Halloween!

Vanessa had her first trick-or-treating experience this Halloween! We visited just a few neighbors, and got exactly three pieces of candy, one of which I ate, one of which I think we actually gave back to the same neighbor's kid by coincidence when she trick-or-treated at our house later (is it unkind to re-gift Halloween candy?), and one of which is still around here somewhere, I think. I'm happy that Vanessa isn't old enough yet to know any better about candy, although she does like the crinkly and shiny wrappers that candy comes in!
Vanessa was a little witch for Halloween! The costume was inspired by the striped orange pants she got from her Grammy Dee (she's also wearing an orange honey-bunny onesie that she got from her Aunt Jessica and Uncle Jake, that remarkably still fits even though it was intended for her to wear last Easter!). Vanessa sometimes wore her hat for a few seconds at a time! She did enjoy playing peek-a-boo behind her hat, and it was also a good place to store her three pieces of Halloween candy during trick-or-treating.

Vanessa got to see some of her friends at a Halloween party. Vanessa and little golfer Grace are standing, and the wild animals creeping around at their feet include the lion Tess, tiger Eric, and mouse Revie in the foreground.
Grampa came over to keep Vanessa and I company while the trick-or-treaters came by, at least until Daddy got home from class. They gave each other some very nice hugs, played piano together and called Nana to wish her a happy Halloween.

In other news, Vanessa's signing has really taken off. She finally signs "eat," "water," and "more," those three signs that I think are so useful and for some reason she took much longer to pick up than some other more obscure signs. Sometimes when I read her a story, she makes a sign for something she sees on every page. Occasionally she'll notice a balloon, rock, flower, or bear or something else in the background that I never pointed out to her before, and she'll point to it and make the sign.

Vanessa's latest trick is climbing chairs to get onto tables, which opens up an entire new level of baby-proofing for me! She also likes to climb into the rocking chair (under my most careful supervision so she doesn't squish her toes), and she likes to make it rock. In fact, she tries to rock just about any chair. She gets really excited when a chair sits unevenly and will wobble a litle. One result of this is that she has learned how to move her head and body forward and backward, and when she dances now, she looks like she's head-banging!