Renaissance Faire

Yesterday we closed out summer by venturing to the New York Renaissance Faire. James, as we'd predicted, was enchanted. As we walked from the parking lot, through the woods and over the hill to the fair, James said, "I think we're traveling back in time."

There were many people in costume, and it seems some people have a loose interpretation of the Renaissance. There were many elf ears, horns sprouting from head(band)s, tails, belly dancing skirts, dragons, kilts, suits of armor, wench-dresses, combinations of the above,...

Fascinating!

We had lots of fun though- caught an amazing magic show, a live-action Robin Hood-themed chess match, a jousting competition, a trapeze routine, the dungeon museum, a ride on a flying dragon, a turkey leg, some dragon chips, mead,...

This evening James created some armor for himself. I think yesterday made an impression!

Meet "Dutch"

In the last few months, James has started naming his "pets" (um, yes, he calls his stuffed animals pets).  Of course, his train engines have always been referred to by name, even those that aren't officially from the Island of Sodor, but rather are the faceless type from Ikea.

Well, he did name Burnsey the Duck sometime last winter or so, but then stopped talking about him so much.  (I think maybe that was around the time Ezra was born.  I do recall that Burnsey was treated like a baby; James rocked him, swaddled him, put him to bed...)
You can see Burnsey (from behind) in this photo from the summer of 2010:

But the more recently named pets include Knuffle Bunny:

and Trixie (both of whom owe their names to Mo Willems).  Here Trixie is sleeping in the Pack and Play (which we had out when some friends were visiting with their one year old).

There is also "Grown-up Trixie" who sometimes even is said to have a baby in her belly.

Of course you know Woody, but James has taken to calling him "Tootsies" recently.  You can see him hiding behind Zumi the puppy here.

Speaking of Zumi the puppy, he went by the name "Puppy" for quite a long time.  Then last month when we were in Greenville, he was "James the Puppy" (not to be confused with James Lepori or "James the Grown Up," mommy's cousin, shown holding him below).  Not long after arriving back in NJ, he became Zumi and has been so consistently ever since.

And here are Gretchen, Frank and Ezra M'Jen.  Ezra M'Jen is waving the checkered flag, and I believe Frank is telling Gretchen that her helmet is not on properly:

It may be worth noting that these three were named almost immediately upon James receiving them as a half-birthday/baptism anniversary gift from Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston.

Oh, and there's Marie whom you may recall was named after James saw "Aristocats."

And also Murdoch the cat, whom you may remember if you're my facebook friend.  James said that Murdoch would be a "real pet" if we colored him with chalk:

But, this blog post is titled "Meet 'Dutch'."
Where's Dutch?
Right here!

"Scales and Arpeggios"

James is into "The Aristocats" lately. Here his blue cat plays the role of Marie while he is Berlioz.

He sat down at the piano then said, "Wait!  I need to go get my cat."  When he returned he said to the cat, "Okay, you be Marie.  Sit right here."

Very cute.

Funny "Baby"

I walked into the living room today to find James wrapped like a burrito in my fleece blanket (courtesy of Daddy).

"Are you a baby?" I asked.

"Yes. That's why I'm all swaddled."

So cute and funny.

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.

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!"