Trick or treat

This year, the girls really got the idea of Halloween. We talked for a few days before about going up to people's houses, saying trick-or-treat, and getting candy. Hannah was especially excited about it and kept asking me when she could go get candy. They've never even had candy before so I'm not sure why she knew to be so excited about it, but she was. There were some battles about costumes but they eventually embraced what my parents' bought them-thanks Grammie and Papa! Hannah was a dragon and Isabelle was a sheep. B and I even got in on the action thanks to our babysitter who brought over a whole suitcase full of costumes for us to chose from.

We had friends over for dinner and then all went up into town to trick-or-treat. We live in a small village with about 6-7 streets in a grid that make for perfect trick-or-treating. Our village is surrounded by lots of rural towns so people from all over drive in to cash in on the bounty. When we got up to town there were hundreds of people out and the atmosphere was so festive. It helped that it was a pretty mild evening. Houses, churches, the library and fire station were all decorated and handing out candy.

The girls were wide eyed, taking in all of the sights. I think they were so caught up in the action that initially, they even forgot about getting candy. But after we went to a few houses and they got the hang of the whole "put out your bucket, say trick-or-treat and get candy" concept, they were pretty hooked. Every time we stopped for a minute, Hannah would say, "Let's go to another house and get more candy."

We brought Hannah's walker and I had visions of her cruising around in town in her costume, but there was just way too much going on for her to focus on walking. We wound up walking holding her hands or carrying her the whole time. I was kind of bummed but she didn't seem to mind and was having so much fun that I realized I need to just stay focused on her and not on my own expectations of what constitutes a good time (something I always struggle with). I definitely had some moments of sadness as I watched all the kids racing around with their friends, realizing that Hannah might not ever be able to do that. But the more I stayed focused on Hannah, the easier it was. I also saw a boy who was maybe 10-12 years old and was wheeling himself around in his wheelchair. He was with some friends and seemed to be having no problems keeping up with them in his chair. It made me think more about the difference between "walking without assistance" and "independent mobility," and the fact that for Hannah, there will probably be a time and a place for both of these means of getting around.

Anyway, we lasted about a hour before everyone started to peter out. We let the girls try a few different kinds of candy and then told them we'd put it away and they could pick out one piece each night until it was gone. Once they went to bed, I fished out all of the choking hazards and divided up the loot so that they each had 5 pieces of the exact same kind of candy to chose. Last night as soon as dinner was over, they asked for their candy. Tonight they didn't. Who knows, maybe they forgot about it already (here's hoping!)

All in all, it was a great Halloween and I'm so excited for more fun holidays with the girls now that they're old enough to really understand and enjoy them.