The Monster Mash

Happy Halloween!! I'm not really sure who's bright idea it was to have me dress up as a golfer but I'll give you one guess. She kept saying "you're so cute!" The only thing cool about this costume was the fact that I had a golf club to swing around at my leisure. The leggings with knickbockers, the "shoes" that fit over my real shoes, the too tight green beret that left marks on my head, and the wool sweater all for the price of $29.99, does not sound like a deal to me! But being 2 does not lend itself to choices all that often so being told what to do is where it's at. I do love the game of golf, or at least the clubs and golf balls. So when they showed me my costume I was pretty excited as it came with a plush golf club to swing around at my leisure.



On Friday the annual Halloween parade was held at Goddard and my mommy was actually in town and was able to show up and help me get dressed. She even stuck around to walk in the parade with me. Everyone was commenting on how adorable I was and comparing me to Arnold Palmer; whoever he is! I strutted around the course while people admired the blond hair and knickers…boy was I a sight. Saturday we spent the early afternoon at the Little Gym Halloween party. I was able to dress up and do gymnastics, which was awesome! Its not very often you get to dress up as a golfer and swing like a monkey on the uneven bars.




By the time Halloween arrived on Sunday, I was pretty sick of being the golfer. My knickers wouldn’t stay up, my pants were itching and I hated my hat. But I still loved my clubs. It was a cold and windy day so we kept trick-or-treating to the closest neighbors who gave me some random treats; a juice box for instance. We then headed over to Josh’s grandmas for the haunted garage. The haunted garage stirs up some bad memories for me. About a month ago, Grandma and Papa Basner decided that my daddy needed his mask that he used when he was 18 (we aren’t quite sure what Grandma was still doing with it 18 years later). Anyhow, I took one look at this mask and was petrified of it; petrified might be an understatement! From that point on the Monster has lived in the time out closet making only brief appearances when my behavior warrants it. Needless to say, I don't like the monster and you truly only have to warn me once about the Monster appearing and I shape up. So back to the haunted garage that is filled with monsters, I wouldn't even step foot in it for fear that a monster would get me. Plus it didn't help that I heard screams coming from inside. Daddy walked through and said it was really good. Who knows, maybe in the future I’ll be brave enough to enter! Josh wasn't having it either. So this left us to trick or treating around the frigid neighborhood. This year Josh had three costumes, but the one he choose to debut at the party was the spider. Once again another fantastic creation by his mother! The remainder of the day was spent inside and occasionally playing outside on the tree swing. I ended the day with a ton of candy, most of which I can't eat! It was a great halloween. Next year we're going to shoot for a costume that makes me look not so cute...

Five Little Pumpkins

It was such a beautiful day today that we decided it would be a perfect afternoon to hunt for the perfect pumpkin. We met up with Kate, Andy and Lainie Ro for a hay ride out to the patch. We scoured the patch for the perfect pumpkin. Being that it was so late in the season the patch was pretty well picked over. But that didn’t stop me from attempting to pick up every pumpkin near me. I eventually found a pumpkin that was worthy of placement on my front porch so we boarded the tractor back to civilization, but not before some funny pictures with cutouts! We returned home to decorate our pumpkin and make pumpkin seeds!

Picture

Picture day, picture day, time to get my picture taken with Frank! Yes, it’s that time of year where I turn from crazy Thad into model Thad. We started the day out at PJ’s for a hearty breakfast of pancakes. Frank was an hour late so I spent the time prowling the streets of Princeton roaring at the Princeton Tigers (that’s their mascot and they are everywhere). I even got my picture taken with some tigers.

The fall colors lent themselves to some beautiful photography with my face being the prize. As always the pictures turned out amazing. According to Frank, the next installment of my face in his window should be up very soon! Keep a watch out for me on Highway 27 in Kingston, NJ.

Apple

I love apple picking so much I keep asking to go. The first time we went was with Casey and Scott and we purchased a ton of apples. I was able to run up and down the apple tree aisles picking apples from any tree that offered an apple from a lower branch. The second time we went apple picking I wasn’t in the best mood, taking my time to warm up to the whole idea. We spent the morning picking away with Josh which gave me a buddy to run through the aisles and the field. We took lots of pictures and picked even more apples than the first time. My mom learned how to make this awesome apple crisp using a recipe from Cristina; she’s the one that made me peanut butter and jelly cupcakes that were so good I had two! Now we are on overload with apples but that’s okay because I love to eat eat eat apples (and bananas)!

All That I Know

As to be expected at my age, my skill level and language skills are increasing every day. They say now is the time to teach your child a foreign language as children are at their prime for learning. I am a beacon of conversation with sentences about everything I see, but mostly just wants. Additionally, I can add by counting. I can count to 15 and know every shape and color when asked. Of course I have to show off a bit by telling you what the color is of something that I’m holding or something I see. I can also count to ten in Spanish. I’m learning different greetings and words in Spanish at school. Much to my parents surprise, I won’t do this on command but only when I really feel the need to show off. Being that I’m so great at counting right now, my parents are hopeful that I inherited my father’s math skills and not my mothers!

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Today we went to visit Elmo at his house again, Sesame Place, with Josh and Sam. Being that’s its Fall and nearing Halloween, Elmo’s place was decorated like crazy. I ran into Count Dracula which was fun, but I wasn’t quite sure what to think of him. He had an UN-haunted maze that we went through that had a talking pumpkin and lots of things to do along the way. We went on lots of rides, which brought a lot of waiting time. To pass the time, I climbed everything. If there was some way for me to climb up it, I found a way to do it. This kept my parents very entertained. Of course I revisited Elmo’s Blast Off which is my favorite ride and asked again why I couldn’t go on the big roller coaster. Before and after lunch I took each of my parents through the climbing nets which was so much fun and gave my parents a workout for the day. We had so much fun riding the rides and trick-or-treating throughout the park. I can’t wait for next year when the gates open; maybe I’ll be tall enough to ride the big roller coaster!

Insomniac

Not sure why my parents think I’ll be the exception but just like the books say and all other parents warn, my sleeping habits are all out of wack. I haven’t been sleeping through the night for whatever reason. My parents are comparing me to a newborn baby as I’m waking up every three to four hours and insisting on sleeping in my parents bed. Sometimes they give in because they are so tired and just can’t fight the good fight. On those nights I have to gather all of my friends, Mickey, Goofy and Big Bird, with my two blankets and snuggle in between them. Its quite the scene! Other nights they duke it out with me. My mother has even stooped to the level of crawling into my toddler bed and laying down with me. After I get sleepy, instead of telling me she is going back to bed, she gives me this line “I’m going to go potty.” Daddy has even started using it. I fall for it every time, that is until I wake up and realize they aren’t there and freak out.

I then got a cold and that just escalated the “not sleeping” phase as I was up half the night coughing up a lung. Eventually, I paid a visit to the doctor and was diagnosed with Croup. I was taking some cough medicine over the counter which seemed to work but then the nasty cold came back. So I headed back to the doctor and was given a prescription decongestant which worked miracles. When my mommy picked it up at the pharmacy, the pharmacist told her that it may make me sleepy. After the first night of taking it I slept through the night. Since then, I haven’t woken up since. Truly a miracle medication!

In Hiding

I have entered the phase of running and hiding, no matter where, when or why. I love to play hide and seek. It’s definitely something I need to work on as my hiding skills have not exceeded my parents finding me. I also like the finding part, and I especially like to be spooked when doing the finding. Even though I pretty much know all the finding spots of my parents, it still doesn’t prevent them from jumping out and scaring me half to death which is followed by a loud shriek of laughter!

Stuck on Repeat

Do you remember the days where I would just point and make a sound when I wanted to something? Well those days are long gone! The minute I learned to say "want" and speak in sentences I have decided that everything must begin with "I want" and end with whatever I have in my head at that exact moment. On top of it all, I must repeat it 50,000 times to make sure my request has been heard. And if I do not receive a response to my request, the statement then becomes whining/crying. So an example of this would be when driving to school and looking for school buses, I will see one school bus and want to see more. I then state "I want another school bus." My mother will tell me in due time, there will be another. This is not a satisfactory answer so I continue to repeat myself, almost into meltdown mode, where before I know another bus will appear. That or my mother will distract me with something else, where I then proceed to want more of that. Its a vicious cycle that seems to have me stuck on repeat.

Mine

The best thing that’s ever been mine is my blanket and Mickey. Recently I have discovered a dependence upon my blankets. I can’t go anywhere without them, or at least that is what I think. And it’s not just one blanket, its two or three. I have one at school that I have to bring home with me, even though I have the same exact one at home. Ms. Sassy is bound to break me of the habit as she feels it’s unnecessary. We’ll see who wins this battle. And really, who cares if I have a blanket! When someone attempts to take my blanket I begin to scream “MY BLANKET!” The other things that I have grown fond of is my Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Big Bird. It started with Mickey Mouse which was a gift from one of mommy’s many business trips. She told me she was going to visit Mickey and I thought it was a little crazy but whatever. But boy she wasn’t kidding! When I walked downstairs one morning there sitting on the chair waiting for me was a big Mickey. I immediately clung to him like we were long lost pals that had been separated at some point in time. I proceeded to tell anyone who would listen “my Mickey!” I also love Goofy which was a present from my Grandma and Grandpa Kappenman, and Big Bird which came from one of mommy’s co-workers, Madelyn. At night all of the creatures and comforts must be in bed with me, proving to leave me little room, but that’s okay, because I have all my stuff and it’s the best stuff that’s ever been mine! I would like to say that this whole “MY” thing ends at the gang mentioned above, but I would be forgetting that pretty much anything that is mine is “MINE”. This brings back a funny memory of North Carolina and my sand bucket. When we were hanging out on the beach with my red sand bucket and it was time to start packing up for the afternoon, Stephanie moved her chair and a huge ghost crab was revealed. It was the largest ghost crab any of else had seen, so the daddy’s decided that they should trap it using the closest sand bucket available – MINE! Upon getting the crab in the bucket I had a huge meltdown screaming “MY BUCKET” over and over and crying because the crab was in my bucket. Later that night when we went ghost crab hunting, I brought along my red bucket. It’s unclear if I was afraid of the crabs that were put into my bucket or the fact that it was my bucket being used as their temporary abode. Needless to say, I was relieved to let them go but frantic to not be on the ground when the came scouring out heading towards the ocean.