Daddy & Della at the Park ...

Several weekends ago, following our first trip to the Circus, we stopped at a local park to burn off some energy before heading home. Della loves her parks and loves it even more when Daddy is the one to play with her. 

Note the expressions ... Della was very proud to be riding with the big kids. 

Daddy is just a big kid at heart ... 

October in general ...

I'm pretty sure I missed most of October. Between working my pregnant rear-end off in preparation for maternity leave and simply being pregnant ... the month flew by. 

I figured we could do with an October Della update ... as captured by my phone. 

In August I had posted Della's seemingly huge growth spurt and transition from size 6 to size 7 toddler shoe. Little did I know that in less than 2 months Della would move from size 7 to size 8!  A few days ago I noticed that my rapidly growing daughter had started walking 'funny' in her shoes. I asked our Nanny to keep an eye on it and sure enough, she confirmed Della had outgrown her size 7's. I'm not sure how fast kids are supposed to grow but this seems a tad quick. 

Although Della wears mostly 2nd hand clothing I do tend to splurge on outerwear and shoes ... and by splurge I mean brand new but on-sale/clearance/etc. During a quick trip to the mall (love Nordstom Rack) both Stark and I purchased Della some new shoes ... can you tell which pair daddy picked out? Seems I'm the practical one and Daddy is the sucker for his little princesses demands ... they light up when she walks!

 Della has been honing in her signing and dancing skills. She mostly sings in the shower which is hard to capture on camera but she'll dance whenever music is present. This particular dance session makes me smile ... her footwork is impressive.

Although Della spent much of her summer swimming in the hot tub, we weren't actually living in this house at the time. We've been in the house nearly a month now and randomly one afternoon she grabs her swimming gear and asks to go outside for the 'bubbles'.  She was very persistent ... although it didn't take too much prodding for Stark to bend to her will. 

 As I get more and more pregnant my evening activities get less and less active. As it turns out, Della is very happy to join me for an evening kid friendly movie and a bowl of popcorn. Turns out she can darn near eat a whole bowl of popcorn on her own!

We inherited this bassinet in a recent Craigslist bundle of baby boy stuff ... it's turned out to be Della's favorite play thing. I don't know that the baby boy will actually be allowed to use it. It's pretty typical for Della to pull in all her favorite stuffed animals (babies) to join her in a pretend sleep session. 

I don't know if I should be worried or amazed. Recently Della found a box of outlet plugs and proceeded to organize them on her highchair. Note the very specific, linear layout. She occupied herself with this for nearly 15 minutes ... before flinging them all on the floor. 

My girl is a busy one ... I'm looking forward to seeing her transition from an only child to an older sister. Although the transition may be rough I think she'll make a fantastic big sister. 

Lions, Tigers, & Bears ... The Circus!

For my birthday we took Della to the Circus specifically to see the Lumpy's (Elephants). We weren't sure how she'd do but figured we would give it a shot. 

Della's First Circus!

Circus Preshow

She really was excited to see the Lumpy ... Really!

Her 'own' box of popcorn ...

Taking in the sights from our front row seats!

Her first candy! She really liked the Reeses pieces ... takes after her daddy. 

The tail came in handy as she could leave her seat but couldn't 'escape'. 

Honestly ... we did watch the Circus ... we just didn't take many pictures. The Greatest Show on Earth is not what it used to be. One tiny ring instead of three. No lions, tigers, or bears. And the performers looked exhausted, under paid, and dressed in worn out cheap costumes. But that's the Adult viewpoint. 

Della saw fancy glittery costumes, fun dances, entertaining tricks, horses, dogs, and Elephants!  And that's when we left ... 

She lasted to see the Elephants perform and then, after nearly 2 hours, she melted down when I wouldn't let her follow the Elephants back behind the curtain. 

Overall, Della's First Circus was a success!