Argh Matey

It's possible that I was more excited for Halloween than Eliot. Especially since he didn't even know it existed before Friday morning.

After much deliberation and many visits to pre-made costume-hawking web sites, it was decided that Eliot would dress as a pirate as 1. I could fashion his costume using items found around the house and 2. it involved a drawn on mustache, which basically sealed the deal. I knit his eye patch and found an old bandanna to complete the headgear. The belt was Justin's wrapped twice around Eliot's baby-slim waist. Though it helped to make the whole ensemble come together it did not last long due to it repeatedly falling around his ankles. He was surprisingly accommodating when it came to dressing him. The only hesitation came with the drawing of the eyeliner pencil facial hair, which explains why it's not exactly precise. But it didn't really matter, because look how mother-loving cute he is!

"Who me? I don't even know what rum is."

Once Justin got home from work we headed to my grandparent's house for chili and trick-or-treating. Eliot was more concerned about getting a much coveted ice cream cone than anything else. He ate dinner and then we hit the pavement. He isn't really familiar with candy, so it was more a concept than a reality, though he did know that he wanted some and when he got some (in his pumpkin bucket) he knew he really wanted some more. I think he understood that there was some sort of food stuff inside the packaging, but I don't know if he was aware of how delicious and hyperactivity inducing its ingredients were.

We knocked on about 10 doors and I'd ask Eliot "What does a Pirate say?" and he's softly reply "Argh." and then get his candy and say "thank you." in an equally tiny voice. He did really great though. In St. Louis, the tradition is that you have to tell a joke or sing a song or do a little dance before you get your candy. I think it might be dying out a bit, but I'm all about it. My grandparents are still sticklers for it, they even invite the kids into their house and chat them up a bit, which was how every house was when I was a kid.

When we got back to my grandparent's house, Eliot was treated to about 7 M&M's, and we could almost see the sugar energy radiating off of him. He stood in front of Justin, literally vibrating all over as he chewed each one, totally intoxicated with the wonder of candy-coated chocolate goodness. Afterward, Eliot took a bath and got into his pajamas; way past bedtime as expected. We hoped he might fall asleep in the car on the way home, but he chatted the entire ride; about candy, argh-ing, cones, Pop-pop, and the zoo. I was a little concerned that he was going to be too buzzed to sleep, but nothing but silence came from the monitor after we tucked him in.

Justin and I used to go to this Halloween party every year that lasted until 4am. We actually won costume contests. We'd always complain that we didn't want to dress up and then go all-out at the last minute. Those were super fun times. Of course, things changed, Eliot came into our lives, and those days are probably staying in the past. But watching Eliot enjoy and revel in something that was once the highlight of the year next to Christmas is way better. Way, way better.