More!

Our house was rockin' on Halloween. Friends, family, and our two dogs had a howling good time at Erlan's first Halloween. Ben and I have been very excited about Halloween. We started talking about what Erlan should be in August. We finally settled on a Shrek-themed family get up, with Erlan as Gingy. Granny Jannie made his costume. He was as cute as a button.



Erlan caught onto the whole trick-or-treat thing pretty quick. I could see the wheels in his head turning...Hold orange bucket. Follow big kids. Thrust orange bucket at stranger. Say, "MORE!" We couldn't get him to say, "Trick-or-treat," but he would say or sign "more!"


Here are Erlan's cousins, Kenzi, Gavin, and Keely, on their way home after a night of trick or treating.











Here I am with our youngest revelers: Mikayla and Brecken. Erlan did not like seeing me with the two babies and demanded equal time.

A few more scenes from the night...
















And, finally, here are pictures of our new puppy, Baxter. Ben's brother, David, got Erlan a puppy. David didn't tell us he was doing this, he surprised us. Ben was elated (meaning he wasn't at all elated). Erlan is not the best at getting up in the morning to walk Baxter even though it is his dog. Erlan calls him "Back!" and loves to chase him. For a 2 y.o., Erlan is actually pretty good with Back. Now when Erlan wakes up, his first words are, "Back. Out." (Translation: Daddy get up and take Baxter out.) Before Baxter, his wake-up words were, "Eat. Milk." (Translation: Mommy get up and get me some cereal and milk.)