THE STORY OF US: First Halloween

This past week Sailee learned two major things: how to take candy from a stranger and how to say "no"........

Halloween was so fun this year. Last year we dressed her up in My First Halloween pajamas from Auntie Jordan, but she was too little to experience the wonderful confusion and chaos that makes Halloween so fun. We had not one but two dedicated parties for Sailee to attend this year, the first at Sailee's Little Gym on Halloween Eve. I was so excited for Sailee to show off her little ladybug costume...Sailee, not so much. She was a bit overstimulated and confused by all the bigger kids (especially a larger, pretty aggressive Elmo that didn't want to wait for her own turn) and why she had to wear this silly outfit and have wings attached to her back and a band on her head. About 45 minutes in, she had it with both and tossed them to the wind. Overall, a good time was had and the goldfish crackers and brownies at the end made it all worthwhile. If for no other reason, at least Sailee got to practice wearing the costume for Halloween party day 2!

On Halloween day, we had a terrific time at Neil's office! We trick-or-treated all around the building and Sailee was mesmerized by the other little friends in costumes and how many nice people were willing to give her things. She got so excited at one point that she attempted to snag the entire bucket from which she was supposed to take one piece! To a baby who has no concept of the number 1, this was a challenge at first, but she caught on pretty quick. Sailee's friend Avery was there also, and for the first time ever, Sailee actually played and interacted with another baby! The two little girls spent a good chunk of time trading candy and popping bubbles that were handed out as a treat. Sailee still has yet to taste candy, but enjoyed the raisins all too much. It was interesting how much more, by the second day in costume, Sailee got into the spirit of things and seemed to understand the purpose of the day. Even at such a little age, she seemed to get that this was all for fun and fell right in line with all the other eager little trick-or-treaters.

Sailee, the master mimic, is carefully building her repertoire of expressions that make our jaws drop. While she has been expressing her preferences almost since she was born, I knew the day would come when she would utter that word every parent fears, "NO" - it is a word so empowering for a toddler, and let me tell you how Sailee just beams every time she is able to finally throw that back in my face after having had to listen to me say it for the past 6 months. So now of course everything is "no". Do you want milk? Nooooooooooo. You ready for nite nite? Nooooooooo. Can I have a kiss? Nooooooooooooo. And of course we are using this to our advantage... "Will you ever disobey us?" Noooooooooo. "Will you ever lie to us?" Nooooooooo. "Will you ever put us in a nursing home?" Nooooooooooo.

Here's our little creature on her first Halloween.