I'm Batman

So I kind of like superheroes and comic books. Have for a while. We all have our weaknesses. So, when we went shopping to Old Navy and Carter's in Stamford today, I brought the kids to the comic book store. Which is to say, while Emily went to the stores to shop for clothes for everyone, I pushed sleeping Kate in the stroller and half walked with, half carried Jack (When he gets tired he stops and holds his arms up to me: "Carry!") the two blocks or so to the store.

Ran over a couple of guys' feet on the way into the store with the stroller. Doorway is a bit narrow. We get inside, I exchange pleasantries with the owner, Jack says, "What's THAT? What's THAT, Daddy? Why is that back there? What is that DOING there?" And I live in fear that he's going to grab something valuable, destroy it, and he'll have the world's most expensive coloring book.

Anyway. In the store, Kate woke up and started wailing, which made sense; she's a girl, and there's not a lot of female energy in most comic stores. I actually had wanted to find a Daredevil action figure for Mikey, my nephew (I'll keep looking, Robin), but couldn't, but in the clearance rack there was a Batman figure, which caught both my eye, and Jack's. So yeah, we bought him. And Jack carried him around in his box for the rest of the excursion, into the other stores, and meeting up with Emily, and back home. And at home we got him out of the box, and played with him and The Flash together. This is really the best part -- Jack had Batman, who had a cape, and figured he flies, so he goes, "And he FLIES at the Flash!" and kind of holds him aloft. And I said, well, really, he kind of uses his cape to glide. And Jack says, "Oh." And then, regarding The Flash: "But him doesn't fly. Right?" And I said, no, he just runs really fast. And then Jack grabs the Batman and says "Oh no, he's chasing me, he's chasing me!" And I ran after him with the Flash, saying, I'm going to catch you! And we ran around the downstairs for about five minutes, living room, kitchen, dining room, hallway, living room. Etc.

Later that evening, shortly before bed, Batman was missing. And I asked Jack where he was, and Jack didn't know. And we looked a bit, and then I remembered that Jack had brought him outside with us at one point. We'd gone to get the mail, and we'd gone in the backyard to grill a steak in the evening. And of course, it's dark now. But I said to Jack, did you leave Batman in the yard? And he said no.

But Batman still didn't turn up, and while Jack was taking his bath, I said to him, are you SURE you didn't leave Batman outside? And he said no, but didn't sound convincing. And I said, well, maybe that's where he is, huh? And Jack said, maybe. And I said, well, after your bath, I'm going to go out and look for him, because we can't leave him out there. And Jack said, Why? And I said, well, he'll be lonely in the dark. And Jack said, why will he be lonely? (Silly me, I figured that explanation would make sense to him, but it didn't.) So I said, well, actually, we just can't leave toys outside. Another kid could find him, or a dog or something.

Now, THIS made sense to Jack. "Yeah! A dog could find him. And he could BITE him! Or another kid could take him. Don't do that! Don't take him or, or BITE him!" So we were in agreement that I had to go out to get Batman.

You can probably guess the rest. I went outside in the pitch dark with a little lantern light and walked around for 10 minutes, expecting to find Batman at best and dog poop or half-eaten animals or something or whatever at worst. But instead I found nothing. Went back inside and told Jack I couldn't find him but I'd keep looking. And then I put Jack to bed and spent another 15 minutes outside, walking up and down the yard, in the dark, looking for Batman. And I realized that me in the dark with a flashlight on a manhunt -- a Batmanhunt -- well, I was Batman, really.

Later that evening, I found Batman, inside, sitting in plain sight on the sideboard next to the dining room table.

Bad Pronouns

Jack's latest charming thing, to me anyway, is his misuse of pronouns. He's totally attached to his stuffed puppy right now, and that's where it crops up most often. Not "He needs a bath," but "Him needs a bath."

"Him is SLEEPING."
"Him got a shot."
"Him wants to go upstairs."

Part of me wants to correct him. Say things like, "Oh, HE does?"

But I let it pass.

Him won't be this little forever.

Nighttime Visits

Jack's been waking up during the nights, or early in the morning. There are various factors. It's gotten cold, and he tends to kick his blanket off, so he wakes up cold sometimes. Kate might wake him up on occasion with her crying. Daylight savings. Whatever.

Anyway, he's been waking up. Here are some of the stories.

- Heard Jack wailing. Walked into his room. He was standing next to his bed, his stuffed puppy locked in his elbow, head back, wailing. "Jack!" I said. "What's wrong?" "WANT MY LITTLE TEDDY BEAR!!!!!" He has these two little bears they gave him at the hospital when he had surgery. They tend to get lost in the blankets. I found the missing one and gave it to Jack. He immediately stopped crying, flopped on the bed, and fell asleep.

- Jack was at the side of the bed, holding his step stool for the bathroom sink. I groggily awoke, it was almost time to get up. "Jack...whu...?" I mumbled. "Want to get into bed with you and Mommy." Now, we're not opposed to this, except for the fact that 1) he doesn't sleep, 2) he chatters away and we don't sleep, and 3) he'd wake up Kate, who's about 4 feet away in her crib. I walked Jack back to his room.

- Jack was at the door. I got up, walked him back to his room. It was around 1 a.m. He sat down glumly on the side of the bed. "Jack, what's wrong?" I asked. "I don't want to be all ALONE in here....." he said pitiably. I really didn't know what to say there.

- I went to bed at 11. Slept. At 11:30, I woke up to see Jack there. "I'm coldy, Daddy. I'm coldy." I put the blanket on him and went back to bed. 11:45, he's back. "Don't want the blanket on." "OK, Jack, well, you can just kick it off, but I think you'll be warmer with it," I said. 12:15. Jack again. "Daddy, will you put the blanket on me."

- 5:30. Jack at the bedside. "Is it morning time?" No, Jack, it's the middle of the night. I bring him back to his bed.

- 5:45. Jack again. "NOW is it morning time?"

Jack's Halloween

Thought I'd try something a little different this time. I'm going to turn this one over to Jack.

Playing outside at school when a big car pulls up. It's Daddy's car! He's coming this way! "Daddy!" I run over to greet him. We're going home! No...wait....this is Halloween! Yeah! When I get candy! He picks me up, I say goodbye to the teachers, and we go to the car. Hey, there's my baby sister! She's not usually here for the pickups. I want to touch her head! "Baby Kate....Baby Kate...Baby Kate...How much is today." That's my new baby song.

Mommy was inside getting my stuff. There's my treats bag! And my dragon costume! And my treats bag. With CANDY! Mommy says Heyo to me. "Heyo!"

We're going to Aunt Taffy's. Kate starts crying. "Bay-beee Kate....Bay-beeeee Kate...." We leave Mommy and Kate there. Daddy asks if I want to go get the pizza for dinner. "And garlic balls?" Yes, he says, and garlic balls. "Want to go get pizza with Daddy."

At the restaurant these men are throwing pizza dough into big ovens. "What are those men DOING? Look at those guys! What are they DOING?" Daddy says they're making pizza. And garlic balls? I wonder.

Back at Aunt Taffy's. We're eating pizza and garlic balls. StaceyLyndsay is crying. She wanted chicken fingers. I like chicken fingers too, but this is PIZZA.

We finish eating. LyndsayStacey is crying. She hurt her hand. She's sad.

Now we're all in our costumes. Mommy is taking pictures. When do we go get our candy?

We go outside. StaceyLyndsay and Ranna go first, with Uncle Ekan behind them. Uncle Sam next. Then us. "Carry!" Daddy says he'll carry me some but I have to walk up to the houses, say trick or treat, and Thank you.

First house. I walk up the driveway. Long driveway! Pumpkins on the lawn. "Daddy, look at that big pumpkin!" People on the porch. I hold out my pumpkin bag. She's saying something to me. Does she have candy? There's candy! Daddy's yelling to say thank you. "Thank you." She's smiling at me. She gave me candy!

Next house. I'm walking again. Woman on porch. She says, ooh, what a scary dinosaur. "It's a dragon," I say. More candy!

Next house. Woman calls somebody inside to come out. It's a BIG DRAGON. That scary. Want Daddy. Da....Hey, she's got candy. OK. Get the candy and go. Daddy's there. "Jack, that guy has a big dragon costume like you do." I say, "yeah...."

More houses. I have a lotta lotta candy. Tired now. "Daddy, carry." Daddy carries me.

We're back at Aunt Taffy's. Daddy's not walking as fast as he was when we left. Not sure where Ranna LyndsayStacey are. They were moving FAST. I couldn't SEE them. Yeah.

Sitting on Aunt Taffy's porch. Daddy says, you can have 5 pieces of candy. Aunt Taffy: "FIVE? I let my kids have one." Daddy says, as I was saying Jack, 3 pieces of candy. "Okay." I eat three pieces of candy. I have a lot of chocolate on my hands and face.

In the car on the way home, I'm still eating that third piece. Full now. "Daddy, I want to save this one for later. Daddy, I want to save this piece for later." He says okay and holds out his hand. I hand him the rest of my chocolate bar. It kind of melted. It sticks to my hands a little bit. And his.

Jack, he says, we can't save this. You have other candy. I'm full and tired so I say OK. I watch as he drives one-handed and asks Mommy for a wipe. I think he has a lot of chocolate all over his hand.

We go home and go see Max's Mommy next door. She gives me a bag of treats. More candy? Or toys? Tired now.

We're back in our house now. Daddy and I go out on the porch to light the pumpkin. He says, "Happy Halloween" to us. Max and his Daddy come over and we give him candy.

We blow out the pumpkin. Halloween is over.

But I have a lot of candy.

Is tomorrow Christmas?