In the spirit of Halloween Chloe's mom hosted two dress-up play dates, giving the girls lots of opportunities to dress-up in their costumes.
The first was a week ago Monday, and Holly dressed up as a little Lady Bug. Both Katherine and I purchased two costumes for our girls, so they would have options, thus two dress-up play dates.
On this particular day there was a torrential rain pour, I think weather coming in from a Tsunami across the ocean finding its way to our shores.
Kat was scheduled to work with karma, so I had leave the house to drop her off anyways, so I packed the costume up in a bag, put on Red Tights and a Black Onezie and hopped into the car.
When we arrived everyone joked that Holly looked like a gymnast, and hardly needed another costume, but the little lady Bug was eager to spread her wings.
The fact of the matter is, her wings didn't do a very good job staying on, so they came off quickly, after a few key photo ops of course.
Later I also wondered why her costume didn't come with cute little antennae, like Chloe's cat ears. I doubt she would have kept them on, but it would have been really cute.
Sarah also came over for the play date, but because of the rain decided not to wear her costume. it turns out that she hates it. It is like a fairy costume, with taffeta skirts and she did not like the material.
She of course looked adorable in her little sweater vest, but Katherine and I were sad to see that Holly and Chloe were the only ones dressed up.
Thatcher and tanner joined us too. We were so excited to see Thatcher, we haven't since his first birthday, which has been at least a month. He was so smiley today, and walking.
Sarah is also walking now, which is pretty amazing. It is still so neat to see her do it, she is good, but sometimes a little uneasy and wobbly which is so sweet.
Here she is looking at Holly's snack trap, she had just finished all of the puffs and were hoping there would be more, but alas the extras were through the rain and in the car.
Here Holly is fliting around sharing a toy with Isabel. Not only are the three girls so familiar with each other, but they are starting to become very comfortable with all of the mommies.
Here is Sarah taking a break on Katherine's lap. She weights over 30 pounds, compared to Chloe's less the 19. She had her picked up, but then needed to sit. She wasn't used to the weight.
I love this picture. It is of Isabel, but you can see in the background how Holly and Chloe are causing trouble and climbing on top of each other inside the toy box.
This was such a cute little costume Chloe wore. The other one she has was tinker bell. Since my last costume post was a wordless Wednesday I can walk about it here. The Tinkerbell was the family costume.
She wore it with mom and Dad, Katherine dressed up as Wendy and Eric as peter Pan. The three of them took a family picture and look so adorable. It was really cute.
The party this week turned out a little better, more people came, and more people dressed up. Last week, not only did people not dress up a few cancelled due to the rain.
Holly was a which the following week, a costume Kat likes much better. I think the issue with both costumes is that the accessory's don't stay on. the lady Bug wings are on a single piece of thin Velcro.
The witches hat, well, that has no band to hold it on, and I couldn't keep it on long enough for a picture. Which is funny since Holly is so fond of putting Buckets, and bags, and baskets on her heads.
Also this week we had a Tiger in attendance (Flynn) and Tanner got dressed up as a little old man in a "suit and tie" which was a super cute idea for a simple costume. Gabriel came dressed up as Nemo. Since the kids won;t all be trick or treating together, it was such a good idea to have these dress up play dates.
Here Holly and Chloe are ready Fuzzy Fuzzy which I was told is Chloe's favorite book. I don;t think Katherine Realizes it, but it is one of the gifts we got her for her birthday. I am so glad she liked it.
It is a good book, we ordered it online and when it arrived we almost kept it for ourselves and got her something else, but then decided holly could read it when she was visiting Chloe, and didn't need yet another book.
And we were right, she did. Here she is watching Sarah take a ride in the little push car. She is a very well behaved and patient girl waiting for her turn. Sarah does not wait so graciously, but I think it is because its her Mommy pushing the other kids.
So not only does she want to keep riding, but she wants her mommy all to herself, it is quite cute. Here my little lady bug is rolling around on the couch, she has stolen Sarah's water, but Isabel doesn't mind.
Here Chloe is drinking her juice. I am amazed that Katherine lets her use the tilty all on her own, Holly would dump it upside down after the first sip. But Chloe doesn't until she isn't thirsty any more.
We were telling Felicia, Thatcher;s mom how much we loved the cup (she gave them to us) all of our friends ask about them. it was such a treat to see her. Her Daycare lady had some type of emergency, so she got to stay home with Thatcher.
Lucky for us that meant she brought him over to visit with us. Here are Chloe and Holly playing with Chloe's basket of food. In addition to this, I saw in her room that Katherine got her the same set of foods I saw at Costco.
Its three baskets with each meal. Holly has them and has made a mess that stretches from one side of the living room through the kitchen and to the backdoor.
But now with her Kitchen, Shopping Cart, Basket, and Play Food she has so many new fun imaginative play toys, her play and imitation has become much more sophisticated.
Here she is with the Bucket hat. it totally matches her little lady bug outfit. I joked the next week that we could put the witches hat on it, and then she would wear it.
Here the girls are taking a little water break. it may have been cold and rainy outside, but it was still warm in the play room, especially with all those costumes and layers on.
These last few pictures here are all ones I considered entering into I heart Faces. The bucket, Balloon, and wings all make for a very sweet little lady bug.
I really like this one, it was my runner up. The smile on her face is so amazing. She has become very expressive, you can see confusion, curiosity, joy, glee, excitement, awe, all in her eyes now.
She isn't my little baby any more, she is a full blown toddler, all grown up. Its hard to believe she is so big, I swallow to say it, but she is 19 and 1/2 months old, time goes by too fast.
I love this picture. It is of Isabel, but you can see in the background how Holly and Chloe are causing trouble and climbing on top of each other inside the toy box.
We were telling Felicia, Thatcher;s mom how much we loved the cup (she gave them to us) all of our friends ask about them. it was such a treat to see her. Her Daycare lady had some type of emergency, so she got to stay home with Thatcher.
We had a big play date a few weeks ago at Studio Grow, It was our first time back for a while, and Kat's first time there.
It was so much fun. Holly's play gets more and more sophisticated every time we go. She still runs around in circles around the whole place when we arrive.
But she is interested in more things. Here is little miss Chloe who loved going down the slide. Holly wasn't as into this slide as she used to be.
Here Holly is rolling around on the gym mat in the large playroom. She likes crashing into the mats and foam blocks.
This baby was about 6 months old and Holly wanted to get a close look at her and got down to her level and was inspecting her. Trying to figure out I think if she was a doll or not.
I can almost here her say "I didn't do it" as she looks around and surveys the mess of blocks in every direction, she is big enough to crawl into the table on her own.
Sarah joined us at Studio Grow. This was her first time here. I think she had a lot of fun. She wasn't walking just yet but she found other ways to get around.
Holly spent some time in the dancing room this visit as well, she liked watching herself in the mirror and doing her happy dance.
I thought this was so cute, I love the expression on Isabel's face. Deep thought, concentration, boredom, all wrapped into one. The girls were having fun showing her the little animals.
Holly is also starting to become more interested int he art room and art supplies. She can sort of use a crayon, she can certainly make marks, but they are like little dots or light scribbles.
Here is Satine. She likes the art room a lot too. Both girls were very interested in the crayons, and we used it as an opportunity to tell them there colors.
Satine is also just learning how to draw. She is a little more controlled and can get more of a back and forth pattern.
Here the girls are playing with some home made play dough, Sandrine is making sure they don't eat it. I think Holly would really like the sensory aspects of it, but she still puts everything in her mouth.
This is the baby room, the girls have completely outgrown it by now, but it does make a quiet get away and Studio Grow wasn't very crowded so the little babies weren't using it.
I particularly like the mirror with the ballerina bar, that is the perfect height for the girls. But the big foam blocks and climbers are a lot of fun too.
Here Holly is playing with a keyboard and sitting like a big girl, it is amazing to see her climbing in and out of chairs now. When we cleaned out Joel's office we found some old keyboards.
So we added them to her toy box collection. She really likes them. She has a toy laptop too, but some times she likes to pull the keyboard out and type on it.
Here we are back in the dancing room. She is tickling herself with the pom pom. She had a lot of fun playing with it, running around the room, Mommy saying "Shake, Shake, Shake"
There was a bin of music supplies too, little bell bracelets and anklets, which she took off the moment I put them on, but still ran around with as they jingled.
They dumped out the entire basket of stuff and had a really fun time. Though the variety of stuff to choose from is much more limited compared to music class.
Ruby also joined us on the play date. You can see her in the back ground above, chewing on a pompom. They were all intrigued with the wall size mirror and watching each other.
Sarah is such a little scientist. She is very inquisitive, and curious. Holly will grab something new shake it around, run with it and then toss it aside, 
but Sarah was really trying to figure it what it was and how exactly it worked and what all of the pieces are, which i think is pretty cool
Here Chloe has one of those long rainbow ribbons that you see dancerettes spinning and making designs with. I think they are used in the Rhythmic Gymnastics section of the Olympic games too.
Another good thing to do with the bells is eat them. Not sure how hygienic it is, but all the kids do it, and I am not the kind of mom who worries so much about germs, if she gets them, the better for her immune system.
Here Chloe has the "whole enchilada" We entwined the bells with the ribbons, and then attached them to the pom poms, so when you shook it, they would jingle and flow.
Its a lot of heft for an itsy bitsy little girl, but she gave us quite a show, her Mommy sang "Big Steps, Little Steps" which she then preformed for us, its her favorite Yo Gabba Gabba song.
Then it was time to clean up. These toys are technically reserved for the Music Circle they have in the morning, but someone took them out of the cabinet, so we had to put them all away when we were ready to move to the next room.
This is the Roller Coaster. You ride this little car down the wavy track, she is big enough to hold on tight and go down on her own now, but I remember when she was too little to do that, like yesterday.
Here Holly is teaching Chloe bad habits, or is it the other way around. Regardless, two mischievous peas in a pod, they decided to make the block table there club house.
Of course Sarah wanted in on the action, just a little squeeze here and a nudge there and there would be plenty of room for all three of them. They thought it was so funny and helped her climb in.
When they were done Sarah helped the other girls climb back out. I think she is taller then both of them has longer legs, higher center of gravity. so climbing in and out was no problem.
We ended the playdate with a little puppet show. Mrs Penguin and Mr rabbit were having a fun time playing, and then Holly ran and snatched up miss leopard to join in on the fun.
Mr. Elephant came and stole the show. We had a blast at Studio Grown, and went home exhausted from our long day.
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