A week of many "Firsts"!

So many firsts...

- First Halloween
- First family day trip (To the Outer Banks)
- First time Katherine set her toes in the ocean
- First time Katherine touched sand
- First time Katherine went to see "grass" (I'll explain later)
- First time Katherine visited a Coach store! :P
- First time change for daylight savings :-/
- First time Mommy caught her chewing on her crib

On Friday we celebrated Katherine's first Halloween. I think it went pretty well! We decided to dress her up in the bumble bee costume for school and the pumpkin costume for trick or treat time. The thought was the pumpkin costume was more like a fleece sleeper rather than a costume so it would be snuggly warm for her... and it was!! Katherine sat on the porch with Stephen and I and gave out candy. She didn't get scared by any costumes!! Yay!! Who could really be scared of a super hero or princess though? :) We had somewhere around 125 trick or treaters. My guess is a little more. We went through almost 3 bags of candy (128 pieces), a box of 100 blow pops and 5-6 containers of play-doh. We had to run out on Friday to get play-doh for the little girl who told us last year "I'm allergic to chocolate and nuts." Okaaaayyyy... All I had was chocolate!!! This year, we were prepared. And ya know what? She didn't show!!! Or at least this year she didn't tell me she was allergic!

The kids were very amusing with (err, without?) Katherine. Most of the parents would say, "oh look at the pumpkin!!" and the kids would say ahuh and their eyes would never leave the candy bowl. I'm pretty sure none of them knew there was a baby on the porch. The candy was at her feet... No need to look beyond that. One little boy's mom was talking about Katherine, asking how old "he" was (sitting in a pink bouncy seat?!) and the little boy was agreeing the whole time with his mom. Stephen was watching him and he just stared at the candy and when he thought we were not looking dug in and grabbed some more! teehee

Below are some of the pictures we took of Katherine's first Halloween:
http://picasaweb.google.com/daleksza/KatherineSFirstHalloween#

On Saturday we decided when we woke up to take a day trip. Spur of the moment!! So, an hour and a half later when we actually left the house we were off to the Outer Banks. We didn't quite remember how long of a drive it was. Let's just summarize with one word: LONG! The drive out seemed to take 6 days. When we finally got there we drove down one of the main strips in Kitty Hawk. Just as we were getting ready to turn around Stephen saw the sign for the First Flight location... So off we went. Katherine's first trip to see grass. What does that mean you ask? Well, Stephen loooooves to visit places of historical significance. i.e. A war happened here 100 years ago. Or someone did something here 100 years ago. Now it's just grass. A memorial, marker and museum might be on the property, but essentially you're there to look at grass. It doesn't fascinate me as it does Stephen. He loves him some grass. My favorite historical trip that we took was to the Battleship North Carolina. At least I think it was a battle ship. I thought that was a terrific trip. One there was no grass to see, but more importantly, the man giving us the tour of the ship actually served on the ship. He remembered when a plane flew into the side of the ship. He remembered when the area that is now the cafeteria to the tourists was an officers mess. That was absolutely fascinating to me because he could relay real stories. And it was special because in a few years it won't be possible to get a tour from a person who served on the battleship. Kitty Hawk First Flight... My take away was the first flight was short. The second not much better. The third, clearly they were on to something. :)

After the location of the first flight, thank you Wright brothers, we were off to the beach. I thought it would be fun to have Katherine stick her toes in the sand. Plus she needed to eat. Picnic time!!!!! We walked onto the beach and immediately noticed all of the tire tracks. That's not something I recall from my days on the Cape May beach. No tire tracks. Hm. Were we to be run over by some man in a truck in search of the best fishing location?? Would they really run over three of us without seeing us? We decided no. They'd HAVE to see us. So we sat and fed little miss. She was quite fussy. I think it might have been because of the ocean sounds. She knows at home that's the sound for bedtime. I don't think she was ready for sleeping so she was fighting the noise.... It's like baby hypnosis. Oh, and maybe Daddy hypnosis. He falls asleep to the sound too. After her bottle we went down to the water's edge. Stephen wanted to dip her toes in the ocean. Before you call child services let me say that Stephen tested the water temperature. It was fine. I even took off my shoes and socks to participate with Katherine. Stephen didn't need to. The wave came up and got him, shoes and socks on. :) The first wave Katherine was fine with. The second... hm, not so sure about this. By the third, she was convinced it was a non-starter. She punished me for it by puking on me. No, I'm not calling it spit up. It was an "event". Spit up doesn't convey what she unleashed. The worst is that she just opens her mouth and it falls out. And she smiles the whole time. Like haha. Stinks to be Mommy!!!

After that we did some investigation of time shares. We keep thinking it's a possibility, but then aren't sure we're prepared for that level of pressure. Where do you buy? Do you have to buy a red week? Who do you buy from? What's a good price? How come some are $500 and another for the same week at the same location is $5000? What gives? Fortunately the place we visited didn't have a high pressure environment. In fact, I don't think there was a sales rep there. The security guard showed us one of the "properties". Thank goodness. We're weak. Which was displayed a short while later when we visited the Coach outlet store.

Ok. It's a coach OUTLET. That means cheap. Seriously. I even go directly to the clearance shelves in the Coach store. How much cheaper can you get? And don't suggest China Town in NY. They aren't cheaper! Well, they are for big bags but I wanted one that would match the diaper bag that Sofi and Nicole bought me. I mean you need to accessorize, right? Fortunately, they not only had a bag to match but it happened to be one of the ones on clearance. JACKPOT!!! And for $40 who can resist? Maybe you can... I could not. I'm weak.

Pictures from our trip to the beach:
http://picasaweb.google.com/daleksza/DayAtTheBeach#

The trip home was uneventful. Katherine slept most of the way home which was great, considering it was her bedtime. I was concerned about the whole daylight savings time thing, and apparently, I had reason to be concerned. My normal wake up call at 7:15/7:30 was promptly provided at 6:15/6:30. I thought maybe when I'd told her on Saturday night that she needed to check the clock before she cried, that it might work. Shockingly, it didn't. So now we're trying to adjust to DST being, well, not DST. It's not pleasant. Sunday she napped for maybe, total, one hour. Do you know what happens when an almost 5 month old doesn't get a nap? You do, right? Not pretty. Bedtime and feeding times... Also, not pretty. How does one tell an almost 5 month old that the time has changed and therefore what she believes is time to eat is really an hour too early. I've tried logic, bribing, a new toy... It's not working. *sigh*

Yesterday Katherine also learned the art of getting Mommy to buy something that I didn't plan on buying her. We were in Target and she was facinated by a red christmas doll baby. So I took it off the little rack it was hanging on and showed it to her. She promptly put the dolls foot in her mouth. I didn't have time to react. I couldn't put a slobbery doll back on the rack so it came home with us. I've given it some thought and that's a pretty good way to get what you want. Had I known about that before we went to the Coach store... Well, let's just say my mouth might have found it's way to a cute pink and brown purse I saw too. :P Okay, you think me chewing on something is gross... Katherine might have found the strap of the pink and brown purse quite yummy!! I can't help what she chews!!! (See below.)

And finally our last first for the week.... Katherine chewing her crib. Yup. Chewing it. Each morning I find her with her head in the top left corner of the crib. This morning I walked in while she was in the act. CHEWING on the railing of the crib. I'd done research to find something to put on the top of the crib as I figured she'd be a woodchuck like I was in my infancy. She is, but she's beaten me to the punch and I don't have a solution. Instead her "lifetime" bed will have chew marks when she takes it to her new home for her and her husband to sleep on. Let her explain THAT to her husband.