Pumpkins are Scary!

Today I took my students on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. We had such a great time picking out our pumpkins. Originally, I wasn't too excited about choosing one to bring home, as I'd already carved a pumpkin for Zoe last week. She's too young to really understand and enjoy the whole experience, so it was more for me. However, thoughts of Anne Geddes-type photographs entered my mind as I stepped into the pumpkin patch, and I set out looking for the perfect pumpkin. After some searching, I found one that I could envision myself hollowing out and putting Zoe inside of to take some pictures. Well, tonight after Zoe's bath, I put her on the floor with the pumpkin, in hopes of snapping some pics before I carved and hollowed it out tomorrow. Let me just tell you, to say she was scared of the pumpkin is putting it very lightly. I tried everything to help her to not be scared of the pumpkin. I tried sitting far away with her, slowly inching closer and closer, to no avail. The closer I got the more she screamed. I tried putting her toys around it and on top of it, so she would see familiar things and want to get closer. Nope, that didn't work. As soon as I pulled her away from the pumpkin, she settled down. I was sitting on the floor with her on my lap when the thought came to me...I could slowly slide her toward the pumpkin with my foot and snap a picture before she even realized she had gotten closer to it. As you can see, this did not work either. Yes, that is my foot she's holding on to. So much for my artistic pumpkin pictures! Just wait until I try to put her on Santa's lap at Christmas...oh boy!