A White . . . Halloween?

I had been planning a post with some pictures of the leaves turning, and some words about how it has gotten cold out here recently. After a spring that seemed to last from March into August, then only about 3-4 weeks of proper summer, we've snapped toward the chilly side.
But of course, I wasn't getting my post done in a timely fashion, so New England Weather trumped me.
On Sunday it was cold and rainy all morning, then broke out the white stuff and snowed all afternoon. Biggest ol' flakes I've seen for a long time, too.

Early afternoon, once the snow started sticking.

Not a lot of accumulation...

... but enough to coat on grass and leaves.

Around the time we went to bed, it turned back to rain (which continued much of the night, I think). Some towns in NH or further west apparently got two inches of accumulation or more.
It's enough to make a guy think about putting on the snow tires and hard-top!

Miss Independence

Since turning two, Margot has become very opinionated about what she can and can't do. This has lead to some pretty hysterical situations. Case in point, Margot was determined to put these pants on HERSELF! Who are we to tell her that they are upside down and won't stay on that way?


In addition to trying the impossible, Margot also puts hysterical limits on what she can and can't do. She has instituted the rule that "Margot cannot walk up the stairs." Note, this is not because any parental figures have told her that she can't, but because she wants to be carried up. She actually goes up the stairs many times a day on her own to get things that I won't get for her.

My favorite random rule came out yesterday when we were getting ready to get into the car. After insisting that she had to wear her new rain boots in the sunny 70 degree weather, Margot then claimed that she had to be carried to the car "Because Margot has her boots on."* I looked at her and had no idea where to start arguing about how wrong this was. Of course, I gave up and just carried her to the car, shaking my head the whole time.

* Yes, Margot refers to herself in the third person.

Margot's Second Birthday

Margot turned two last Friday, so we had a little party over the weekend.

Naturally, there was cake - with blueberries, Margot's favorite:

... and presents:

(Thanks to Great-Grandpa Bob for Bobby the dog!)

One of those presents was a cool car - strangely, also called Bobby! (Thanks Auntie M and almost-Uncle C!)

Aine thought the car was cool - good enough to follow it and Margot around the yard...

... or even to share a wagon ride with.

Soren and Brady followed Margot (and/or her cookie?).

Danny liked the cookies too.

In case the cake and cookies weren't enough, there were also cupcakes. Soren enjoyed one.

Sam the puppy visited from next door, to play with Elisa among others. She wore him out.

Sigrid just liked sitting on the lawn (or the lawn blanket, even though it prevents her from eating grass).

We hope that everyone had as good a time as we did!

Robert's 93rd

We celebrated Robert's 93rd birthday this evening.

Unfortunately, the best photo I got (out of only a few attempts) was of him wearing Margot's black-and-white striped headband with a bow.

We're really lucky to have Bob nearby, and watching him with Margot (and vice versa) is always a treat.

Many happy returns, Bob!

Happy Birthday, M!

We'll post more after the big party tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's Margot attempting a daring dismount from her new rocking chair.

Our Little Neatnick

Our neighbor had borrowed our blender, which she returned yesterday. Being the capricious cleaner that I am, our blender was still sitting out on the kitchen counter this morning. Over breakfast, Margot asked me to "please put it away" and then she said "thank you, Mama" when I did. I foresee years of being asked to "please vacuum" and "please scrub the bathtub". At least she's polite about her requests.

Pronunciation Fun

On the car ride in to Cambridge, Margot was telling me a complex story about what she was going to do at Murray, Lisa, and Bob's house today. She ran through the list of classics (eat crackers, play with toys, etc.) and then told me that the squir-OHLS were going to run away from her. I loved that word! It has two very distinct syllables with the smallest of pauses between them and the emphasis is definitely on the last one.

I then spent the rest of the drive playing with this new way of saying squirrels. It feels great in the mouth. You should try it.

Oh no! The TV stopped working!

We've just watched Coraline on DVD. Something about it totally captured Margot - don't know if it was the animation, colors, motion, or what - who basically could barely tear her attention away long enough to open her mouth for me to spoon dinner in occasionally. She kept commenting on or asking about what "that girl" in the movie was doing, what was going on, etc.

Anyway, we got to the end, and the screen went black just before the credits started to roll. At this point Margot came to life with an "On NO!", and jumped up with an "I fix it!", walking over to try to turn the TV back on. The credits rolled, and the music came back, so she realized it hadn't stopped after all, but I was trying to figure out what she was doing, so I paused the movie with the remote. "OH!" she says, trying to figure out whether to go fix it or not. I restart the credits, telling her that I did it, to which she says something like "...it stopped by itSELF".

I'm not sure there's any great lesson or observation in this, but we were pretty amused. I like that she was going to take it on herself to go across the room and turn the TV back on, since it had obviously just turned off in the middle of us watching this entertaining show.

A Morning with Margot

This morning, Margot had a hair stuck to her chin when she woke up. Good mother that I am, I removed it. This prompted M to yell, "No, I need that!" then she reached out and took the hair from me and tried to put it back. All the while, she glared at me in that "how dare you?" way. We're in so much trouble.

A Budding Songwriter

As you've already seen, Margot loves singing. In addition to a new take on already existing songs, she has been making up a bunch of her own. Two recent favorites are "I do not love you, ha ha ha!" and "Do not worry, it is only Margot".

She cracks us up. This is such a great age!