Sorry, folks. No picture-book story this year! But I do have something cute/sweet/sad to tell you about Halloween…

First of all, we did NOT take Emrick trick-or-treating. I guess that sounds pretty lame, but after thinking about it, we just didn’t think there would be much point. He doesn’t know what candy is, and he wouldn’t understand the concept of knocking on people’s doors to ask for it. On top of that, couldn’t you just picture how shockingly cute he would look in a little costume? And how much attention he would have gotten for it? And how much he would HATE that? And even if he didn’t freak out, I can imagine him just taking all of his candy out of his bucket and throwing it on the ground, cuz taking things out of other things and throwing them on the ground is what Emrick is ALL ABOUT.

Nope. Taking him trick-or-treating this year would have been all about me and Marcus and not about Emrick. So we decided against it. Had he been just a little bit older, we might have given it a try. But we’re looking ahead to next year, since by then he may actually be capable of finding the experience fun rather than confusing or annoying.

So Halloween was more or less low-key this year, except for one thing. Every year Marcus’ work has a Halloween party and employees are invited to dress up for the day. This is Marcus’ third Halloween at this place, but it wasn’t until this year that he decided to wear a costume. He wouldn’t have done it except that he got the idea to dress up as one of his co-workers, someone he has a jokey relationship with. Plus, this co-worker, Spencer, always wears black and has black hair and a black beard, so this would be quite the departure in appearance for Marcus. So to prepare, Marcus bought 1.) a used shirt that looks a lot like one of the shirts that Spencer is famous for wearing; 2.) men’s beard dye, the kind that works in five minutes, and 3.) that spray-on hair coloring that the stores sell every Halloween, and that washes right out.

Marcus and Spencer (who is not wearing his famous leafy shirt). Notice how much fuller and manlier Marcus' beard is, and after only a couple days' growth!

Anyway, apparently everyone was pretty amused to see Spencer spoofed in costume because Marcus took home third prize, which was 150 thousand dollars! Marcus was surprised to even get third prize, because there were some pretty elaborate costumes there. But he still accepted the cash, of course.

Meanwhile, I thought it would be fun to do something funny to Emrick’s appearance for Halloween. I had no costume for him, but I did have a baby with a full head of hair and a practically brand new can of hairspray! So I got to work and achieved this:

Heh. Emrick was surprisingly patient while I did this to his hair. He wasn’t thrilled with the getting sprayed with hairspray part (though I protected his eyes and forehead with my hand), but he was very patient while I sandwiched his hair in my hands and pulled upward repeatedly to get the faux-hawk effect. It was pretty fast and easy. A little pulling, a little spraying, a little more pulling, and a LOT more spraying. Afterward, I showed him his reflection in the mirror, and he didn’t have much of a reaction. He just sort of grinned at himself, which is his usual response to his reflection.

However, about an hour later, I was in the play room with him when he reached for his Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes book. As soon as he touched his head, he knew that something was different. When his hands went up to his head, his brow furrowed, and he started moving his fingers around in a grabby way. I can’t know for sure what he was thinking, but I am pretty sure it was something along the lines of , “WTH?” He quickly forgot about it though, and luckily all his grabbing didn’t compromise the structural integrity of his do. Thanks, Herbal Essences Maximum Hold Hairspray! Good times… except… all the hilarity was soon to come to a grinding halt!

Marcus.

When Marcus came home and walked through that mudroom door, the party. was. over. Emrick looked at his father and absolutely did NOT recognize him. His dark beard, his bizarrely black hair… Emrick did not know what to make of it. He just looked confused when this dark stranger approached him, and then seriously worried when he dared to pick him up! Marcus tried. He kissed Pookie, talked to him, sang to him, said, “It’s me, Dada,” but to no avail. Emrick’s chin shook. His lips turned down. He looked to me for reassurance, but seemed deaf to the reassurance I offered! Then he looked back at Marcus, whose big, black head was just inches from Emrick’s face, and the babe lost it. His sweet cheeks turned red, his eyes shut, and tears and screams erupted forth. Poor Pookie! Marcus handed him over to me, and then ran upstairs to shower and shave post-haste!

When Marcus returned, blond and clean-shaven, order was restored to Emrick’s universe, and Halloween proceeded and concluded with little drama.

Emrick can appreciate the crinkly music he can make with a bowl full of wrapped candy, while remaining unaware of its sugary awesomeness.

A couple of months ago, my mom bought a book for Pookie called Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, just like the song. In it, there are illustrations of kids touching each of these parts as they are mentioned, and then all together (along with eyes, ears, mouth, and nose). Anyway, several times over the past couple of months I have sat down with Pookie and tried to do this book with him. When it says head, I touch my head and his head. When it says shoulders, I touch both of my shoulders, and then I touch his shoulders. And so on.

Pookie just didn’t seem to get it. Most of the time he was too distracted by other toys to give me more than a few seconds of his attention, and when he did  pay attention he just grinned at me when I touched his toes, I guess because it tickled! But I just couldn’t get him to touch his own head, or his own shoulders, or anything.

Then one day a couple of weeks ago, that all changed. Yeah, yeah, you think you know what I am going to say. You think I am going to say that one day I decided to make one last attempt at doing this book with him and magically he knew all of his body parts!

Nope. It’s cuter than that.

We were in the play room (do all cute things happen in there now?), playing on the floor, when all of a sudden Pookie reached for a book lying nearby. It was not the Head, Shoulders book, but just one of many that float around the room and that Pookie often opens and flips through, but doesn’t study closely. Anyway, Pookie got a hold of this random book, opened it to a random page, and promptly planted his hands on his head, looking at me to see if I was watching. I was!

I immediately found the actual Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes book, opened it in front of him, and again, his hands went straight to his head as he flashed a big grin. Excitedly, I did the whole routine with him, touching my own head, etc. so Pookie could imitate me.

“Head!” Pookie’s hands go straight to his head.

“Shoulders!” Pookie’s hands don’t move from his head.

“Knees!” Pookie’s arms hang at his sides.

“Toes!” Hands back on the head.

Ah well. Progress, right? I did this with him several more times, and by the next day, he had learned to touch one other body part besides his head: his toes, which he touched when I said, “Knees!”

The next several days contained lots of head-touching, some of it prompted by me, and some of it spontaneous. The sight of any book caused him to touch his head; grocery shopping had the same effect (or was boredom the cause?). Anyway, while Pookie became intimately familiar with his head shape, I focused on just getting him to the next step, shoulders. He seemed to have a hard time with this, and I wondered if touching one’s own shoulders may be too awkward a maneuver for a baby his age. But he finally, he made some progress. His hands would be on his head, and I would say “Shoulders!” and touch my own, and in response, Emrick would move his hands to the back of his neck. Then “shoulders” became his upper chest. Then one day I was pushing him in a shopping cart at Target, and out of nowhere he just put his hands on his head (this is a common occurrence now) and I said, “Shoulders!” and he moved his hands and landed them squarely on his shoulders! What a boy!

So now we’re working on knees, and today he actually touched them, for the first time, I think. By the end of the year, we hope to have him being able to identify not just the eight body parts named in the book, but also his clavicle, his tibia, his cochlea, his cuticles, and his toe jam.

Wish him luck!

I just heard from the doctor’s office, and the verdict is in: Pookie suffers from Awesome Baby Syndrome.

In layman’s terms, this means that Emrick’s bloodwork and x-rays came back normal. He has no growth hormone or thyroid problems, and there is “no evidence” at this point that he has hypochondroplasia. He’s just proportioned like a Pookie Bear is all!