I've always enjoyed answering the door to the kids on Halloween night but this year was even more fun since I was answering with a baby in my arms. Kids are so cute. They just say what pops into their heads. The youngest trick or treaters come early in the night. They started at 5:30 pm. I had several people say "Cute baby" and "cute skeleton." One of my favourite comments was from one little girl (a princess) who said "I like your baby!" as though Michelle was an accessory like a purse or a pair of shoes. I replied "Thanks. I like her too!" Maybe she did look like an accessory perched on my arm. I was dressed in black too and carrying a black cat head full of chocolate bars to give out. I was pleased that Michelle was so good throughout the night but then I didn't put her down the whole time. I finally wound up singing her to sleep with the lullabye from Rosemary's Baby "La la la la la la la la la la la la..." which is admittedly creepy but I was in the holiday spirit!
Another adorable comment came from a little boy who asked "Is that a real baby?" I laughed and said "No. She's just a baby for Halloween. She's a grown-up the rest of the time!" He cocked his head and asked "Really?" It was too adorable. I had to set him straight. "No no. I'm just being silly!" How did he actually think an adult could shrink down to the size of an infant for one night? Then again, children believe that Santa can fly all over the world in one night and put gifts under billions of trees. It's amazing what young children will accept as true. I guess I'll have to be careful about kidding around while Michelle is young! I don't want to mess with her head.
Michelle in her skeleton sleeper was a hit with the kids and the parents. A few mothers admired her and congratulated me. One father who was walking with his kids said "Beautiful baby! How old is she? 3 weeks?" "3 months" I answered. I guess she looks young for her age. At first I thought she was such a big baby. (Let's face it 9 lbs 4 ounces at birth is big!) but now that she's three months she just seems a normal size (though she is 12 lbs 4 ounces and wearing 3-6 and 6 month old clothes). People say she's a "petite" baby.
Speaking of petite it looks like I won't be any time soon. Not only can I not seem to psych myself up to start the 30 Day Shred but now I have a bunch of bite sized chocolate bars tempting me. I went out and got extra Halloween candy so that I wouldn't run out and now I have leftovers. I thought it would be cute if Michelle held some candy for a picture. Don't worry I wouldn't actually give her Smarties! Even when she starts solid foods I won't be giving her chocolate for a while. The Smarties made a good rattle. They're one of my favourites. I should have only bought candy that I don't like so that there would be no temptation. Oh well. At least we're heading into winter so I can hide the mommy tummy under layers. I'll try to start working out before the Summer at least. That seems a lifetime away at this point but then I know how quickly the time goes. This year has flown by.
Now that Halloween is over, Christmas is just around the corner. My first Christmas with baby! I'm so excited. It will be even more special when she's old enough to appreciate it. I'm not sure how to handle the whole "Santa" thing. My mother never let us believe in Santa. She said she didn't feel it's right to lie. We knew that Christmas was the day Jesus was born in a manger and frankly, that's a better story. Later on I thought it wasn't fair of her to deprive us of the whole Saint Nick fantasy but then Christmas was still exciting. We got a lot of gifts. We just knew that they were all from Mom. I still enjoyed Christmas specials about Santa. I knew that there was a real person named Saint Nicholas who at one point went around giving gifts to people. But the jolly old man in the red suit with the flying reindeer bit did seem a little far-fetched, even to my young mind. I remember once being in a grocery store bakery when I was a kid and seeing a cake with a Santa head on it. The woman behind the counter (who was a little confused herself) said "That's a cake for Santa's birthday!" "Christmas is Jesus' birthday" I corrected her. I was a precocious little thing. I also came from a Catholic mother who read the entire Bible while pregnant with me. So, I'm torn. Part of me wants to carry out the whole Santa Claus ruse like everyone else, wrapping up gifts labeled from Santa and putting out milk and cookies but another part of me doesn't feel it is right to lie. Either way I want her to have happy, magical Christmases.
My scariest Halloween moment was when I misplaced my nipple! I use a rubber nipple shield for breastfeeding and it is a life-saver. I couldn't get by without it. In the commotion of Halloween, back and forth to the door (luckily I managed to squeeze a feeding in between answering the door to trick or treaters) I had lost it. I was in a panic. I have an emergency back-up one still in the package but I wanted to keep that as a souvenir and I'm not even sure where it is for that matter. I started looking frantically. What if I couldn't find it before her next feeding? I couldn't do the bare nipple thing. The last time I did that was when I first brought her home from the hospital and she chewed me to bits! (Literally. I was bruised and bleeding!) I usually have the shield sitting on a tissue after feeding, waiting to be washed. I checked by the sink. It was nowhere to be found. I was afraid I'd accidentally thrown it away. Then I suddenly saw it stuck to the oven! I guess the oven wanted to be a breast for Halloween! After feeding Michelle I had rushed to the kitchen to pick up the candy and answer the door and I guess I dropped it at that point. I was so relieved to find it.
Michelle fell asleep in my arms and stayed asleep even when the last of the stragglers were at the door trick or treating at close to 8 pm. "I hope I didn't trick or treat too loud for the baby!" said one boy after realizing there was a sleeping skeleton in my arms. But he hadn't. She seemed quite content with all the commotion of the evening. The doorbell, the knocking, the strangers. I enjoyed my first Halloween with Michelle and I was pleased that it was all wrapped up in time for me to watch Survivor! I'm a reality TV junkie. It's my guilty pleasure. That and sugar. Those Smarties are beckoning me...
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