Fiery Ghost!

Ben got some funny shots of Dexter in his ghost costume in front of the bonfire at Safely Spooky!

Head on fire!

Fiery ghost!

Ghost Costume Practice Run

I was so thankful when Dexter announced a few weeks back that he wanted to be a ghost for Halloween - the easiest costume in the world I thought! Turns out it was a little trickier than I had imagined. First problem: no white sheet! Solution: look at every local dollar store for a white sheet or tablecloth - we finally found one at the grocery store where a stockboy said he thought there were some white sheet sets for $5 in the back room and retrieved one for us. Second problem: we couldn't get the sheet to stay on top of Dexter. Solution: sew the top of it to a knit cap. Third problem: keeping it steady as he walked arounf. Solution: sew some "sleeves" for stability. What I thought would be a matter of saying, "Here's your sheet, kid," turned into a multi-day, multi-task creative endeavor. But he does look adorable and is very happy with his ghost costume.

We discovered the eye hole problem as he tried to get down the stairs out back and missed the last step because he couldn't see his feet.

Frustrated little ghost! But we calmed him down and he merrily went with Daddy to the park for "Safely Spooky".

It was at Safely Spooky where Ben discovered that Dex had no peripheral vision in the costume. The poor child was oblivious to people trying to give him candy unless they were standing directly in front of him. We're going to work on the eye holes before his Halloween party at school, Tae Kwon Do, and real-deal trick or treating!

"A Pleasure to Have in Class"

Dex wrapped up another round of swimming lessons and got a glowing report from the teacher despite the fact that he still refuses to put his face under water. He now will jump into the pool from the side (holding hands) and will propel himself around with a noodle. He is the best in class at floating on his back!

The instructor did let him go underwater when he jumped in at the last lesson - he was shocked and then very proud of himself! We expect the progress to continue when he starts up another round of lessons next week!

Labor-Intensive Fruit

Dexy and I decided to buy a pomegranate at the grocery store. Good thing it came with directions for how to get the fruit out of it - it took the whole family about 20 minutes to get all the edible fruit out.

All that effort was worth it - pomegranate is delicious with a slice of homemade banana bread!

Mashing Sifting Whisking Mixing

Last week, Dexter and I made good use of some aging bananas by baking banana bread. Dex helped with every part of the process: mashing bananas, sifting flour, whisking eggs, and mixing it all together!

Rock Bridge

Dex loved walking across the huge stepping stones in the pond (the "rock bridge" as he referred to them).

At one point, I pretended I was stuck and Dex immediately came out to rescue me. "I'll help you, Mommy! Here I come!"

 My hero!

And on with our stroll.

Acorn-Climbing

Dex got some help from Daddy getting up the big acorn.

But he climbed up, around, and down the smaller ones all by himself.

Tree House Obstacle Course

Dexy is not reckless but not fearful when it comes to challenging physical tasks (much improved from when we couldn't get him to even try to climb the playground rock wall this summer!). Steady and sure was his approach.

It was fun to follow Dex through the tree house obstacle courses!

Pointing Out the Frog Pond

Leading Mommy and Daddy through the Maze

Last Sunday we spent the morning at the Morton Arboretum (Ben's church gig was moved to the afternoon due to the Chicago Marathon). Dex and Ben have been there before but Dexy relished showing Mommy around - especially through the shrubbery maze.

Dexy was not happy to stop for a family photo but we didn't know that until we looked at the picture we took!

Enjoying First Artichoke

Dex was really excited when we picked out an artichoke at the grocery store and I explained that after cooking it, we would eat it by pulling off its petals and scraping the fleshy part off with our teeth. The fact that Daddy had never had an artichoke this way made it even more exciting!

 Scrape.

 Evidence of scraping.

After eating all the petals, we had to get through the pricklies to eat the heart - also quite exciting! I can't wait to see his first go at a lobster!

Reading Elissa's Birthday Fortune

After Shabbat Dinner, we enjoyed "delicious birthday cake" and personalized fortune cookies that Jason and Ian had made for Elissa's birthday. Dex asked me to read the fortune from his cookie but I suggested that he read it himself. He had no trouble with the first line, "Happy Birthday, Elissa!" but then he wanted to stop and have me read the rest.  I encouraged him to continue and he did. "Love, Jason and Ian". Then he stopped and looked at me for help with the next line. Once more I encouraged him, "Keep going, you're doing great!" By this time the rest of the table was completely silent as Dex sounded out, "New (now) you my (may) eat the cookie." When he finished, everyone burst into applause. "You're reading!" exclaimed Elissa. Elissa's praise holds special meaning for Dex and I could see him beaming with pride.

Shabbat Shalom

On Friday Dex and I went for Shabbat dinner to Ian, Elissa & Jason's house.  I coached Dexy to say Shabbat Shalom upon arrival but since we were also celebrating Elissa's birthday he shouted "Happy Birthday, Elissa"!

Dex got to witness the traditional Shabbat blessing (expertly led by Ian!) followed by a beautiful pot roast dinner with Ian, Elissa, Jason, Grandma Ivy and Grandpa Larry.

And he managed - eventually - to keep the yalmulke on his head.

Pumpkin Prize

OK, everyone got to take home a pumpkin but it still felt like a prize to Dexy.

Animal and People Friends at the Pumpkin Patch

 Dex played with goats...

and fed some ponies.

He also hung out with Macy (school-Ian's little sister) who seemed to have a sweet spot for Dex.

Macy's mom was kind enough to take a photo of Daddy, Dex, and Macy.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Dex and Daddy went on a class field trip to a local pumpkin patch.

 Dex was happy to spend time with his former teacher, Ms. Lois. And she was happy to spend time with him.

 Dexy wandered through the corn maze.

 And showed interesting form on the slide ( a far cry from the early days when he had to go between someone else's legs down a slide!).

Hanging with the dinosaur.

Free Pie Deconstructed

We had the pleasure of having Daddy with us for last Wednesday's free pie day (I had an afternoon meeting so Ben found subs for his students for the day).

The waiter knows that Dex likes the lemon meringue pie and has it waiting for him when he finishes his broccoli (or at least a portion of it!).

Total concentration to get just the filling. 

Then it's time for the crust.

Only meringue left! Dex enjoyed showing Daddy how he deconstructed his pie. Yum!

The Tooth Fairy Doesn't Disappoint

Dex was thrilled to find that the Tooth Fairy had taken his tooth and left him a note, his favorite lemon lollipop, and a shiny quarter!  The quarter went right into his piggy bank. The lollipop went right into his mouth. The note went right into our scrapbook.

Tooth Fairy Prep

When we asked Dex what he thought he would get from the tooth fairy for his tooth, without hesitating he replied, "My favorite lemon lollipop!"  I wrote out a note verbatim as dictated by Dex, Dex signed the note, taped the tooth to the note, and placed it under his pillow before bed. 

We hope the tooth fairy brings him his favorite lemon lollipop!

The Tooth Fairy Is Nocturnal

Dex was full of questions about the tooth fairy all day.  A few examples include:

* How does the tooth fairy get into the house?

* What will the tooth fairy do with my tooth?

* Does the tooth fairy fly or walk?

Many of his questions were met with me explaining that while the tooth fairy came to me too when I was a little girl, I had never seen her because she always came at night when I was asleep.  To which he replied, "Maybe the tooth fairy is nocturnal."

I Think Something Just Fell Out of My Mouth

Ben's alarm went off at 7am and I had to nudge him to hit the snooze button (it's our "sleep late" morning when we wake to Ben's alarm set for 7am, not my alarm set for 5:30am). As we both drifted back to half-sleep, we heard Dexter in the living room say in a calm, soft voice, "Hey, I think something just fell out of my mouth." Ben and I looked at each other and Ben said, "Did he just lose his tooth?" Dexter continued, "Something white.  Something sharp." Ben and I went out to find Dex standing in the living room, holding his tooth in his fingers.

After our initial excitement about him losing his "very first tooth" - he was proud and pretty chill about the whole thing - I asked him how it happened. "Well, I thought it was some food stuck in my teeth and I was trying to get it out with my teeth but I just didn't so I put my fingers in and pulled it out."

Wobbly Tooth!

Part of the new fall schedule is that Dexy and I go to Baker's Square on Wednesdays after school and before Tae Kwon Do for dinner and free pie. A couple of weeks ago, Dex asked on our drive over what it feels like when you lose a tooth.  I couldn't get him to tell me why he was thinking about that but I described how it felt for me and told him that it would happen to him too but probably not for another year or so.

Last Thursday, Ben and Dexy and I went to Famous Dave's to use a coupon for a free dinner before its expiration date and Dexter ordered "Kids Ribs". He loves the meat but doesn't want to eat it off the bone so Ben cut the meat up and Dexy ate it with a fork. At one point, he said, "Ow! I hit my tooth with my fork!"  But he kept eating and didn't complain further, there was no blood or sign of physical injury so we forgot all about it until...

On Friday I noticed that Dexter's lower right front tooth seemed to be out of place.  Ben checked it and sure enough, his tooth was loose! After we put Dex to bed, Ben and I googled "losing baby teeth" like crazy. There was general agreement that kids lose their first tooth around age 6 although there can be tremendous variation. Since Dex isn't yet 5 and because the tooth was loosened through an incident, we decided that we would call the dentist in the morning.

On Saturday, Ben called the dentist before he left for work and explained the situation - they said we could bring him in at noon that day or wait until Monday but that everything would probably be fine if the tooth fell out.  When I got back from work late Saturday morning, I took Dexy over to the dentist just to make sure there wasn't anything else wrong and that his grown up teeth would come in OK.  Dex was nervous to go to the dentist. "I don't want her to pull it out!"  When we got there, I explained to the dentist what had happened and that I would like for them to look at it but not to pull it. Dex seemed relieved to hear me say that.

Dex emerged from the examination area covered in stickers and the dentist explained that everything looked fine and that not only will he loose that first "wobbly" tooth (as Dex calls it) but that the one next to it would also come out soon. Tears welled up in my eyes and I said, "I remember when those teeth came in."  "I know, they grow up fast, don't they," she replied with a sympathetic pat on my shoulder.