Trick or Treat!

After nap today, it was time to suit up again and hit the streets. We headed up to Ramsey where Grandma & Grandpa's door was James's first stop.
He had a blast running from house to house, and was like a pro at each door.


I was always delighted when he was recognized as Super Why. He did get lots of complements even from those who didn't recognize his actual character, so that was nice too.

We drove around a bit to see some of Grandma's friends (and trick or treat on their streets), and every time we'd stop the car to get out, James clapped and cheered for more trick or treating.

When we finally got back to Grandma & Grandpa's house, James took stock of his loot and enjoyed his Tootsie Pop. He then asked us to open another "popsicle" for dinner. Ha!

It was so fun, and I am already looking forward to next year!

Oh-- this was funny: "James, today is Halloween!"

"Whose Halloween is it today?" he asked.

Seems as though he is equating Halloween to birthdays: Thursday was school's Halloween; Friday was Isabella's Halloween. Whose was today's?

Our answer-- "Everybody's!"

Five Little Pumpkins

I must say that usually James sings the entire song by himself. Alas, once the camera's rolling...

And, just for the record, this took me over an hour and a half to upload onto the blog!

Our First Jack-o-Lantern

First off, don't you like our Halloween centerpiece for the kitchen table?
Yesterday after "nap"time (yes, I meant to use those quotation marks; James didn't sleep), we carved our pumpkin. Hooray!

More Halloween Fun

Today was Isabella's third annual Halloween party.

It is fun to see how it has evolved each year as the kids get older.

This year James boycotted the group photo (oh well) because he couldn't bear the thought of leaving the playroom. He did come out for the project-- making paper bag monster puppets.

The kids also appreciated the fun food more than in the past-- pumpkin shaped pb&j sandwiches, jack-o-lantern oranges filled with fruit salad, cookies, and rice krispy treats. And this year they could drink out of festive party cups (rather than straw cups or sippy cups).

After dining, James and Chase returned to the playroom where they had quite the dance party with the Sesame Street "radio."

When Chase showed James this dance move, it didn't take long for James to join him.
We had a great time!

Happy Halloween!

Tonight was the start of the Halloween festivities for 2010. We had the party for James's school. Unfortunately my camera was stranded at Grandma & Grandpa's house, so I relied on the crackberry for photos...

Super Why zips out of the shot--
Halloween decorations brought to you by the Twos Class--
Super Why, Spiderman, and Santa Claus chat it up--
Super Why and Spidey check out the scene--
Breaking it down for the singalong--

Tomorrow is Isabella's annual Halloween party, then we plan to trick-or-treat on Sunday, so there should be more (and better!) photos to come.

Fall Family Fun

Well, it has only taken three years, but we finally took James to get a pumpkin! We headed out to Demarest Farms this morning. We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. James loved that we were being pulled by a tractor which was driven by a farmer. We got out to the pumpkin patch which is in the midst of the apple orchards. James loved exploring the entire area. We easily found a lovely pumpkin and headed back to the farm.

James was happy to ride behind the tractor again, but immediately started lobbying to ride the little carnival type rides he had seen set up back at the farm. After checking to be sure he met the height requirements, we bought some tickets and crossed our fingers that he wouldn't freak out once he was really on the ride... We need not have worried. James eagerly climbed aboard the Dragon Wagon (a.k.a. the dragon train on the funny track), and was nothing but smiles, "Whoa!"s, and giggles until the ride ended. He rode a motorcycle and firetruck ride as well before returning to the dragon.

We got some lunch there and DELICIOUS farm made doughnuts for dessert. So fun!

After that we headed home for nap time. Ahhh. (Of course, James fell asleep in the car, woke up when we got home, and never went back to sleep. I, on the other hand, enjoyed a lovely two hour nap on the couch.)

Then we went to the pet shop to get fish! Last weekend Dan and James had set up the aquarium, and so now we were ready to get some inhabitants for it. Very exciting!

Quite the exciting day.

Bedtime Update plus a Little Pretending

So, James hasn't particularly asked to go to bed since Sunday night. However, he's not crying and carrying on at bedtime as he has at times. So that is good. Of course, on Monday night he didn't actually go to sleep until after 10:00! Mind you, he was in bed around 7....

In other news, James and Dan watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse one day recently. Since then James has taken to calling me Daisy Duck. Dan is Goofy, and James is Donald Duck. He walks into the kitchen and says, "What are you doing, Daisy?"

"Making you breakfast."

"You're making Donald breakfast?"

"Yes, Donald Duck, I'm making you breakfast."

One night this week in the middle of the night James called out, "Goofy! Where are you? Come back, Goofy!"

I walked in (Goofy remained asleep in bed), and James whispered, "I need duck milk." Really.

Tonight James wore his Woody jammies to bed. He walked into the living room and said, "You want to read me stories, Jessie?" When I told him that Daddy was going to do story time tonight, he said, "Come on Buzz Lightyear."

To which Dan replied, "Okay, let's go. To infinity!"

"And Beyond!"

Mark this date on the calendar...

For the first time in his little life (at least in our recollection), James asked to go to bed tonight. Yep. "Mommy, I took a sip of milk. And now I can go to bed." And it wasn't even 6:00.

So we went back, put on jammies (he took off all his clothes all by himself!), read stories, and he nestled into bed and was sound asleep by 7:00 without any fuss!!!

Granted, he had no nap this afternoon.

And he ran around outside all day.

Maybe he is happy to be sharing his room with an aquarium. He and Daddy set it up (they even found rocks in the yard and cleaned them for decoration) this weekend. The fish won't move in for a week or so (as recommended by the pet store worker), but there are some pretty (real, not plastic) plants, the aforementioned rocks, and a shipwreck (from Daddy's childhood fish tank).

But seriously. He asked to go to bed!

James and "Cheeky"

Today James (and Mommy) played with blocks.

What started as a tower became, by James's proclamation, a robot.

Named Cheeky.