & Sammy were left playing with it. They're very close in age (Sammy was born just a few days after Andrew, so they're about 6 months apart) and seemed to get along wonderfully. Amanda was asking about Sammy all the next day :)



The next morning, I got some shots of Amanda lounging on the couch:

...the favorite of girls and boys!

Can you guess what line the title is from? That's right, SLINKY! (It took me a lot longer than I thought to google these lyrics!)

Who walks the stair without a care
It shoots so high in the sky.
Bounce up and down just like a clown.
Everyone knows its Slinky.

The best present yet to give or get
The kids will all want to try.
The hit of the day when you're ready to play
Everyone knows it's Slinky.

It's Slinky, It’s Slinky
for fun it's the best of the toys
It's Slinky, It’s Slinky
the favorite of girls and boys.

Why do I bring this up? Because I found my original metal slinky this weekend while cleaning up the attic! And who do you think decided to play with it?

This next series shows how Amanda still thinks Sophie is her best friend. First, tormenting the sleeping kitty...

Climbing up on the couch with a book to read to Sophie.

"Reading" to Sophie.

First sentence!

Amanda made huge progress this week in talking. She said her first two sentences:
Saturday she said "Where did Daddy go?" and Monday night she said "Look Mommy, Moon!"
I couldn't be prouder :)

And of course, here are some new pics...
First, remember my "costume" on Halloween? Well, Amanda got ahold of the glass frames I used (they were reading glasses I popped the lenses out of), and insisted on wearing them during her bath:

And these are from last night. I ran in to put away her school bag and came out to find she had figured out how to climb into the stroller! They grow up so fast....

Like father, like daughter

Yes, that's Amanda.

Sitting on the toilet.

Reading a comic book.

Anyone who knows Mike, knows he will sit for a full hour on the toilet reading his comic books. Apparently Amanda's picked up on that...

Happy Halloween!

Carving pumpkins Thursday night. Amanda dug right in!

Our front porch. That's "Ben B. Headed"

My pumpkin. I went a little different and carved a ghost instead of a face.

Mike's pumpkin. It's supposed to be looking confused-edly at the dart in it's forehead.

My "costume" for work. We were told we had to be "serious" this Halloween, we think in case the media got ahold of us having "fun", so I went as Sarah Palin. I don't see a costume, do you? I had a MUCH bigger reaction that I thought I would. I spent all morning being marched around the floor so everyone could see. All but 3 people figured out who I was trying to be.

Friday night, getting ready for trick-or-treating. Amanda did surprisingly well with the wings!

Getting her pumpkin to go out with.

Getting candy from the neighbor.

Amanda couldn't believe we were allowing her to take candy from our neighbor, it took her several minutes and several glances at us to make sure it was "ok". Then when she finally took it, she wouldn't let it go. She carried that lollipop in her hand as we went to 4 more houses. I finally had to pry it from her fingers before putting her to bed. I let her eat it the next day, and she LOVED it!