O Tannenbaum

This weekend we got some Christmas decorations out of the attic. For the first time, Connor was totally into it. So suddenly he's into opening presents (as of my birthday in August, he wasn't interested in them) and enjoying the holidays (mixed emotions about Halloween, but totally into it now!). This Christmas is going to be so much fun!

I was glad I rescued this little tree from the Chockleys- Connor really wanted a tree, and we weren't ready to get a real tree up yet. I found some sports ball ornaments I had bought last year during the after-holiday sales for just such a situation. I threw on some red lights (where did those come from?) and Connor went about the fun task of decorating his first tree. He also had a couple of ornaments Beth brought him last weekend (thank you Beth!) and was excited to make the connection as to what they were for. I have honestly never seen him more proud of himself! When Cullen came over Sunday, Connor couldn't wait to take him upstairs to show him the tree. He lovingly touched each ornament, explaining what it was, and just gazing at the wonder of it. Then Grammy came over and brought Sesame Street and Dora mini-ornaments (those six balls weren't enough!) and we had another big round of decorating. You can see in one picture how he clumped the important ornaments together in the front- the football, Elmo, Dora, and Backpack. (He may have my love for Christmas trees, but not my anal need to space decorations out with a ruler!) Several times since the tree went up, he has turned to me and whispered, "Mommy, can we go upstairs to look at my tree?" I can't describe how much it melts my heart. Adorable!

I can't!

Connor went through a period where every sentence started with "I need. . ." Sometimes there wasn't even an end to the sentence- he didn't know what he needed, but he was sure he needed something. While that's still in his repertoire, it has been replaced in sheer volume by "I can't. . ." This phrase actually means "I don't want to"- maybe he thinks "I can't" carries more weight. An example can be seen in this picture:

Connor, pull your pants up.
I CAN'T pull my pants up!

So a typical evening sounds like this: I can't wash my hands! I can't eat my chicken nuggets! I can't take a bath! I need some candy.

PS- Once I busted out the camera, he pulled his pants right up! When he becomes a teenager? Pwn3d!

5:57 a.m.

Our family had a hard time with the time switch last weekend. No one slept right all week, especially Connor. He got up just before 6:00 a.m. EVERY morning this week. Well, every morning except today, when he spent the night with Grammy and slept until after 7:00. Hopefully that will happen again tomorrow!

Crazy technology stuff

Ok, I've finally changed www.chockley.com so that it points to this page. Easier to remember for everybody. Also, the first link on the right hand side points back to the "old" chockley.com, where those scads of of old pics are. I may still update that site to serve as a sort of picture repository, which I can't really do with blogger. We'll point you over there if we put anything up.

One more Halloween thing

Here's a pic of one of the cool pumpkins Steph and I did. We've come a long way from the butcher-knife smiley face pumpkins, huh?

Halloween

This Halloween has been a bit of a bust. We've had this cool frog costume for months. We've talked about it, jumped around like frogs, made the noises... but never actually tried it on.



Then the time came-- Sunday, there was a Halloween shindig at a neighborhood church. We brought the costume to Connor, and you'd think someone had just shot Dora. He fussed, cried, resisted, and protested in every way he knew how. "No I don WANNA wear da frog!" I mean, this was serious. We pretty much forced him into the costume, and the antics intensified. We tried to speak to him calmly, with promises of candycandycandy, but he was having none of it. We gave it time, to see if he'd get used to it. No dice. He was hysterical. So finally, we relented. We were disappointed, but his will was an immovable force.

The next morning, we tried again, since Connor was supposed to wear his costume to school. Same reaction. So, we sent him to school in just a regular outfit, with the frog costume in a bag, hoping that the peer pressure would overwhelm him into wearing the thing.

Steph picked him up from school, and you guessed it, he had never put the costume on. He did have a big bucket o' candy, which he caressed in the car all the way home. I greeted them at the driveway. There he was, huge grin on his face, one hand in the bucket and another clutching a (still wrapped) sucker. Tightly.

We took him inside, where he immediately started sorting the candy into little piles (where does he get that from?), and began a marathon sucker session.

We somehow managed to force him to take a break to eat some mochacheese (macaroni and cheese) to buffer the inevitable stomach ache. After that, he immediately resumed the intense sorting and sucking.

We tried to entice him into the frog costume once again, with promises of actual trick or treating, and even MORE candy. He had absolutely no interest in that -- the frog costume had by that point become a symbol of all that is evil in the world, and he had all the candy in the world right in front of him. Why leave this nirvana?

Steph and I were just a bit too disappointed over the frog costume, and the refusal to participate in "real" Halloween activities. Obviously, Connor was ecstatic with all the candy. And hey, the Halloween stuff is for HIM, not us, right?