Happy Thanksgiving

Brennan has stayed busy this November, even though his mommy is really slowing down (something about gaining 20 pounds and a watermelonish abdomen makes me very tired). Here's some of his artwork from school - I particularly like the Dali-esque eye placement on the bear.
On Woobie Bath Day, Brennan decided that Replacement Woobie and Original Woobie like to hang out and chat.
He and his sidekick keep a look out for trucks and doggies.

When the weather allows, we hit the Discovery Museum. The Tot Spot is pretty much old hat at this point - he just wants to go straight to the Ramp of Impending Dental Injuries and run up and down it with a metal dump truck. I did manage to get him interested in the fishing boat on this trip.


Exploring in his dresser is another fun activity. When he's playing with his toys or his iPod, there's usually a steady stream of commentary, along with the crash of plastic or the tinny sounds of "The Aristocats" coming from tiny speakers. But when it's quiet, that usually means I better hustle if I don't feel like re-folding a mound of t-shirts and PJs. Or worse. However, Daddy may have missed that memo. This is what happened to Thanksgiving Day Outfit #1, while I was at the gym:

So we changed to Outfit #2, otherwise known as "tiny accountant", and went over to Cousin Ian's house to stuff our cheeks with crackers and ruin our appetite for Thanksgiving dinner -

knock down the "brick" (cardboard) wall as quickly as Uncle David could build it-
play with trains and plot a way past the fireplace barrier -
& crawl all over Grandpa -
The next day, we took "Grambo" to the Discovery Museum. "Grambo" is what he calls both his grandpa and grandma, along with some of the gifts they brought him.
Brennan hadn't seen Grandma Lorna and Grandpa Uwe in a long time - he missed their last visit, because of a trip to Florida - but he settled right in & had lots of fun with them. In fact, the night they baby-sat he somehow swindled a 45 minute bath and 10 bedtime stories out of them. I'm sure he can't wait for them to come back!

Halloween

Time again for the annual Belvedere Street Halloween Extravaganza! It's great to live just blocks away - there are so many kids, so many cool costumes, great decorations, and a TON of candy.

Luckily, I carved out jack-o-lantern before I saw this one. After seeing this sort of thing, you have to wonder why you should even bother.

Ian came over to help Brennan shake down the neighborhood for tiny candy bars.

Bren was a little uncertain at first, but once he got the hang of things, he took it all very seriously. Especially hanging onto his pumpkin. We got his lion hood up briefly, but since it was kind of warm and his costume was like the skin of a stuffed animal, it seemed unfair to force it.

This year's go-go dancers at the modern house with the big windows (they do a different movie every year):

Lots of people dress up with their kids, but this was by far my favorite father-son duo:

These two little flowers holding hands were pretty cute, too.

"Trick or treat" was kind of a mouthful for Bren, so his daddy coached him to just say "treat", since that was what he wanted. He loved getting the candy and seeing all the people, but I think he enjoyed stomping on this wooden hatch most of all.

Happy Halloween!!