Honeybeatle

Ivy **loves** the Beatles. She listens to her favorite Beatles compilation cd, the one that her daddy (and fellow Beatles fan) made for her, at least three times a day.

Not only does she know that a cow says moo and a sheep says baa, but she also knows that the Beatles say, "yeah, yeah, yeah." She's been singing and dancing to She Loves You for quite some time and put on a really great show on Halloween night. Here's a video of her grooving to the music and trying out her new big girl shoes after our adventures on Halloween night. At 2+ minutes it's one of the longer videos that we've posted, but I just couldn't bear to edit out any adorable bits.

Busy as a bee this Halloween

Buzz-Buzz. . . Happy Halloween!

Since Ivy spends her mornings with Markie, a honeybee keeper, we thought that a bee Halloween costume was a perfect one for our little girl who already shows a keen appreciation for helper insects.

We had a great time getting ready for our family's first Halloween. The first order of business was to don a pair of sweats and do some serious pumpkin shopping:

then, this morning we rose at dawn and scooped & carved our lovely pumpkins.

Daddy is a creative genius and designed and carved our pumpkins -- they perfectly represent our current state of toddler joy:

After participating in a neighborhood Halloween parade, Ivy buzzed around the neighborhood and discovered CANDY. Here she is tasting a candy bar for the very first time. (Seriously! Up until today we've allowed her to have cookies and grandma's baked goods as special treats, but we've stayed away from candy.) Notice how she's signing for "more" in this photo:

Throughout the day I kept remembering how I felt one year ago when we were waiting for the call telling us that Ivy was ready to come home. Our families and colleague-friends were so supportive and helped relieve the constant anxiety through their support, good nature and humor. Ivy's nurturing hive is a happy, humming, and often hilarious one.

Just in time for Halloween!

The Amazing Ivini is here to astound you with her burgeoning magic abilities!



Happy Halloween!

Ivy's first Halloween

Ivy dressed up as a tiger cub for Halloween! Here she is with her daddy, taking a break from passing out candy.

And here she is with a special friend from the neighborhood, who will certainly fill her in on the way we do things here on the East Side. Girls rock!