Day 285 - Baby's "First" Halloween

Ok, I admit that title could fall under the category of falsehood. You know, also known as a lie, untruth, fib, fabrication, story, whopper, etc. 

The truth is that this is technically Ellie's second Halloween. Remember, Ellie was born in June of 2016. Therefore, she was around for Halloween 2016. Despite the fact that there may be legitimate evidence to the contrary, I believe you'll ultimately agree with me referring to this as Ellie's first Halloween.

So, the biggest question is why I'm not acknowledging the place of Halloween 2016 in Ellie's life. It's a fairly simple answer. Namely, we didn't do anything to mark the occasion. A normal Halloween in the Holt household has consisted of us handing out candy to somewhere between 50 and 80 trick-or-treaters. However, last year, Bethany and I chose to take a year off from that activity. As Ellie was only four months old, we didn't want incessant doorbell ringing to interrupt her still-developing sleeping patterns. Also, we didn't figure any neighborhood children would really lament us for not tossing a couple of fun size candy bars into their buckets/bags/pillowcases.

Since Ellie is now a year older, we decided that it would be fine to resume our normal Halloween activities this year. While we didn't exactly procure a costume for Ellie, she was definitely dressed for the occasion as she was decked out in a Halloween themed onesie, black pants, and an orange and black skirt. She was actually looking pretty cute if I do say so myself.

Not the greatest photos. Hey, why don't you try to get a picture of a constantly moving target?

Once the 5:00 hour rolled around, we began getting ready for trick-or-treaters to arrive. Ellie knew something was up but was not really certain what it was. Between the big bowl of candy, Mickey Mouse jack-o-lantern, and porch light being on, there was certainly enough different to grab her attention. 

It wasn't very long before our doorbell rang for the first time. I bounded up from her seat on the couch and answered the door to find Robin (as in Batman's sidekick) standing at the door with outstrectched arms. As I happily offered up candy, I noticed Ellie had crept up behind me and was eyeing the miniature Robin until he left our stoop. With that, she happily closed our front door, looked at us with a big smile, and clapped over her accomplishment.

Must be prepared...

After a few more trick-or-treaters came to visit, Ellie figured out the drill. She gathered up her own stash of candy from the bowl and laid it on the windowsill as she vigilantly watched out the window. Whenever a new visitor would inevitably come bounding up the drive, Ellie would head towards the front door to greet them with a piece of candy in tow.

Ellie's stash...

I wasn't exactly certain how Ellie would ultimately respond to strangers in costume. While I love Halloween, I realize there's potential for it to be scary for some. Fortunately for us, she really didn't seem to mind it. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. Especially the person in an inflatable Godzilla costume who struggled to get both up and down our steps.

Now, if only the same could be said for the Mickey Mouse jack-o-lantern. For some odd reason that thing evoked feelings of terror from deep inside her tiny body. Go figure. #DaddyWrite

The ultimate face of terror...