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Journal Key:

Green = Steve | George = navy | Janet = Purple | Evelyn = Black

10/31/13 (Thursday) - Happy Halloween

Halloween was a long day for all of us! My Halloween scares began at one in the morning when Owen scared the heck out of me for some reason by waking me up. He had wet the bed, so I had to change his sheets. Then he wanted to look at a book with his flash light, which is becoming an unfortunate pattern. I gave him the light and the book and tried to show him how to turn if off when he was done, but half an hour later he woke me up again so I could put his book away and turn off the light.

In the morning Cara had to pack her costume and I had to cram Owen into his for the morning YBR party. He went as Batman to Cara's school, where the morning ABC ladies were thrilled to see him in costume. He didn't particularly live up to his super hero disguise when he hid against my leg. The YBR party looked like fun, with several other super heroes including another Batman (though I don't think it was Julia, who has previously been mentioned in this journal as being the "other Batman" who Owen plans to marry).

In the evening, I tried to get home at a reasonable time because we were going to have dinner with Cara's friend Camilla and her mother Heather. For the first time in many a year--even last year after Hurricane Sandy we managed it--we did not go trick-or-treating with PJ and Casey. The timing unfortunately just didn't work out for us. But we had a nice time with Camilla and Heather. Our original plan had been to spice up Owen's year-old Batman outfit with some other super hero regalia: his Flash mask, for instance, and a spidery looking cape we acquired from somewhere or other. But in the event Owen did not want his Batman-ness watered down by any of these other elements. Really though he is still a little guy he was busting out of his costume just a tad--I guess we'll have to use something different next year!

Cara was an excellent "vampire's daughter," with a very nice cloak and white face paint and a red dress which her mother impressively "vamped" up. She declared before we even started trick-or-treating that she was not planning on being a vampire next year, however, because the vampire teeth are very uncomfortable to wear. The night was just a tad wet, though not full-on raining, so we didn't have any trouble walking along the streets.

Owen has matured enough that he was (mostly) able to walk up and acquire candy without assistance. We're not entirely sure that he remembered his script, however. At one of the first houses, I reminded him to "say trick-or-treat!" So he said, "Say trick-or-treat!" I'm not sure he thanked every single person. We were carrying flash lights, and of course Owen had to have one; and of course it ended up being the largest and heaviest flash light we had brought. He also had a green glow stick, which had to be handed off to someone else, since his other arm had his Winnie-the-Pooh head/pumpkin candy basket draped on it. He was always taking the proffered candy with this same arm, and so was unable to put it into the basket unless he stopped and had someone take the basket off his arm.

We made it through a few streets but then Owen just started falling over on the sidewalk and on various steps--a sure sign that he was running out of steam. Then we started carrying him along, and my golly, has he gotten heavy. His candy basket was also heavy, and so was his flash light.

The kids got a good haul, and when we got home we compared our takes and then stayed up even later getting out of our costumes and snacking a bit. Not surprisingly both children slept pretty well. Owen tried to get me to let him have a book to look at by himself--with his flash light--but at this point I drew the line.

11/1/13 (Friday)

This morning Owen wanted a snack, as he often does when we get into the car. He ended up with a little bag of goldfish crackers, which he was still munching on happily when he got to Yellow Brick Road. When I tried to leave, he objected: "Daddy, you can't go!" I was disturbed and alarmed, because he has never had any kind of separation problems at YBR. He is always quite happy to let me go. But no, I had to stay, and he was holding onto my leg. Then he crammed the last few goldfish crackers into his mouth, gave me the empty bag, and pointed me to the door. Now I could go, and take his trash with me.

11/2/13 (Saturday)

The kids were very squabbly, so I took Owen out with me for the morning. We went to the mall and bought him new shoes. He recognized the mall as the place where he gets his hair cut, but we agreed to skip that step this time. We did have to go all the way to the haircut end of the mall, though, so that he could spend some time sitting on the motionless rides. His new sneakers are a size and a half bigger than the old ones, so it was definitely time. He picked out some really, really hideous Spiderman sneakers that have big eyes that light up. They are very bright. I had put him into some 3T pants, which I'd had to roll up. I had to roll them higher so that he could see his shoes light up.

We made a stop at Home Depot to get a pitchfork for Claire's birthday. Owen helped me carry it to the register, which actually made things somewhat harder than they had to be. We made it, though. Next door at Target he sat in a cart. That was nice. We had to get a present for Moira, because we were going to her birthday party in the afternoon. Owen insisted that she would like some boys' superhero shirts, but when I found some girls' ones he happily picked out two for her. I wanted to add a toy, so we looked around in that section. There were no Wonder Woman little guys, so we went and looked at girls' toys. Owen picked out a Littlest Pet Shop chicken.

The only part that was tough was picking out a card. He was very upset because I wasn't getting one for him. Just selecting one for her was difficult, partly because he can't read. He picked one out, but I told him that it said "For the birthday boy." Then he picked out another one, which said, "Now you're 2!" She's three. "No," said Owen, running his finger along the three lines of text, "it says 'For the birthday girl. It's Moira's birthday. Now we'll have cake.""

The party was fun. Owen played with his friend Harris, the only other boy. "I like your pants," Harris told Owen. They were very nice corduroys. The kids played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, hot potato, and musical chairs. Musical chairs may have been the funniest. Miss Katie (Moira's mother is the Latin teacher) set up chairs and set up the kids, and whoever got out got a prize. She would take away another chair, but the kids weren't quite following the idea that once they were out, they were out. They would stop and start playing somewhat at random, and Owen, for one, was perfectly happy to sit in chairs that had been removed. The game continued until everyone had gotten a prize.

One of the prizes Owen got was a little foam batarang. He got an extra one when we left, since there were only two boys. He's really enjoying his bomerangs, which he mainly holds, making dramatic motions and noises. I've seen him making one "fly" around him, passing it from one hand to the other behind his back, in slow motion.

11/3/13 (Sunday)

For Claire's birthday, we drove down to Grandmama's house to have lunch and cake. She appreciated her pitchfork very much. Owen came downstairs while she was opening cards and reading a beautiful poem and message Cara had written her. Owen wanted Claire to come upstars with him, but she was busy. He went back up. He came down, calling Claire. He'd brought her something to read, since reading was what she apparently wanted to do. He climbed through her lap (over the arm of the sofa) barking like a little puppy, bringing her Muffin Mouse, a really terrible book, to read to him. Somehow she got out of it.

As we were finishing our cake, Grandpapa noticed a large deer in the back garden. We watched him as he browsed through the foliage. Owen very much wanted to go and follow him, although we told him the deer would run away. "Grandmama, you'll carry me," he said. Steve and I explained that this was because he didn't feel like putting on his shoes.

When we got home, Owen was asleep in the back seat. I stayed in the car with him and had a nap, too. It was lovely.

11/4-6/13 (Monday-Wednesday)

Things did actually happen to us during these three days. But really it was just...too many things. So we didn't have time to journal. Evelyn has a heck of a lot of work stuff going on and graduate stuff, and is preparing for a quick trip to Florida as well. Cara has been off all week. Luckily between her two parents, someone has been home with her every day. She watched a lot of TV on Monday but watched no TV at all on Wednesday. She is a good girl. Owen continues to be somewhat trying, but he's OK. We got some new library books that he seems to like pretty well--he tried to take one with him to school today but I had to say no, since it's a library book.

Anyway after today they will be off on their trip, returning Sunday, so it will be a good while I'm afraid before the journal picks back up. But rest assured it will! I don't plan on stopping regular entries until Owen is at least in Kindergarten...

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