Halloween 2008. I have never really understood the appeal of Halloween. It seems a little ridiculous to go to all the trouble of a costume for one day of wear (maybe two if you have a party to go to) and then walk around the neighbourhood asking people for candy…. but it sure is fun to dress up the kids. I think that’s why most people do it.

This year we had a Buzz Lightyear and a Turtle, both courtesy of major discounts on the Disney outlet online store. Buzz spent most of the day with his fellow Buzz – friend Evan – arguing over who is in fact the real Buzz Lightyear. “I’m the real Buzz!” No I’m the real Buzz!” (you have to have seen the movie).

I dropped in at daycare for the Halloween party and observed the kids in their natural habitat, then later in the day Kei took Thomas trick or treating with the daycare group while I managed candy distribution with Samuel at home. We didn’t have as many trick or treaters this year so we have a lot of candy left over. In fact I’m enjoying some right now. 🙂

I must apologise, but this is another Wiggles reference. There’s no way to get around it. The kid is obsessed.

The Wiggles sing a song called Dr. Knickerbocker on one of their latest DVDs. You might remember it from your childhood. So Sam, who sings the lead, does this little dance where he waves his arms around and kicks his legs. Thomas decided to imitate one day but added some eye rolling, head bobbing and more than a little craziness. And we laughed, which means he now performs his little act for us on a regular basis.

The kid makes me laugh.

And here’s the original Dr. Knickerbocker song if you’re interested in seeing how well Thomas compares to the original. The inspiration hits at around 58 seconds.

This little one is so active. I forgot how exciting it is to witness the little developments every day. He has started purposefully grabbing things – as opposed to swinging his arms and ending up with something in his hand completely by accident (usually my hair and the kid has quite a grip). One of his favourite things is to pull his binky out of his mouth and then put it back in. Yes, it’s the small things that amuse me.

Almost six months old and almost sitting up – long enough for me to get a photo anyway. I rescued him just after the fun (well, fun for me) turned into this…

Another sunny day means another day at the Oregon Zoo. I never quite realized how cute baby elephants can be. This one kept trying to find his footing on a sloped piece of concrete. A couple of times it looked like he would slip over and was, in many ways, just like any other baby. A baby that could kill you if it fell on you that is.

Oh, and this is the best photo I could get, because I had find a gap through this group of people. Baby elephants apparently attract quite the crowd. That’s Kei in the orange hat.

Samuel now sleeps in his own crib. At least he does from about 7:30pm until 9:30pm. Then he wakes up to eat before going back to sleep in his crib until about midnight. After that time he wakes pretty much every hour. Instead of dragging myself out of bed each time, I give in and he sleeps with me – still waking up every hour or so.

Until he’s on solid food. At that point he will officially have the ability to sleep through the night and all bets are off. Assuming I can put up with a few tough nights of sleep training, that is.

Apart from the fact that this will greatly relieve my sleep deprivation, it seems a shame that he’s not making the most of the adorable bedding.