my little pirate

my son has decided that he wants to be a pirate for halloween, which for him is every day this month. so he's a pirate right now as i write. the character he took on, "parker the pirate", has actually kind of bloomed in the last week. it started with a full weekend of pirate hat and eye-patch wearing the weekend before last. it's now moved to being a full-time pirate, with or without the garb (or, as i should say, "garrrrb").

so what's the behavior involved? a lot of arrring, especially at strangers walking down the street. randomly. like a social psychology experiment to see how they respond to random verbal attacks by local 3-year-old pirates.

this weekend we visited a local park ("parrrk") to catch the last showing of a garden sculpture exhibit (made coincidentally by a guy who looks like a pirate). at one point my husband had to fetch himself to the restroom. parker and i decided to wait at a bench along a walk close to the entrance. after helping me devour a sweet banana ("banannarrrr"), parker the pirate decided that he'd pass the time by harassing passers-by, shadowing them with fear and pirateness. he decided to perch himself in the middle of the asphalt path with his hands on his hips, legs out (you know, to stop anyone being able to go the full 4 feet around him), chin down and a scowl on his face.

grown adults and individuals who approached were met with a very loud "AAAAARGH". most greeted him back with their own "aaaaargh"s, which he ignored as insignificant to his reign over that spot on the sidewalk. he'd hold his pose and let his eye follow them as they passed--which was hilarious. the whole thing brought me lots of joy. one woman tried to politely and quickly slip by without an acknowledging "aarrgh" back and instead giggled with tight lips. everyone on the walk during that 10 minutes was amused by my little pirate. oh i love him so.

we went to a local outdoor mall yesterday and it his terror trip was met with less of a response from the shoppers. he still managed to bring out smiles and chuckles, if not responding "arrrghs".

i haven't had a good working digital camera in awhile, but once i get one (soon, i hope) i will post pictures of my pirate and his horse "pencil". this whole pirate thing is definitely the most fun we've seen him have with himself--and makes the defiant three's so worth it.