It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Halloween

So our week of Halloween kicked off on Sunday with the Halloween Lantern Parade in Patterson Park. This quirky event occurs every year, but this is the first time we've gone because we are usually out of town Halloween weekend for Chad's birthday. This year the celebration came to us (a fun visit from Granny Vivienne and Pop Pop), so we were here. The parade was supposed to happen on Saturday, but it was much too rainy and windy, so they did it on Sunday.

Ripley did not march in the parade this year, but she did dress up so that the people who were marching by could see her in her first costume - what I like to refer to as the "tofu pup" outfit. To the untrained eye, it could seem like a hot dog costume, but her vegetarian aunt (Carolyn) was part of sending it, and knows Ripley's mom is vegetarian, so I have no doubt it was a tofu pup. Then again, if her uncle Culann had anything to do with it, I suppose it was a hot dog.

There were many many Patterson Park students who kept coming up to Ripley's daddy and yelling Dr. Kramer Dr. Kramer. There was even one little girl who I thought was going to hyperventilate from the excitement of seeing her principal outside of school.

I am trying to convert some of the video Chad shot so you can see the coolness that was the parade, so I might add this later. For now, this picture gives you a sense of what it looked like. I think next year, we'll be sure to make a lantern for little girl (and let her help, of course) and will figure out a way to help her march/roll with it. It seems like a fun tradition to start.

This is just the beginning of Halloween 2008. Still to come - Play Group Halloween; Day Care Halloween; Ghoul at the School

Things Ripley Can Do - Eat her Fist

Yes, I can eat my fist. Sometimes I can even eat both of them.

Baltimore Farmer's Market

One of our favorite things to do on Sunday morning is head over to the Baltimore Farmer's Market under the Jones Falls Expressway. My motivation is usually to get something like fresh basil for pesto or fresh cage-free eggs for the baking I love to do. Chad, on the other hand, is usually single-minded. He goes for the kettle corn. And not just some small normal sized bag of kettle corn. He isn't happy unless he buys the yard of kettle corn. A few weeks ago, I decided we needed a picture of Ripley in relation to the kettle corn. No further comment is needed.

Wanting to Be Sure of You

I was thinking about the blog today and realized that some of you might not know the origin of the title of the blog. It comes from A.A. Milne:

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh!” he whispered.
“Yes, Piglet?”
“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”
~A.A. Milne

When I first found out I was pregnant and during those first few months when I didn't feel pregnant, it seemed a bit surreal that we were going to have a little one joining our world. Now that she's been with us for almost 5 months, it still seems a bit surreal when I am folding little baby laundry or watching her eyes sparkle when she hears Chad's voice when he gets home from work. In some moments, it doesn't feel as though anything is different - and yet, in others, it is clear that nothing will ever be the same.

She is a joy, our Ripley Annabel...we can't wait for those of you who have not met her to meet her; and for those of you who have, but haven't seen her for a while to see her again.

October 11th and 12th - Marathon Cheering and North Run Farm

It was a beautiful weekend here in Baltimore, so we did outside things. On Saturday, we cheered for 3 hours near Patterson Park for the Baltimore Marathon runners. Ripley did amazing - she was up for 2 hours of it and then slept in the sling for the final hour. I am not a runner (maybe Ripley will be), but it was inspiring to see people come past at mile 16. I saw our neighbor Dana, and Chad saw our friend Kari - both of whom were doing the 1/2 marathon.

Then on Sunday, we met up with our friends the Lindamoods (Kevin, Melisa, and Sienna) and went to North Run Farm in Baltimore County. North Run Farm is a pumpkin patch, has farm animals and a hay ride, and has a pretty sizable corn maze (themed to the election this year). We picked our own pumpkin, visited with the chickens and baby sheep (I suppose you'd call them lambs).

We rode the hay ride and somehow Chad and I ended up sitting on the hay, which I am not sure was meant to be sat upon as much as it was to be decorative. And finally, we wandered through the corn maze. Those of you who follow the adventures of Ripley will not be shocked to read

that she ended up napping in the sling (see the bump in the green fabric) for the maze - probably for the best, as my mental energy and navigation skills were needed to keep us from getting lost in the corn.

Duckpin Bowling and Fells Point Festival

Two of our adventures earlier this month were quite Baltimore specific - duckpin bowling at the Patterson Bowl and the Fells Point Festival (an aside - my first kiss with Chad was at the Fells Point Festival in October of 1993!).

We don't have very good pictures (I think a new camera might be in the works), but here is a sampling of photos from duckpin. Note the shape of our daughter's head and the duckpin bowling ball - I am just saying...

And then we met up with the Martins (Kate, Marc, Adam and Charlie) at the Fells Point Festival.

Charlie is about a month younger than Ripley, but you wouldn't know it from their sizes. We've talked about starting a girl band, with the third girl being Olivia - Omari and Shaylin Todd's new little one (4 months younger than Ripley - so about 2 weeks old right now). Check back in 15 years.

See how she grows...2 month and 4 months stats

We had Ripley's 4 month visit earlier this week (can you believe it?), and I thought I should post her stats and go back and do the ones from her 2 month visit.

4 months

weight - 12 bl 8 oz (23rd percentile)

height/length - 24.33 inches (52nd percentile)

head - 86th percentile

2 months

weight - 10 lb (25th percentile)

height/length - 22.44 inches (49th percentile)

head - 92nd percentile

As you can see, little girl still has a big head. This is one of the things they were concerned about when they were doing sonograms. At one point, they told us they thought she could be a 10 or 11 lb baby at birth, based on her head measurements in utereo. Needless to say, she wasn't (6 lb 11 oz at birth) which has me question modern medicine. I mean, really...with all of our technology, they are that off with their estimates?

She did great with her shots this time - an initial piercing scream like no other sound in the world, but a quick calm-down. The doctor complimented her on being so alert and tracking and following his voice. She's got a killer smile and is quite the flirt. Apparently he sees other 4 month olds who are not quite as lively.