October was a really fun month.  The four of us went to a Notre Dame game.  The girls were amazing!  Emma was cheering and asking lots of questions.  She was thrilled to be at a “REAL” football game.   Emma wore her Jeff Samardzija jersey.  She tells everyone that he is a wide receiver for the Irish.  She also learned the Notre Dame fight song, which she sings very well.  Ruthie was perfectly happy with her box of popcorn!

After South Bend we headed to Sittoo and Giddoo’s in Cleveland.  It was a very nice visit (as usual).  Auntie Suzie was there for a few days, which was an added bonus.  Sittoo and Giddoo took us to a cute little pumpkin patch that had activities and games just perfect for little kids.  The girls had a terrific time.  So did we big kids!

For my (Mommy's) birthday, Emma, Dt and I went to a Winnie the Pooh matinee performance at a local dinner theatre.  It was a great way to spend the day.  Emma really enjoyed it but was very confused at Pooh’s costume.  She couldn’t figure out why he looked so different.  When we arrived home from the play, Daddy and Ruthie had the house all decorated with signs, ballons and streamers for my birthday.  We wore party crowns, a birthday brownie with candles and had a little celebration.  It was so cute and thoughtful!

We spent lots of October afternoons at the playground to maximize outdoor time while we were still able!

Of course we ended the month with Halloween.  The girls were really cute in their costumes.  Emma was particularly patient with the face painting and itchy wig!

Ruthie’s vocabulary has taken off.  She communicates so well both verbally and through her sign language.  She loves giving kisses and hugs.  Emma has been working with her getting her to vocalize new sounds.  It is really cute and Ruthie listens intently to Emma’s direction and follows her. 

Aunt Veronica and Uncle John were visiting Dt and Opa’s from Wisconsin for a few weeks.  Ruthie was playing with some drink coasters at Dt and Opa’s and Veronica started counting them to Ruthie.  I told her that Ruthie couldn’t yet count and low and behold, the little tiny kid counted to 9!!!!!!!!!!!  I nearly fainted! 

Ruthie is also beginning to sing.  There is a song from our music class called Nanny Nanny Poppi and Ruthie loves it.  If we sing, “Nanny Nanny,” she will sing, “Poppi.”  I even changed the words around to fit the names of her grandparents: “Dt Dt,” and Ruthie will say, “Opa” or “Sittoo Sittoo,” and she’ll say “Diddoo!”  We also sing, “Gonna ride the Chattanooga,” and Ruthie will sing, “Choo choo!”

After we come in the house from an outing, we all take our shoes off and put them in the laundry room.  Ruthie is great about putting her own shoes away! She loves to help empty the dishwasher.  The only problem is that she empties it when we are filling it with dirty dishes!! Ruthie began genuflecting in church before and after we leave our pew.  It is so cute and is just the way her sister used to genuflect. She is still fascinated with boxes and anything with a lid.  She opens and closes them and puts things inside.  She has terrific fine motor skills for such a little thing. 

Emma is a terrific big sister and a wonderful and loving daughter.  She is also hilarious!  She has been telling jokes and she is really good at it!  One day I took Emma downtown with me to confession and Mass.  I took her in to the confessional with me.  While I was kneeling behind the screen, Emma was peeking around the screen to see who was back there.  The priest was getting distracted and they began a little conversation in the middle of my confession!!  After my absolution, the priest asked Emma what she was going to do that afternoon.  She told him that she was going to make a craft with me.  He said, “Who will you make the craft for?”  While she was thinking he said, “Oh, I see.  You are going to keep it for yourself, huh?”
She said, “No, actually I am going to make it for my grandmother Dt because she is not feeling well today.”  When we were saying our goodbyes the priest asked Emma to pray for him.  She said, “Ok, I will.  What is your name?”  The priest (who is elderly and was dressed in a Dominican habit) said, “Richard.”  Emma then replied (much to my horror) “Oh, hi Richard!”  

One morning while I was getting Emma dressed she began to holler and scream in frustration at both what I had picked out for her and how I was helping her get dressed.  Needless to say I was getting slightly frustrated and raised my voice at her.  While we were in the car about 15 minutes later, I said, “I’m sorry for raising my voice at you, Emma. Please try not to scream at me when I am getting you dressed.  You just have to use your words and tell me what is bothering you.”  She replied, “I’m sorry for screaming, Mommy.  I’m sorry for making you, you know, activated.”

Another day Emma overheard some friends of ours talking about a pregnancy and mentioned the word placenta.  Emma chimes in, “My Mommy has a placenta!”

One time while I was cooking and Emma was sitting in the kitchen with me she said, “So, Mommy, tell me about your childhood.”

Finally, last week the four of us went out to breakfast at our favorite breakfast restaurant.  We ended up being seated next to Indiana's Governor (Mitch Daniels) and his wife.  They greeted us warmly and told us how it seems like yesterday they were out at restaurants with their 4 girls when whey were little.  After we were seated, Steve explained to Emma what a governor is and she seemed pretty interested.  When the Governor and Mrs. Daniels stood up to leave, Emma introduced herself and proceeded to sing “Back Home Again in Indiana” for them.  It was so cute!