Happy Halloween

Okay, I have no pictures of us in costume. I know, I know! That's really half of the reason to dress up. I have good reason. See, X refused to wear his pirate costume, even after Bobby and I dressed up as pirates and tried to bribe him with candy. He wasn't having it. We ended up going trick or treating at the mall anyways. I figured that Bobby and I being dressed up was worth something, even though our son in plain clothes got some perplexed looks. He enjoyed handing his pumpkin to people and saying "trick or treat", and he loved the candy. Next year, he doesn't get to go with no costume.

We anticipated this, and selected what we thought would be the least offensive costume to him. X is very particular about picking his own clothes, and he won't wear anything with long sleeves or pants without a fight. He grudgingly wore his costume for his day care party, probably moved by peer pressure, but cried when he saw it that evening. Maybe next year face paint is the way to go, though the way he cries when I put sunscreen on him makes me doubt it.

X has grown into quite his own person. I admire his unabashed need to be himself, frustrating as it is at times. He loves all vehicles, and will watch long youtube videos of large trucks driving down the street and no music or dialogue. He holds conversations with trucks on the road, supplying the answers for the trucks in a gravelly voice. He has to haul as many trucks as possible with him wherever he goes: to the playground, to the beach, in the bathtub. Often, I'll nudge him out the door while I surreptitiously put trucks back inside. He'll get big kids on the playground to play trucks with him.

His favorite color is yellow, and his personality is usually sunny to match. He's an ebullient kid, greeting everyone he sees with an "I'm Xando!" Most people in our building love him, and he tries to have conversations with aunties about "nice Halloween. Nice playground. Nice beach," which I think is toddler for, "I had a nice time at the beach."

I have loved every age Xander has been, but I think this is a particularly neat age. His imagination has grown in leaps and bounds. All of his toys have voices and converse with each other. I usually can't tell what's going on, but it's really cute. He'll act out scenes from his favorite movies, which he watches obsessively for weeks, then never again. His current favorite is Toy Story.

He's approaching three, and I have good feelings about it. He's potty trained now (hooray!) and has the presence of mind to remember household rules, though he doesn't always obey them. I think it will be a fun year.

This is his go to construction site. It's also a smoking area. So far, the adults are pretty tolerant of it.