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Today, Ess turns two.
Will someone please tell me why it’s so hard to write about her?
Is it because I don’t feel comfortable talking about my neurotypical child because I wouldn’t want anyone to think I’m bragging? I could write a thousand words on everything she does that is amazing. Truly. For example, she can recite the alphabet and recognizes all of her letters. For some time now we’ve been so impressed that she can do this. Then I remembered that she has an Hyperlexic older sister. Of course she knows the alphabet – it’s what we do.
Do I struggle to write about her because I think the stuff she does that is adorable and hilarious is of the “you had to be there” variety? Yes, much of it is. Like yesterday when she thrust her sippy cup at me and said, in her Bossy Tone, “Here, Mommy, put this in your purse!” I nearly saluted in response.
Then there’s the stuff you didn’t have to be there for. Like the time she tooted while I was changing her diaper and she said, “Oh! I hear something on my butt.”
Seriously, I have been trying to write this post for hours, people. HOURS!
Maybe it’s because I’m just not a sappy kinda person. I don’t do mushy well. And all I can think of when I see her is how she’s so cute, and funny, and spirited, and charming, and bossy, and loving. Total mush. I can’t write mush. I just don’t know how to make it interesting.
All I know is that I am grateful that God blessed our family with this child.
Happy Birthday, dear one.
This month marks my one year blogiversary. Yay me! It was this time a year ago that I started writing my blog with the intention of talking about many things, none of which were my kids.
The name I originally blogged under was me, only better. The idea was that I was going to use writing a blog as a means of motivation to accomplish some lifestyle goals.
Along with writing, I began reading more and more blogs. It was obvious which ones drew me in. These were the bloggers with whom I could relate. I nearly sprained my neck with all the head nodding. And the list keeps growing and growing.
Slowly and tentatively I began to write about Chee. My first post about her is still one of my favorites.
I changed the name of the blog a couple of months later because the original name no longer fit. Goodfountain, for those wondering, is the English translation of my maiden name.
In honor of my one year blogiversary and with respect to the Thanksgiving holiday, here are a few reasons I am thankful for this thing called blogging.
Community. Prior to blogging, I knew only person who had a young special needs child. All of my friends, both IRL and online, have NT children. It was as hard for me to talk to them about my worries for Chee as it was for them to know what to say. My bloggy friends are the support network I need. Most especially I am thankful to my fellow special needs bloggers for helping me to see that Autism is not a four letter word. My Chee is likely to receive an ASD diagnosis next year for Kindergarten, and if this were one year ago, I likely would have been devastated by such a proposition.
The gift of writing. I have always loved to write. It is the best way for me to process and sort my thoughts and feelings. Often times I sit down to write a post and am led on a journey of self-discovery. Sometimes those a-ha moments are happening real-time as I’m writing. Private journaling has not done for me what blogging does. I think, because I know others are going to read it, I hold myself to a higher standard than if I was just writing for myself. The gift of writing is that it allows me to clarifiy and articulate in a way that talking doesn’t.
Spiritual re-awakening. I wrote not long ago that I am a church going kinda gal. What I meant by that is that I am a woman of faith, but I will confess that faith has been dormant. Not dead and gone, just sleeping. The bravery (I see it as bravery) of the wonderful faith-filled blogs I read daily has stirred my soul. Church is on the back burner for now, and so I am grateful for (and admire) all the spiritual women who so freely share their faith. It is impacting me, and you should know that.
Many months ago, I set a goal for myself that if I kept at blogging for a whole year, I was going to reward myself by taking a writing class that I have for years wanted to take. I am proud to say that I have earned that reward! I’m not sure just when I’m going to take the class, but hopefully some time in 2009.
Happy Thanksgiving! I look forward to another fantastic year of blogging with you.
You know the old saying A picture is worth a thousand words.
Truer words could not be said about this picture:
I first saw this picture nearly 3 months ago; it was taken on the first day of school this year.
There at the end of the line (no, keep looking a little bit further to the actual end of the line) is my little Chee.
The first time I saw the picture I laughed out loud, thinking how the picture perfectly captures Chee’s approach to life.
Then, I admit, I teared up a little thinking how the picture perfectly captures Chee’s approach to life.
If ever I start to wonder why I try to so hard to make sure Chee is supported at home, at school, everywhere, I will just look at this picture.
Her body language is open, not defensive, but she has separated herself from the group. Her expression is a mixture of longing to be part of the line group and light fear.
While I (wholeheartedly) accept Chee as she is, I don’t think she is comfortable with herself yet. I think she wants to be more social and more connected with her peers.
Her teacher tells me that Chee no longer stands apart from the group, but she still has to be either first or last in line.
I have written and abandoned several posts around this picture, trying to find just the right words. What I realize is that the words don’t matter. If you’re reading this post, looking at this picture, you get it.
Sometimes a picture tells the story far better than words ever could.
Chee doth love her fruits.
While she has been brave in trying many new things this past week, she has resisted experimenting with new fruits. If it’s not a grape, strawberry, pear, apple or orange, she protests.
I realize that’s a decent repertoire of fruit for a child to eat, and many parents would be thrilled if their child would eat all of those fruits. But oranges are out of rotation for awhile because she was reactive to them, apples and pears are on the same day. So between apple/pear, grape and strawberry, I’ve got fruit for 3 of the 4 days of rotation.
It wouldn’t be the end of the world is she didn’t have fruit one day but, as earlier stated, Chee doth love her fruit.
Enter the devious.
Prune pudding.
I bought baby food size containers of pureed prunes and told her it was pudding.
Is it chocolate pudding? she asks.
Noooo, I hesitantly reply.
She turns the container over and around in her hands, inspecting it closely.
Is it prune pudding?
(A little too) heartily I agree: Yes! Prune pudding! That’s just what it is. I love prune pudding.
Me too, she says.
And happily consumes her Gerber pureed prune.
Score one for Mommy.
A Scientist I am not. Don’t even pretend to be one.
My degrees are in Journalism and English, far far away from the land of data and -ologies.
However, that has not stopped me from Googling a-galore to see if I can find more information about whether Rotation Diets and IgG test results are actually effective at what is claimed.
As you can imagine, there is a wealth of (mis)information out there. Anecdotally, many people claim to have ailments cured and children healed through food elimination and rotation dieting.
But what does the Science say? I ask myself. I can’t rely just on random blogs and message forums to understand this. What is the research telling us? Surely somebody smarter than me is asking these questions.
Luckily, some months back, Emily at A life less ordinary wrote a post reminding us non-science-y folk to consider the source when researching information. That post, actually, has been permanently etched in my brain, its 6 points poking and prodding me whenever I try to research anything. “Follow the money trail, follow the money trail.” (Thanks, Emily.)
With my Emily-criteria in hand, I began my study at Google U. A GREAT deal of information was to be found from labs touting the many and wondrous benefits of IgG testing and rotation diets. These sites were quite informative and extremely compelling. Handy for them since they were selling their services. As such, they soundly fail the Emily-criteria.
Onward I marched. Soon I uncovered what appear to be independent (I think) reports on IgG testing, specifically for food intolerance. Two were written as “letters” and appear in the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients (The Examiner for Alternative Medicine). Sounds independent to my little old brain, but with a bent toward alternative medicine.
The first report I found concludes IgG testing is expensive, not reliable and is questionable in theory and validity.
The second report, also in the Townsend Letter, discusses rotation diets and IgG testing. It is very long and contains detailed information, much of which zoomed right over my little unscientific brain. I don’t want your eyes to glaze over reading it as mine did, so I’ll summarize: IgG testing is valid and reliable and rotation diets are useful.
Okay then.
Two other studies (that I do not have access to read) appear to conflict with one another as well. The title of one may be indicative of its content: Unreliability of IgE/IgG4 antibody testing as a diagnostic tool in food intolerance. What I gather from the summary is that one lab was used to analyze 9 different patients blood and the test results reliability was found to be low.
The second one declares to have data that “provide evidence” for elimination diets based on “food-specific IgG blood test results” as a way to manage symptoms of a “range of chronic medical conditions.”
Okay then again.
It appears that Science is contradictory on this subject. So much for letting the data speak for itself.
Here I sit, left wondering whether Chee’s IgG tests results are valid, and whether rotation diets are useful.
Goodfountain concludes that it can’t hurt to try.
Oh, by the way, Chee’s belly rash is all cleared up.
For now, that’s all the data I need.
We are on Day 2 of eliminating Chee’s “offending foods” from her diet. Many of those foods were her favorites and regulars in our diet. And because we’ve begun a rotation diet, even foods that did not show up on her IgG test are no longer allowed daily.
Chee has been a trooper extraordinaire. First, she’s under the weather and fighting a little cold virus so her appetite has been diminished. This worked out well yesterday when I realized that I needed Sunflower oil (we have to rotate our fats and oils, too, so as not to have our usual Olive or Canola oils every day). Since she had no appetite I had time to get to the store to make said purchase before she was hungry. She did eat a mini-box of raisins to tide her over.
In the morning we had a talk about how she has food allergies (not the exact right word but she’s 4 – I’m keeping it simple) and so she wouldn’t be able to have some of her favorite foods for awhile, and that we want her to be brave and try new foods. Pistachios were initially rejected, but when I reminded her that she said she would try new foods, she did try. And she loved them. (Who wouldn’t??) She also eventually tried sunflower seeds (“good”) as well as mango (“blech!”). I was not successful with parsnips but she did enjoy several servings of her beloved raw carrots. I am not giving up on the parsnips. I thought they were tasty.
Today was a bit more challenging. I had to move Apple (and family) to today as the other fruit options were not working for her (“no, I don’t like that pineapple.”). It’s Pork day, so bacon for breakfast and ham for lunch. She initially resisted Asparagus, but I know she likes it so I ignored her claims otherwise. She did eat it. She resisted Pumpkin Seeds as well, but when I let her eat them on the couch they became magically palatable.
Dinner I was concerned about. I planned Shrimp which she has always enjoyed – breaded and fried. Knowing her preference for cold foods, I offered her plain cold Shrimp (cocktail-like) and she thoroughly enjoyed them, even asking for more. She refused Asparagus but did enjoy Pear (a member of the Apple family).
You might note the conspicuous absence of grains. Today is a Buckwheat day. What the hell do you do with pure Buckwheat? I am going to have to move the grains around a bit (my options are quinoa, millett, teff, amaranth, cottonseed meal, and the buckwheat). Hopefully we’ll quickly get to rotate back in corn and rice.
I admit that what first started us down this road was a curiosity to see if the GFCF diet would work for Chee. After a few weeks, we felt like we were seeing notable changes in language and nonverbal communication. One thing that didn’t change, however, is Chee’s itchy belly. She had eczema her whole first year of life. By the time she was 18 months it was pretty much gone, just a few outbreaks here and there. I was never able to tie her eczema to anything in her diet (despite a diligent diary).
About a year and a half ago, a rash appeared on her belly. Nothing I have tried has rid her of it. Not Zyrtec, not switching to California Baby, not elimination of fabric softener on all laundry (not just just her clothes), and not going GFCF. The rash ebbs and flows in severity from bleeding due to so much scratching to just pale and bumpy, but still present.
So two things led us to see the ENT/Allergist for the IgE/IgG testing. One, to determine what she is allergic to that might be causing this rash; and two, to determine if she is truly sensitive to gluten or casein and, if so, what else, and how do we deal with that besides total elimination. Total elimination is not practical for the long haul.
The only thing disconcerting about embarking on this journey is how close it comes to looking like biomedical treatments for ASD. If Chee were neurotypical but had her same skin problems I probably would have eventually discovered the world of IgG, IgE and Rotation Diets. No one should have to suffer with a persistent, itchy rash, and I do prefer natural remedies vs pharmaceutical where they exist.
As such, she’s not NT, GFCF and all the IgG stuff is a biomedical treatment for ASD, and so I’ve become a dabbler within a segment of the Autism community that in no other way represents me.
If I see no other result than her skin clearing up, then I can live with that. If I see the other possible benefits, like improved focus and better communication, then I can rejoice.
Friday was an interesting day, and one full of decisions.
First thing in the morning I observed a Kindergarten class. Chee’s teacher thought it might be useful for me in helping to decide whether to send Chee on to Kindergarten. It was interesting, and confirmed in my mind that Chee is ready for Kindergarten. She will have no trouble with the academics presented. Her teachers and therapists at school agree wholeheartedly that she should go on as well.
After lunch, I went back to school for the annual IEP meeting. Her teacher, who I think is just awesome, said that Chee’s biggest issue in the classroom is the social/language arena. She does not engage, without support, beyond one or two times with a peer. She also lacks focus. She will not finish an activity (such as drawing a picture book of family members) without assistance.
Everyone on Team Chee (teachers, therapists and Captains Mom and Dad) feel that Chee will get there in those areas, but that an extra year of preschool would not be especially helpful.
I liked hearing other adults say they believe that Chee will get there. Overall, it was a mostly positive experience (as positive as an IEP meeting can be when you’ve got a list of all your child’s can’ts staring you in the face).
She will definitely need Special Education services next year, and as such will need an Educational Diagnosis. Probably Autism Spectrum Disorder or Asperger’s. I don’t know a whole lot about Asperger’s, especially what it looks like in girls. The evaluation process will start in February and in April we will formalize the plan for what services she will get in Kindergarten.
Thursday I met with the doctor who ordered the blood test on Chee to identify what allergies, both immediate (IgE) and delayed (IgG) she has.
Of the immediate variety, she’s allergic to cat.
Of the delayed variety, Chee is allergic to mucho. I believe the doctor’s exact words were, “She’s a mess.”
Oh. Thanks.
For background, in case anyone is interested, Dr. S explained to me that foods that one is allergic to can produce either an immediate (IgE) reaction or delayed (IgG). In both instances, histamines are being released which cause inflammation. With an IgE reaction, you notice it right away with itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, rashes, etc. With an IgG reaction, the effects are seen later, as in the next day. In adults it can cause chronic IBS, chronic sinus issues, fibromyalgia, migraines and GI problems. In children, behavior is affected.
Until today, I didn’t realize that Chee lacked focus. I mean, I knew it. But I didn’t really get it. (I can be dense sometimes.)
The consistent thing parents of her child patients report back to her is improved focus.
I won’t bore you with all the details of every single thing she’s allergic to, but let me just say, it’s a lot. And it’s some of her favorite foods (oranges!!).
A dietitian created a Wellness Rotation Diet specifically for Chee based on her lab results. For two solid weeks she is to follow this diet. While there are many things to choose from, it’s still going to be limiting. For example, she tested positive for rice and corn in addition to gluten and all gluten-containing foods like wheat, rye, barley, oat. So that’s a lot of grains gone from the diet.
After two weeks (if we can make it that long), I will start to rotate back in reactive foods and watch for reactions. Some she will be able to handle, and some not. She tested very low on rice and corn (unlike gluten, peanuts and cashews which were ridiculously high) so those will be among the first to be rotated back in.
Things that she tested higher for, like mustard, sesame and soy, may take longer for her body to be able to process. And it’s possible she’ll never tolerate them. It’s a bit of a guessing game. Hopefully she’ll be able to tell us, at some point, how certain foods make her feel.
This diet is going to be challenging, but I’ve been given a GREAT list of foods to choose from. It’s mainly going to require substantially more planning and effort from me in the kitchen if I want to make a variety of foods. Can’t just rely on our standard faves.
This morning I had a conversation with Chee about her allergies. I can’t just take away her beloved oranges and cashews and mustard without explaining why.
I’m thinking the implementation of this diet is going to require something else, something special, to make it successful.
I have wanted one of these for years but never got around to getting one. It’s time, don’t ya think?
I wish to thank everyone who gave me suggestions for Ess and her lack o’ veggies. Always one to confound, she has, in the last few days, eaten both peas and corn. And salsa (counts as a veggie, right?). After eating peas she said, and you must imagine hearing this in the most little-girly voice you can, Oh! I like dees peas. They taste.
She never says precisely what anything tastes, but we finally figured out that if something tastes that means it tastes good.
Good stuff.
Chee is good stuff too. Deciding about kindergarten is still top of mind for me. I’m 90% certain we’ll send her on to K next year. Unless she has some significant regression (doubtful), she’s going.
Her language and social skills are progressing along nicely and evenly. Even her sensory processing seems to be humming along. No major challenges.
The one area that worries me somewhat is how Chee becomes overwhelmed in a crowded situation. Especially a classroom or small group activity. Saturday we went to a park that we love and there was a presentation on fossils. We went into the Education Room where there was a half dozen other kids around a table and a volunteer talking about the fossils from our area.
Chee spent the first five minutes with her lips turned down and her face buried in my lap. She didn’t cry, although she looked like she would at any second. When the volunteer handed her a fossil she perked up, and when the magnifying glasses were handed out, she was downright enthusiastic.
This is typical of how she reacts in a new situation. When we went to church a few months ago, although she wouldn’t let her Daddy leave, it wasn’t until Circle Time that she became upset. At the time I thought it was because she was expected to be quiet, now I think it’s the “group”-ness of it. Perhaps I mean the class-like nature of it.
I think back to our trip to the zoo early in the year, and how she cried and cried when we came into the Education Center. We thought it was a matter of disappointment that we didn’t go straight to looking at animals. I blamed myself for not prepping her for classroom part. At the time that explanation didn’t sit entirely comfortable with me as, generally, Chee isn’t prone to meltdowns for unexpected changes in routine.
I am remembering countless story times at the library where she ran circles around the rest of the kids who were sitting in the circle. I remember our family reunion last year where she refused to go into the room where all the food and drinks were, preferring instead to stay upstairs, away from the crowd sitting at long tables lined up across the room.
Then there are the playgroups where she tended to gravitate to a room by herself to play. And the birthday parties where she retreated either outside or upstairs during the singing of happy birthday when, again, everyone is gathered together in a group to sing.
Further back than that, I recall music and tumbling classes where she didn’t want to, or more likely just couldn’t handle, being in such close proximity to so many unpredictable other little human beings.
The pattern is starting to emerge more clearly. Chee is overwhelmed? anxious? dysregulated? in a structured group setting. Be it a circle time, or a mealtime when everyone is sitting along rows of tables, or a concert where the kids are seated in rows listening – Chee is uncomfortable. To the point that she either has to get out of there, or she cries.
Can you tell this is one of those lightbulb moments for me?
Another pattern is emerging too. As time passes, Chee is quicker to adapt to the new situation. It was after about 5 minutes at the fossil presentation that she joined in the activity. Granted, that was a pretty small group, but she was clearly uncomfortable when she got there. And she clearly got over it.
This is an important recognition, I think. I’m not entirely sure what it will mean in terms of her education, but it feels significant.
It also feels manageable. And overcomeable.
And feels like not that big of a deal.
I like it when things aren’t a big deal. In our house, that in and of itself is a big deal.
I have often said that I had it pretty easy with Chee when she was a baby. And, truly, she was an easy, breezy baby. Enjoyed going out shopping in her stroller, no problems going to restaurants, and generally speaking she didn’t run me ragged during the day. I would hear friends lament that they couldn’t get anything done because their child was so demanding. Usually I would just keep quiet during those conversations as I didn’t have too much to complain about.
Sure, we had our challenges. The slow and painful process for me to realize that she was giving up her nap at 19 months will never be forgotten and, in general, going to bed at night has been challenging. And there were the various therapies that I embarked upon before she ever started any Real and Official therapies. But, for the most part, the first 2 1/2 to 3 years of Chee’s life could be characterized more as quirky than difficult.
And then along came Ess.
And with her has come a whole new world of parenting. She is difficult. She is demanding. The girl keeps me on my toes. It’s next to impossible to slip anything past her (like giving a calcium supplement to Chee). She is high maintenance spirited personified. Along with her spiritedness, however, is such kindness and gentleness, she regularly melts our hearts.
With this post, however, I’m reaching out to my friends and readers and asking for suggestions. She has me stumped in a few areas and I am not sure what to do. These areas are not new to seasoned parents, just new to me. And I’m not making any headway.
Eating. Ess doesn’t eat any vegetables. I’ve seen her nibble peas and bite the occasional carrot stick. But she is not getting any significant portion of vegetables into her body. I have tried telling her she can’t have any of what she wants (she loves rice and potatoes) unless she eats a bite of veggies first, but she will just shove the fork out of the way and scream. She doesn’t eat any kind of food I could puree and hide any vegetables in.
This is new territory for me. Chee has always loved and eaten her vegetables. Broccoli, carrots, peas, corn and green beans are regularly consumed. Just last week she declared asparagus to be deeeee-licious. In general, Chee has eaten most all food offered to her. Ess, on the other hand, rejects most foods offered to her. She will eat nearly any kind of potato, rice and cracker. She loves eggs, cheese, apples, bananas, bacon, peanut butter, grapes, strawberries, and several cereals. About half the time you offer her chicken or pork or ham she will eat it. Vegetables: nada!
I put veggies on her plate at every meal and try to get her to eat some. I’m not sure if there is anything else I can try. How big of a deal is this? Should I be trying harder? Is there anything else I can do to try to get some veggies in her, or do I just keep at it this way?
Discipline. Ess, who will be two this very month, is very much a Terrible Two year old. She throws a lot of temper tantrums, she is demanding. She can be, and I say this with a heart full of love, obnoxious. She is definitely past the redirecting stage and I am attempting to discipline her more. I like to focus on the praise side of discipline, so I will go out of my way to praise for doing something good (Thank you for not throwing your food on the floor kind of stuff).
Other times she needs consequences. Like when she keeps climbing up on the piano bench and throwing picture frames off the piano. Last week I put her in timeout for doing it. She is oh so agreeable to timeout, by the way. No complaints, very compliant. Later, she starts tossing frames again and when I walk in the room she hops down from the piano bench and says, I go sit right here! as she’s running to the stairs where she’d just been in timeout. More than once she has put herself in timeout.
Also, she is a biter. And I need to come up with a consequence for biting. Something that will upset her and get the message across that this is unacceptable behavior. So far, timeout does not work. Hitting or spanking of any sort is not okay with me.
So there you have it. Vegetables and discipline.
I’m starting to feel like I have no control over this little girl and that she has the upper hand in our house.
Suggestions welcome! I thank you in advance.
I generally don’t find myself wishing friends or neighbors a Happy Halloween as I haven’t typically found this to be a celebratory “holiday.” Goblins and ghouls and all things macabre just aren’t my thing. But dressing kids in cute costumes and watching them spaz out on sugar overload … now that’s cute. Well, the dressing up kids part at least.
Somehow, in our house, Halloween became a developmental milestone to conquer. Yet another yardstick for measuring Chee’s relative typicality.
Her first Halloween she was but a wee little infant and had not a clue. We dressed her up in the Cheapest Costume I Could Find at the last minute and traipsed her around to all the grandparents for a little show and tell.
Her 2nd Halloween wasn’t much different. At 15 months, she was still fairly clueless about costumes and candy. I dressed her up and we went to a party/parade at the MOMS Club I briefly joined. At the time I didn’t understand the whole candy thing, still don’t really, and Chee didn’t quite get the idea of collecting it in a bag, so we just sort of wandered the room. She was still the cutest kid there.
At 27 months, I thought Halloween Number Three would be it. That she’d get excited about wearing a costume, or that she’d want to collect candy (which she’d never had) and trinkets in a bag at a party. In hindsight I recognize that Chee was only echolalic in her speech and had no reciprocal language. However, I didn’t realize it then so I chalked up her lack of interest to just her age. Still I picked out a very cute clown costume and planned to attend a playgroup party. However, she refused (in a temper tantrumy, meltdowny kind of way) to wear the costume (hello SPD, nice to meet you). So I put her in pajamas, put her hair in a bunch of ponytails, and she went as Slumber Party Girl.
Now we’re up to last year. We have moved and live in a Trick or Treat-friendly neighborhood, Chee is certainly old enough, at 3 plus a few months, to know what Halloween is and to get into it. Except, she still has that language thing going on. She doesn’t verbally tell me she wants to dress up as anything. I chose not to force the issue and buy her a costume anyway and try to go door-to-door. She had the fear of garages going on and likely would not step foot into a single driveway. I wanted us to “do” Halloween when it was something Chee (or Ess) wanted to do, not something we, as parents, wanted her (them) to do. So our little family sat outside and greeted the neighborhood Trick or Treaters.
(Oh, look, hey, there’s me, I’m the one on the right. I still look like that but my hair is longer and I don’t usually look that pale. Oh, who am I kidding, I’m that pale all the time.)
Interesting thing, though, was that about half an hour into the candy passing, Chee decided she wanted “to go with all the kids” and she takes off. So for half and hour we walked the streets, no costume, no bag, steadfastly avoiding driveways, and froze our buns off. As soon as we got home, she wanted her Daddy to take her back out to look for the kids again. Another half hour spent wandering the streets.
And so we arrive at 2008, Halloween Number Five for our heroine. And guess what? She WANTED to go trick or treating! She couldn’t wait for Halloween to arrive so she could wear her costume. When I imagined what Chee might eventually want to dress up as, I admit that my mind didn’t wander too far from the tradition of Cinderella or a Butterfly or something similarly girly and, y’know, expected.
Not Chee though. No, no Cinderella’s for this Halloween novice.
About a month and half ago as we were walking through a store I pointed out the costumes and said,
Chee, it’s going to be Halloween in October. Do you think you want to wear a costume this year?
Yes! She declared, quite enthusiastically.
And what do you think you’d like to dress up as?
At this point, Chee stopped, put her hand on her chin, pondered for a minute, jumped up and down, and said, I WANT TO BE A WAITRESS!!!
And there she is! Our little waitress in standard waitress attire: black pants, white top, and flair-adorned apron. I also made her a tray complete with cups and bowl, but she left Daddy (who she insisted wear a Chef’s outfit) to carry that.
We met up with the family down the street (whom we have only met a few times) and their 6-year-old son was rather smitten with Chee (can you blame him?). They ran from house to house together, ringing doorbells, laughing, talking, having a grand ol’ time.
It was such a fun and festive time, I actually found myself wishing passersby a hearty Happy Halloween.
Also, let it be known that Ess was an adorable Snow White.
Cheapskates that we are, and not certain whether Ess would stay in a costume for more than a minute, we sort of primed her for being a princess and let her choose from the dresses we already have. She chose Snow White and loved collecting her candy, so long as she was safe in Mommy’s arms. Walking down the street she “want down, want down,” but for going to the door, she needed Mommy.
I guess you can say it was a very Happy Halloween.
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