Halloween, a few weeks late

Last year for Halloween, Gus was the cutest little elephant ever, courtesy of the amazing costume Aunt Jackie made for him. I'm not the most creative person, so when people started asking me what Gus was going to be for Halloween this year, I figured I ask Jackie and see what she came up with. Her response - he should be a greaser! And so it was....I figured this was easy enough - white shirt, rolled up jeans, something rolled up in his shirt sleeve, hair slicked back - I could handle this. But to top it off, Jackie actually found a motorcycle jacket for Gus. This absolutely made the outfit.

I really thought Gus looked like his Grandpa Ken with his hair slicked back like this. Here he is at his day care Halloween party. He is very proud to be sitting in a big chair.All of the day care misfits. There are some gnomes (twins), an owl, a lion, a giraffe, Minnie Mouse, and maybe there were more not in this picture. I CANNOT believe these kids sit there in these chairs and are so good!


After the day care party, Gus and I headed to my mom's, where we got to see Jenny, Charlie, and John, who had flown in for the weekend! Then we headed up to the square in Highland for the big trick-or-treat thing. Here we are with Jenny and John the mechanic! Check out Gus's sweet coat! Without it, he either would have been 1. freezing, or 2. looking like he wasn't dressed up but had weird hair wearing a normal coat. Thanks Jackie!

We also briefly saw Max, who had a cute owl costume!


John really enjoyed getting candy. Here he is being a good boy, eating a Tootsie pop on his mom's laugh. This is the perfect smile!


On actual Halloween, we hit a few grandmas/aunts in the area. Then, the HPFD was having an open house, so we went there to eat hot dogs and let the boys check out the fire trucks. Here is the second incarnation of John the mechanic and Gus the greaser!


And now, a few other random pictures.
I love when Gus drives two things at once....here he has his tractor and his bulldozer.


Gus loves animals. Aunt Jess brought in a baby kitty for him to visit with!


This past weekend, I wanted to enjoy the nice weather despite being able to pull my husband off the couch. So Gus and I went to the gardens for a stroll. Here are a few of him with the sheep.



Gus just had pictures taken at day care too. They were pretty good, but they weren't cheap and I figured that I'll be getting Christmas pictures taken in about a month. So I didn't buy any (sorry Jenny). But I'll take the pictures from the proofs and keep it in the scrapbook as his first school pictures! If anyone sees this and just dies because I didn't order any, I think I theoretically still could.

Gus has recently been a lot more noisy. He still doesn't say much that makes much sense beyond mom, dad, and the occasional tractor. But when he makes noises he is moving his tongue around a lot more making new sounds. So last night we were playing with his little people barn. He knows what all the animals are (except maybe the sheep?). But when I was talking about the cow, he said cow, and kept saying it I think because he was tickled he was able to say it. He was also saying ooooo when I was saying moo. Pretty damn cute! So maybe some more real words will be coming soon!
He's also been a lot more picky about food lately. Usually he LOVES bananas and yogurt, and I can only get him to eat about two bites of banana, and he completely refuses the yogurt. I'm not sure if Halloween candy ruined him, or if it's just his age. We have had a few candy-related tantrums though in the past two weeks. Kind of funny, kind of annoying. I just have to keep moving the candy so he doesn't know where it is and doesn't see the bag and start pointing and whining.
Not much else exciting is going on. This week was busy because I was guest lecturing for my friend who is a professor at Webster University - it was enough work to do that I didn't get much regular work done. But I got to teach introductory biology for the first time, which was a great opportunity and experience. This week I also went to see Joshua Radin at the Pageant with Jackie. He was ok, but I don't love the stuff on his new album and that's what he played the most. But the opener, Good Old War, was amazing! I loved them, and actually just bought their most recent album, and it is great stuff! Highly recommended....
Today just might be the last day it's in the 70s before it cools off for good. The weather has been amazing this week - I just wish I could have had a hookey day to enjoy it! Just one more full week of work, and then we'll be off to North Carolina for Thanksgiving! Can't wait!