Aven at 18 months

Aven turned 18 months, and she is a source of joy for her Mommy, Daddy, and especially her big sister Rory. Aven is our little scientist, constantly exploring the world around her, figuring out how things work, watching for dogs and other animals, and telling us everything that is on her mind (in a language that only Aven understands). You can watch her in action in this video, in which Aven is stacking cans and celebrating her success.

Aven has an expanding vocabulary and impressive climbing skills, her development accelerated, we believe, by how much she wants to do everything Rory is doing. Aven also loves her books, often falling to sleep while "reading" one (as in this picture).

Aven is 31 inches tall (30th percentile) and 21 pounds (10th percentile), very similar to Rory at this same age.

Halloween: The main event

Finally, after so many test runs, Rory and Aven were let loose on Lee Street in historic Alexandria. "Mardi Gras for Kids" is what we call it.
Rory led the way, holding hands with her friend Greta.
Rory was a trick-or-treat pro this year, wiggling her way in front of the other little monsters.
And, of course, Rory would find the politician on the block, choosing to ask for a "treat" from our Congressman (re-elected three days later).

And where was Aven? Our little girl preferred to take it all in from the comfort of her stroller.

Halloween: More test runs

In addition to the neighborhood parade the weekend before Halloween, the kids had a few opportunities to wear their costumes, including at daycare, where the older kids got to go trick-or-treating at the local Fairmont hotel.

Later in the day, Rory and Aven visited the Advisory Board Company for the annual Halloween party, which included trick-or-treating throughout the office.

Some of Daddy's colleagues created a "haunted house" amidst their cubicles. Aven was a fan.

Rory and her friend Alice enjoyed decorating the baby pumpkins (perhaps the permanent pens were not the best idea).

"Hey, what about me?"

Then, on Sunday, before the main event, we went to a friend's house for pizza and fun.

Aven was not quite sure that she wanted to share the popcorn with R2D2.

Daddy's Halloween Festivities

This Halloween weekend, Daddy enjoyed several activities of his own. On Saturday, he and Uncle Allen braved the crowds to attend the Rally to Restore Sanity on the national mall. Although we couldn't see much of the stage, we did circulate among the throngs of people and get into the spirit of the event.
Some of the hundreds of thousands of people had a great view from the National Archives.
While Daddy was on the mall, Rory and Mommy watched the event from home.
When Daddy is not attending rallies, he's honing his skills as a food artist. Witness pizza-mango-broccoli man!
Then, on Sunday, Daddy and Uncle Allen ran the 10K version of the Marine Corp Marathon.
We had a good time ... and were inspired to consider running the longer version of the race some day. Stay tuned.