Halloween and voting fun

Kiefer had a wonderful Halloween! Holly, his daycare provider, had a Halloween party for the kids a couple of days before Halloween. Kiefer dressed in orange sweatpants and a pumpkin hoodie. Holly made a ghost and pumpkin cake, cookies and all sorts other treats. They bobbed for apples, too, which meant Kiefer was not dressed in his orange sweatpants and pumpkin hoodie when we picked him up at the end of the day because they had gotten all wet!

I was happy that Halloween was on a Friday this year! I do not work on Fridays and unlike past years, I didn't have any classes in the evening. Our day started with a visit to the Greenfield playgroup on Federal Street. Normally, Kiefer and I attend our own little playgroup with friends every Friday. It alternates between 4 houses, including ours, but since Halloween was the 5th Friday in the month, there was no one set to host. Kiefer painted a pumpkin and also tasted some white paint when he put the paintbrush in his mouth! Yum! There were all sorts of blocks to climb on and lots of toys. He had so much fun! He fell asleep the second he was in his care seat and when we got home, I put him in his crib and he continued to sleep for 2.5 hours.

That night, we went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. The weather was warm and Kiefer enjoyed walking around in his little baby duckling costume. Needless to say, he was thoroughly exhausted and slept very well that night.

Last week, when we were at the playground, Kiefer decided he wanted to go down the big slide. He couldn't climb the ladder, so I placed him at the top and he knew exactly what to do... he sat down and slid right down. Of course, he wanted to do it again and again and again!

Tuesday, November 4 was election day and Kiefer went to vote with me. We didn't have to wait in line because everything was organized and the polling station was well staffed. I cast my ballot and then Kiefer and I headed outside to stand in front of the polling station to carry at "Vote NO on Question 1" sign. There were 3 state questions that were on the Massachusetts ballot. The first was an initiative to eliminate the state income tax. It would have been disastrous for education, public services, health care, etc. Somehow, crazy libertarians (anti-government) got enough signatures to get it on the ballot but it was defeated! Roel came to pick up Kiefer after work and I stayed at the polling station for a couple of hours.

There were tons of people at the polling station with Obama signs and there were a few for the other two ballot questions which passed. Question 2 decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana in Massachusetts. And Question 3 eliminates greyhound dog racing in MA by Jan 2010. Someone came with a guitar and sang all sorts of 60s songs. It was so busy and there were lots of people voting bringing their children, too. The turnout was incredible and everyone seemed so happy. It was awesome! What a big difference from 4 and 8 years ago when it felt like a funeral the day after the election.

This past Sunday, we went to Vermont. One of my college friends, Sara, lives there with her family and another college friend, Cindy, was moving with her family to the very same town! Roel helped Cindy and her husband Steve move, while I visited with Sara and met her 11 month daughter, Malia, for the first time. Kiefer had lots of fun following Sara's 5 year old son, Dylan. He thinks he's a big boy and it's so funny!

Kiefer doesn't say much, but he understands a lot. Just some of the words he knows are ball, pumpkin, truck, cat, dog, ears, nose, and belly button. He can do animal sounds: lion, dog, cat, sheep, and cow. Today, when his water bottle was empty, he looked at me and said, "More." I asked him if he wanted more and he said it again, "More." So perhaps he'll be saying a lot soon!

Grandma and Grandpa arrive for a visit on December 5. Kiefer is looking forward to seeing them again. It's been almost a half year since we last saw them!

Until next time,
April, Roel and Kiefer