Happy Halloween!

Check me out--rounding out October the day after it ends. Go me!

This is Jasper on any given day.  He is the energizer bunny in a pinball machine.  He DOES NOT STOP.

And he loves his golf clubs.  Adorable.

My little man in his dapper Sunday suit.  It's hard to get a picture of him on Sundays because Jake is gone and I'm left to my own devices to get us both ready, then operate the camera, and try to get a perpetually-in-motion toddler to hold still long enough to capture him.  This one's not bad.  Oh how I love to dress up my little man.

My friend Stacy (who's also 9 months pregnant and a total trooper) hosted a little Halloween party for the kiddies last week and it was a ball. A fun excuse to get the toddlers dressed up in their costumes again.  

Anna and Naomi Crowe.

Jasper and Amelia Stevens, being buddies.

Then that night we went to Halloween Pajama Storytime at the Burbank Library.  Anna helped us sew these adorable pajamas so they could match for the event.  So cute, right?

Stacy and Amelia Stevens.

He was a little tired and wound up, but it was still a good time!

And it was packed.  Over 300 people came.  I LOVE this library.

And just to cram in more fun Halloween events, we went to another Pumpkin patch.  This one was really close by, in Encino, and free.  And it was fabulous.

Jasper and Lucy Anderson.  

Jasper in the bounce house.  It's really hard to capture just how much he LOVED this bounce house.  I've been saying lately (only slightly jokingly) that Jasper needs a pinball machine where he can be the pinball.  We lucked out at the pumpkin patch and caught the bounce house for a few minutes and oh my goodness--he was in total heaven!  I have hardly seen him squeal with such delight.  I was a little nervous it might be too rough for him--nope!  It was perfect!  Now if only we could grow one of these in our courtyard...

There were so many cute things for the kids to play on here.  Really, such a fun morning and did I mention it was FREE?

And on to the big event...TRUNK OR TREAT

I loved this Mickey Mouse costume from Babies R Us so much that when they ran out of Jasper's size early and my mom offered to pick one up in Mesa and send it to me, I took her up on it (well, the second time she offered.)  I am SO GLAD we got that costume.  I loved every second he was wearing it.  I spotted it a few months ago, so I made this skirt for my costume and just added the ears and the gloves.  (I already had the material, so I just went for it.)  

And then, since Anna had helped me make Jasper's pajama pants, she really encouraged me to make Jake's Mickey pants when I lamented I couldn't find anything.  So, fearfully I went to JoAnn's, bought the material and thread and pattern--by myself--and made them the day before the event.  And just LOOK!  They fit!  If I say so myself, I think Jake looks pretty dang sharp!  Anna just happened to acquire that awesome bow tie the day before and give it to us.  And I found that blazer at a thrift store the day of for $2.  I literally paid for it in coins. Not bad!

And here we all are: Mickey, Minnie, and mini-Mickey.  I already think this will be our best family costume ever. Jake is such a sport, isn't he?  Major, major husband points here.  Major.

This is how Studio City does Trunk or Treat.  Or I should say, it's how Christina Anderson does it.  She has such a gift, and she does it for the fun of it.  I LOVE the parties she helps throw.

The Heders.

The Denkes.

My Mickeys.

Jamie and Oskar Ackerman

Drew, Sarah, (and baby) Champion

The Dartons

The Minnies (baby Fiona Hoppe)

The McKays.

So this was what Jasper wore for Halloween day.  We wore it to story time and I thought he looked so cute.

P.S.  He climbs on everything.  Literally everything.  And he almost never falls.  And he hurts himself even less.  He's like a cross between a monkey and a pint-size Spiderman.

How bout that awesome jacket we made, huh?  

I love.

Jasper's new trick: showing you his belly button.  He'll check throughout the day to make sure it's still there.  And he'll also check on you to make sure yours is still there.  

Jasper at the Burbank Downtown Trick or Treat.  This was a huge hit.  The time was 4-7 PM, which left us enough time to have dinner at Panera and get to bed at a reasonable time.  It was really fun to go to a community event and see all the other kids in costume.  And all the other kids loved seeing Mickey Mouse.  

This is one of those images that will be frozen in my memory forever.  My little boy as Mickey Mouse. Priceless.

What a fun day.  Seriously.  Best Halloween ever.  I liked it before, but having kids just makes holidays SO much cooler.  He was so cute to take the candy and put it in his bucket and wave to all the vendors.

And finally, today we went to the Hunnington Gardens.  They have a free day every first Thursday of the month and Johanna Darton offered us tickets.  We went with a nice, big group and had a ball.

Doesn't this look like something out of Alice in Wonderland?  He loved running back and forth inside this little tunnel.  Just his size.  

So, Jasper's now 16 months and we're just starting to see tooth #9, a lower bicuspid, as Jake corrects me.  Jake has nicknamed Jasper "the king of gab." He jabbers all day long "bi-dom, bi-dom, bi-dom, bi-jom, bi-jom, bi-jom." He mimics what we say, but I'm still not hearing anything really consistent yet.  He points to things and "talks" about them.  He climbs onto the toilet and gets into the medicine cabinet, he climbs on the chair and gets onto the desk.  He jumps from the couch to the ottoman and back and gives us all heart attacks.  He likes to hide things (namely balls) under the couch and see if he can get them again.  He still loves the broom and tries to sweep whenever I get it out.  He's just learned to fold his arms for the prayer and he jabbers along with me during the prayer as I say it.  We've also made it through two weeks of church now in the pew as opposed to the hard seats in the back, so I call that progress, too!  And he's starting to do actions along with certain songs, like "Itsy Bitsy spider."  So darling.  We sure love our little man.