Whirlwind

Whew, it's been quite a whirlwind since Kindergarten started. We're already way past back-to-school, MEA, and Halloween and already sliding into Thanksgiving! It's been a crazy 2 months!  

Anyway, school is going well. Our first parent teacher conferences went fantastic. Boden's teacher, Mrs. P, seems really energetic and kind with the patience a kindergarten teacher needs. She said Boden is doing well and she really likes how "spunky" he is. Mrs. P also started a blog so we can learn more about what goes on in class -- I'm really enjoying it and appreciate her efforts to keep us nosy parents informed. http://heartsaresmilinginkindergarten.blogspot.com/ 

At the top of this month, Todd and I ran out first race together in years. I think it was 18 years ago that we ran a 5k and this year we got into the TC 10 mile. We were long overdue for another run together and had a great time even though it was soooo cold.

Boden also turned 6 (on the same day as his parent teacher conference, actually) this month and I continue to be amazed at how big he's getting. I feel like he'll be carrying me to bed pretty soon :) He's a very good big brother except when it comes to sharing...but, he's very entertaining and can get August laughing like no one else! 

To add to this busy month, August turned one and is as sweet as Boden is sassy :) He's walking much more--about 95% of the time. Crawling continues to be a draw because he can really cruise when he's on all fours.  

I had my first work trip this month, as well, and survived one night away away from my sweet little guy...I know it gets easier but it was hard to be away from him!  Boden enjoyed the "guy time" with his dad and little brother but still had plenty of kisses and hugs for me when I came home.

Tricks and Treats

Boden was super excited about Halloween this year!  He was determined to wear his Tigger costume from last year to school, even though I had bought an oh-so-adorable elephant costume for him that I tried to sell in by telling him it was "Horton" from Horton Hears a Who.  He wore the elephant several times prior to Halloween around the house, so I was feeling confident it would be the costume of choice on Halloween Day--but, he exercised his right to be contentious and refused to put it on Halloween night.  I swear, I would have squeezed myself into it, if I could, it's that cute!  In any case, not worth a (huge) fight, but we drew the line at wearing Tigger out to Trick or Treat with our friends.  The costume was so small that if Boden grew a millimeter of an inch while we were out (totally possible), he would burst out of it like the Incredible Hulk.  So, we ended up with the Candy Corn costume.  Yay.  

We went treating with our friends as we have done the past couple years, and it's becoming a nice tradition.  Our 8 year friend--Rapunzel--made an astute observation this year:  "Hmmm, the moms always dress up but the dads never do.  That's funny."  It is.  Party Poopers.

Pumpkin Carving is a real trick...I mean "treat"...with a 4 yr old!



CatWoman + Her Sweet Candy Corn



The Motley Crew

Halloween! Halloween!

Tigger and Cool Kitty

Mary and Laura Ingalls + Tigger

This year was Boden's first official year at trick-or-treating.  We went to the Zoo last year, but that was a little different than going door-to-door.  It turns out he's a natural.  He went as Tigger and stayed in character as he bounced and ran and yelled with exuberance to every house.  We went with more seasoned treaters so he could follow their lead, but he didn't seem to need an example to follow.  After each house, he would run to our friend Kris and yell "Kris! I'm going to go to another house and get more treats!" (in a really loud volume).  We went to maybe 10 houses and he ran the whole way.  At one memorable house, the guy who answered the door was managing his overweight dog who was stuffed in a bee costume and trying to hand out candy while talking to Kris.  Boden kept standing there after he got his treats. I encouraged him to say "thank you" and summoned him to join me back on the sidewalk--which he disregarded.  He looked at the guy and said "I want some more" and the guy said, "oh, sure" and tossed a couple more pieces of candy Boden didn't need into his bucket.  Boden looked down and back up and said "no, a LOT more!" :)

When we said he could only have one treat (on top of the several he'd had earlier that day), he looked at us like we were the craziest, most unreasonable people ever...and then he melted down.  But he hasn't asked for any candy since.  Short-lived excitement for it--whew.

Looks like a duck

Dinosaur Henry, Boden, and me



The cat and the li'l duck


 Halloween was a success, but there was a lot of bargaining in the parking lot at the MN Zoo and Boden seemed a little unsure about getting into his duck costume.  In the end, through peer and parental pressure, he stepped into his costume.  We all sweated our way through the Tropics Trail in costume with lots of other kids and parents and costumes in search of treats and animal sightings.  We were going to end the evening with the Owl show but apparently 2000 other parents and kids in costume had the same idea, which changed our minds immediately.  We left with our loot and got home in time for bedtime...all in all a successful (and somewhat exhausting) endeavor.

Pumpkins!

Earlier this Fall, Boden and I saw tons of pumpkins at the Arboretum--they were all shapes, sizes, and varieties.  He had a great time touching them all (and he did throw one, which I was a little mortified by) and ever since then, he thinks pumpkins are pretty awesome: He yells out "Pumpkins!" whenever he spots one (and what a great time of year to spot pumpkins).  So, I thought it would be fun to carve pumpkins for his birthday.  Boden's Papa did a nice job of helping with the carving--especially, the best looking one of the bunch--and Boden did a nice job of posing with them. 

Halloween

This year, Halloween coincided with Daylight Savings time--I've been sweating about this for months (since we moved the clocks forward, in fact).  Boden has been going to bed around 7 and getting up at 5:30--not ideal, but okay.  But, I didn't know what kind of wrench this was going to throw into our sleep wheel.  I thought if we kept him up later, he'd sleep in...turns out he had plans to yell most of the night--or was it the howling of a little werewolf cub??

Before Boden turned into a pumpkin, we went to a friend's home for a fantastic dinner (most dinners I don't have to plan or make are great, but when they include popovers, it brings them to the next level of "fantastic") and some playtime.  I thought a group photo of the little ghouls would be cute so we spent 20 minutes or so trying to get them all in costume at the same time.  Dorothy and Toto were ready and patiently posed while the toddlers toddled around pulling their costumes off, poking each other and looking everywhere but the camera.  This is one of the best pics where you can actually see two of the three faces and they are all (kind of) in costume.