Scared Little Puppy

Sam loves dogs. He's loved them for months now. Before he turned one he would point and say "ooh" when he saw one. He'd laugh when he spotted one in a book. He's recently taken to calling them "ga ga." So naturally, when I thought about what Sam might be for Halloween this year, I settled on a dog. I found an adorable costume at a reasonable price and was pretty pumped to see him in it. Would he recognize himself as a dog? Would he point and say ooh or Ga Ga?

Nope. He hated it.

Our little man was and is afraid of his costume. I merely took it out of the bag and said "look!" and he shook his head no at me. How did he even know he was supposed to wear it? How did he know it was any different from his stuffed animals, and folded up like that? I wish I knew.

We thought we'd try to condition him, that with time he'd get used to it. Chris tried to put it on his last weekend and this was the result:

We left it out all week. Chris and I would touch it, play with it, ask him if he wanted to be a dog. He violently shook his head no. It didn't look good.

So the day arrived, and we tried again. We put him in it, literally kicked and screaming. He calmed a bit when we told him he could go outside, but he still required a paci to have any bit of self control. We made it across the street, where he got some MUCH loved M&Ms, and next door to where we joined a party already in progress. He wouldn't be put down, he wouldn't smile. He looked so darn cute I just didn't want to take it off of him!

Finally Chris realized that it was, indeed, 85 degrees today and the boy was pretty hot. So daddy saved him. I knew the time would come and I was prepared with his back-up "costume." At first I was thinking he was a Steelers player, but then I realized that he was really dressed as "Daddy." Just two Steelers fans in their Steelers shirts and khaki shorts.

With the wardrobe change complete, our little man was scared no more (except for the occasional scary mask that came to the door). He climbed the front steps of our neighbor's house over and over and over again. He at M&Ms. He waved and said Buh Bye to the Trick-Or-Treaters.

Until it was time for bed. Then he picked an M&M over his paci and went willingly into his crib.

Maybe next year will be his year. He'll be 2 and a half, old enough to Trick-Or-Treat for a few blocks, and old enough to understand that with costume comes candy. Hopefully.