Cookies, a Costume, & Cool Party

I've been extremely tired lately... probably for many reasons, but I was starting to feel guilty that I wasn't getting to do a lot of fun things with Gavin.  It's hard to go outside all the time, everyday since there are days when the weather is a scorching 100 degrees.  It's difficult to make it through the morning when you were awake 2-3 different times during the night helping your child potty or changing their bed sheets since they wet the bed.  It's also tough to get the energy to "play" when you're 7 months pregnant and your body feels like a heavy, loaded blimp.  Soooo.... I decided to take advantage of the times when I am feeling good and make the most of these moments I have with just Gavin and I.  Earlier this week, we went into the kitchen and whipped up a batch of sugar cookie dough and we went to town.  I pulled out a few Halloween cookie cutters, but Gavin liked the pumpkin one the best so that's what we used!  I gave him any and all tools that I was using and allowed him his own stash of dough.  He did awesome with it and had a lot of fun.  He rolled the dough in a ball, used his rolling pin to flatten it out, then pressed the cookie cutter in the dough and made his pumpkin shapes.  It was a blast making these cookies with him and I must say.... he didn't figure out until the very end that he could eat the dough.  I'm grateful for these moments with Gavin and I'm loving him being at this age... he's been a lot of fun and I've enjoyed watching his personality come out more and more.  

At the beginning of October, we found out that some parents on our compound were going to be hosting  a Halloween party and were going to prepare a Trick or Treat night for all the kids.  I tried being prepared for activities like this before we left, but frankly, never thought that Halloween would be an option for us, so I didn't get/bring Gavin a costume over with us.  Fast forward a few weeks----- I didn't find any costumes here, so I called my mom and had her go find Gavin a Buzz Lightyear costume, I mean, who else was he going to be, and mail it to us.  That's where the fun began.  The costume made it here in time and we were so excited, until we put it on Gavin.  He was scared to death of it.  He screamed and cried and expressed in EVERY WAY POSSIBLE that he did not want to wear it.  Brooks and I really were okay with the idea that Gavin might not wear his costume, but we did want Gavin to work through being afraid of something.  Now.. picture a full week of "introducing" Gavin to his Buzz Lightyear costume, attempting to get him to touch the outfit, or even look at the outfit, or better yet, stay in the same room as the costume-- yes, it was that bad!!!!   We eventually came to the place where we decided and agreed we would take him to the Halloween party dressed in regular clothes, let him see all the other kids dressed up, and then let him tell us he wanted to wear the costume.

But then, I came up with an idea.... I contacted one of my best friends back home, whose little boy, Cade was Gavin's best friend.  I remembered that Cade was Buzz Lightyear one year for Halloween and asked his mom to send me pictures of Cade wearing the costume.  I showed Gavin pictures of his friend dressed up as Buzz, he saw that it was Cade, and that he had the same costume as him!!  Then, I very carefully put the costume on Gavin while he was watching tv.  He let me put it on him!!  Hmmmm... I was a little confused, but went with it.  45 minutes later, 2 popsicles, and more pictures of Cade dressed up Gavin loved his costume.  We even went outside and waited for Daddy to come home from work so Gavin could "fly" to him.  Total Success!! Woo Hoo!  Thanks Susie for sending the pics!

Our schedules have been really hectic lately and last week it seemed like we had something every single night, so we took advantage of the down time we had this weekend, when Brooks wasn't working, and we spent the afternoon at the pool, just the three of us.  It was a lot of fun and Brooks and I are soaking up all that we can with Gavin while it's just him and us!

 

After the pool and a nap, we got ready for the Halloween Party.  Gavin was willing and eager to put his Buzz Lightyear costume, thank goodness, and he looked PRECIOUS all dressed up.  You can see more pics on my facebook page from our evening, but here are a few of the highlighted moments.  We kept Gavin away from the Haunted House and let him play in the "kid room".  They had lots of little games for kids to play and Gavin had a blast.  He got to do the Cupcake Walk, play with friends, and found a "bean bag like toss game" and stayed there for a LONG time!!  We really had a lot of fun and made some more fun memories.  This was just one more thing that has made our move here easier!