Costumes, Candy, and...Conjunctivitis

Not a very festive blog title, but an accurate and informative one! And that about sums up the excitement in our house this week. But first I go back to early October when I asked Matty what he wanted to dress up as for Halloween and he very certainly said he wanted to be a dinosaur so "I can roar at people. And it's ok Mommy I'll just wear my costume from last year." Well that about made my head spin around but I was more than happy to oblige. When I went digging for his costume a little while later I was distressed to find the head had mysteriously gone missing. I tore apart his room, playroom, our closet, the attic, all in desperate search for this head so my child could roar at the neighbors.

Concerned but undeterred I put on my Martha Stewart pants and went to brainstorming on how to accessorize a nondescript green torso into a dinosaur. A green ball cap, googly eyes and foam-and-glue fashioned claws helped to deck him out for the DCA Halloween parade last Friday! I was rather proud of my handiwork and was pleasantly surprised he managed to keep on all the extra gear. That's his teachers. The kids will do anything for them. The parade was terribly cute and Matty marched proudly!

As I figured would happen the head did end up turning up. Not on November 1st as I'd thought but the day before Halloween so Matty had his choice in attire and chose the real head. He looked super cute at the Whitlock Manor Halloween party and hayride and I must say his ferocious roar was something to behold. Perched atop Saurus rock, he was definitely the cutest reptile I'd ever laid eyes on.

And speaking of eyes, his started to do something right before the hayride that I'd only seen once when he was a baby. Dino-green mucus began oozing from his eyes. I wiped away green. And green quickly reappeared. "Hmm...surely it's just his cold," I thought. "He can't be getting pinkeye while trick-or-treating, that's just cosmicly unfair." But by 2AM we were awoken to the frightened screams of a child who's eyes were glued shut and by 10AM the doctor was confirming my fears. Somehow we've managed to get through the last few days of the eyedrops that he viciously loathes, Ben and I not getting it yet (knock on wood) and 99% of his class uninfected. I shutter to think how many we passed the pink to Monday night. Let's be honest, I'm only sharing this here because this blog is private.

But before the cloud of conjunctivitis descended, sweet Matty had a great Halloween. He trick-or-treated like a pro and delighted the neighbors with his animated dino-impersonation. He really understands all the holiday hoopla this year and it's terribly cute and puts everything into new perspective. Childhood magic is truly upon us.