For Christmas, Connie received a box of princess dress-up clothes and some fancy princess shoes. She was thrilled! Connie loves to look “pretty” and this was exactly what she needed.
Fast forward to today, we were busy upstairs organising the house and both kids were downstairs playing. Connie called me downstairs to help her put on a dress. Apparently, they had managed to pull one out of the box through a small hole (we hadn’t opened it yet). I opened the box so we could get the other part of the dress out and Dougie decided he wanted to dress-up as well. Next thing I knew, we had this:
All dressed up, down to the shoes.
They were both thrilled to dress up, but I think we may investigate getting some non-princess dress-up clothes so they have a few more options.
For Christmas, Dougie and Connie received a Big Piano from Santa. We’re planning to get a real piano in the spring but we thought this would be a fun toy for them until then. They both took to it immediately. Scott taught Dougie how to play Twinkle and he’s been playing on it ever since.
Dougie then tried to teach Twinkle to Connie. She still needs some practice.
What an exciting Halloween! Our neighbourhood was the perfect place for trick-or-treating! A combination of lots of houses that are close together makes a perfect place for little legs to go to get treats.
For the first year, in a while, Dougie was not Clifford. He didn’t express any opinion on what he should wear so it was perfect when Auntie Lou offered to loan us one of Molly’s old costumes. Dougie fell in love with it. He wanted to wear it to the grocery store in the middle of the month. He decided he was a bumble bee (“bungle bee”). Now, those entomologists in the reading audience may recognize this costume is not a bumble bee – but sometimes, those arguments are just not worth having.
Connie’s costume lends itself to less debate. She clearly is an elephant. Oh wait, no – a flower.
Dougie inspecting Connie before they leave
Okay, let’s go!
One more picture with Dad before heading out the door.
This year went really well for Dougie. He didn’t try to go into anyone’s house and he actually selected candies that he liked if he was given that option. He said thank you at almost everyone house too. It went perfectly until the second to last house. That house had someone who was trying to scare the kids as they came up. Clearly, not realizing that Dougie was 3, he jumped out and yelled as Dougie waited at the door. Scott said Dougie’s screamed so loudly that the neighbour came out to see what was wrong. The next house had some scary sounds and lights so Dougie decided they were done. In fact, they were so done that Scott had to carry him home.
Overall, a great day though and the kids both had a great time!
It’s great for her, but Dougie isn’t able to hide things from her up there any more. He’s tried to pull her down a few times but we don’t let that happen – so he needed a different plan.
After Connie pulls up on the table, he gets Connie’s attention….
and he starts clapping. Connie soon follows suit.
The more excited she gets, the more she claps, and then this happens.
This method isn’t likely to be effective for long, but it’s a pretty brilliant plan!
Dougie is such a big boy! He loves to help with various Connie things. Most recently, he’s decided he’d like to help feed her…. long time readers will know what an excellent eater Dougie is – so clearly, he was the perfect choice.
First, we get some food on the spoon
Open wide, Connie. Like this…
Uh, I don’t think so
As you can tell, this is not the neatest method of getting food into Connie. She will frequently take a bite, though Dougie tends to overfill the spoon, and most of it gets all over her face. Dougie really likes to help though!
Connie continues to grow. More importantly, she continues to get stronger. She pulls up all the time now. She loves to stand.
She has definitely perfected sitting.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is that her brother loves her. He still constantly asks to “hold the Connie.” Since she’s a bit more stable, it’s gotten easier for him.
We swear she isn’t as big as this picture makes her appear
Now that Connie is quite mobile, she can go and find Dougie no matter where he tries to go. He’s embracing this change and has decided to share some of his passions. In this case, cars:
Connie is thrilled to be part of her brother’s world. Dougie likes it as long as she’ll leave when he asks – that has yet to happen.
Dougie thinks special time with his sister is important. He gets very into their time and has to make it just right.
There, we can just hangout here, like this
Sadly, this particular “family moment” was quickly ended by mum as I felt the pillow may smother Connie – but it was so nice that he wanted to share a special moment with her.