Err Ready for Halloween?

Well, it's been all prep, prep, prep for Halloween these last weeks, and we're closing in on it as we speak. Last night was a Halloween party at Matt and Michele's, and the boys (Theo, Axel and Henry - or should I say SpiderMan, Captain Jack Sparrow and Shrek) were in their full glory. It's fun to see them grow up - these boys that weren't even here just three short years ago.
Henry and I also spent last Friday morning at the zoo, where the annual "Pumpkin Prowl" was in full effect. There, literally, were close to two thousand jack-o-lanterns spread throughout the zoo. Henry just had a ball. And, frankly, I did too. Nothing like ghost and goblins (and two thousand pumpkins) to get you in the Halloween spirit. It's all a fantastic lead-up to the day...and this year we're pretty sure he gets what's going to happen because he just loves all the hoop-lah. Two is definitely a fun age. This morning, for example, he asked me "Err ready for Halloween Momma?" Which is such a great reminder of how two is this intersection between baby and kid. He still uses "Err" when he means "you" or "your" (ex. - Do err like cereal Momma? or Err brushing err hair?), but he completely understands and appreciates that we're preparing for something special - like a big kid. It's just so much fun.
My favorite "err" quote of the week, by the way: Scene: Henry and I at the snack bar in the zoo. Dialouge: "Momma - Daddy is carving a jack-o-latern tonight and Henry's going to be scared and err going to be scared. Okay? Okay, Momma?" Happy Halloween, everyone. I hope err ready.

Beautiful Blue Dog

On Thursday of last week, Henry and I spent one of our days (we have two days at the end of every "work" week to be together now) shopping at Target, Barnes and Noble and traveling down to Puyallup to see Great Grams (GG). We had a good day - we found shelves for the kitchen, got two new Curious George books and a Old Maid Curious George game - and got to see GG and get a new "money jar." We came home - tired, but feeling great. Until bedtime. Dave was having dinner with a friend and I put Henry to bed. It was then that I remembered that blue dog was in the car - I was too lazy to go get him, so I told Henry he was taking a bath and that we'd see him tomorrow. Fast forward to the next day at naptime when I actually went out to the car to get him - and he wasn't there. I knew he'd been in the car with us on Thursday and I knew we hadn't taken him out. I completely and absolutely panicked. I searched the house anyway (desparate times...) and then put Henry in the car and went and searched all the parking lots we'd been in the day before. An hour later we were home with no blue dog and me in some wierd state of craziness. I literally could not stop crying. I called Dave and I must've sounded just nuts enough, because he came home early to make sure we were okay. A weekend of emotional starts and stops later (and calls to everywhere we'd been) and I found blue dog on Monday. It turns out we'd left him at Barnes and Noble and a worker there took him home for her kids (after she gave him a bath, she said - no suprise to me, as that dog stinks like dirt and spit and two and a half years of little-boy-living). She brought him back and all is well. And now I'm wondering how it is that I got so momenumentally crazy over a small, stinky stuffed animal. I'm not sure I understand it, I just know that he has been Henry's best friend and a part of everything these last years. A central character in his baby years. And I simply love that silly dog. Is this the kind of craziness that comes with being a mother? Holy shit, it sure feel like a bowling ball to the stomach sometimes. :) But - all that said -I've made a Seward executive deicsion, and blue dog is staying home from now on. That little turkey can't try to sneak off and live with another family. I'm (I mean Henry) is just too crazy about him.