Happy Halloween!

For weeks now, when asked what E wanted to be for Halloween, he would say, "a giraffe." His wish came true with the help of our local consignment store and some store credit. We scored the only 3T giraffe costume in sight.



















We didn't foresee the growth spurt that had ensued. Here he is getting warmed up this morning, trick-or-treating with his classmates from the Chicken Coop on 24th Street. For several stops he would stand back and watch his friends say the magic words and receive the magic treats. This little, short-necked giraffe had to process every Halloween move, then........
He and his giraffe friends started loosening up.

....And by the 3/4 mark of the one block excursion, this giraffe was a pro.

....Then he discovered the pink lollipop.










You would think that it was all over at that point, but E tasted the lollipop and put it back into his bag and saved for the Halloween Fairy.

Yup, all the treats E collected today were for the Halloween Fairy. We came home tonight and took our pumpkin and blew out the candle after singing Happy Birthday to the Halloween Fairy. We then filled the pumpkin up with all the collected treats. And, tomorrow when E wakes up he will find that the fairy took all the candy and left him a special gift; a beautiful gourd shaker with a Dia De Los Muertes image on it. At least, that is what she told me.

Tomorrow we will build our altar for The Day Of The Dead. We have our marigolds and papel picados and one sugar skull.

For now, Happy Halloween!

Ezra and the Playground Pioneers

E's in print again, this time in an article in Greater Good Magazine written by Jeremy Adam Smith, who is also one of the writers for Daddy Dialectic, and a dear friend. It's an article on parenting, which includes interviews with both Mommy and Momma. And, if we weren't involved enough with this article, Mommy contributed the photos. This is probably why you see E in 2 out of the 3 photographs printed.

He's awfully cute and a super lucky little guy to have all these cool people invested in his well being.

The First of Many

We know how 2 1/2 year olds can have difficult times transitioning, but when a drumming loving toddler breaks his first mallet, it appears that the sun will no longer shine as it had before.

We were pretending to be the Timpani players to Beethoven's #9 and he was louder than thunder....and well, it happened. We saw the splinter fly, and then the mallet took its last bow.

We held the mallet in our hands while tears flowed and said our goodbyes and thank yous. It was a very sad moment. After much appreciation of the mallet, we were able to take its splintered body to the garbage for the final farewell.

And yes, you can bet we will be the first customers at the music store tomorrow.

Here he is in action....