tricks and treats!

this past monday was halloween, my favorite holiday and thus, a household favorite! it was actually babyluv's first real door-to-door trick or treating so it was super cute! last year we dressed him up in his monkey suit (compliments of his awesome aunties zozo and laurie) and we took him to fell's point in baltimore where the store and restaurant owners are always eager to dress up and let the kids trick or treat. he loved it but was more fascinated by the other costumes to grasp the trick or treating concept.

this year we dressed him up in the same monkey costume because first of all, he asked for it so why not let him, it is supposed to be his fun day after all and secondly, it was a little big on him last year and just a touch small this year so WHY NOT! it was still positively precious and he was the only monkey in a sea cartoon characters, mostly superheroes and various princesses. and this year he mostly GOT IT, the whole trick or treat thing, especially since we taught him the steps (our boy LOVES knowing the steps to a process so he can do a checklist #superkidnerdsunite). daddy taught him:

step 1. ring the doorbell.
step 2. take a step back (increases politeness, reduces 'smack in the head with door' injuries).
step 3. when the door opens shout 'trick or treat!' use your OUTSIDE VOICE!! (give a kid permission to scream, tell him it's even part of the process, the fun factor doubles immediately.)
step 4. hold your bag open or reach in the bowl for treats.
step 5. in your OUTSIDE VOICE say 'THANK YOU!'

once he got tired he added his own step 6. hand the treat bag to mama and have daddy pick him up and carry him.

we almost felt bad about the fact that we had zero intention of letting him eat a single thing in the bag, except for the natural fruit snacks he got from the good folks at Trader Joe's on Millburn until we realized that he couldn't care less about that stuff LOL! for him it was all about the experience; seeing the other kids in costume, learning how to trick or treat, walking the neighborhood with daddy and mama at night and looking at all the decorations. he hasn't thought about the candy since the last house. he doesn't even know what most of it is since he has no frame of reference, he just thinks it was the thing put in the bag as a reward for properly completing the trick or treat process LOL!

the most hilarious part of babyluv's 1st real trick or treat for me was that he kept trying to invite himself into folk's houses!! at every house he was like 'i wanna go in! can we stay for awhile!' see, that's just like our kid to be all 'knock knock, trick or treat, what's for dinner!?'