Older & Wiser with a Full Belly

It's a double holiday...Veterans Day and even more importantly Daddy's birthday!!! And where did Anh spend his special day ??? Disney World, of course! Okay, it probably wasn't his top choice of venue, but it sure did make Jax and Baylor happy, and that is what's really important, right? Ha! Truth be told, we're all in Orlando for a conference, but the trip happened to overlap Anh's birthday and the final weekend of the 15th Annual EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. I can't imagine a better birthday dinner!With over 22 nations represented, Anh & I had to be selective when it came to visiting the various food kiosks. By the end of the night, we had sampled dishes and wines from Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Singapore, Belgium, and France. It was a fabulous evening! Oh, and if you're wondering, Jax and Baylor were slightly adventurous. Their main dish was nothing out of the ordinary, "chicken with sauce" (sesame chicken) from China, but they both enjoyed a roasted corn and cheese empanada from Argentina as an appetizer. Oh, and they gobbled up their dessert trio from France. Baylor tried his best to convince me that it would be okay for me to share both my champagne and Singapore Sling with him. Nice try, buddy!With so many delicious options, the park was crowded with guests. Luckily, everyone was in a festive mood and on their best behavior. We did run into a few characters though...

A Wide-Eyed Mouse

A Super Frisky PuppyAnother mouse. Evidently Disney has a rodent problem...A Crazy DuckA Silly DogAnd as Baylor put it, a "scary" Queen.

We loved every minute of it!

Echo

I've recently noticed a change in Baylor's behavior. Well not so much a change, but an existing behavior has definitely intensified lately. Here's an example. Jax might say, "This is my favorite part!" when watching a movie, and then Baylor will immediately shout, "My favorite part too!" I think it's cute that Baylor idolizes Jax, but I can tell Jax is starting to get annoyed with the constant echoing of his opinion.

This morning, Jax shared, "My favorite Care Bear is Grumpy Bear." on the ride to school, and of course, Baylor immediately declared his love for "Like Grumpy Bear too!" Jax couldn't take it anymore and snapped, "You're just copying me, Baylor!" I tried my best to explain the situation to Jax by saying, "Baylor looks up to you, buddy. That's why he copies you. You're his best friend." Jax sat there for a second and then said, "But, Baylor isn't my best friend. He's my brother." Oh, Little Jaxon, you couldn't be more wrong, and one day, you'll realize that nobody loves you more than your brother. No one will ever be a better friend to you, and something tells me that once you realize this fact, you'll never forget it again.

What's In A Name?

When I recently visited Jax's school for the Halloween Parade, I had a major realization. Jax is leading a double life and has been for quite some time. My epiphany came as the kids were lined up in the hallway waiting to go outside and march in the parade. I asked Jax, "Jax, are you excited?" The little boy standing next to Jax immediately responded, "It's Jaxon!" Oh right, sorry, of course his name is Jaxon. At that very moment, I realized Jax has always introduced himself to others as Jaxon, and even though I have listed Jax as his nickname on every school form ever, no one outside of the family has ever referred to him using that name. Interesting...very interesting.

So, naturally, it struck me as odd yesterday when someone asked Baylor, "What's your name?" and his response was, "BayBay!" The person immediately looked at me for interpretation, and I had to explain that indeed his name is BayBay or more formally Baylor. They laughed at the back story, and I made a silent commitment to insure that Baylor realizes he has two names. If he still chooses to introduce himself as BayBay, well I'll be thrilled. Because old habits are hard to break. To me they will always be Jax & BayBay. I can suffer through the eye rolls and evil looks they'll shoot my way as teenagers...no problem.

A Good Report

Actually, Jaxon's 1st report card was GREAT! The equivalent of an A or maybe an A-. As I've explained in the past, the traditional A's, B's, C's and so on from our childhood have been replaced with M's, P's, and I's for Kindergartners in Florida. Jaxon earned 22 M's and 2 P's...OUTSTANDING! I know this not because I'm a proud mother (I am by the way!), but because I originally received another child's report card by mistake.

When looking over the first report card, I was a little concerned to see so many P's. Sure Jaxon's teacher had explained that P's aren't bad especially on the first report card, but I thought Jaxon was doing way better than P's based on the graded papers sent home for review and the report provided by Mrs. P at the parent-teacher conference. I knew something was up though, when I flipped the report card over and saw the behavior grades were all low. That is most certainly not my Jaxon! Relief came when I read Mrs. P's comments, "L___ has adjusted nicely to Kindergarten." Who is L___? Not my kid. Whew!

After bringing the error to Mrs. P's attention, I finally received Jaxon's report card and was immediately relieved to see excellent marks in every category. The icing on the cake was reading Mrs. P's comment, "Jaxon has adjusted nicely to Kindergarten." Obviously everyone got the same general statement, but then Mrs. P followed with, "He has made a lot of friends in the classroom." That's my kid...social butterfly! Something tells me he's going to be running for Class President down the road!

Ouch

It's a milestone I had hoped to avoid, but alas, our luck ran out. Baylor has suffered what many believe is a childhood rite of passage, a busted chin. He was playing outside, slipped on a step, and WHAM...a big bloody mess resulted. Once again, we were very lucky to have Anh at home and armed with liquid stitches to close the wound. I'm telling you, we should probably buy stock in that stuff with two active boys!

Thankfully, the gash (and any potential scar) is located under Baylor's chin, and while Baylor does have a tendency to obsess over the tiniest boo-boos, he's handling this injury like a champ. After some initial tears, he was relatively cooperative during the repair process, and a lollipop worked wonders to improve his spirit. Of course, that doesn't stop him from pointing out his wound to anybody and everybody. My boy knows how to work the sympathy angle!

Trading Places

I bet you thought I wasn't going to share the scoop on what Anh and I chose for Halloween costumes this year, but I was only saving the best for last. We decided to do a little role reversal. Anh wanted to experience life as a doctor's wife, and I can't say I blame him after my endless summer of pool and beach playdates. I too was a little curious about the stressful life of a surgeon. What exactly does it feel like to cut someone? And, that's the thought process that lead to our costume choices...A Trophy Wife & A Scalpel. Kooky, but boy oh boy did we provide a lot of laughs. Anh slightly more than me, of course!

Recovery

Goodness gracious!!! Today is officially a day of RECOVERY at our house because we all woke up looking like this after living 9 of the last 11 days in party-mode. Too much of a good thing eventually catches up with you, and I assure you it ain't pretty.We went out with a bang by hosting a trick-or-treat gathering for some of our friends. Eleven adults and nine children gathered with the common goal of "fueling up" and then terrorizing our neighborhood streets. The spread included, a variety of sugary sweets, of course!

Plus, some scary savory snacks like Mummy Dogs for the kids...and Bug-Eyed Bruschetta, Creepy Crawly Crab Cakes, and Bat Wings for the adults. Oh, and a few bottles of Witches' Brew!

As soon as the sun set, we headed out in search of more sugar and good times. With 9 children in tow, every riding toy/vehicle in the garage was put to use. I'm not exaggerating when I say we took over the streets and sidewalks. Our gang was certainly eclectic too with 2 Pumpkins, 2 Pirates, 2 Star Wars characters, a Firefighter, Wolverine, and Iron Man. We were destined to gather some great loot!

Without a doubt, Baylor grasped the concept of trick-or-treating this year. Both Jax and Baylor were sprinting from our to house at lightening speed. I'm not sure whether they suspected there was a time limit or what, but we finished the established route in what seemed like record time.

That said, when offered, the kids definitely took their time when making selections from the candy bowls.

Wolverine did his best to save every lollipop in the neighborhood from harm. The safest place for them would be his belly.

With Halloween falling on a Sunday this year, we did our best to call it an early evening, but no one was really ready to throw in the towel on such a fun day.Actually, I take that back. Maybe Kevin was grateful to return home since he somehow got stuck/volunteered to pull Jaxon and Baylor around all evening. I know his arms were aching in the morning after that hour or so of hauling around 75+ lbs of dead weight! Hopefully, Kevin won't be scared to join in the fun next year...

I'm already looking forward to the 2011 antics!