100 Piece Puzzle

Ok so if I'm totally honest I have no idea how to cultivate a mind as bright as my son's. He's such a smart little guy and he's so wonderful. One thing he loves to do is puzzles. We picked up a load of puzzles at the Dollar Store featuring all sorts of Marvel heroes. Some are 25 pieces- which take him about five minutes to put together, and some are 100 pieces- which take him about a half an hour. There is one that he's been able to do for a long time but I never thought much of it because it has twelve or so different images on it and he put it together accordingly. Turns out that's the perfect skill for piecing puzzles! When he finally put together this puzzle back in September all by himself (I didn't hand him one single piece or tell him where to put it)we were so proud of him. He separates the pieces out by color and/or character and then completes them one at a time. If he finds a piece that might fit he puts it in one spot and turns it in all directions to try to get it to fit. If it doesn't work he tries another pieces. Working spot by spot and piece by piece he has become a master of puzzles. We are so proud of our little Smartie-Pants!

That tongue comes out during concentration time! Oh and he never even looks at that smaller picture of the puzzle- that's just for me and Jake when we put them together with him!

Both Papa and Uncle D have worked on puzzles with him lately and they are both impressed (Papa's face) with Polo's powers of deduction when it comes to placing puzzle pieces! ... And so are we!

"Halloween Time"

Well ever since the stores started putting out their Halloween decorations Polo has been asking me if it's "Halloween Time". (since the start of September!) He absolutely loves all the scary things out there- as long as they don't move and are miniature sized. So I've learned to endure all sorts of creepy shows like Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Corpse Bride and all other Halloween-themed kids shows. (Coraline really freaks me out!) We were set on the Hulk for a costume until The Nightmare Before Christmas became a favorite and its leading man Jack Skellington took precedence. We did plenty of awesome Halloween crafts and enjoyed every ghoul-filled moment. We stopped by some spook alleys (both of which I refused to go in) and I'm told that Polo got to the entrance and backed out- more like tensed up, buried his face in Daddy's chest and freaked out! That's my boy! We've made the most of it though- and Halloween isn't even til tomorrow! We've had homemade cider (thank you Crock Pot) and doughnuts, consumed lots and lots of hot chocolate (7-11 still has the best in town!), visited the corn maze, carved pumpkins and already been out trick-or-treating in the local grocery store parking lot! My little boy has been such a joy to watch this season as he revels in all the Halloween spookiness. He just eats up every minute and every creepy little thing. I love it him.

At the corn maze! He had a blast rolling in the corn kernels, riding on the train, hiding in the hay, climbing on the hay, sliding down all sorts of make-shift slides, falling off riding a teeter-totter, visiting the animals (llamas, goats, miniature donkeys and others), and drinking that giant hot chocolate- Thanks Uncle Brad! He loved it!

This is Jack Skellington. He the Pumpkin King, the idol of Halloween Town and the scariest guy there is. He's not mean though and becomes particularly interested in Christmas and all its wonders. Thinking he will give Santa Claus a break this year he tries to get all his scary friends to help him deliver Christmas to the kids- it doesn't turn out well! (Oh an by the way I sewed that tuxedo jacket complete with scary tails and craziness all over from a single pair of pants ($5 at DI) and with no pattern! Thank you Mom and Grandma for passing on your skills so I can be frugal!)

Our pumpkins had to match the theme and this is Sally, Jack, and the Oogie Boogie man from the movie. We are so very proud of them and happy to have them as companions in our home for a few more days! Polo really just likes to light the candles and then blow them out! Oh well- Jake and I love them and we also got some delicious roasted pumpkin seeds out of the whole deal!