Ticka Ticka Ticka Treat

I will admit, probably one of the most adorable sayings you have.  You fully understand Halloween and love the holiday.  I do have to laugh though because Halloween is the one holiday we did not celebrate growing up.  Your grandmother didn't feel it was a Christian holiday, funny how she choose this to be her hang up if you knew her, so your Uncle Mike and I each received a bag of candy and a trip to the movies every year.  On occasion she would try a crazy idea like the "Halloween" at the church where you had to dress as something God created - I vividly remember her hand sewing cotton balls onto my sweatshirt and sweatpants so I could go as a cloud.  Yup, I was just as much of a little shit then as you are now!  All of this aside though your first year home Sally and the gang would not let you miss Halloween so off we went.  It only took a matter of minutes that first night for you to catch on and somehow, you, being supposedly nonverbal, quickly learned to say "ticka ticka ticka treat."

This year we grabbed the cheapest costume off the shelf and as soon as you put it on you smiled and announced "It's Halloween!" "Candy!" Umm... okay, since when did you learn the names for your holidays or that dressing up meant Halloween?  Oh how much you take in that I forget to give you credit for.

The past two years you have had your little gang by your side and took their lead.  It was different this time around.  It was just you and I and I think a little bit of reality settled in and you missed your buddies.  It took us three attempts to get going as you wanted to chase down other groups of children and then cried when it wasn't who you thought it was.  It seemed that you wanted, and needed, the comfort of your group.  On our third attempt though I saw the spark in your eyes as you tripped up the stairs and yelled "Ticka Ticka Ticka Treat" before you even rang the doorbell.  I couldn't help but smile as I saw you grow just a little bit more.

This Halloween I was also able to step back and realize a few more things things you have learned.  You knew the difference between lights on and lights off and that you could only go to houses that had their lights on.  You minded all of your P's and Q's with a sweet "please" and "thank you" at every house.  This year you understand the concept of "take one" but found a variety of different ways to get around this - you tried one in each hand, them handing you one and you taking one, one of each kind of candy, one in your bucket and one in your mouth, and, my favorite, one for each time you rang the doorbell.  Lucky for you it was cold and rainy and very few people were out so the people were very generous.

Overall a very successful holiday and I look forward to do it all over again next year!

Keep on Truckin Baby
Love
Mom