Happy Halloween from the Fussy Farmer

Wade is passionate about tractors (and really most trucks/construction/rescue vehicles), so Philip had the smart idea that he should be a farmer for Halloween.  Admittedly, Philip is also smitten with the notion that Wade grow up to be an actual farmer (You remember how we schmoozed with Joel Salatin, right?) .   I think the…what shall we call it?  the trendy, romanticized view of farming?  well, it’s potentially rubbing off on him.   But I can’t really blame him; I think it sounds like a pretty cool thing for my son to do too.  Stewarding God’s creation to bring about food to nourish and heal?  That sounds quite lovely.   {note to Wade:  you can be whatever you want when you grow up, buddy :)}

So anyway, we worked up an idea for his costume:  denim overalls: found for cheap at a local kid’s consignment store.  plaid shirt:  borrowed from neighbor’s little boy, Corbin.  farmer-ish hat:  found at Mimi and Papa’s house.  Pitch-fork:  handmade by daddy with piece of wood from old crib, cardboard, and duct tape.  Sack of “seeds” to carry candy:  sewn by mama with a little burlap. 

{Philip took Wade to Whole Foods during the afternoon, where they were hosting a little Halloween-themed event.  He loves the miniature-sized carts.  Please note his accompanying gear!}

Well, to give you an idea of how everything went down that evening, please re-read this post’s title.  Yep, Wade was not so into trick-or-treating.  I’m not sure he ever held his pitchfork, and he definitely wouldn’t wear his hat.  He did hold onto his sack a couple times.   But mostly, he was cranky and fussy and had no interest (that’s a euphemistic way of putting it) in venturing up our neighbor’s steps to retrieve candy.  We found this behavior to be a bit odd given Wade’s usual delight in wandering the neighborhood and traipsing up the steps of who knows where.  But you know kids—they like to keep you guessing.

Check out our pumpkin!  Wade is really into Elmo these days, so Philip got to work doing the kind of detailed work he loves.  He told me very seriously that next year he intends to bring home some of his dentistry tools for more accurate carving…

Well, there is a bit of redemption to the story of the fussy farmer, fear not:  Wade did in fact find his niche on Halloween night.  He loved handing out candy.  What can I say, my child is a giver :)  The only things he wasn’t inclined to share with trick-or-theat-ers were the little packs of raisins (yes, yes I bought raisins to hand out.  But in my defense, I also bought lots of regular candy!).  Wade loves raisins and because of all of his allergies, he’s never tried most of the typical Halloween candy.  Bless his heart, he doesn’t know what he’s missing, but I sure am grateful that at least for now, he is delighted by raisins and not snickers!

And in keeping with this Halloween-themed post, I’ll share some pictures from our outing to a local pumpkin patch.  I have to laugh when I tell you that this little venture was also a bit of a bust!  Taking your cute little toddler to pick out a pumpkin sounds like the perfect fall family outing, huh?  Yeah, well, please erase all images of perfection from your mind when you consider our trip!  Looking back, we had our fun moments, but goodness gracious the little fussy farmer can give his mama and daddy a run for their money, that’s for sure. 

This kind of sums it up:

I’m pretty sure he was upset because he could see tractors, but he couldn’t become one with the tractors!

See?  He sees a tractor right now, I can guarantee it. 

 Ok, doing a bit better now that we’re on the hayride (being pulled by an ACTUAL TRACTOR!)

The picture below suggests that we let Wade wander the fields to pick out the perfect pumpkin.  Not so, my friends.  He spent about 30 seconds in said field, and then he and I quickly took our place in line to wait for the tractor ride back to our car.  We were very concerned that our fussy farmer was going to really fall apart when naptime was disrupted by our long stay at the pumpkin patch.  So, in record-breaking time (literally, like 2 minutes) Philip came back to meet us in line having picked out our pumpkins for us.  Ah, life with kids. 

Setting out on the open road (could he not be a kid from 100+ years ago in this picture?).

One more shot of the beloved tractor.

{I’m pretty sure I said something like this to Philip:  “Quick, put him on top of one of those big pumpkins.  It’ll be a cute picture!”}

The “I need a nap” gaze…

{ps.  this blog post was brought to you courtesy of a three-hour nap by the Wadster!!!}