Caitlyn Portnoff

Here's Caitlyn in her stage music debut with her class (and the other pre-k classes at PS282). Sometimes, she goofs off a bit singing her own versions.

Caitlyn and I have done a lot of baking this year. So far we have made: heart cookies, apple pie, shamrock cookies, cupcakes, banana bread, chocolate chip banana bread, pumpkin cookies (sugar cookies in the shape of a pumpkin), pumpkin pie, and the cookies she is tasting here - christmas cookies.

For Caitlyn, this guy is the real Santa (not like the pretend Santa she sees on the TV shows).

The line went from the school, around the corner, down the block...


around the corner, and down the avenue....


and then around the corner and up the street again

As part of the ongoing Halloween festivities in the slope, we went to a cool party at Caitlyn's school. Here she is in her first sack race.

Caitlyn has officially declared Halloween her favorite holiday. It ranks above even Christmas (though not her birthday, which is not exactly a holiday). This year, she has decided to be a princess with glasses and a necklace, and the festivities are starting early.



Luckily, Park Slope is very accommodating, in that there are costume related festivities starting two weeks early. The first of these is the Park Slope Parents harvest festival, featuring face painting, and a petting zoo with a friendly pony that ate from Caitlyn's hand.




And, of course, we carved our pumpkins - one for daddy and one for Caitlyn.

It turns out that one of Caitlyn's most enduring memories is of the camping trip we went on with Jason and Louis last Labor day when she was just over 2 1/2. I found this out in August when, on my mentioning marshmallows, Caitlyn exclaimed, "We didn't go camping this year!" We had been so busy this year that it looked like it would not be until next year that we would get the chance.

On a recent visit, I mentioned this to Bill and Azalea who talked up how doable a fall trip would be. I didn't know that Caitlyn was paying so much attention, but later she presented me with a doodle that she pronounced a camping map, with a dot she termed the safe camping spot. That safe camping spot later got cut out and taped to the wall in a place of honor.

With that drive, I got into gear and planned a trip to Beartown state forest near where I grew up. With little time to plan, and little room for the unknown, we went for a car camping spot. I was a bit worried about the weather (though Caitlyn, whose favorite season is winter, was unconcerned), and made more so by the input of friends - until I was put at ease by other parents.

Luckily, the weather turned out to be unseasonably warm. The leaves were as colorful as I have managed to see sincewhen I lived in the area. Bill and Azalea joined with us, and we had a great trip.




oh, and on the way, we stopped at a sandwich shop for a gargantuan sub for dinner ....




Last time, Caitlyn's favorite part of camping had been the marshmallows. This time, those dropped way down below the walking in the woods, the crazy sandwich, and her tie for favorites, the campfire (Grandma Cora and Papa Wray were nice enough to drop by since the spot is close enough to their house):


and sleeping in the tent:


and she has some specific requests for me for Christmas now - her own camping equipment :)

The cousins in a sandbox in an Eastchester playground.

Caitlyn and Aaliyah are adorable huggers.