Easy Street

Halloween rocked this year. Rosemary wanted to go as Annie, her unstoppable 24 hour-a-day passion. Specifically, she wanted to be "Annie Without a Wig, Because That Would Be Too Itchy on My Head." Well, REALLY, she wanted to be Molly, the littlest orphan. But I nixed that right off, because I think going as a generic ragamuffin in tattered clothes might be frowned upon in these modern times. So anyway, she settled happily on Annie and I happily ordered her a costume from the world wide web. Her costume was extremely NOT handmade, which I felt a little lame about, but hey, it's what she wanted and she wore it with glee. (I think of my friend who handcrafted an elaborate Mrs Tiggywinkle hedgehog costume for her daughter last year only to have it utterly rejected. Good thing she got to recycle it on her 1 year old this year.)
Rosemary wanted Jason to be Daddy Warbucks - of course - and me to be Ms Hannigan, singing Little Girls as I walked down the street. This seemed a natural enough choice, given that we are awaiting the arrival of twins, both girls (due February). I got Jason what turned out to be the Very Worst Bald Cap in the World - basically half a flesh-colored balloon. And I went as Ms. Hannigan, but after the fact I realized I just didn't hooch it up enough and instead looked way more like Nancy Reagan. People figured out Rosie's costume right off, of course, and then one step later point at Jason and say, "And Daddy Warbucks!" and then just flash me a puzzled look. Conservative lady with slightly loopy fashion sense? Oh well. Next year I'm just going to wear the bald cap.

You can trick or treat very efficiently around here. People sit out on their stoops dispensing candy, so there are no pesky doorbells to ring. Last year Rosemary was done after about 2 streets. This year she went on for an hour, which was great fun but she ended up with way too much candy for a 3 year old. Good thing I know how to remedy that.

A highlight was when we were on Tomkins Place and a woman (one of the homeowners sitting on her stoop) came rushing out to us on the sidewalk. We'd skipped her house because she was playing some scary music that freaked out our little sound-sensitive Annie. She said she wanted to see Rosie's costume because she just loved Annie, and then allowed as how she'd played Pepper (one of the orphans) on Broadway for a number of years. Reason Number 698 to love Brooklyn!

Dreamy

At this point, with Rosemary pushing 4, it's probably an invasion of her privacy to post her dreams. But maybe just this once? Only because I almost always ask her if she had any interesting dreams, and she always says no. She's mum on nightmares too, even when she is wide awake and lucid after them. I assume she just doesn't remember. But the other day she woke up and said, "I had a dream about a ballet teacher, but it wasn't Miss Marie, and I was going to her house and she had a really big field. And the field was inside her house!" It was just such a dream-dream, where everything is nearly normal but just one step beyond into weird, and things unspool in unexpected ways.

We also heard her yelling adamantly in her sleep the other night, "I REALLY don't want to!" I figure most of her nightmares involve me and Jason making her brush her teeth.