The stuff dreams (and nightmares) are made of

You know what takes you average paper Halloween decorations from the dollar store and turns them into the kind of thing that will keep children up at night?

Googly eyes.  

Take this cute paper pumpkin cut-out

 

And bam!

 

Just like that we've ensured that Claire won't sleep through the night for the next month

The eyes on teeth?  That's nightmare material people.

Last night we went to the dollar store and it was already pretty well cleaned out. We did find crepe paper, the last pack of pumpkin cut-outs and googly eyes.  Luckily that was enough.

For those of you who want to recreate the look I just used hot glue.  If you have dark pictures (like most of mine) you may need to slip some white paper behind the crepe paper so that you can see (which is what I did on that second picture). 

I will also suggest that the eyes are best if glued on by someone aged 3-4 who has no set concept of how far apart eyes are--or even that they typically come in pairs. 

Preschool Coop

As of this week we are officially ensconced in our very own preschool coop.  I finally wrangled 2 other moms (one of them has twins so there are 4 kids total) to do it with me (well there's Noah too so 5 kids--and can you see how Noah worships Eli?  He follows him around.  Claire also loves Eli and constantly wants to hold his hand).

Here we are making a "T" which was the letter of the week. (And can we please give Claire snaps for the zebra print and plaid combo?  That girl is a sartorial risk taker)

I could not be more pleased.

Cleaning Tutorial

Now.  Let's say that you suddenly find yourself in possession of a 3-year old who has a whole bottle of glitter in her hair.  Vacuuming is probably your best option but be warned that vacuuming your child's hair is the same as ratting it and the post clean-up comb-out wont be easy. 

And there will still be glitter. Lots of it. Everywhere.

Orchard Beach

A couple of weeks ago (just after Labor Day) we ventured to Orchard Beach. Orchard Beach is a man-made beach in the Bronx that, at the time it was built, was called 'The Riviera of New York.'  It is lovely and looking out over the long boardwalk and playground there is a hint of ancient glamour.

Of course The Rivera of New York has fallen somewhat out of favor due to the fact that it is built on the toxic sludge that is Long Island Sound. 

Pay no attention to the dark patches of sand there all along the shore--who knows what that is.

I hear that in season Orchard Beach is a hotspot for local teenagers but off season we only had to share the beach with a couple of old leathery women who were cranking the boom box one of them had hooked up to her walker. Needless to say we're going to try to go back every week until the weather turns.

Snack Time

Scene: Our house. 4:00.  Snack Time

Claire: These crackers do NOT taste good when I was just eating toothpaste

Me: Were you just eating toothpaste?

Claire: Yes

Me: Why were you eating toothpaste in the middle of the afternoon? {the ridiculousness of this question does not escape me}

Claire: I just like it

Me:  Were you eating my toothpaste or your toothpaste?

Claire: Your toothpaste.  Mine has a lid.  Yours doesn't.  If you leave toothpaste with no lid then I am going to eat it. But your lid fell in the garbage and is lost so I will eat your toothpaste.


Let's hope that the extra fluoride will help with the fact that a couple of weeks ago Claire had a bad fall on the Brooklyn Bridge and suddenly last week her smile transformed to this

Everything I've read online says that there's a good chance it will lighten up again but also a chance that it won't.  We'll see what the dentist says when we see her next week

Throw up

It was definitely throw up. 

He did it again right as we started off our 6 hour drive home and my friends, stinky does not even begin to describe the long ride home.  

Niagara Falls

Our trip to Niagara Falls can be summed up by saying 

1) rain

2) the power was out at Niagara Falls so there were no bathrooms

3) honestly just asked "how do you tell the difference between puke and spit-up in a baby? Because if it's quantity based we're in trouble."

We're having a great time.