Preparing for the Party!

Last year, we blew up our own balloons.  This year we bought helium balloons.  So much easier.  Frances was worried about the balloons being spread around properly.  And she picked out the outfit herself.

We also kept the cake simpler this year.  Last year, we tried to make a fondant affair ourselves, and ended up ordering a cake at the last minute.  This year, we stuck to good old butter cream frosting.  So much simpler.

Soon, we'll have this birthday party thing down to a science.  Or, we'll have every one meet up at Chuck E. Cheese.

The Big 4!

We've made it to Four!  Past the Terrible Twos!  Past the Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me About This? Threes!  All the way to Four.  It was a great first day of Four.  I wanted to have a special breakfast.  Pancakes? No, Frances doesn't like them.  Cinnamon rolls?  No, Frances thinks they're too sticky.  Dough nuts? Yes, Frances likes dough nuts.  The sweeter, the better.  So, she had a Dunkin' Donuts Holiday Star. 

And Daddy tried a dough nut, too.

Then Daddy went to work and Frances and I got her ready for her school day.  The Montessori school that she attends invites their students to celebrate their birthdays by bringing in a poster documenting the big events of their lives.  Most families put some photos on a piece of poster board, but Frances's dad is Mark Upton.  Mark Upton put dozens of photos on a piece of foam core cut into the shape of a four.

We were all fairly pleased with it.

Frances's birthday presentation at school went well, I think.  I talked about the poster with Chandler strapped to my front but Frances didn't seem upset to have her sister be part of the presentation; Frances got up in the middle of it to kiss Chandler, which seems like a good sign.

After school, Frances wanted to have her nails painted.  I set up a faux salon mostly to keep Chandler from helping, but it pleased Frances to have a special seat, too.

Next up, the birthday party!

Instead of my usual Fun Facts, I thought I'd throw in some interview questions with Frances.

• What's your whole name? "Frances Upton." [Correct answer: Frances Elliott Upton.]
• How old are you? "Four."
• Where do you live?  "Boston, right here."  [Jamaica Plain also would have been an acceptable answer.]
• What's your mom's name?  "Morgan Upton, I mean Morgan." [Correct answer: Morgan Hayward.]
• How old is your mom? "I'm not sure, 50? Are you 50? 60?"  [This is not correct.]
• What's your mom's favorite thing to do?  "Write with me."  [At this moment, her mother's favorite thing to do is drink coffee, or sleep.  Either one would work.]
• What do you like your mom to do? "Write stuff for me and read books with me every night."
• What's your dad's name? "Mark Upton." [Correct answer: Mark Elliott Upton.]
• How old is daddy? "Wait a second, I don't know." [She went to ask Mark.] "37." [This is cheating.]
• What's daddy's favorite thing to do? "Draw with me." [Correct answer: as little as possible.]
• What does dad like to eat? "Sandwiches and he likes to drink Diet Coke." [At least 50% accurate; the man likes Diet Coke.]
• What do you like to do with Daddy? "Draw with him? Draw with him."
• Who do you live with? "Daddy, Chandler and you." [Smart girl.]
• What's your favorite food? "Turkey, french fries, chicken nuggets." [I'm so proud right now.]
• What don't you like to eat? "Turkey sandwiches with salad on it."
• What's your favorite color? "Pink, purple, blue."
• What makes you happy? "When Chandler popped out your tummy."  [Hmmm...]
• What makes you sad? "When Chandler pulls my necklace."  [I sympathize, I really do.]
• What's your favorite thing to do?  "Play with Chandler baby."  [She's currently offering Chandler small toys to choke on.]
• What's your favorite toy? "Puppy and my unicorn."  [I have no idea what she means by "puppy."]
• What's your favorite animal? "Ponies."
• What's your favorite book?  "A Nightmare Moon book."  [We have no such book.  Nightmare Moon is the bad guy on My Little Ponies.  Please, no one send us this book.]
• What is your favorite song? "A pony song."  [Maybe she means the theme song from My Little Ponies?  Again, I am so proud right now.]
• What is your favorite game?  "My favorite game playing a balloon game."  [We happen to have a balloon with us right now.]
• What is your favorite thing to do at school? "Write down things."  [Maybe she'll be an author?!]
• What do you want to be when you grown up?  "I just want to be five and that's it.  Dance and keep my balance like a flamingo."  [Only "flamingo" sounded more like "fan mail."]

So, there you have it.  Frances from the horse's mouth.  This was entertaining.  What else can I ask her about?

Nine Months of Baby Chandler

Nine Month Fun Facts

• Mobility - Lots and lots of pulling up, and a little bit of pushing that white chair around as seen in the above picture (actually, my foot is in the bottom left hand corner of the picture, holding the chair in place).
• Sleeping - so much better! A little sleep training goes along way.
• Teeth - nope.  Mark said the other day that this kid is going to walk before she starts teething.  I don't think it's going to come to that but it's going to be close.
• Obsessions - Still interested in the refrigerator, but the dishwasher is so much better.  So many more things to pull out and chew on.
• Tricks - Waving and clapping.  The waving seems more random than communicative, but it's still darn cute.

Life with Chandler

Pulling up?

Check.

Check.

Check.

Check.

A little more Halloween fun...

...at yet another farm.

This area is lousy with them.  This is the seventh one featured on this blog I can think of off the top of my head.

I love it.

A few days before Halloween, Frances, Chandler and I went to the Newton Community Farm to participate in some seasonal activities.

Frances made a paper jack-o-lantern and...

...a spider.

We also sampled several kinds of apples and listened to Halloween stories.  I couldn't get her interested in the apple cider press, but that just left more cider for me to drink.  That seems to be a theme lately...

Thirty-Seven Weeks

Lantern Parade

Big excitement at the Hayward-Uptons!

A local organization, Spontaneous Celebrations, a.k.a. Those Hippies, puts on an annual parade around Jamaica Plain's pond just before Halloween.  All the kids make lanterns, get dressed up and walk around the pond, or as far around the pond as their parents care to herd them.  We didn't attempt it last year, but this year Frances was all for it.

She went as a Fairy/Ballerina.  Think lots of pink and girlyness.  Old mom did her best to get Frances's hair into a bun and then introduced Frances to blush.  

Frances liked the blush.

She was just a touch pleased with herself.  She originally wore the tutu to my friend Tara's wedding, when she was seven months old.  

Chandler was a flower.  They aren't visible in the picture, but her shoes had ladybugs on them.  If you could see the ladybugs, you'd totally understand how Chandler looked like a flower.

After getting all dressed up, we headed over to the Pond.  There was quite a crowd, but the light was fading fast so we didn't get a lot of pictures.  This is Mark and Chandler just before heading around the pond.

One last shot of the Fairy/Ballerina and her lantern.

It was really fun and a little chaotic.  Think about gobs of people wandering around in the dark with costumes and candles.  Next year, I'll try to bring hot beverages.  Hot coffee with a shot of Kahlua cider would hit the spot.

Life with Frances

I asked Frances to help arrange the tatter tots for baking.  They started out spread around the baking sheet.  Then Frances fixed them.

I think she's related to Mark Upton.

Thirty-Six Weeks