Happy Halloweening to you

As I look back on my many, many years of Halloweening, an ample number of vampire variations come to mind. For some reason, even as a little person -- though not quite as little as Ittybit -- I loved the nightlife, particularly the undead nightlife.

So far, Annabel really doesn't share my infatuation with becoming someone else for a couple hours one day a year.

Last year, Annabel almost participated happily in the Halloween events at Olana, Frederic Church's hilltop home, but then she wasn't really interested in getting dressed in costume or even getting her face painted. I tried to entice her into it by showing her by example but all I got in exchange were funny looks at dinner for my increasingly smudged cat nose and whiskers.

And things just went downhill from there.

This year, I thought maybe it would be good to start early. Do a little leg work to get her interested in dressing up.

Right off the bat it was a flop.

Mommy: "What do you want to be for Halloween?"

Ittybit: "A bear."

Amah: "What are you going to be for Halloween?"

Ittybit: "A fairy."

Daddy: "What do you want to be for Halloween?"

Ittybit: "A pumpkin."

Papa: "What are you going to be for Halloween?"

Ittybit: "A TIIIIIGEEERRRRR, RaWr."

With a dizzying list, I took ourselves off to Target to see about our options which turned out to be Lion or Chicken.

Now, I liked the chicken costume a lot but I knew it would be a hard sell as a bear, so I opted for the lion outfit.
Of course I tried to TELL her it was a bear and she saw right through it.

"Mommy! That's not a BEAR, that's a LION!"

She put on the furry vest and hood for a total of four minutes, long enough so I could get a blurry shot of her wearing it before she pulled it off and dragged it around by the tail.

When she got dressed for this year's Halloween party, she put on her favorite halter dress over a stars and stripes t-shirt because they were pretty. I brought along the sad lion costume just in case.

Little Bo Peep greeted us at the door, but her sister, The Little Lost Sheep, was wearing a pumpkin t-shirt and jeans.

"She didn't want to be a sheep," their mother explained. "Bo Peep has a tendency of lording over her flock, if you know what I mean.

"What is little miss Ittybit this year?"

"Well she's a Bear-lion-fairy-pumpkin-tiger, but only in my mind. At the moment it appears she's Cyndi Lauper."

Oh yeah, and that gratuitous photo at the top of the page? The one with fake teeth? I'm not showing her that one until she's much, much older. I don't want to jinx my chances for next year.