Dinosaur Drew

This year I figured Drew was old enough to weigh in on the decision of what his Halloween costume would be. He sort of decided last year but this year I knew he would have strong opinions. I found a few pictures of costumes I thought he would like and showed them to Drew on my computer. His options: a train engineer, Mickey Mouse, and a dinosaur. He first selected a train engineer and then I discovered the store was out of them. He took that pretty well and said he would like to be Mickey then. So we ordered a kids size 4-6 Mickey costume and anxiously awaited its arrival. Now, I know our kid is pretty tall, but this costume was at least 4 inches too short for poor Drew. So that went back to the store. Then I happened to be shopping for myself and saw costumes in the Children's Place, including this absolutely adorable dinosaur costume. When I got back from Tucson that day Drew ran out to the garage and asked me "Did you buy me a costume?" Good thing I had! Poor kid hadn't had much Halloween luck so far. As I took it out of the bag in the trunk Drew's face lit up! He tried it on immediately and really wasn't very inclined to take it off, though we did manage to get him out of it before dinner that evening.

I assured him there would be plenty of opportunities to wear his costume and as the pictures below will show, this was very true.

Here's Dinosaur Drew before school on the 30th

Drew trying to be ferocious

Every dinosaur needs a backpack

Drew and Miss Lupe at school

The kids got to trick or treat by walking through the school to go to all the different classrooms and had a party in their class that day.

Then the night of the 30th, my moms' group had a Halloween party. Here's Drew at the photo area a couple of the moms set up.

Drew with some of his buddies--we got them to stop chasing each other long enough to semi-pose for a picture

Then on Halloween we met a group of friends in one of their neighborhoods.

Here's Drew ringing the doorbell at the first house for Trick or Treating

Drew, patiently waiting for his friends to return with their candy, poses with Daddy

We borrowed this house's front yard for a photo op

Drew and his best friend Nemo head up to another door for some treats

After we reminded him at the first couple of houses that he needed to say "thank you" to the people who gave him treats, Drew ran back from every subsequent house screaming "Mommy I said thank you!" I eventually had to take a picture of this...

Drew sorting his loot

Drew is pretty happy with the results of his evening of trick or treating

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of ours was considering borrowing one of Drew's old Halloween costumes (the monkey), so I sent her a picture of Drew in it and I realized just how little he was when he wore it. So I thought that, because this blog has only been around for the last year and a half or so, in addition to this year's pictures I'd post pictures of Drew on Halloween through the years.

1st Halloween, 2 months old. A tiger.

14 months old, Monkey

2 yrs old, Elmo

3 yrs old, Firefighter

I am not a Halloween person, but even I get into it when viewed through Drew's very excited eyes.

A Belated Recap of our Halloween Fun

I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but the reason we flew to PA at this particular time was because Bill's buddy Joe, from back in the days of Cub Scouts, was getting married and Bill was in the wedding party, just as Joe was in ours. It worked out well that it was the same weekend as Halloween and Bill's family was able to see Drew in costume in person. Especially nice is that Aunt Elizabeth is young enough to still be of trick or treating age and Drew had a built-in Halloween pal.

So Halloween began with a trip to Aunt Elizabeth's school for Daddy, Drew, and Grandma to watch Elizabeth march in the Halloween parade. You can't see her sash in this picture, but she was dressed as a homecoming queen.

Aunt Elizabeth, Halloween 2008

They returned around lunchtime, just about the same time that Bill's brother's wife Liz and daughter Madison arrived from Delaware (Eric is currently finishing up his National Guard Tour in Afghanistan). We had not seen them since last December just a few weeks after Madison was born when we flew in for her christening.

Liz, Madison & Eric at Madison's christening, December 2007

Godfather Bill, Madison, Jenn, & Drew at christening

While Drew enjoyed seeing his cousin then, he found her to be much more fun this time around. As soon as they arrived Drew requested to hold the baby, something he could not be trusted to do by himself last year.

Then, after a little lunch, Drew discovered Madison is big enough to play now. They quickly developed a routine. Drew builds up towers of blocks, cups, etc., Madison knocks them down, infectious giggles ensue.

Mid-afternoon on Friday someone asked Drew whether his Halloween costume had a hat. Very excited to show off, Drew ran upstairs to get all his firefighter gear and returned with it all in tow.

Here's Drew listening to a radio call. He loved that the radio, which he referred to as a phone, played real fire siren sounds. He stayed dressed in his costume for an hour or so. It's too bad we couldn't have taken him trick or treating at that time. Later on, he wasn't thrilled about wearing his hat. With the time zone difference, Drew was a little out of sorts for the whole trip and we tried not to push it with him when it wasn't necessary.


Finally, it was trick or treating time! Here's a very excited firefighter getting ready to head out!


Grandma, Grandpop, Cousin Madison and Drew

Grandma, Aunt Jalene, Madison, Aunt Elizabeth, Drew, and Grandpop

Aunt Jalene, Madison, Aunt Elizabeth & Drew

Just prior to this picture, Drew very adamantly declared he did not want to wear his hat anymore, and suggested instead "Mommy, you wear my hat." I obliged for the first house or two. No pictures with Bill because he had already left for the wedding rehearsal at the church.

Drew at Grandma & Grandpop's neighbor's house. It was here he realized his fire extinguisher would spray real water and politely asked Mrs. Hart if he could have some water. She agreed and we spent the next 5 minutes laying out the ground rules for the spraying of water (not inside, not at Mommy, not at baby Madison, etc.). The second we stepped outside he sprayed over and over again, all the way down the street, but not at anyone.

Mommy was only able to stick around for the first part of trick or treating, as I had already skipped the church rehearsal and had to meet Bill at the rehearsal dinner. We got back too late that night to hear about the rest of trick or treating, finding both Elizabeth and Drew sound asleep in our bed with a stack full of bedtime stories. The next morning we got the full report about how Drew and Aunt Elizabeth came back, had a few treats, and sorted the remainder of their candy and money. Yes, money! Drew not only collected coins from several houses, but even got dollars from a few folks. "Mommy, I got lot of pennies." Drew tends to refer to all money as pennies, but eventually we were able to get him to at least refer to just the coins as pennies and the bills as dollars. Fortunately Drew received some non-candy treats and didn't get too much candy that Mommy wanted to sample.

All in all, Drew enjoyed his Halloween adventures and remembered his manners when receiving treats. I've never been a huge Halloween person, but it's definitely fun to watch through a child's eyes.