Sweet dreams and Halloween

October went by in a flash. Despite the virulent H1N1 sickness that has spread around here, both kids stayed relatively healthy and were among some of the first kids on our county to be vaccinated. However, the numbers of sick kids and teachers has caused both Stella's school and A.J.'s daycare to have closures. I hope to get the vaccine myself this Saturday, and I plan to wait in line an hour early.

A.J. had a big change in October. On October 24, A.J.'s new big boy bed was delivered, thanks to the generosity of his Papa and Grandma. (John insists that I get photos of things like delivery trucks!)


He was napping peacefully in the master bedroom when the bed was delivered, so we had a chance to get it ready before he woke up. In this picture, you can see the chest-of-drawers which is really nice, too. The wood is a dark stain and solid & heavy. The headboard has a bookshelf. It's a twin bed. A.J.'s little room couldn't handle anything bigger.


When he woke up, he had to try it out. He was a little mystified at first.


He discovered that I put his Curious George books on the bookshelf, & that started things off on a good note. This transition has actually been a non-event (the time change we've had recently is another story). A.J. hasn't had any trouble going to sleep in his new bed. He seems to like that we can lay in bed with him while we read books at bedtime. He loves his big boy bed!


Stella was a kitty for Halloween. Here she is on Halloween night. She enjoyed seeing all the trick-or-treaters come to our door. We always get well over 100, sometimes 200, kids. Her school had a Halloween party and a therapy dog, a labradoodle, come to visit the kids in her room, and we got to see him. He name is Barnabus.


A.J. had a full calendar for Halloween. His daycare had a party where the kids went around the building trick-or-treating. Here is the best photo I have of his costume. He was "Super Why," a PBS cartoon superhero who finds the solution to problems in a book. The woman in the photo is Miss Cherie, one of his teachers and the girl on the far left is Jahia, his best bud at daycare. These kids were moving targets which is why this photo is so bad!


A.J and I pose on the stairs before going around the neighborhood. It was cold. We only made it to 3 or 4 houses.


Stella answers the door when we come trick-or-treating!


Now we are just waiting for the 24th when my mom, Nana, comes to visit for a week! As usual she's coming on the Amtrak and we are so excited!!