AJ has finally settled on a Halloween costume. Sort of. And the winner is��a bumblebee!

We found what is essentially a polarfleece sweatsuit. The pants are plain black, the shirt is the requisite yellow and black stripe and has two black wings sewn on the back. The hood fits more closely to the face than your garden-variety hoodie and two fuzzy antennae protrude from the top. I�m pretty sure he won�t keep the hood on for more than five minutes, but he sure does look adorable in it. I�m sure you�ll be treated to some photographic evidence of his adorableness later this week, but for now you�re just going to have to take my word for it.

When we got home from the store, he tried it on and admired himself in the mirror. Then he began twisting around and around, like a dog chasing his tail. �What�s the matter, AJ?� I asked. �I can�t find my stinger!� he replied, somewhat distressed. I pointed out that it was pretty hard to see the stinger on a real bumblebee too, and he seemed satisfied with the answer. While I was wondering about just why he was concerned about his stinging abilities, he announced, �I just decided I�m not going to be a bee. I�m going to be a milk bottle.�

I bit my tongue to prevent myself from saying, �Oh, no you�re not!� I had given him plenty of warning when we bought his costume that once we bought it there were going to be no more changes. �Why a milk bottle?� I asked. �I just feel like being a milk bottle.� �Well, you can be a milk bottle next year. This year you�re going to be a bumble bee.� That was definitely the wrong tack to take and it precipitated one of the most ridiculous tantrums I�ve ever witnessed, with AJ sitting in the middle of his floor, half in and half out of a bumblebee costume, sobbing, �But�I�just�want�to�be�a�milk�bottle!� Half an hour later, however, he had forgotten all about it and was all excited about being a bee again. I caught him running around his room, arms out, strafing his stuffed animals while humming �BUZZZZZ!�

And now, I must go drop off the dry cleaning and search high and low for bags of gummi worms, my assigned contribution for AJ�s class Halloween party on Friday. A mother�s work is never done.

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