It's Gobbles Time!: tricks, treats, and sweet-teeth

See? I told you I'd get to a Halloween blog. Only 2 weeks late, when the decorations are all ~~taken down and sitting on the guest bedroom floor~~ packed up and the candy is long gone. It was Mr. Gobbles' first Halloween and he made the most of it. We devoted an entire weekend dedicated to one little boy and his Mickey Mouse costume. Just don't ever tell him that I found the costume for 5 bucks at a church sale. We can pretend I searched for it for weeks like his Christmas present.

The costume extravaganza started off with his fall festival party at daycare. My mother tagged along as lil Mickey and his friends -a giraffe, a dinosaur, twins - a monkey & a dog, a butterfly, a pirate, and more showed off their adorable costumes. I can't say that any child was particularly happy about being dressed up, but there weren't any major meltdowns.

Not the face of someone who is exactly enjoying themselves... am I right?

Definitely a lot more fun outside where I can play!

I love halloween about as much as my Daddy does. Candy = good. Costumes = meh, not for me.

okayy, here's your smile. now take this thing off me and let's go home!

The next day was the annual Halloween bash at our friend's house. This year, babies were welcome and we were happy to accept the invitation, as it had been awhile since we'd seen some of our friends and some of the babies. When we first arrived Gobbles was happy as a clam, snacking on goodies, playing with friends, and stealing the dread pirate robert's sword. It quickly turned when he decided he had enough of this costume and started whining.

When I picked him up to soothe him, I must have pulled on the costume a little much, because the next thing I knew I was soaking wet. Boy, when my little man wants out of something, he'll just resort to anything. Luckily, I brought an extra outfit for him - cardinal rule #1 of parenting - a mess will be made, so have a 2nd outfit on hand at all times. Unfortunately, I missed the second part of that logic, that the mess will likely go on mommy as well. Oh well, it probably enhanced my costumes as "bumbling Disney tourist" to have a nice little pee spot on the hip.

So, by the time Gobbles' pal showed up dressed as Mario (with Dad Luigi and Mommy Prendie gal in tow), Gobbles had no cute costume to show so he continued to pout. And though the babies were quite adorable, the costume of the year definitely went to Isrut. Because not only were Beaker and Bunsen beautifully made, but she actually was so committed to accuracy for the costume that she left no eyeholes and removed her glasses in order to get the head on. Beautifully made my dear!

Ok, what can I do to get out of this thing???

No FAIR! Look at that, he's go facial hair AND a paci!

Finally, Halloween itself arrived. I decided it was time. Time to introduce my baby to one of my most favorite things in the world, chocolate. Since we can't let him have beer and wine for quite some time, and he's already shown quite an affinity for pizza, chocolate is a great choice. Deciding to go easy on his taste buds, we opted for a miniature three musketeers bar. I unwrapped it and showed it to Gobbles, and he hesitantly leaned forward for a lick. Upon taste, he lurched forward him my arms and bit off the top of it! He ripped the rest from my hand and shoved it into his mouth, thus confirming a great fear of mine - my son has inherited my incessant need for sweets. God help us all. I have not given him another piece of candy since, for fear that he will blame me for his delightful little Buddha belly in the years to come.

Gobbles was thoroughly sick of wearing his costume, but since I made the effort to wash it from the night before, he complied. Probably because he would do anything to get his hands on more chocolate. Too bad I refused candy from the 3 neighbors I took him to. But somehow, we still came home with a box of animal crackers and a hand-me-down 2T sleeper. Score! We spent the rest of the night greeting trick or treaters and hanging out with the well-wishers that stopped by to see my boy model his first of many humiliating Halloween costumes. All in all, a great little holiday!