I'm a turtle

"I'm a turtle," Emerson informed me, as he grabbed his shell and put it on over his head. "Where's my baby turtle?" I assume he is looking for the smaller version of this same basket. We look around but are unable to locate his baby turtle.

"It must be upstairs working," he concludes.

Tree trimming

Fishing with Dad

Eric and Emerson did some more fishing in the pond behind our house.

Ethan and I played in the grass.

The gator - see his eyeballs and a bit of his tail sticking out of the water in the upper right corner? - kept his distance. When he started creeping in, we headed indoors.

Emerson

Batter up!

Another major highlight of the visit with Go Joy and Grandpa was their early Christmas present for Emerson a toy he has long coveted from one of his neighbor friends: a baseball batting machine. Check him out here hitting some homeruns:



He is pretty good! And very focused on this. I think I know what we will be doing every day for the next week, at least! Thanks Go Joy and Grandpa!

Fishing with Grandpa

Eric's parents, know to the kids as Go Joy and Grandpa, came down to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and we all had a fabulous time, but especially Emerson. He caught his first two fish ever in the pond behind our house (with the gator watching - from a safe distance, Eric assured me). Here's our proud young fisherman:

Upon pulling the fish out of the water the first thing Emerson wanted to know was what the fish's name was.

When I asked him about fishing, he told me he caught two bluegill and he gave me the full play by play including sound effects for the swishing noise made while casting and a reenactment of him being still, watching the bobber and then "oh!" seeing the fish flopping in the water and cranking the fish in.

What fun! Thank you to Grandpa for Emerson's first fishing pole.

With Lucy at Leu Gardens in Orlando

We met Lucy and Dianna yesterday for a fun outing to hear stories at Leu Gardens in Orlando. After the story (which was only about 10 min long, appropriately) we explored the gardens.

Mere moments after this last photo was taken, Emerson turned to look over his shoulder while his feet kept moving forward and...splash! Into the drink. He was a little shaken but happy again once he was in dry clothes. (Thank goodness I always have a spare set with us. Otherwise he would have been in Lucy's spare dress.)

Halloween: The Story Behind the Photos

About a month ago, at bedtime, I asked Emerson what he would want to dress up as for Halloween.

"Pink!" he told me without hesitation.

"Pink?" I repeated, with interest.

"Pink...and lions. A Pink Lion!"

So I tucked him in, waited two weeks without mentioning it, and then asked him again one afternoon.

"I want to be a Pink Lion!" he told me again.

I have not been able to determine the inspiration for this costume but we did manage to make it a reality for him on Halloween.

Ethan's costume was inspired by his nickname - Godzilla. He is a perfect teeny* incarnation of the dino-lizard creature who staggers, arms outstretched, knocking down everything in his path.

We trick-or-treated around the neighborhood with some of our neighborhood friends. Here are a few of the kids getting ready to go out:

I do give Emerson credit: he is the only one of his peers who chose his own costume.

Emerson was also very much his own person for the trick-or-treating. While the other kids ran from house to house in an eager candy-accumulating mob, Emerson had a very relaxed pace and he chose to take it all in. He appreciated the Halloween decorations (many of which he had never seen lit up before) and he told us in great detail about everything that was happening and how his bucket was getting so heavy and full of candy. We let him choose one piece of candy to eat and he had a lollipop. He loved it.

Ethan will be getting his Halloween candy indirectly (through his milk). Not too much, though.


*Relative to Godzilla. Not relative to other children.