Oozing with sweetness

5 months

I Donated my Child to Science

It's happened a couple of times now. B.Y.U. Infant Development Lab uses birth records to find willing participants in various child development studies. When David was little, the study was about whether or not 6 month old babies could differentiate between a happy dog bark and an aggressive/mean dog bark. They put photos of dogs on two screens side by side, played a dog bark sound track, then watched through a hole in a black screen to see if they looked at the right dog.

This time it was Briggy's turn. They strapped this little contraption on his head that had electrodes on it. After making sure the electrodes were placed correctly, they began the study. They showed a picture of a short (cartoon) caterpillar combined with a short beep, then a picture of a long caterpillar with a long beep. They did this a few times, then showed a picture of a duck (to neutralize the brain. Although I'm sure "neutralizing the brain" isn't a scientific term. It's just what makes sense in my brain). Then, they mixed it up by showing the short caterpillar with a long beep and the long caterpillar with the short beep. The test was to see if their 4 month old brain picked up on the change. They did this by tracking the parts of his brain that were active during the test. They (the students that perform the test) have always been so great to work with. I don't get compensated at all for the tests, but it's kind of fun to know that we've helped to move child development studies along! Who knows, maybe someday somewhere I could hear this: "In 2009 they conducted a study with 4 month old infants to see if they could detect the difference between caterpillars and beeps of varying lengths..." and I can smile and know that my kids made that possible.

Here is Briggy in all his electrode glory. It looks uncomfortable but he didn't complain at all.

Halloween Festivities

The first event on our Halloween agenda was David's preschool party. We have a few little preschool groups in our neighborhood organized by age. All the groups got together for our Halloween party. It was so much fun! We rotated through four different stations; Face painting, stories, pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern and cookie decorating. David had a great time. He decided to wear our power ranger costume from the dress up box instead of his clown costume for the party.

The eyeball:

Showing off his muscles:


His Class: (yes, he's the only boy and he doesn't mind at all. He loves all of his preschool friends)
After the party I had some errands to run. Every time we pass Chuck E Cheese while we're running errands David asks if we can go in. Normally my answer is no, but this day I was feeling generous and we went on a date to Chuck E Cheese (with Brigham in tow-it still counts, right?). I was reminded again how important quality one on one time is. He was beaming. We shared a mini pizza and salad bar and I gave him two dollars for tokens. Chuck E Cheese is much more affordable with one child.

That evening was Trunk or Treat. It was FREEZING, but always a good time. Here is one of my favorite trunks. This one came in second place. I never did make it down to see the first place trunk, but it must have been amazing.

If there would have been a "come as you are" category, our trunk would have won.

Our Clan in front of our closed trunk. Jail Bird Sean, Vampire Warren (his hair was much more slicked back and much more black earlier in the evening. The wind was blowing really hard.), Nurse Olivia, Pea Pod Brigham and clown David:

Darin and I dressed up as a couple in love (Nothing says "I love you" like twinner haircuts)

Tiffany was an amazing photographer. She even chose the paneling back drop. She insisted on some glamour shots. I was really happy with the way this one turned out:

On Halloween night we decided to go trick or treating with my brother and his kids in my parents' neighborhood. We left Darin home (he had been sick for the majority of the week. He finally went to the doctor the Monday after Halloween and found out he had pneumonia. It hasn't been a fun illness for him).

Ally wasn't feeling well (poor kid) so she couldn't come. Princess Erin and Tiger McKay joined our family down the street to Renae's house, then we went our separate ways.

(If you look closely, you can see that David decided to do his own red makeup. It was awesome)

This was one of our favorite houses. When you walked toward the driveway to the stairs, this is what you saw:

Then, as you passed, these guys popped out:
Warren and David were done a little bit before Sean and Liv, so we called Renae to ask if the three little boys could stay with her while we finished. She graciously agreed to let them stay and Liv, Sean and I went for another half hour or so. We made a quick stop at Grandma and Grandpa's house to share some of our loot with Ally, then headed down to Renae's to meet up with the boys and do the ceremonial treat sorting. I had such a fun night. My kids and I shared some great laughs. Olivia still teases me about one house. Since we were in the neighborhood where I grew up, I knew a lot of people so I chatted briefly with several of them. By the end of our journey my mouth was cold and I was apparently tired because I tried to say "Happy Halloween" and "I hope you have a good evening" all at the same time and it came out something like "I hope you hap a havvy Hallowevening". Those are the moments that bring us closer together. We went home exhausted and grateful for the extra hour of sleep we got that night (Thank you, Daylight Savings!)