Happy Halloween!

Cal loved trick-or-treating with a little group of his friends this year. We went around to about two blocks' worth of houses, with Cal eating his candy at nearly the rate of receiving it. As you can see from his full mouth, the candy consumption didn't stop once we were back at the house.

Happy Halloween from the Olsens!

Shots. Ouch. :(

Welp, I've done it. I looked the four-year-old vaccine schedule in the eye and conquered it. Well…maybe "conquered" isn't the right word. "Submitted to" and "lived through" might be more appropriate. I have always tried to tell Cal the truth about things like shots, because it's really important to me that he trust me, so when we went to the pediatrician's office and he asked me, "Is she going to give me a shot?" I bit my lip and answered truthfully, "Yes."

I feel strongly about being honest with him, but getting shots was a really hard ordeal for the both of us. I had to hold him so he didn't wiggle, and he cried and cried; the poor thing got 4 shots that day -- two in each arm. If there was any way I could've gotten the shots in his place, I would've. It's hard to see your kids go through that, but I really believe immunizations are crucial.

After he calmed down (which was not a brief period of time), we went to get his hearing and vision checked, which was adorable and hilarious. Here are a few shots from that little experiment. 

After even more time recovering and asking the nurses questions, we finally left the hospital, and headed to Kara's cupcakes for a good-job-getting-shots treat. (Incidentally, Cal got a LOT of treats that day. I started making a lot of promises when the needles came in on that nurse's tray!)

The little guy deserved the treats. His arms were very sore for nearly four days, and I kept accidentally taking him by the shoulder or lifting him up to the counter or into his carseat by his forearms. He'd give this desperate squeal of pain and then start crying. I felt terrible every time! :(

It was definitely a difficult week for the two of us, but we made it through, and I'm proud of us both!

More October

October has been filled to the brim with fun activities. Sorry if this post is a bit of a "captioned photo-dump" for the grandparents, but we had a busy month. I have so many photos on my iPhone that are seemingly random, but altogether, it paints a pretty accurate slice of life right now. Enjoy!

One of the things I loved as a child was writing letters to my cousins. I am so happy that Cal and his cousins Brandon & Carson have inherited that joy. Here's Cal opening a Halloween note from Brandon:

My little guy helping me make pizza for dinner one night. (That apron was the best Easter present ever!)

Cal is constantly singing songs or reciting poems, and he caught me off guard one night when he delivered the whole of "Five Little Pumpkins" by memory. I had to get it on video:

Cal is loving preschool, though I feel like we've missed more days than usual due do illness these past few months. Parents were invited to attend class one morning so that the kids could perform what they've been working on. It was pretty awesome watching him do his "zoo-phonics."

After the kids' presentation, we all walked over to a haunted pumpkin patch that the school set up for the little students. They even had a haunted Golden Gate Bridge:

It was so fun seeing how Cal interacts with his classmates and teachers.

That was not the only pumpkin patch we visited this month. Cal and I hit nearly all of them; he liked different things about each one. This one had a train, so I have a feeling it was the favorite.

It also had a pen where you could pet farm animals.

Cal loved this goat, but anytime it would come close, Cal would jump back and wag his finger at it.

Here is Cal as a toilet paper mummy, after a game at our friends' Halloween party. He went as an astronaut this year, and Reed and I were spaceship maintenance crew and NASA scientist, respectively. I loved his costume because it was very easy to see him in the dark -- just look for the kid in the neon orate jumpsuit!

He had a great time carving pumpkins with Daddy. I know I've said it before, but I'll ay it again: Reed is really such a phenomenal dad. Cal absolutely loves spending time with Reed, because Dad just has a way of making all activities more fun.This year was no different.

These next two photos were taken by Cal:

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, some pumpkin carving silliness:

Apple Orchards and Pumpkin Patches

We've been having a ball with Autumn activities lately. For the grandparents, here are some shots from the month so far. Happy October! :)

Dentist Visit

Cal had his first dentist visit this week! Look how excited he is to be in the fancy chair!

I know we should have taken him to the dentist before now, but for various reasons (including Cal all but welding his mouth shut when we've attempted a dental visit before) his first checkup was this month. 

He's old enough to understand when I tell him that dentist visits don't hurt. We've also been working on trust since he was little -- never lying or hiding things from him, even if I know he won't like the consequences -- so he believed me when I explained all about the dentist this time.

 Cal was so good. I was very proud of how well behaved he was for the dentist. It helped that they had a TV with cartoons playing in front of his chair!

 Here he is getting his x-rays. He was so interested to see the images when they showed up on the computer screen.

I was so please with him, I took him to the toy store and got him a new train track piece for his set. Now he keeps asking when we'll go to the dentist again. At least he's not scared, right? I'm so proud of my big boy.