Halloween Part 1: All Hail the Great Pumpkin

Poor Linus.

Since 1966 when the show debuted, the Great Pumpkin has never shown up. But, we at aphillyfamily.blogspot.com support his efforts and keep hoping that one year, a new ending will be spliced on.

Until then, we remain charmed by his naivete...

... Princess Leia agrees.

(Stay tuned for Part 2 of Halloween later this weekend.)

Chloe Post: "No, I Do Not Want to Feel Your Stomach"

So, last night, I am minding my own business, watching Dora and Mommy was sitting on the chair watching her tummy bounce around. Like I care.



Mommy: "Chloe, come here a sec."

Me: "No."

Mommy: "Don't you want to feel your sister kick?"

Me: "No, Mommy, no."

Finally, I walked over just to shut her up. Who cares if the baby is kicking? Is that such a skill? If I kicked Mommy, I would be in trouble. And how do I even know that there REALLY is a baby in there, anyway? Maybe Mommy just ate Mexican food for lunch. And if there IS a baby in there, so what? I'm OUT HERE. That baby probably can't even do anything. Except kick. Allegedly.

Mommy Post: Uh-Oh, Daddy. Uh-Oh.

The other day, I was watching "Biography" on A&E and the next show on was called "Private Sessions" or something... I guess the show features bands performing acoustic versions of their songs, interspersed with interviews. When I saw that the Backstreet Boys were the scheduled band for the hour, I picked up the remote, but when the music started, a curious thing happened.

Chloe stopped what she was doing, turned to the TV and stared for a moment. When she saw the cute boy (who Daddy said later is probably gay), crooning that he wants it "that way," she approached the screen and caressed his face. She stepped back from the TV, stared for a minute and then suddenly began to dance, turning to me and smiling as though she had just discovered the Beatles. Or Jon Bon Jovi.

All, I'm saying is We Got Trouble. It starts with a T and that rhymes with B and that stands for BOYS.

Chloe Post: I am freakin' ADORABLE in this coat.

No?

Chloe Post: Big Mommy Turned 90

On Monday, Mommy turned 36, which I thought was pretty old until she and Daddy explained that Big Mommy had turned 90! Wow! To celebrate, we went to her party and sang and danced and hung out with Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop. Big Mommy was so excited to see how big I have gotten and to learn that Baby Amber is on the way.

Pop-Pop let me play with his phone to pretend to call Pah-Pah and Mom-Mom introduced me to everyone. I had such a good time, smiling at everybody and chasing Mommy around the table.

But, the best part was dancing! I love to dance!

Unfortunately, Mommy does not know how to line dance, so I was forced to try to learn it on my own.

Mom-Mom said I did a good job. :-)

Chloe Post: "Good Job, Walkers!"

Last weekend, Mommy and I met up with Jess to cheer on the 3-Day walkers as they walked 60 miles to raise awareness (and $$) for breast cancer. This is my second time being involved in the event. Mommy used to be a walker, but when she was pregnant with me, we were on the Crew. Last year, we wanted to cheer, but the event got mostly rained out! Luckily, the weather was beautiful on Saturday. We had a great time handing out Munchkins and cheering on the walkers. Mommy and Jess met a lot of Phi Sigs by holding up a sign that said "Phi Sigma Sigma loves the 3-Day" and I made lots of friends. I was on very good behavior and Mommy said I was a really big girl. We were happy to introduce Amber to the 3-Day - this was her first 3-Day event!

30 Weeks - Belly Shots!

Chloe Post: We're Having Weather

Mommy figured we'd have a bit of a break between the 90 degree days and my needing a winter a coat, but she was wrong! It was 52 degrees when we left the house on Monday. Thank goodness I have finally grown into the winter coat that Aunt Diane bought last year.

Isn't it so fabulous? It's lined with fur which I'm sure is mink and it has two puppies and a hood. Also, Mommy is not getting this Vera Bradley lunch bag back. It's mine now. Just FYI, Mommy.

Today, it was warmer, but it was raining (AGAIN). Rain is when watey comes from the sky. Oy. Thankfully, Mommy hooked me up last night at Kohl's with some new fall clothes - I got three pairs of jeans, two sweatshirts, two long sleeved onesies, two pairs of PJs, one Christmas ornament and a toy. Amber got a lounging outfit and one Christmas ornament. Mommy got one tee shirt. Poor Daddy got nothing. I'm actually fine with this division of wealth.

Chloe Post: I Love the Zoo!

On Sunday, Mommy and I picked up Mom-Mom and met up with some of the Phi Sigs to do the National Kidney Foundation Walk at the Philadelphia Zoo! This is my 3rd year at this event. Last year, I mostly hung out in my stroller and the time before I was in Mommy's tummy.

Here I am with Logan in the Children's Zoo - we had a lot of fun driving this tractor!

I really liked taking care of the goats by brushing them and petting them.

Mom-Mom did not.

She said that I'm her hero because I am so brave.

When Mommy and I went to the zoo with Sam, this baby giraffe was much smaller and would follow the mommy giraffe all around. Now, it was bigger and much more independent. Like me.

Whew! We had so much fun, but Mom-Mom and I were really tired at the end!

What a good day!

Mommy's Must Reads for All the Preggos Out There

While Waiting - This is the book my GP gave me when I first became pregnant with Chloe. I advise that you find ONE (only one) "this is what my body is doing and what I should do if it does something I don't understand" book and for the first pregnancy, this was mine. And we liked it fine, until my health insurance sent me this one when I was first pregnant this time:

Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy - "Honey, it's from the Mayo Clinic! This is way better than that cheapy book." - Ed, Science Guy

Defining Your Own Success - Breastfeeding After Breast Reduction Surgery - Some of you know about the emotional and physical challenges I faced as I tried so hard to breastfeed Chloe. This book helped me because it offered stories that showed that different things were possible for different people and helped me release the guilt I felt over what was possible for me. Up to a point. Then it annoyed me and I threw it across the room.

Mother Shock - Loving Every (Other) Minute - I think this should be handed out to every new mother - either at her shower or when she's leaving the hospital. It addresses the fact that we don't know what the hell we're doing the first time around and the guilt we feel over not knowing what to do what pop culture has assured us we should know inherently. And then she started whining about the pressures of figuring out what to do every day (I wish I could afford to stay home and take my kid to a museum EVERY.SINGLE.DAY) and then I had to throw it across the room. But, the first half of the book is freakin' stellar.

Belly Laughs and Baby Laughs - I love me some Jenny McCarthy. The first book is about pregnancy and the second is about the first year of Mommyhood. The pregnancy book is my fave. EVERY bad thing that can happen as a side effect of pregnancy happened to her and she tells you ALL about it. And it makes you feel better when you look at your own swollen feet or stretch marks or bathroom scale.

The Mommy Chronicles - This is my fave right now. It's the email conversations of two best friends in different cities who were pregnant at the same time. The pregnancy part is mostly fun (some stress about jobs, husbands, etc), but mostly fun. But, then one of them gets Post Partum Depression and one did not. And I found it tremendously important. I did not have PPD with Chloe, but I went a little crazy when she was around 6 weeks old. Ed was a Godsend because he recognized it for what it was and did such a good job taking care of me and helping me. I can't imagine the horrors of PPD, and I know that I'm lucky that I had but a taste from the well. We don't talk about PPD enough. We just don't. And the fact that the friend without it really didn't know how to support her friend who had it (even though they had kids at the same time), was very telling. It was an important part of their journey as new moms and friends. Also, they did everything else opposite - one co-slept and worked full time and breastfed. The other (with PPD) quit her job, used a crib, bottlefed (after trying breastfeeding). It's interesting to watch them navigate those differences without judging.