Happy Halloween! Part I

This is a two-part post only because I don't have the pictures with me. I promise to post them tomorrow. And trust me, they are well worth the wait. Petra was the *cutest*panda around. No, actually, she was the cutest child around. ;-)

Many thanks to C and Lynne who let us come over and trick or treat with them and the kids. H (town name shortened for anonymity's sake) has many great neighborhoods just overflowing with children of all ages. It's the perfect place to spend Halloween. And Lynne made a wonderful pre-TorT dinner that filled us up enough so we weren't as tempted to eat candy later.

And bursting with mother's pride, I have to tell you how smart my child is. By the end of the night, she was an old pro--reaching right into the candy dishes and grabbing handfuls as if she'd been doing it her whole life. She wasn't as keen on eating the candy (a good thing), but she liked the idea of "taking." I think she learned that from Mike, who as Spiderman, was masterful in his approach. He would swoop in, ring the doorbell and practically shove his bag in front of the unsuspecting homeowner. And his technique! There was one house where he walked away with two handfuls! Petra needs to hang with him more often.

I am a bit sad about putting away the Panda costume. I mean, she only wore it three times (well four if you count the five minutes we put her in it to show Nana Steffie). And it wasn't cheap! But more than that, it was her first *real* Halloween, one in which she was an active participant. And it was full of firsts... first time Trick or treating; first time taking a piece of candy; first lick of a lolly. I hate that you only get to see these firsts once. But that's ok. I am moving on and starting to think seriously about the holidays. There will be many more fun times and firsts this year.