Halloween 2013 (mostly in pictures)

Last year, Jordyn was less than 3 months old on Halloween. It also happened to be one of my first days back to work from maternity leave, and my parents brought Jordyn to visit during my dinner break. I think it was my first full (12-hour) day back, and I was having a really tough time with being back at work. I got to see her and nurse her during my break, so I didn't actually have to go the full day without seeing her, which was nice. But we didn't really do anything to celebrate the holiday, so this year felt like her first Halloween, even though it wasn't. I kind of went all out to give her a real taste of what Halloween is all about! 

The first two pictures were taken sometime in mid-October, when we finally got to a farmer's market/grocery store to pick out some pumpkins. I really wanted to take her to a pumpkin patch to pick our own, but that never happened, so I finally gave up and went here. There were tons of pumpkins to choose from!

 These next two were taken last Sunday, October 27th. The pumpkins had been sitting on our front steps, and I sat her with them when we got home from a walk to the park for a little photo shoot. These are two of my favorites.

The next few were taken this morning when we carved the two big pumpkins. I closed both doors to the kitchen so she couldn't go anywhere else when she was covered in pumpkin guts, and put a flattened cardboard box on the floor to catch at least some of the mess. It worked, although I think I'll still be finding bits of orange stickiness in my kitchen for months. It was totally worth it! She didn't really get too into it (read: messy) until the second pumpkin. I almost stopped after the first, but I'm glad I didn't. I'd prepared for a mess, and I figured it would be a sensory play type of experience for her. We took a shower together afterwards.

The pumpkin she's touching was *really* hard and I could barely carve it.
I finally managed a basic face!

 These next pictures were from trick or treating this afternoon. A nearby town center type area has trick or treating at the businesses in the area for three hours on Halloween afternoon. It was crowded, but a lot of fun! We went with two other moms and babies we're friends with, and one of the husbands/dads joined us, too. Jordyn's idea of trick or treating was to eat each (and every!) piece of candy immediately upon receiving it, and she wasn't too pleased when I wouldn't let her do it. I tried to coach her into choosing the "right" (read: my favorite) candy at each place, but she didn't always grab the one I'd choose. Oh, well! It's not about me anymore, right?! She was also very interested in the balloons that a bank was giving out with their name on it, and tried to grab every kid's balloon as they walked by, until we made it to the bank and got her her own. No picture with the balloon, though.

This was Jordyn's first time eating candy. I gave her a few m&m's, and boy did she love them! She also ate part of a tootsie roll, mostly because she bit into it through the wrapper before I realized she'd done it! Later at dinner, I gave her part of a reese's peanut butter cup - one of my favorites.

No fear. She's high-fiving an adult dressed as a bear of some sort. 

This is cropped out of the group shot. I couldn't get her to smile when we were taking it, and you can't see half her face, but it's the only one I have of the two of us. 

My plan for after trick or treating was to take her home and let her experience the other side of trick or treating - opening the door and handing out candy. But we didn't get any trick or treaters! Well, two boys came, together, right after I'd put her down to sleep at 8:00. But that was it! We have a *lot* of candy around here now, which isn't good! I'll bring some to work on Saturday.