Photos: Sylvia's First Real Halloween

I know, I never finished those Bay Area photos, but I wanted to get the Halloween ones up. I haven't given up on the others!

Last year for Sylvia's very first Halloween we did ... nothing. We were still so overwhelmed by the fundamental change of parenthood that we couldn't organize a costume or anything. This year, I was determined to introduce her to the idea of the holiday, which is really one of my favorites.

Sylvia's Halloween actually started with a trip to the pumpkin patch on October 18. We have several wonderful photos from that day, but I'm just going to put three selections here. Here we all are:


We were joined that day by Sylvia's buddy, Kaden, and his parents, Jamie and Derek. Kaden is a couple of months younger than Sylvia, but also a big cutie:


And here's the big heartbreaker, one of the best photos of Sylvia ever (by Kevin, of course):


The next weekend, my friend Sasha came to visit us. Sylvia had a great time meeting Sasha, and she particularly enjoyed learning to make pasta with her (more photos of that ... some day). During her visit, we carved the pumpkins, and Sasha got to carve Sylvia's little yellow pumpkin.

Kevin carved his large one into the likeness of a pig from a set of animal cards that Sylvia plays with every day. Sylvia loved it! I made mine into an angry cat. Sasha carved two hearts, a moon, and a star into Sylvia's pumpkin. Sylvia took pleasure in identifying the shapes! Here they are, all lit up:



Alas, they did not live to see the day of Halloween! They all molded with surprising rapidity. Thank goodness for photographs.

For Sylvia's Halloween costume, I was determined to do it myself. I remember vividly one of my earliest Halloween costumes, created by my dad: a blue footie pajama, a rope tail, a blue hat with pink ears glued on, and a drawn-on cat face. I cheated a bit, because Grandma Fran had bought Sylvia a hat with a puppy face and ears. The day before Halloween while Sylvia was at day care, I bought a fuzzy tunic and a 1/4 yard of fuzzy brown fabric. That night, I sewed a tail and some spots — et voila! One puppy costume:


Sylvia attended her first Halloween party at the house of Kai, a friend who lives in Culver City.


Here's Kai:


Here's Kaden again, disguised as Mickey Mouse:


And Sylvia's friend Garrett with his daddy, Scott:


And another peer from our yoga class, the Little Lamb Roman with his mama, Naomi. Roman hated the hood of his costume!


During this autumn season, Sylvia has developed a real affection for pumpkins:


Sylvia reconnected with Garrett over some fridge magnets:


Toddler Time is a bit early for normal trick-or-treating, but Ava Lena (Kai's mama) warned her neighbors that we would be coming by, so we all descended on their house:



Sylvia's first treat: a box of Nerds. (More than one person asked, "They still make those?") We were content to let her think the little box was another kind of maraca. She happily shook it for a while.


Kai's family lives across from a park. Sylvia clearly communicated that she was far more interested in running around than in more trick-or-treating. I chased her, calling out, "Mama's gonna get you!" When I stopped, she would goad me into chasing her again by saying, "Mama! Getchu!"


Sylvia in a puppy pose. This was by accident — she kept tripping — but she looks so convincing, no?


Our little cutie:



The other game we played was "Where's the moon?" A near-full moon appeared even before the sun set. Sylvia would stand where she could see it, then walk sideways until the moon disappeared behind a tree. Then she would run back to where it was visible again.


Here she is signing "moon":


And here she is with the inspiration for her costume, Spot. See a certain resemblance?


We finished the evening at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Sylvia got to witness the other side of trick-or-treating when a few kids came to the door. I'm not sure what Sylvia will remember of her first real Halloween, but she had a fine introduction to it this year!