Happy Halloween!

Rrrrrrrarrrr! I'm scary, aren't I? My neighbor, Audrey sure thinks so...she ran into the garage to hide while I was practicing my roaring. No, I was not an alligator for Halloween nor was I a dinosaur...I was a DRAGON! No matter how much Mommy wanted me to say I was a "nice" dragon, I kept telling everyone I was a mean dragon, and followed that with a very convincing roar! I was still doing it tonight, in fact - the day after Halloween!

Speaking of that, why is it that we only trick-or-treat once a year? Mommy and Daddy talked about this for weeks beforehand. I got to try on my costume and even wear it once to a party. Finally, when I grasped the concept that I say "trick-or-treat" and people give me CANDY...it's over, just like that! "No", Mommy said, "we can't go trick-or-treating again tonight. You'll have to wait until next year."

So, since the fun seems to be over, let me relive the excitement by telling you about my night. I got home from Karen's house and I was already wearing my costume. You're thinking "cute, he wanted to wear his costume all day!" No, truth is, I leaked through my diaper during nap time and Daddy forgot to pack extra clothes for me. So, Daddy changed me when we got home and then we had to go to Costco. Mommy and Daddy were so happy because the store was practically empty. I was actually kind of bored because there weren't so many kids to watch.

Back to the story...So, I wasn't really all that into the idea of putting my costume back on after having worn it so much of the day. But, Mommy reminded me that after I say "trick-or-treat" that I get CANDY. Well, that did it - I just couldn't wait to do my adorable boy-to-mean dragon transformation again! We practiced the rest of the way home. It went something like this:

Mommy: "Okay, Wes. You knock on the door and someone opens it. What do you say?"
Wesley: "Trick-or-Treat!"
Mommy: "Then what happens?"
Wesley: "I get CANDY!"
Mommy: "What do you say after they give you candy?"
Wesley: "Thank you!"
Mommy: "And as you're leaving, what do you tell the people?"
Wesley: "Happy Halloween!"

I repeated it over and over to myself as I put my costume back on. We even practiced at our door (although I know how to open it, so it wasn't quite the same)...Mommy tried to get that on video but it was too dark. Then, off we went.

I needed to scare Audrey again, so we headed there first. Sure enough, huge success: she ran up the stairs - twice! She and Frank gave me a cool pumpkin cup with a straw that they were definitely saving just for me...and, you guessed it, CANDY! The candy went into my pumpkin bucket and we went off to the next house, and the next. At every house, the gave me CANDY (except for one house where they had a basket on the porch - Mommy and Daddy made sure I took only 1)! We stopped by baby Karan's house - he's not even one yet, but he and I are friends. He was Thomas the Tank Engine (just like my friend Ethan). He came by early in the evening to my house. After visiting the last house on the court, Mommy said it was time to go home...but I was just getting my rhythm: Knock, Door opens, "Trick-or-treat", candy, "Thank you", "Happy Halloween!". Sometimes I mixed them up, but I generally got it right. Now I could hear other kids out and I needed to be where the action was.

So, Mommy and Daddy decided Daddy would go home to give candy to the other kids and I went with Mommy to the next street. People just kept saying how "cute" I was and then loaded me up with CANDY! One man gave me 2 full-sized candy bars (Mommy says that it will take me a week to eat each one)...I know I could have gotten him to give me more, but Mommy thanked him and said we had to save some for the other kids. After hitting several more houses, I was spilling candy out of my bucket so Mommy said it was time to go home.

Mommy and Daddy didn't dress up last night. They said that trick-or-treating is just for kids. But, they did wear costumes one night when we went to Aunt Mary and Uncle Greg's house. Daddy was a knight and Mommy was the princess. I'm not sure if Daddy was saving Mommy from me or if I was saving Mommy from Daddy. Either way, our costumes were a big hit. My favorite part of the night was playing catch with a blow-up pumpkin with a boy who was 1 and another boy who was 3. Luckily, we didn't break anything!


We did lots of other stuff for Halloween. Daddy and I carved a pumpkin at Papa's house. Uncle Mike and Aunt Erica carved a pumpkin and so did Uncle Jesse and Cousins Kevin and Emily. (Sorry, Mommy hasn't gotten those pictures off the camera yet.) I carved 2 pumpkins with Karen too! I helped Mommy make pumpkin and ghost cookies, and Mommy made a pumpkin-shaped cake (I didn't like it too much, but everyone else seemed to).

I wonder what I'll be next year...

[Note from the editor: the next post will be the last in the series of updates from the summer]