Harry & Dobby

After the 50 millionth comment about Scott's crazy hair, we decided he needed to be Harry Potter for Halloween. 

 That naturally progressed to Jonah being Dobby--causing lots of mischief, but fiercely loyal to Harry  and best buddies. Plus, I thought he'd look cute in a pillowcase.

I dressed them up for the Santana Row trick-or-treat with vendors and they loved it.

 Ouch, I think his scar is hurting.

 Scott is into hand holding. Jonah isn't.

 I gelled Jonah's hair to look like Dobby's ears. It lasted for a few minutes.

 Working on his spells. I went to Target to buy a big black shirt to make Scott a robe, but they were sold out of every size. Instead, I found this nice Gryffindor robe for 6 bucks. It was huge, so I safety-pinned it smaller. I didn't want to cut and hem it because I'm lazy and also wanted him to be able to wear it until he's 10-12. Scott wore his church clothes and John's tie and voila. Cute, cheap costume.

 

At trunk or treat the Saturday before Halloween. Jonah wore a cut-up old pillowcase and socks. Nobody really knew who he was and it looked sad having him in rags next to Scott's professional/expensive looking ensemble, but that's why we have S.P.E.W.

Harry walked fearlessly right along in the costume parade.

John helped Dobby try to keep up.

This is the best group picture I got. John's parents are conveniently in the other ward that did the activity with ours.

Poor Jonah had face planted on our walk earlier, casuing a nice scrape/bruise/bump on his forehead.

Karen and Alan passed out the candy at our car so we could both go around with the boys. It was really fun--Scott caught on right away and Jonah loved walking around and seeing everyone.

On Halloween we went to get our free Krispy Kremes for being in costume. Scott shared a bite of his with Jonah! His first time sharing food, and it was a treat even!!

Then we stopped by John's work. Lots of coworkers came out to see the boys and take their pictures. 

 Debbie took these of Scott and John said at the party he was mentioned for the cutest costume.

Halloween night the Naylors came over for pizza and then we headed out to trick or treat in the neighborhood.

Scott was excited to play with Lincoln and run around outside.

Jonah tried to keep up.

We didn't think Jonah would do much actual trick-or treating, but he loved it.

 We wagoned him inbetween some houses to give him a break and dumped his candy in there so his bucket wasn't heavy.

 People loved the little kids. Jonah and Lou would get handfuls of candy. If they offered the basket, Jonah would take one and turn and run for it like he was getting away with something. If the people stayed inside, he'd walk right on in.

There aren't many kids in our neighborhood who trick-or-treat and we were the only ones who visited some houses, so they really loaded the kids up with candy--a few even gave out full-size bars. We ended up giving most of it to the primary to use, but it was fun to collect! This was definitely my favorite Halloween yet.

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I'm not sure how many more Halloweens I get to pick their costumes, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Pumpkin Bust

We went to my mom's school Pumpkin Bust the Friday before Halloween. 

 Scott met some little storm troopers and was a little timid.

 He warmed up when they showed him the death star bean bag game.

 Then he met Merida, Tink and Elsa. They thought he was so cute and he thought they were terrifying.

 My mom tried to get Scott to play some games. He liked the lollipop tree.

 Then he ate his sucker while watching the cake walk. 

 Jonah was also intrigued.

 Scott preferred to play on the school playground.

 Jonah just wanted to play in the tanbark.

 The static hair just added to the costume.

 Everyone called Jonah a girl. I'm sure the curly hair and yellow "dress" didn't help. Very few people knew who he was, even with Scott next to him.

 The Imperial March came on the speakers and Jonah spotted Darth Vader and crew making a grand entrance. 

 Both boys were afraid of all of them. Luckily they were more friendly than in-character. Darth Vader talked normally to Scott and held his hand.

 John showed up and we took a group shot. Jonah was still not thrilled.

 John also convinced Scott to try the cake walk.

We had dinner from the food trucks, then John headed to volleyball and I took the boys home to bed, all tuckered out from a fun night.

Scott's First Dance Classes

The boys both love music, but while Jonah constantly dances, Scott just sits and listens. He's actually very reserved while he's being watched. So when I saw a groupon for a month of dance classes I jumped on it.

 It was all 2-3 year-olds and they were all adorable. I'd prepped him the few days before as best as I could so he'd know what to expect. I was hoping he'd actually join in.

He just stood and observed at first. It was a great set-up where I could see him through the window, but he wasn't constantly aware of being watched.

 Eventually, he started making small movements to copy the teachers--like a heel touch here or there.

 He liked the songs where they did coordinating actions, probably because he does them at home, the library and nursery, so they're familiar. Jonah wanted to watch it all.

 I had to put him down after a while because he's so heavy. He found a basket to hang out in.

I wasn't sure how Scott would like the class, but he LOVED it. Talked about it non-stop and told me every morning that it was time to get his tap shoes on for dance class.

The second week he was an old pro.

 He started doing things along with the class without having to see them all try it first.

 New things were still slower going, though. I caught him occasionally focusing at home saw that he was trying heel-toe walking.

 The teacher was great. She and the helper kept the kids engaged and were fun and kind, but strict with listening to rules. It was perfect for Scott.

 They did various fun activities at the end of each class--balancing while walking, scarf flying to Let's Go Fly a Kite, dress-ups, etc.

 The girls had tutus and he had a pirate hat.

 He's been walking around with his hands behind his back all month.

It was a great experience for Scott and I loved seeing him learn and grow in just a few weeks. He's much braver dancing at home now, which is fun for all of us. One day I'd like to get him back into classes full-time.