Halloween 2015
Last year, Naomi was kind of small for the trick-or-treating thing and apparently, we were too tired or just too tired of messes to deal with carving a pumpkin. Still, I love Halloween, so we weren't about to miss out; we had a lot of fun just wandering around our neighborhood with our little mouse. This year, though we still didn't do any pumpkin carving (we actually tried on Saturday, Halloween day, but all of the pumpkins were either gone or rotten by then), we did get in a full dose of family costumes and trick-or-treating. "Bee" has been one of Naomi's favorite words for a while and one of her favorite things to identify in her books (in fact, we're working hard to teach her the difference between bees and all of their other insect and arachnid friends), so we went with it. I looked through a few consignment stores for a good costume, but couldn't find anything warm (or accurate) enough, so I decided to just make her a simple fleece costume and make one for myself, too, while I was at it (with the very high, very unrealistic hope that if I was wearing antennae and wings, Naomi would keep hers on, too). Drew doesn't quite share my excitement about dressing up and acting a fool, but he cooperated and joined us as a beekeeper.
Want to know how long her antennae lasted? This long:
Walking out of our apartment into Falls River, we initially wondered if perhaps we had the date wrong, since there were no kids or costumes in sight. Once we crossed the bridge though, there were kids running everywhere, collecting their tricks and treats. Naomi was mostly confused by the whole experience. Even though it was a little dark and very new, she only demonstrated fear and uncertainty when she encountered a few of the gorier costumes; mostly, she was enamored with all of the kids dressed up like princesses and pirates and pretty thrilled that strangers kept putting treats in her bucket. By the end of the night, she was pretty good about saying "Happy Halloween!", but she never caught on to "Trick or Treat" (smart girl, I say; she obviously wants the treat, why give anyone the option of tricking her?).
Although the antennae and their headband didn't last long, the rest of her costume was completely intact when we returned home, something this amateur costume designer considers a raving success. By that time, Naomi was pretty tired, both from staying up late and from walking the many streets of Falls River, but she was oh-so-excited about her loot and most certainly not going to bed without enjoying it.
While Naomi worked on that lollipop, we Facetimed with two sets of grandparents and attempted to wind her down after a night of so much newness. She still had sugar coursing through her little veins in the morning; powerful stuff, sugar is. Even though she's no stranger to sweets (she's mine, after all), the bowl of Halloween candy on the counter quickly helped Naomi learn how to ask for a "treat?" and also how to accept the disappointment that her mama would be far less generous in handing them out than all of the nice neighbors were...
We had such a great evening introducing Naomi to Halloween, as strange as the whole thing really is when you think about it from her perspective. Teaching her about the cool and crazy parts of this world - showing her that amidst the scary, there is sweet - just never gets old.
Want to know how long her antennae lasted? This long:
Walking out of our apartment into Falls River, we initially wondered if perhaps we had the date wrong, since there were no kids or costumes in sight. Once we crossed the bridge though, there were kids running everywhere, collecting their tricks and treats. Naomi was mostly confused by the whole experience. Even though it was a little dark and very new, she only demonstrated fear and uncertainty when she encountered a few of the gorier costumes; mostly, she was enamored with all of the kids dressed up like princesses and pirates and pretty thrilled that strangers kept putting treats in her bucket. By the end of the night, she was pretty good about saying "Happy Halloween!", but she never caught on to "Trick or Treat" (smart girl, I say; she obviously wants the treat, why give anyone the option of tricking her?).
Although the antennae and their headband didn't last long, the rest of her costume was completely intact when we returned home, something this amateur costume designer considers a raving success. By that time, Naomi was pretty tired, both from staying up late and from walking the many streets of Falls River, but she was oh-so-excited about her loot and most certainly not going to bed without enjoying it.
She wasn't at all excited, however, about the family photo standing between her and permission to finally consume some of the spoils of her efforts.
I tried to give her a Rice Krispy Treat (which has to be better than candy for an 18-month-old at 9pm; it's cereal, right?), but she only had eyes for the lollipops in her bucket. She's easily excited by what some might consider the mundane, but lollipops take it to a new level. They are, without a doubt, the bomb-diggity in her little world. This particular green apple Dum-Dum nearly brought her to tears of joy. One good thing about lollipops, as far as I'm concerned, is their endurance. Her sucker lasted for quite a while (longer than its paper stick...), and it thus features prominently in all of the rest of our pictures from the evening:
While Naomi worked on that lollipop, we Facetimed with two sets of grandparents and attempted to wind her down after a night of so much newness. She still had sugar coursing through her little veins in the morning; powerful stuff, sugar is. Even though she's no stranger to sweets (she's mine, after all), the bowl of Halloween candy on the counter quickly helped Naomi learn how to ask for a "treat?" and also how to accept the disappointment that her mama would be far less generous in handing them out than all of the nice neighbors were...
We had such a great evening introducing Naomi to Halloween, as strange as the whole thing really is when you think about it from her perspective. Teaching her about the cool and crazy parts of this world - showing her that amidst the scary, there is sweet - just never gets old.
Comments
Post a Comment