Once you have kids, it seems like there are 3 inescapable constants every year as we start detecting that chill in the air...
(1) The mandatory kids with pumpkin pictures. I guess it's just one of those hallmark of childhood I feel they (yes, I mean the 2- and 4-legged kids) should have memories of.
This year it's with quite a bit of hilarity that we noticed we have a picture of Bryson and Eva on the exact same bale of hay, in the exact same pumpkin patch (Farmer Joe's, Half Moon Bay, in case you're curious), on almost the exact same day as one from 3 years ago. I blame it on the fact that we don't have enough dog-friendly pumpkin patches in the Bay Area.
Now...
And then...
Looks like someone learned how to pose. I swear I didn't teach her that.
(2) Princess dresses for Halloween.
Remember the days when we could dress the kids up as anything (e.g. pharaoh and sphinx, remember?) for our own entertainment? Well, those days are long gone. Last year was the first year Eva requested to be a princess. A fairy princess to be exact (with Bryson as her trusty magical steed). This year? What? Princess again??
I know I had to come up with a more creative idea (I'll die if I have to sew the same princess dress in a different color tulle 2 years in a row). So after much fabric shop perusing, brainstorming and negotiating, we zeroed in on this pair of whimsical characters from a children's book we both love:
Jon Muth's Zen Ghosts. It's one of the books in the Stillwater series, where the main character Stillwater, a zen master who happens to be a panda, instills wisdom (often in haiku) to 3 sibling children. Eva is enamored with this character Addy, the girl sibling, who in this book chose to be a Moon Princess for Halloween.
I don't think Eva gets the message of this book (and frankly there are bits that go above my own un-zen head as well), but she's convinced she wants to be Moon Princess when she saw Addy's flowy gown, covered with butterflies that seemingly jump off the page (the artwork in this book is simply amazing, you have to see it to believe such exquisite art exist in children's book). And I'm convinced as I see the opportunity to dress Bryson as a kimono-wearing panda bear... (*evil chuckle*)
I can't find a pattern for a dress that looks like the character's, but found one for a kimono-esque dress that can be sewn by attaching 2 rectangles that I can modify to give it butterfly "wings". Smells like a winner...
And it is! Super duper easy- you fold up a piece of fabric, sew 2 lines to create the body, cut a neck hole, cut and hem the sleeves (and other unfinished edges), and add a elastic waist. That's pretty much it. Even I who haven't sewn in eons managed to whip it up in a day. And during the course discovered that this narrow hem foot is my new best friend.
But of course it wouldn't be complete without the butterflies. I toyed wth the idea of stenciling them on (if I can find/ make the stencils), but after some trial and error, decided it's actually easiest to just paint them with diluted acrylic paint for a water-color effect. I probably can't wash it, but heck it's probably going to be worn a grand total of 3 times (if I'm lucky), and acrylic paint is what I have at home, and so acrylic paint is what goes on...
Ta da! Not too shabby I must say.
But a few unexpected business trips later, Stillwater is embarrasingly naked, and now suspiciously resemble a cheap Pablo-Sandoval knock-off panda...
Thus the super grumpy look... Doesn't help that his sister looks so put together, with a lantern as her nifty little candy basket to be filled with all sorts of goodies that's completely off-limits to him...
It also doesn't help that the darn panda kept falling over his face, but on he trudged without a grudge (while bumping into a few things along the way...)
You gotta give him the best sport award, to have gone on the entire parade with us in the village without complaint.
And of course this is another opportunity to throw some face painting on that little face! It's really pretty fun, some day if I win the lotto you may find me as the face painting lady at a street fair in your hood...
So, wrapping up #2, P for Princess, that leaves us with...
(3) Pneumonia.
Yep, you read it right, someone had her second pneumonia. Those of you with kids will be familiar with this: your kid has the runny nose, which seems to be perpetual almost the entire season, so you don't think much of it. Then she develops a cough, and she looks kinda irritable. Then she has a low grade temp, you give them some children's Advil and send them off to bed, thinking it will pass, only to be awaken at 2 am with a child screaming by your bedside, while hurling her entire stomach's content into your hair...
That's us. Except that this time the fever was up to almost 105. We could feel the heat radiating off her head without even touching her. I was skeptical when the advise nurse on the phone said we should just keep her home, cool her off and keep up with the antipyretic. Really, at 105?? But miraculously, even before I could decide what to do, she fell back asleep with the ice pack on her head.
Long story short, a doctors visit the next day and a course of antibiotics later, she's good as new again. I just hope this really isn't going to become a yearly ritual. And now I've said it out loud (at least electronically), I've officially jinxed it and it wouldn't happen, right?
Anyway, wish you all a happy, healthy (pneumonia-free!) fall this year!
