Halloween

The Most Anticipated Evening of the Fall finally arrived tonight, a clear Halloween eve.

The frigid cold of the past few days gave way to a brisk evening, perfect for walking around the neighborhood taking candy from strangers. Not too warm that the kids could stay out forever; not too cold that they wanted to retire after the first 3 houses.

As previously mentioned, my two went with a reptilian theme--Andres a dinosaur, Celia a turtle. (Celia's costume was the same one that Andres wore a couple years back.) We had a quick dinner around 5:30 and, after chicken nuggets and apples, Andres showed that he was in the Halloween mood.



By 6:15 it was all business. Costumes were going on quickly, and once Jasmine stopped by to see how the kids looked, plans were hatched to accompany her and Sean from house to house.

Andres has been looking forward to Halloween since August, so it took him no time at all to get ready. Celia, on the other hand, was not as motivated. First she refused to put on her sweatshirt. She finally acceded to this demand, and allowed us to dress her in her turtle shell. Then she decided she was too hot with her costume on and took it all off.

Now that she's almost 2, Celia has developed a high-pitched whiny squeal that accompanies many of her fashion objections. This is often heard in the morning ("Daaaaaaaady NOOO change!") and in the evening ("Daaaaaaaady NOOO PJs!"). Today we also heard it at 6:30 as we were trying to get out of the house and go trick-or-treating.

Andres was a cool customer through all of this. I think he was mentally running through his gameplan for the coming hour.

THRILLED to be getting ready.

A happy stegosaurus and a reluctant turtle.

Candy time.

We distracted Celia for long enough to get her costume on again, and then distracted her some more to get her outside. Then we met up with Sean and Jasmine and she was a happy camper, hanging out on a special night with the older kids.

We also met some special guests on the way. Juniper (and parents) joined us, as did my mom, who was trying to avoid heading back to a 50º house in Dover. They, unfortunately, lost power on Saturday night and have not yet had it restored.

Celia and Juniper tried to keep up with the older crew but, alas, their strides were too short. Sean, Jasmine, and Andres were basically running from house to house, saying "trick or treat!", swiping candy, and turning around to head back to the street in one fluid motion. They were machines. Not the girls though--they took their time walking up to each house and inspected much of the available candy before choosing anything. Celia seemed suspicious of the whole affair. It seemed like she was thinking, "Why, on this night, do we go house to house getting candy? Why don't we do this ever night?" Juniper did not seem to harbor any such deep thoughts--she said "trick or treat," picked her candy, and then seemed really interested in seeing the inside of all the houses she was visiting.

Trick or treating.

Celia was a few steps behind all night.

The last house of the night.

It's not easy being green.

We stayed out for a good hour and then made the long, slow walk back home to count candy. Celia had been a trooper all night. She walked the entire way, clutching a cherished blow pop for the final 30 minutes like it was the only one left on earth. "My pop? My pop!" she kept repeating. But she was exhausted. By the time we finally reached our porch, her expression was that of a man who had just worked a 12-hour shift in a coal mine.

Home was invigorating, though, and bathtime quickly pepped the young set up again (well, that and some candy). While Andres, Celia, and Juniper got their second wind, all four of us parents were feeling a bit haggard. When Madhabi said "I can't believe this is only Monday" our shoulders all drooped a bit more. Yes, this will be a long week.

Soon the grandparents headed back out to Dover and Juniper and crew said their goodbyes as well. Andres sang a couple of Halloween songs that he learned at school and then it was time to turn off the lights. Both kids protested weakly--Celia whined a bit as I put her in her crib, and Andres seemed like he was merely going through the motions of an argument as he climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. I think they just didn't want the night to end! It was fun, and we all had fun together.

So that's it for this year--Halloween is ended, though the candy consumption has just begun. 365 days to plan out a killer Cookie Monster costume.