Halloween 2012

Alright my dears, remember Halloween 2011?

Halloween 2011 was when my Mom and I spent an hour or two making a cute tutu for our tiny ballerina to wear...only to find out on October 31 that apparently putting a 1 1/2 year old in a tutu is the single most horrifying and humiliating thing that a parent can do at that age.

So, this year, I tried to be smarter.  Knowing that sometimes Nora is a bit....resistant...to things out of the ordinary, I thought and thought and THOUGHT about what type of Halloween costume would be the closest possible option to normal clothes.  I wanted it to be an actual costume, in the event that Nora was excited about wearing it...but I didn't want it to be too different....good gracious I wasn't sure if I could handle my tiny child hanging her head in shame all evening again.

Finally, after looking though a bunch of patterns, I came across a pattern for toddler scrubs.  Perfect!  The scrubs didn't look that complicated to make, they are fairly similar to normal clothes (pants and a shirt), and Nora has been walking around our house for several months now with her doctor's kit saying, "I am Dr. Nora.  Let me check you."  Fantastic!

My mom and I worked for hours.  The scrubs were actually not as easy as the pattern initially suggested...and as I am just really learning to sew still, my skills are sub-par at best.  I mostly helped with the pants...and Grammy tackled the shirt.  Everything turned out ok in the end, but there was a fair amount of giggling and/or cursing along the way.  Step one complete.  :)

Step two was getting Nora excited about Halloween night.  Dan talked to her about trick or treating...and she was all for it.  "Let's go see our neighbors!  I want them to give me candy!  I will take my pumpkin bucket and say 'Trick or Treat!' "

We also carved a pumpkin with Aunt Jenny, which Nora loved.  "I like this goo, Mommy!  See me getting the goo out of the pumpkin!"  It turned out to be really great that Aunt Jenny let us help carve her pumpkin, since due to some extenuating circumstances, ours at home was never carved.  Step two complete.

Step three was getting Nora excited about the costume.  We built it up, "Now you've got a real doctor's outfit, Dr. Nora!  Want to put it on and give us a check-up?"  Step three complete!

So cute!

That brings us to Halloween night.  Two things happened that I had not thought of ahead of time: 1) Dan was out of town (I have no idea how I had missed this beforehand...it wasn't a sudden trip or anything) AND 2) Nora came home from her new school (that is a story for another day) cranky and EXHAUSTED.  Oops.

And so, despite my best efforts....despite pizza for dinner...despite me talking and begging...despite a phone call from Grammy promising Nora all sorts of goodies if she will just put the costume on...this what happened in regards to the costume Halloween night:

It stayed there, neatly folded, all night long.

But you know what?  Sometimes, particularly when a 2 1/2 year old is concerned, you just go with the flow.  I gave up talking about Halloween and asked my tiny, cranky, and tired little Peanut what she wanted to do on Halloween night.  And do you know what she answered?  "I want to sit on the couch, in my pjs, and cuddle with you while we watch a movie, Mommy."  No problem.  Halloween night is a perfect time to watch "Cinderella" and cuddle on the couch...

...particularly if it makes you happy.  :)

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween, regardless of how you chose to celebrate.  :)