Halloween Part 2: Anniversary & Reality Checks

Monday was kind of special around here.  It marked 2 years of wedded bliss for Natey and I...AND... it was Owen's first halloween.

We kept things pretty chill.  Oliver had yakked twice the night before so we spent the day relaxing and keeping an eye on his behavior.  He seemed pretty normal.  Phew.  He was in a very helpful mood actually and helped feed the baby his second ever bottle (Nate gave him his first bottle the night before).

Oliver seemed to nap well that afternoon, but then he woke up whining... which is never good.  It usually means an antsy, hard to please, still tired mood.  So I brought him out to the couch, propped him on the pillows and cuddled him up with a blanket.  He loved it.  Too much.  If he forgot how comfortable he was and moved, he would get upset and need me to tuck him in again.

This made me nervous.  He was so not himself.  But I kept telling myself the mood was emotional, he must have had a nightmare and it through him off...not illness related (turns out the kid had a case of mud-butt on the way, gross!).  This mood was a serious threat to my perfectly laid plans.

I could only hope that Nate's arrival home would pep up our boy a little bit.  And it did.  A package from Mema and Pepere in NH helped too.  Oliver got an awesome Monster Mash sound book... he totally gets a kick out of it!  Owen got a giraffe... can you tell how super psyched he is with it?!

So here's what was SUPPOSED to happen. Well first of all, it was supposed to be warm. Not so much. Nate was supposed to get home early and we'd take Oliver trick or treating early, before it was too dark and too cold. He was going to love it, walking down the sidewalk like a big boy and going from house to house holding up his pumpkin bucket and saying "Cheek-chee" (trick or treat) and "Buh-bye." Then we were going to come home and hand out candy to adorable children in adorable costumes.

What did happen:

Oliver was mellow.  We were concerned.  It was getting colder and colder and apparently Halloween doesn't start around here until it's pitch black.  Doesn't anyone have young kids around here?  We couldn't wait that long to bring him out... but we also didn't want to be the only schmucks ringing doorbells at 5:30.  So right as we decided to stay in for the night and sit down to dinner the doorbell started ringing.  FINALLY!  It was only pitch black out!

Oliver had a BLAST running to the door when the bell rang and handing out candy.  He said trick or treat, thank you, and bye bye... a very friendly candy hander-outer.  Eventually he let us put on his batman PJs...his costume for the evening.

It turned out to be a great night...totally different than what we expected, but once again our toddler taught us a new way to appreciate and enjoy things on a simple scale.

And after Batman (and the stupid group of teens ringing our bell after the light was off at like 9:30...WITHOUT costumes! grrr) retired for the evening, Nate and I plopped down to watch a movie together.  He had stopped at a Red Box on the way home and surprised me with the new adaptation of Jane Eyre.  So not his cup of tea... just another example of how much he loves me and knows that hauntingly romantic movie would be perfect for Hallowedding Hallow-versary.  And of course being the old folks we are... we couldn't make it through the movie and had to resume it the next night.

(PS- I didn't love the movie...wanted to... but as always, book was MUCH better!)

This picture cracks me up.

Drinking out of a cup like a big boy, while sitting in a baby seat with the illusion of muscles and monkey socks....priceless.