The Dump Truck

In September, I bought this incredibly well made, hand crafted, cowboy costume from the St. John's Fair.  It had real suede chaps and a little vest.  I had planned for Wyatt to go as Woody and I would be Jessie (probably trying to get Pup to be Bullseye) from Toy Story.  I showed Wyatt the costume and he seemed OK with the whole idea.  I patted myself on the back and crossed Halloween costume off my list.  Then about 3 weeks ago, while explaining the logistics of Halloween, I asked him if he was excited to be cowboy Woody.  He looked at me kind of puzzled then responded with "I want to be a dump truck."  "A dump tuck?!?"  "A dump truck."  And it was settled.  He wanted to be a dump truck and I could throw the Woody costume out the window.

Looking at pumpkin guts.

I tried not the think about it, hoping he would change his mind.  But he didn't.  Everytime someone asked him, he was being a dump truck, which got rather funny looks from other parents.  Then I asked him what color dump truck he want to be.  "Pink."  A Pink Dump Truck.  OK, I though, this is going to be interesting.  Honestly, he could be a tye-dyed dump truck for all I cared.  I guess I was just waiting for him to change his mind on the costume.  Toddlers change their minds so often I didn't want to dive into making it just for him to change his mind 10 seconds later.  So, I waited some more.  It was a pink dump truck for about a week.  Then it was a purple one for a few days.  Then he settled on yellow and I was running out of time.  But he was unwaivering.  He wanted to be a dump truck.  I brainstormed with Gammy for a bit, established a game plan, and decided to give it a go.

We thought a box with suspenders would be the easiest.   Then he could be a construction worker driving a dump truck.  Once the box and lots of yellow poster board was purchased, Gammy and I got to work.  Of course, once our creative juices started flowing we had to out-do each other.  Gammy found this aluminum roasting pan to create a bumper.  I decided I needed to photoshop a NY license plate that Gammy brilliantly thought should read DUMP4U.   Then Gammy took a pink (!!) toy sand sifter to bolt to the box as a working steering wheel.  Then I picked up some tap lights for some working headlights.  It really took on a life of its own.  Lizzy thought we were a little obsessed with it.  Wyatt was extremely excited once it was finished enough for him to run around the house in.

Wyatt winning his trophy!

On Friday, there was a costume contest at a local church.  Wyatt was so excited to show off his costume.  And honestly, I was going to be pretty disappointed if he didn't win something.  But the thing was, Wyatt was SELLING this costume.  He thought it was awesome, driving this truck around, turning the headlights on and off.  There was another little boy as a matchbox car, whose costume was much better constructed, and while up on the judging stage they were driving around together.  When he didn't want to wear it anymore he parked it in the corner.  All the other kids quietly whispered what they were into the microphone and Wyatt proclaimed his dump truck costume loud and proud.  He won first place amongst the preschool kids.  Both of us were thrilled.  Wyatt proudly displayed his trophy on the coffee table and is still talked about it.  I have no idea how we are going to outdo ourselves next year or what Wyatt will dream up next.