Happy Halloween!

Gramma went to Motorola for the daycare Halloween parade.  The children were sensitive to the vibes and excitement of all the people visiting.  Most of them seemed to be in tears.  I was glad I showed up.  I don't think Daddy would have been able to carry both boys and Tisha (the little girl who decided to walk with us in the parade).  She wasn't as worried as Nathan and Andrew about being on display.  The boys' favorite part of their costume was the hat.

"Daddy, did you notice there are a lot of strange looking people around here?"

There are no individual pictures of Nathan in his costume, because he did NOT want Gramma to put him down.

I was impressed that three little girls in the boys' class were wearing pirate costumes.  We've come a long way from when my children were small and no girl would have considered wearing a pirate costume.  I look forward to the day when little boys will be able to wear the Rapunzel costume that also was popular with girls this year.  Perhaps the twins will consider it for the future.  I think they would love the long blonde braid.

Nathan (and most of the rest of the world) has never seen me in tennis shoes.  Do they still call them that?  He noticed the shoes I was wearing and told me I was wearing Grampa's shoes. I explained they weren't the kind I usually wear, but they were mine. He must have thought I was confused, because he repeated, "You're wearing Grampa's shoes." I asked Grampa to explain that I was wearing my own shoes. He, naturally, told Nathan, :"Yes, she's wearing my shoes."  Nathan remarked four more times that I was wearing Grampa's shoes.  I don't know if he was waiting for me to admit it or was just in shock.

For my birthday, I got a musical card from Richie and Jean.  Jean, knowing little boys well, thought they might enjoy it.  They were so intrigued by where the music was coming from that I thought they might try to disect it. Nathan came up with an idea for sharing the card.  Each of them could have three turns to play the music.  His turn would be first!  Nathan has learned that sharing is required and best done on your terms.

I play it 3 times.

Andrew, I play it 3 times.
That's 3 Andrew.

That was 3.  Yeah.

Then it stops.

That's 3.
It stops.

It stopped.

Open it.

Ok.

There is no video for my next story, so you'll just have to picture it yourself.  I had all I could do not to laugh and certainly didn't want to make it worse by grabbing a camera and filming it.  Andrew had a disagreement with the adults at dinner time.  We were having lasagna with garlic bread on the side.  Andrew preferred to have just garlic bread.  His father explained that wouldn't be possible.  It's so hard for a little person to understand what could be so wrong about eating what they want.  They see adults do it all the time.  Andrew wasn't going to stand for it.  He demonstrated his frustration forcibly to make us understand.  His father, quietly removed his chair from the table.  Andrew sits in a wooden high chair with the tray removed.  He was so full of determination that he started to move his chair in a series of little hops back to the table.  After scooting along for about a foot, his chair was caught in the grout on the floor between the tiles.  I worried that he would tip his chair over.  I didn't want to make the situation worse, so with my foot I discreetly nudged his chair past the grout line without his father knowing it and he continued his progress.  In the end, we all managed a compromise, but no one had dessert.  Gramma and Gampa were afraid to mention it.

Nathan, who hadn't been feeling well, had been allowed to sit on my lap for dinner, in the hope he might be able to eat something.  He watched his brother's struggles very closely and proceeded to eat very well.  He would look up and smile the most angelic smile he could muster.  The time for sharing was over, as far as he was concerned.
I remember having dinner at Terry's house when Jim was about five years old.  He was fooling around at the table and his mother had had enough of it.  "Stop it right now!" she said.  "No one thinks it's funny."  Jim looked around the table at everyone's face.  Everyone was absolutely silent.  After a moment Jim said, "Terry does," and the whole table erupted in laughter.  Table manners are acquired very slowly.  Proper etiquette is achieved when you have your own children to train.

Gramma "Ryan Josephs" the boys.

Andrew told Grampa that dish washing is his favorite thing to do.  Grampa then prepared the sinks for the boys to have some fun.  A boy has to have the right tools.  Why does this ever have to change?  I mean liking dish washing.  I know even when the boy becomes a man, he has to have the right tools for the job.  A woman would improvise and make do.

It's Halloween time and Andrew enjoys dressing and styling the pumpkin witch. This Halloween, even Grampa got involved. He helped with the engineering aspects of making three pumpkin witches stand on their own. The boys did their part by stuffing Gramma's black boots for the pumpkin witch to wear. She wouldn't think of  wearing Grampa's shoes!