Tater Tales: First Halloween

"Roar"

Yesterday Tate had his first Trick-or-Treating experience. They do it two nights here, one city one night, and the city next door the next day. I would have definitely cashed in on the candy when I was growing up! We decided it must be for security purposes...  Anyway... we were outside for 30 minutes and visited 6, maybe 7 houses. We were cruising! The dogs we saw, the freedom of no stroller, children everywhere to follow, and the cool decorations were the highlights of Halloween. The candy was pretty cool, but after being denied the opportunity to inspect every piece after each house it lost its appeal. One lady even gave out raisins just for the little tikes!  Tate even got to ride in his new car seat and loved being able to see out the window; he didn't utter a single complaint the whole car ride long. After trick-or-treating he was ecstatic to be given the opportunity to eat some smarties. He devoured the whole package (don't worry he brushed his teeth later). Next year I'm sure will be a whole new ball game, but we had a lot of fun! Maybe we will even go again tonight!

Tater Tales: Picking Dandelions

At the park today Tate LOVED picking dandelions. The playground was worth 2 minutes, but the field of dandelions was hard to part with. He would pick one for both hands, waddle to the next one, squat down, decide which flower to part with, evaluate his decision, and start all over. He had to have 2 and they had to be the best!  As I watched him I couldn't help but think of one of my worst fears growing up; my child would be a dandelion picker on the soccer field. I have since learned the art of worrying and real fears as a mother and know how ridiculous that notion truly is. But to console myself I did rationalize that at the rate he tires of things, he will be uninterested in dandelions long before he wears a jersey on the field.