happy halloween!

We had some issues getting the costume on (let's pretend Nate's roaring in this first photo instead of screaming in agony over his torturous costume). But once we got moving and encountered candy everywhere, Nate had a blast! He did an awesome job saying "trick or treat" and also "thank you." Hooray!

spooky preparations

In lieu of handing him a sharp knife to carve, or probably stab, an innocent pumpkin, we decided that Nate could paint his pumpkin this Halloween. I hate to admit it, but I got the idea from one of Nate's books. There's this cute magazine/book called Babybug (it's put out by the publishers of Ladybug, for anyone familiar with that) and one of the regular stories in it is about Kim and Carrots. Nate loves Kim and Carrots. Thad and I are sick of them. There's nothing wrong with Kim and Carrots, but they get old after a read or two, let alone fifty (no sarcasm - I swear, we've read the stories so many times the pages are falling out of the book). Anyway, in the latest Babybug, Kim and her Grandma paint a "jolly" pumpkin for Halloween, which I had to admit was a good idea. The pumpkin decorating was a big hit and he really loved painting everything within reach. We carved a pumpkin too, but without toddler assistance (whew!)

singing

Nate's been singing a lot recently and I've been trying to get it on video but he gets so worked up when he sees the camera that he won't perform. But finally tonight we got it! I'm not sure where the line about eating all the crackers came from - that's a new one! After we loaded it onto my computer Nate wanted to watch it and he was cracking himself up. So here, for your viewing pleasure, is Nate and then Nate watching himself.

a nonnie costume

For a while we were asking Nate what he wanted to be for Halloween but the question really didn't seem to make any sense to him. I can understand that - it's a strange concept for a newbie. You wear a funny outfit and go to strangers' houses and they give you candy. And there are a bunch of spiders and pumpkins everywhere.

After a bit of prodding we finally got Nate to settle on a "nonnie" (or, in English, a lion) costume. Crafty Thad pulled out the sewing machine, figured out how to thread it (which is farther than I've ever gotten), and whipped up a cute little lion suit. Then I sewed the mane and tail (sans machine) to complete the ensemble. But Nate freaks out every time he sees the outfit and he definitely is not interested in having the little mane hood on his head, let alone in the same room. We're hoping he'll chill out by Friday, otherwise he'll be going trick or treating as a taupe blob. In Nate's place, here's Elmo modeling the costume.

would you like some whine with that?

Nate is at a really cool age right now. I actually think it's the best yet. I remember a while back my friend Alison, who's oldest son is a little over a year older than Nate, said that every age seemed to get better and better. And I have to agree. However, all those fun changes come with less attractive elements. And the one that's just starting up now is the whining. It's driving me crazy and I'm well aware that it will continue (perhaps forever?) Here's a little sample from dinner last night:

me: Do you want your milk?
Nate: No milk!
me: Okay, that's fine [removes milk]
Nate: Wahh! Milky!
me: Oh, do you want your milk?
Nate: Yes
[I give him back his milk]
Nate: Wahh! No milk!
[I remove milk again]
Nate: Water!
me: You want water? Really?
Nate: Yes!
[I go to kitchen, get water, give it to Nate]
Nate: Wahh!!! No water! Milky!!!

In the end Nate drank the milk, and none of the water. In the words of my Aunt Anne, "is this all there is to life?"

the worst bet

Pop-Pop (my dad) had a long-running bet with his dad on the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. Whoever's team was ahead in the standings at the end of the season won. With the exception of a handful of years in the 1980s, my father always lost. Year after year after year... it was the same old thing. And then, as you may recall, in the early 2000s the Sox got good again. Really good. And in 2004 they won the World Series! But, as you also may recall, the Sox were the wild card team and came in second in their division to the Yanks. So even though the Sox won it all, my dad did not. Same thing in 2007. World Series Champions, but not on top of the AL East. After my grandfather passed away earlier this year, my dad and cousin Dave (Roth - we have a plethora of cousin Daves. Or is that "cousins Dave"?) made a new bet on the Red Sox and Phillies. I remember my dad laughing at what a dope Dave was. I guess it was karma and the Phils won their division while the Sox yet again won the wild card spot. So once again my dad is a loser. So then they made a follow up bet on the playoffs and here we are, the Phillies are ahead in their series 3-1 and the Sox are behind in theirs 3-1. Poor Pop-Pop.

I noticed that Nate understands what eyes do. For example, if he wants one of his stuffed animals to look at something, he'll put the something right in front of their eyes. Pretty cool! A couple of days ago Nate said, "Duckie watch ballgame" and then did just that. (Too bad the game stunk.)

sugar

These are a little old, but for my birthday Anna and Jarrod brought over cupcakes, which we decorated with lots of candy. Lots and lots of candy. And he'd never had candy before. To nobody's surprise he gobbled everything up and then proceeded to run around like a lunatic, dancing and throwing his ball. I guess it would have been smarter to introduce candy in smaller doses.

chef carlson

it starts so young

Eek! I figured we had at least eight years before we'd have to address this kind of behavior. Kids these days...