Halloween

Last year Todd dressed as a pumpkin. This year it was Mommy's turn to dress like a pumpkin, but she added some geekish flair by dressing as Pumpkin Pi(e).

Since I'd just come back from Indonesia with new clothing in tow, and since some of my relatives gave me traditional Chinese garb, I decided the perfect costume for Todd would be as a "little Chinese boy"-- complete with the hat and fake pigtail! It went well with Daddy's Asian-themed costume of a Hawaiian shirt and long sarong.

We went to a Halloween party at our apartment complex's clubhouse, enjoyed pizza and candy, and then returned home to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. Only a few kids came by, though :-(

Birthday party

Today was Todd's first time attending a birthday party-- one of the kids in his class was celebrating. The day before, he and I stopped at Border's to shop for a gift, and found the perfect blend of educational material with fun stuff-- a "Space IQ" set consisting of a fact-filled, colorful book to read, a space game and glow-in-the-dark space-themed stickers. We also picked up a glass chess set that was on sale, so he and Daddy can play chess more often :-)

It had been a loooong morning for the poor kid, as we spent nearly 2 hours at the Orthodox church service (the church his school is affiliated with-- we wanted to see what it was like, it was a new experience for all of us!) and then another hour at our (regular) church friends' house, having brunch to raise funds for their trip to the orphanage in South Africa. And boy did he waste no time letting loose a lot of steam! He spent a large part of the time jumping around in the bouncy castle, shrieking with delight and having a grand time. Two hours flew by all too quickly, and the little man left, satisfied and caked with dirt.

Boys will be boys!

We'll have to see what we can do for his next birthday, esp now that we have a rec room and playground at our disposal, through our apartment complex.

I remembered what you said

A VERY rare thing for Todd to say-- even if the observation came about AFTER I instructed him on what to do. At least he went about it willingly?

I had mentioned for the umpteenth time that he is ALWAYS to wash his hands with soap and water 1) everytime after he uses the toilet and 2) everytime before he eats anything. It seems to be slowly sinking it, but I've yet to see him actively do this without my reminding him. Not a big deal, really, so long as he goes willingly once I actually tell him to wash his hands.

Today, as I was helping him wash his hands, he piped up with "I remembered what you told me (about washing hands). I kept it in brain!"

Good job. Now, the next step: keeping it in your brain and taking the initiative to ACT upon it ;-)

Smart vs. Lazy

When I picked Todd up at Boys & Girls Club after work, he was busily making a little art project in the arts and crafts room. After getting him washed up and into the car, he explained why he ended up in there instead of, say, the computer room or the day care room playing with toys:

"I wanted to do something smart. I could either be lazy (and play with toys) or be smart, and I wanted to be smart, so I did art!"

Apparently they had phrased his choices (play vs. art) in the form that the former would be being "lazy" while the latter was more fruitful. Nice to see Todd made a good choice :-)