Trick or Treat

Are you confused? Yes, so am I.

After his nap, Benjamin was feeling a bit contrary. He did not want to be King of the Sun or a knight or any such medieval malarkey for trick or treating. Nope. He wanted to be a pirate.

But as we dug through the dress-up box looking for pirate-ish attire, we stumbled across a Buzz Lightyear costume left behind by Amal.

"I want to be Buzz Lightyear," he declared. "Uh-hum," nodding his little chin up and down with authority.

"Buzz Lightyear? Do you even know who he is?" I asked, perplexed. To my knowledge, the only full-length movie he has ever seen has been Cars. And maybe Monsters, Inc.

Papa confirmed that there was some occasion somewhere at some time where Benjamin encountered Toy Story.

"OK," I said. "Buzz it is."

Benjamin couldn't have been more pleased. This was better than King of the Sun. This was a character sanctioned by cartoon conglomerates everywhere.

Of course, Buzz is more recognizable to the mainstream public than the King of the Sun. Hilda figured it out right away when she opened her door.

"Buzz Lightyear!" she exclaimed, and whipped out her camera. Then she proceeded to unload half a dozen pieces of candy into Benjamin's open hands.

Getting the treats into his bag (thanks Grandma Vinch!) took him a while at first, but after a lap around the block he was a pro.

The treats were a wide-eyed surprise when we first started out. After a few houses, however, he was tearing into the candy and forgetting to say thank you.

How is it that candy does that to kids? It's like, one moment they're normal human beings and then...TWANG...suddenly they're scarfing all their mouths will hold, drooling and panicking that they won't be able to consume enough.

Was I like that, Mom?

Oh yeah...we didn't do Halloween. I just snarfed candy from the kids who I baby sat. That's what happens when your parents don't let you trick or treat.

I blame my mother. I figure that's OK because one day Benjamin will get to blame me for all the things that are wrong with him.

So wraps up our adventure around the block, greeting the neighbors and letting them oooh and ahhh over how big Benjamin has become. Twas much fun!

His First Pumpkin Carving

OK...he didn't actually carve it himself. But he picked out the design ("I want to carve a kitty cat.") and chose to include marble embellishments. He also "helped." Then he showed off his spooky side!

BenTV 018: Passive Resistance

Charming, isn't it?

BenTV 017: Dancin' with the Cousins

Judah and Ryah came to visit one afternoon last month. No visit at The P-Pod is complete without some form of dance party. Beware: this video is not for the faint of heart. 3.5 minutes of CRA-ZEE. (Edited down from 45 minutes of raw footage.)

BenTV 016: The Plasma Car

The Plasma Car is supposed to be propelled using the arms, but Benjamin prefers to scoot. As you can see, he's gotten quite fast. As you can also see, there are certain advantages to having an unfinished, minimally-furnished house and wood-laminate floors.



Footage taken in Sept. 2010.

Harvest-Halloween-Dress Up Time!

Dressed, somewhat, as a knight in tin foil and plastic, sequins and foam, he is ready for battle against dragons and other insidious foe. His nom de guerre..."King of the Sun." He can wield his sword in both right hand and left.

He tells his story thus:

"I fight the dragons, yeah. I fight the dragons and I kill them. The dragon will try to stomp me. It will STOMP me and I will be dead. Yeah. I will kill the dragon. I am King of the Sun!"

And who in this fair land could dispute such a noble claim?

His trusty steed...a 1995 Toyota Camry. His squire - The Papa. He marches upon the community church harvest festival, unsure of what awaits, but ready to nimbly respond.

He encounters for the first time in his young life an unlikely ally, delightful spun sugar, the most cottony of candy.

But lo, there was much more to be discovered.

For this match he began by surveying the grounds. He listened to the instructions.

And on his second attempt, his bolas snared the target.

And the boy was happy.

I mean, his chest swelled with pride.

He then used the power of his breath to move a ship across a sea.

The King of the Sun is both gracious and kind. He waited his turn, mentally preparing for his next event.

Notice his strong left hand. Two of his rings were tossed from the left.

But he is more than a lefty. The King of the Sun can also throw with his right arm. He leaves his kingdom yet confused. Shall he be right-handed or left? The people still do not know.

He, himself, does not know.

The knight and his squire.

There was but more to explore - the interior of this castle was unlike anything he had seen before. Games, games, and people everywhere!

He bowled; he fished for treats; he received a balloon sword.

He even posed for a photo with his mama.

But then...oh, my. He found the ponies. Oh, how he loved the ponies!

He trembled with excitement! He broke out with clapping and little shouts of glee! The ponies!

Even the 30-minute wait in line was thrilling. All that time to watch the ponies go round and round!

Then it was his turn. Mama was quite sure our young knight would falter at the last second. Large beasts are always fascinating from afar and a bit intimidating for our young hero up close. But Mama had been deceived. This young knight battles dragons! He was not afeared of a gentle pony!

(Silly Mama.)

Clip-clop, riding on a pony...(any Barney fans out there?)

And now, for his moment of glee...

Our young knight, our delightful King of the Sun, finished his pony ride, bade farewell to the pony named Tink, and journeyed home for a fine banquet of macaroni and cheese - his current favorite cuisine.

The Truth About Lightening and Thunder

Big apologies for how long it has taken me to update y'all on Little P's Great Adventures.  I have been too busy to write for several reasons:

1. I started working in my spare moments - doing some data entry at home.

2. I got all in a frenzy sewing...gifts for people...and that ate up any other spare time.

3. I finally finished painting two of our living room walls and an unfinished part of the ceiling. I am now spending any spare moments planning what house project to tackle next.

4. I've actually been getting exercise again. This takes up some time.

So I will give you one charming story about our boy who is really not a toddler any more.

Last week we experienced some amazing lightening storms - the kind where you can see the brightness through your eyelids as you're trying to sleep. Benjamin was spending the night at Grandma's house that particular evening, but he got to see the lightening (and hear the thunder) and here's what he had to say about it:

"The sun came down, REALLY hard!" (forcefully jabbing his hands downward) "Yeah. And it hit the ground. It came down really HARD, and it made a NOISE! The sun was really loud!" (everything about his body movements reinforced the emphasis on the sun smacking the earth)

Now you know how lightening happens and why thunder is so loud.

Truly.

His Song

When Ray Charles' song, Mess Around, comes on, Benjamin tells me that's HIS song. And he's adamant.

So, folks, that's his song. And don't you mess with it!

Kids only see the similarities...

So today, while at the coffee shop, Benjamin was goofing around with a dashing Black gentleman who wore his shoulder-length hair in skinny dreads. At some point, Benjamin leaned over his milk and told me, "He has hair like mine."

(insert the sound of a record scratching to a halt)

"Really?" I said.  "How so?"

"He has long hair. Like mine!"

Well, like his a few weeks ago, but I get it.

While I'm busy looking at the dreads (wishing I had some of my own) and the color, Benjamin is seeing only another happy long-haired dude.  Kids.

A Walk in the Park

Mama and Little P frequently take Mr. Buckles out for a walk in the park. This time I thought I'd share a few scenes from our adventures.

Overheard on the Phone

Little P loves to talk on the phone.  He asks to call Gramma. He asks to call Grandpa. And Papa. And Emma. And Auntie Bekah.  And Auntie Rosie. And sometimes Uncle Mike.

Today he wanted to talk to Cousin Amal.  The guy in the photo. The guy he used to see every day.

So hear is what I heard while eavesdropping on the other line. (Of course I had to record some of the conversation for your entertainment, dear readers!)

LP:  I want to talk to Amal.

Amal: (unintelligible noise as he gets on the phone)

Amal:  Hi?

LP: (silence - trying to figure out what is going on)

Mama:  Say "hi" to Amal.

LP:  Hi, Amal!

Amal:  Hi!

LP: The popcorn tastes good!  (He is eating popcorn.)

Amal:  My sister is Koa. My mom is Diana. My dad is Seth.

LP: Yeah!

Amal: Is this BJ?

Diana (Amal's mama):  No, it's Benjamin.

Amal:  Oh, I thought it was BJ.

LP: Yeah!

Mama:  Tell Amal that you are going to visit him on Saturday.

LP: Amal, I coming to see you on Saturday!

Amal: I have a big Transformer.  I can share it with you. It's big. He's a big guy.  I can share it with you.

LP:  (chewing popcorn)

Mama:  He just said he will share his Transformer with you. How nice!

LP: Yeah!  You share your Transformer!  Wif me!

Amal: (excitedly shares something that Mama totally cannot understand)

LP:  Yeah!

And so on...

P.S. As I write this, Little P is squirting excessive amounts of toothpaste on his tooth brush and sucking it off. I must log out now.

Mess Around

Right now, Benjamin is riding around the house on his plasma car and singing, "Everybody's doin' the mess around," a Ray Charles song. Too funny.

Serendipitous Adventure

It was a gloomy day. And a fantastic one - by 10:30 in the morning the lighting bolts were in full display. But it messed a bit with Mama's plans - which is OK. Plans can be changed.

The original plan was to go to the Sea Life Aquarium in a beach town 30 minutes away. As Mama understands it, this place has indoor and outdoor displays of, well, sea life. Mama got a ticket at half price some weeks back and now has the time to use it, weather permitting. On Thursday, the weather did not permit. Outdoor water tanks and lightning?

So Mama made a left turn somewhere along the way and prayed that The Dude responsible for this fantastic display of lightning would find Little P a more suitable adventure for the day. A stop at the botanical gardens which appeared on this side trip did not pan out due to some really expensive entry fees. But Mama kept on driving until, lo and behold, there was a sign pointing to the parking lot of a place that sold plants. All palm trees on sale for half price, in fact.

Mama said, "Do you want to go see some plants?" And Little P said, "Sure!" So Mama swung the car into the parking lot at the last possible second. It was the best possible choice. This place, Sunshine Gardens, is the coolest nursery in town (the town of Encinitas, to be precise). It sprawls. It has winding paths, little nooks, a succulent garden, a florist, and, get this, an on-site BAKERY with some of the most scrumptious cupcakes the Mama has ever seen.

Little P directed Mama to follow him as he explored all the paths several times. It was nearly impossible to photographically capture anything but the back of his head or some blur of motion as he ran ahead.

As you can imagine, the violin garden "piece" was a highlight. Someone had created a garden in an old violin case, using the violin as part of the art.

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