Little Trick-or-Treaters

Ayla has been preparing for this day for the past few months thanks to Dora's Halloween movie. For weeks she would walk around the house singing "Halloween, Halloween, Trick-or-Treat". When it was time to get her a costume I couldn't decide on what she would be. I came across the cutest costume. It was supposed to be a flower fairy but she prefers to call herself a butterfly. I also got her the classic pumpkin pail for her candy. And everyday all day she would carry it around the house putting nick knacks inside it. Finding Holden's costume was a little harder. I wanted something to actually fit. Not something that would fit a newborn to 9 month old. Seriously there's a huge difference between 7 pounds and 16 pounds. I finally came across this adorable lion costume. And really there's nothing cuter than a teeny lion.
I considered this year to be Ayla's first official trick-or-treating event. Simply because she can walk up to the door, ring the door bell and say 'trick-or-treat' all by herself. And because her cousin Brock is almost 3 and Giselle is almost 18 months we thought it would be fun for them to go together. I honestly didn't think Ayla would get the whole trick-or-treating thing. The first house we went to she decided to invite herself right in. Put her pumpkin pail on the ground and casually made her way to the living room as if to say 'hey people, I'm her for the party'! She didn't even notice the enormous candy bars they were handing out. And we're talking king size bars. How on God's green earth is my little almost 2 year old going to eat that? The thing is she won't but I will. And guess where it's going...right to my ass!

Once she realized they were giving her treats she caught on real quick. She would walk up to the door say her line, thank them and quickly turn around and head to the next house to get more treats. It took us an hour to go to 12 houses. I could clearly see that Ayla's pumpkin was getting heavy from all the king size bars and I tried consistently to help her carry her pumpkin. And every time I would help she would get mad. I think she knew that what was in that pumpkin was hers and she didn't want anyone to take it from her. It was seriously the cutest thing. It made Steve and I realize how fast Ayla was growing up and how much she's learned in the last year and how much more she'll learn in the coming years.

Can you hear him roar?