Hurray Hurray, the democrats have taken back congress!

Now I know how Red Sox fans felt when they won the World Series. Is it nerdy to say politics is way more fun as a spectator sport than baseball? Probably.

Just now, Claire Helen and I were coloring, and she got out the white crayon. After swirling it around (on the Big! Giant! PIZZA! she was drawing), she looked at me very very seriously, and said "Mommy this one doesn't work. It needs new batteries." It's a good thing she says cute things like this, otherwise when she does things like break a window pane on the front door by kicking it during a fit, I might just leave her on the front porch for gypsies. We had friends over yesterday afternoon, and none of them believed me that Claire Helen 1) ever had a tantrum or 2) even if 1, certainly not with kicking and property damage. It was a surprise to me, actually, since lately she's been a great little egg, but I guess two is two.

Claire Helen is working a lot on relationships lately. Claire Jane* and Claire Helen have recently blossomed into great little friends. I think I always would have said they were good buddies, but I would have meant that in the sense that they were slightly less likely to bonk each other on the head than some of their other aquaintences. They've got a cute little bond going right now, and Claire Helen even made her first long distance phone call (to Claire Jane) while we were in California. They light up to see each other, and almost anywhere we go, Claire Helen says, "And prolly Claire Jane will be there?" No, Claire Helen, I don't think Claire Jane is going to be on the ferry. Good try, though.

We had a really great Halloween. In the morning we had some toddler buddies over all dressed up (Simon is pretty sure he's one of the toddlers, too). The highlight of that little party was seeing two bumblebees, a cowboy, a unicorn, a bee, and a kangaroo all huddled around the playroom window trying to get a looksee at the jackhammer working out back. In the afternoon we went to the outdoor mall near here to trick or treat with some friends, which Simon found invigorating, and Claire Helen found terrifying. After we got home, Mat and I took turns goin with Claire Helen around the neighborhood, which was one of those iconoclastic parenting moments. She loved picking out which houses were lit up enough to go up to, and just being outside in the dark with a parent.

Below are some very poorly taken pictures of Halloween. Slightly less terrible 11 month photos of Simon, and a proper baby update, coming soon.


*Claire Helen has known Claire Jane since they were 4 weeks old, and her mom and I were in the same mom's group. Definitely it would have been easier if Claire Jane's mom had just named her kid Natalie, but it's cute to hear them talking about each other in such formal terms. "Where'd Claire Helen go?" "Mommy I wanna see Claire Jane!"