Obligatory Halloween Adorableness

A few weeks ago Eric and I brainstormed Halloween costumes. I want to be cute and creative without having to buy a costume. Buying pieces of it is fine, but not the whole thing. Last year we dressed Graham up as a ghost. This year Graham still isn’t old enough to ask to be anything. The whole process must be explained to him. So it was up to us to figure out what to do.

As we bounced around ideas, we knew Graham would be happy to dress up as any kind of animal. We were thinking lion… monkey… and then Eric said if Graham was a monkey, we could do a kind of science lab theme. And that’s when it all came together.

So whaddya know. Our first family-themed costume. (Mom is not pictured, and is dressed as an overworked, underslept lab technician.) Tessa’s mad scientist getup is a little difficult. Mostly because she refuses to keep the glasses on, so Eric wore them instead. They both sported spiky hair and I made Eric’s special name-badge. Graham’s mutant child-sized mouse was super adorable despite his lack of tail. (And despite my refusal to let Eric give him a giant glowing tumor. Scientists, y’all.) It was also a surprisingly easy thing to put together when your husband already owns a lab coat, you already own hair gel, and your baby tends to contort herself into looking like a small hunchback.

It was a full day of Halloween festivities.

Tesser and I started out by going to Graham’s school for the Halloween parade. Which wasn’t actually a halloween parade. They’re a uniform school, so it was a Crazy Hat parade.

Graham had a few choices, but opted for his mouse ears in the morning before school. However, he kept insisting it was “NOT crazy hat day today” and wouldn’t put them on. I wasn’t sure how he’d do. Luckily by the time I saw him at school he’d figured it out and happily sported his mouse ears for the rest of the day.

Now, my expectation for Crazy Hat Day Parade was based on my own experience as a kid in California. I don’t think my schools were particularly large or small. But my memories of Halloween parades were out on the playground, marching in a big circle with all the parents watching and clapping.

This is Massachusetts and Graham’s school is quite small, but Tesser and I were taken by surprise when we found the playground empty. Especially since the Messa was dressed for the occasion.

Instead it turns out the Crazy Hat Day parade is inside. Something all the other parents seemed to know already. This  tends to happen to me a lot. The woes of your child’s first year of school. So much to learn.

So the parade had all the little kids on the first floor walk down the hall on the second floor while the big kids sat along the walls and clapped. And then switch. It was pretty darn adorable, I have to say. And a few kids from Graham’s bus recognized me as his mom.

After the parade I got to spend an hour or so with Graham in his classroom, helping the teachers give out treats and watching him in that environment. I also got to meet his ABA therapist and his speech therapist. (The former adores him, the latter likes him too but clearly thinks he doesn’t need speech therapy so I’m guessing that’ll be out of our IEP next year…) It was funny to see him in his classroom. He is at times very quiet and observant, while other times he is outspoken and excited.

After school we walked back to the house and got in costume for the Halloween party at the community center.

Impossible to get a picture of these two. Constant motion.

There were all ages of kids there, even teenagers, but everyone handled the little ones pretty well. One of the games Graham played involved every kid having a balloon tied to their ankle and then running around trying to pop other balloons. I was hesitant about it. The noise, the clamor, the craziness. But Graham loves any game that involves running and handled it like a champ. He had a little lip quiver when his balloon got popped, but quickly came to join me on the sidelines. He explained later, “Your balloon pops and you’re out.” Good job, Bug.

After the party we headed back home to wait for Daddy, snapped a couple quick pics and then sent Graham and Dad out into the fray to trick or treat.

I stuck to my candy-giving routine (aka put out a few kinds at a time, saving my favorites for last) and when Graham was around he was very good about helping put candy in kids’ bags. He definitely enjoyed it this year and understood it a lot better than last year. He asked to go trick-or-treating again this morning…

Now it’s time for me to pass on my candy-rationing ways to the next generation. Graham gets one candy each day. That trick used to last me months…

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3. Photo Dump of Adorableness.