Good ol' Colie Brown

Cole was a natural Charlie Brown. At his recent check-up, his height and weight were pretty average, but his noggin remains around 85th percentile. Tony wanted to shave his head to complete his Halloween costume, but I don't think Cole would've cooperated even if I had let his daddy take out the shears. It was a great costume because it was cheap to make, and with the unseasonably warm temps, it was very comfortable for Cole to wear...oh, and did I mention cute...

The trademark shirt was harder to make than I had expected. I had to cut down a child's size small and re-hem it which meant hauling out the sewing machine from the overstuffed closet. Then the fabric paint I had bought turned out to be liquid dye which bled like ink, making it impossible to paint a sharp line. Of course it was midnight on Friday when I discovered this and we had a costume party to go to the next day. So, I searched through my art supplies and ended up mixing the black dye with acrylic burnt umber. It was no small trick to paint both sides without allowing one side to dry first either. In the morning, the results looked pretty good but the fabric was stiff and scratchy from the acrylic paint. I set the paint by running the shirt through the dryer on high and then crossed my fingers as I put it in the washer on the gentle cycle. My hope was that it would soften the fabric, but I knew there was a good chance it could wash out the paint completely. Luckily, it did soften the fabric and the black stripe survived. Next year I'll definitely start the costume construction earlier!

We spent Halloween Day with Elaine, Mark and Nina while Tony was at the Redskins vs. the Packers game. At night we visited a couple neighbors, but Cole cried when they opened their doors. It worked out okay because he got lots of sympathy candy, but we only stopped at four doors because he wasn't having fun. He's been eating the Halloween pretzels, but Tony and I are splitting the rest of the booty. Next year when Cole can talk, I'm sure he won't be as willing to share.