Besties

Soooo....it's November? Who knew?!?

Last night was the big trick or treating event. We have been talking about this night for over a month when my mom asked Austin what he wanted to be for Halloween and he replied automatically, "an orange hippo." He gets his decisiveness from me. He stuck with it and told us he really, really wanted to be an orange hippo. Guess what? They don't have that many orange hippo costumes out there, crazy! So, my mom started sewing. She has worked on this costume for about a month and after each stage was done Austin would clap, want to see it, and say, "Oh boy! I'm going to look just like a REAL hippo!" And he did. For about two houses.

Back up. The costume was also worn enthusiastically at two other events last week. A Halloween party at a friend's house and the Halloween festival at the gymnastics center both had him in head to toe orange and sweating as he ran around in the fleecy costume. But! Last night? No thanks. We made it across the street when he said, "I want to go home and change into my clothes."

"Do you want to take off your hippo and wear a Cars costume?" (He had on his Cars pajamas underneath).

"No"

"Do you want to wear Thomas?" (His costume from last year)

"No"

"Do you want to wear your train engineer outfit?"

"No"

Like I said, he gets his decisiveness from me.

So, we went home and he got into pants and a t-shirt. We decided he was biker boy as he wanted to ride his bike to catch up to our group. Then that was shed as well so he could walk with his bud Ashton. So, he was the three year old adult. The one who would stand on the sidewalk as all the kiddos went up to the door. The one who didn't care if he was getting candy. The one who happily ran with his friends to the next walk where he would stand and wait for them to come back.

We came to a house where nobody was home and the candy bowl was outside, he went up to that one. Slowly, with Mike's assistance, he would walk up to the doors. At one house Thriller was playing out the windows and all the boys (Ashton, Austin, Oliver and Braeden) started dancing and from then on danced for their treats. About 40 minutes into the walk, we all looked up and Austin had gone up to a door without us. He got the candy, then turned around and shouted, "LOOK! I DID IT ALL BY MYSELF!" I was proud, not because he was up there, but because he was happy with himself, really happy with himself.

The duck that was waddling down the street was named Oliver and I didn't really think that Oliver would get into the act of trick or treating yet, so I just let him follow the kids around. He'd make it to porches as the other kids were leaving and then just turn around to follow them again. We would take turns getting him to the door to grab a treat to put in his little basket, but he would drop his basket and waddle after the kids again. At one house the man was waiting for Oliver as the rest of the group had come and gone and I called out to him, "Don't worry, he doesn't need anything, he's just following," but Oliver walked right up to him and took a piece of candy from the bowl.

The two opposite personalities of these boys are so fun to watch. It's fun to see how they care for each other and are becoming the best of friends. Austin would call out to Oliver, "Can you get a piece for me?" as he stood back on the sidewalk waiting. I am positive that in a year from now Oliver will be calling back, "You bet!" and he will. We held Oliver's dedication this past weekend and when it was Austin's turn to talk to Ollie, we coached him in telling Oliver that he loved him, but then he went right up to Oliver, kissed him, and said, "and I'll always be there for you" and he will.