Kai's First Trick or Treat

We were totally unprepared.

Aside from the Tigger costume we inherited from Jordy's parents and the box of free mini-pack chocolate we got from spending more than $125 bucks at SuperStore, we literally did nothing to prepare for this Halloween. It took Kai 3 days to warm up to his costume, and it wasn't until he saw the video in which Caleb was walking on the street in a lion costume when he started showing interest in "becoming a tiger". We took him to the Kids' Market at Granville Island on Sunday in costume, but our main goal was to find him a pair of rain boots and a rain jacket.

Today was a Monday, the first day of a session, a 4-hour teaching day for me. I have a nasty cough, and coughing violently while pregnant is no fun. I was exhausted after work, and my feet were killing me. After picking Kai up from daycare, we headed home and ordered take-out for dinner.

Bill drove out to pick up the food while I was being useless on the couch watching Kai play around the coffee table. Around 6:30, our street began to get busy. I could hear kids laughing and giggling. Than little foot steps running up our front steps, and.... Bam! Bam! Bam! "TRICK OR TREAT"!! Oh crap! I didn't want to get up from the couch, but Kai kept asking, "Who that is, Mommy?" The free box of chocolate from SuperStore was on the top shelf in the kitchen, all the way on the other end of the house. Bam! Bam! Bam! Those kids don't give up easily, do they? Fine! I'll get up to get the candy first. Unfortunately, I wasn't even able to make it to the kitchen when Kai all of a sudden started worrying about his daddy. He began to cry, "Where daddy go? Kaikai want go out. Where daddy go?" On my left, there were kids waiting for me to give out candy. On my right, the box of chocolate was eager to be released to serve their purpose. I was caught in between with an inconsolable toddler who wanted nothing and no one else but his daddy, who was not home at the moment.

The kids outside would just have to be disappointed (Yes, I was that lame lady who pretended not to be home when you guys could clearly see and hear her inside the house). I picked up the squirmy toddler into the back room and turned on the computer to distract him. While Kai was looking at his own pictures on my Facebook page, daddy came home, food was here, and life was good again.

But the trick-or-treaters returned. Bam! Bam! Bam! Daddy went to get the door, and fast as lightning (Lightning McQueen, of course), Kai raced to the door repeating "Trick or Treat~~". Before it dawned on us that some of the makeup might be too scary for him, he was already standing by the door uncertain of what was standing on the other side of the screen door. It was a kid with a red demon mask. Instead of being scared, though, it actually peaked Kai's interest and curiosity of what might show up at our door. While we tried to have dinner, Bill and I had to take turns getting the door. And Kai did not want to be sitting at the dining table at all. He wanted to join all the kids outside.

SO we took him out trick-or-treating in his Tigger costume, and it was actually a lot of fun. Evidently, our street is like Halloween central. There were parents who drove to our street and unleashed 10 kids from their SUVs just to go trick-or-treating. Everyone was out, and there were fireworks in all directions. Kai very quickly caught on to what to do. He'd go up to a house by himself, knock on the door, and say, "Trick or treat." He loved looking at the Jack o'lanterns. He loved being out with all the other kids when it's dark out (normally he isn't allowed out when it's dark outside).

As an added feature, there was a fire down the street. We could see flames soaring into the sky from 2 blocks away. An entire row of trees lining the yard of a house was up in flames. Kai got to see THREE fire trucks at work. He was absolutely fascinated by them. The good thing is, the fire was put out very quickly and no one got hurt.

Our little Tigger could not have asked for a better first Halloween.