Sunday, October 31, 2010

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2008, the last Halloween Mattie celebrated. I captured him on the Hospital elevator as he was going trick or treating from floor to floor. He was energized for that adventure but once it was over he was exhausted and very depressed. Mattie collected a good deal of candy that Halloween, but the ironic part was Mattie did not like candy. He spent a good portion of his time post-Halloween, sorting the candy he collected into piles by type, and literally he sold his candy to me and his babysitters for pennies. I do recall that year, when Mattie went trick or treating with Zachary, that a few houses gave out pretzels and chips. He was thrilled!!! Zachary wasn't too happy about that though. The beauty of friendship was that Mattie and Zachary swapped chips for chocolate, and in the end they were both happy!

Quote of the day: I knew you for a moment, a blest and hopeful while. Now off you go, and yet you'll stay forever, my innocent child. Hush-a-by, hush-a-by....bye. ~ Charlene Nelson


In light of today being Halloween, I decided to find pictures from 2002 to 2008 to share with you. For those of you with children, I am sure you would agree with me, that when you got your child dressed in his/her Halloween costume tonight and took pictures, the thought of this being your child's last Halloween never came to mind. As a parent we just don't think in these terms. We take pictures most likely to capture memories that we can relive and share with our children as they get older. Pictures that can be shared through the generations. Unfortunately for Peter and I, pictures are all we have left, and I am so thankful I took plenty of them!

In 2007, Mattie was an air force pilot. He and I went together to pick out his costume that year, and he immediately gravitated to it! Mattie always loved airplanes and the thought of flying and being in control of a plane fascinated him. In 2007, Mattie was 5 and was in kindergarten.

In 2006, Mattie was a calico cat. Just like his cat, Patches! In fact, I made this costume myself for Mattie in 2005, however, he never wore it until Halloween 2006. Mattie loved Patches and when I couldn't find a calico cat costume, I decided to make one myself! In 2006, Mattie was in his last year of preschool.









On Halloween 2005, Mattie was hospitalized at Virginia Hospital Center with sepsis. I brought Mattie in to see his doctor earlier that week, because I suspected he had an ear infection. The doctor dismissed us, saying that his ears were fine. Sure enough, Mattie did not get better and the day before Halloween we took him to the emergency room. He was severely dehydrated and his blood work was all over the place. So he was admitted to the hospital. This was our first experience together living in a hospital room for two days, and I recall Mattie was so upset that he was unable to wear his cat costume and celebrate Halloween. Unlike Georgetown, Virginia Hospital Center at that time was not set up well for children, and certainly there was NO one like Linda (Mattie's Childlife Specialist) around to help ease family tensions and to help the children celebrate holidays in the hospital. Mattie's nurse felt badly for him and I remember she came in and brought him some Halloween pencils and a lollipop. Mattie was so sick however, that I am not sure this made much of an impression on him. However, I got a crash course for hospital living back then, and I did my fair share of screaming then as well. It was a hard two days, surrounded by medical personnel who were not well versed in caring for children, so much so, that the techs did not know how to take a child's temperature, and when they wanted to examine Mattie, they wanted me out of the room (because his nurse felt he wasn't going to comply with her wishes with me in the room!!!). Needless to say, I flipped out with that nurse and reported her immediately.

In 2004, Mattie was Winnie the Pooh! Mattie was two and a half years old in this picture!

In 2003, Mattie was an adorable pumpkin. Mattie did not like the idea of wearing a costume at all. He found it scary and also did not like the texture of things against his skin. However, when he saw this option, he liked it a lot. Mattie was a year and a half in this picture.

On Halloween 2002, Mattie was 6 months old. Mattie did not wear a costume that year, nor did he go trick or treating. However, you can see him in this picture in his favorite form of transportation, "tot wheels." Mattie never crawled, however, he had strong legs, and when we put him in this walker, he would literally race ALL over the first floor of our home! I still have the track marks on our wooden floors to prove it!

Peter suggested we go out today and take a walk by the Potomac River and have lunch outside. For me it was a cool day, but the idea of fresh air and being outside sounded like a good plan. While we were having lunch outside (mind you I was wearing a coat to do this and Peter was in SHORTS!!!!), Peter took some wonderful pictures. This light post caught his attention because it reminded us of a person blowing in the wind.

In honor of Mattie, Peter snapped a picture of this black squirrel today. Unlike me, Mattie loved squirrels, and some how seeing this fellow seemed very halloweenish. You don't always get to see a black squirrel around. The funny part about Mattie was he also loved collecting acorns, and some how he and the squirrels would compete for these nuts. Mattie had quite an acorn collection at one time!


For those of you who e-mailed me today, shared pictures of your children in costume, and just reached out to say you were thinking of us, we THANK YOU!