And then Marissa woke up and they brought her in...
On Halloween, Marissa was not feeling well so she went to bed early and didn't get to dress up but Lauren more than made up for her lack of participation. I took Lauren trick-or-treating and she literally had the time of her life. She took inventory of her candy situation after each house and for awhile could name which house gave her which treat, it was so funny. We did two streets in the cold and sometimes rain, and I know her feet hurt from the Ariel shoes she wanted so badly to wear, and then she was happy to come home and look at all of her treats and pass out candy to the last stragglers coming by. It really was a super fun night for all of us, except maybe Marissa.
At the beginning of November, Lauren started dance classes. The instructor comes to school and they do ballet and tap once a week; this was her first day, she was so excited.
Marissa also started to sit up on her own and is content just to hang out on the floor with a toy; this is one of her favorites.
And of course, as Halloween passes, we come to Lauren's birthday. This might have topped Halloween as her best day ever. Grandma and Granddad Sager came in for the occasion and when she woke up, she opened her presents from the family. After naptime, we had her birthday party at Gymboree and all of her best friends came - she was in heaven! I don't think the smile left her face the entire two hours, she was so happy and had so much fun!!
The next morning, since family was going to be in for Lauren's birthday, Marissa was baptized at our church. The service was really nice, and Ollie, the pastor, brought all of the children from the congregation up and they were on the steps below us. Lauren decided to lay down on the altar for some crazy reason but Marissa was a complete angel and smiled and hammed it up for everyone.
And then we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Stancills and their Nana. Rob cooked an amazing turkey and we feasted while keeping in mind all that we have to be thankful for, we truly are blessed.
This weekend we decorated the house for Christmas, and much like Halloween and her birthday, Lauren gets the concepts of holidays now so that makes everything so much more magical. She wore this hat all weekend long, it is an Ariel one and she got it for her birthday - she even matched the pajamas to it several times.
Today Marissa turns seven months old, she is past the halfway mark for her first year. She is a good eater, and not surprising, she prefers fruits to veggies. As I said, she loves sitting up and this weekend we set up the play zone, the one Lauren used to play in. Marissa is trying so hard to crawl but just can't get her hind region to cooperate, although she's very good at maneuvering around to get where she needs to be. I must confess that I want this one to stay immobile and my baby for as long as possible so I'm not complaining. No teeth yet either, but everything goes in the mouth - a challenge with a three-year-old who has toys and costume jewelery everywhere. Marissa is just a very sweet and happy baby and is Lauren's biggest fan, the two of them laugh hard at each other on the way home from school, it's my favorite sound in the world!
