I’m working on another post right now, that I meant to get up before posting Halloween photos, but since Thursday was Thanksgiving, I guess I’d better go ahead and post these while it’s still 2011.

I had some really cute photos of Ender sitting in a box of pumpkins, but I can’t find them now. I think my phone may have eaten them. Fortunately, Ender has no shortage of cute to make up the difference. Maybe next year he’ll let me get a picture of him in a box of pumpkins. Because toddlers are known for their spirit of cooperation.

In case you didn’t catch my obsessive Photoshop tribute a couple weeks ago, we went as characters from the movie Labyrinth.

*On the right: my friend Amy went as Martha Stewart this year. (Costume not pictured. Actually I think she went as a gypsy, but seriously, check OUT that haunted house.)*

Having a baby this size was too good an opportunity to pass up dressing him in red striped pajamas and calling him “Toby,” Matt was David Bowie AKA Jareth the goblin king (side note: Jareth was one of the names we briefly considered for Ender just because we REALLY like that movie), and I was, obviously, a goblin. Sarah (the protagonist of the show) would have been a more obvious choice, but I don’t have the hair for it, and she’s a whiny little twit, so I opted for a costume that let me make a spiky helmet instead.

When you think of babies and Halloween you imagine lots of crying and utter horror at the sudden chaos that has befallen their small and so far predictable universe, but Ender was unphased. I think he may actually have been a little too young to be frightened by scary costumes. It might be more traumatic now that he’s starting to get an idea of what the wold is supposed to look like.

His older and wiser friend had a much more pragmatic reaction to being held by a ring wraith.

Next year he may better understand his danger. I mean even without the spooky mask, check out what he’s doing to that piece of cheese! Seconds after I snapped this photo he crushed that mug into ceramic dust. Which was then put back into the tub for clay grit, obviously. Just because you’re a nazgul doesn’t mean you have to destroy the earth.

Wait. Yes, that’s probably exactly what being a nazgul means. I lied about the ceramic dust. You can’t really mix in fired and glazed clay with raw clay anyway. Duh.

Anyway, my point is that Ender really wasn’t bothered by the scary costumes this year.

He just looks bored. Probably looking for something to put in his mouth. Babies actually have quite a lot in common with zombies.

The scary costumes didn’t impress him, but he sure was happy when he found Waldo. Then we all got to try to find Ender.

We went to two Halloween parties this year, one at my brother’s and the company party at Secure State. We were in kind of a rush before my brother’s party, and Matt did his own makeup with questionable results. I tried to make fun of him for his makeup failure, but he claims he is not at all embarrassed to be terrible at putting on makeup.

I was able to get to the Secure State party a little early and did his makeup for him. Lot’s of glitter. I also spent some time trying to get the wig to look a little less like a Ludwig and more like hair metal. Apparently they don’t come out of the package looking the way you want them to look. Since I was going for 80s hair, I stuck with the classics: Aquanet to the rescue.

We didn’t stay in the main party room for too long because the music was a little loud for a baby. We could have left him home with a babysitter, but he was kind of our main costume prop, so we just hung out in a quiet area instead.

I tried to get some photos in for Photoshopping later.

Ender was not entirely cooperative, but he was, as usual, pretty tolerant.

He conked out before we’d been there for too long. Matt had a few things to finish before we could leave.

Fortunately he stayed asleep when we put him in his carseat. He NEVER does that anymore. It probably helped that he was already in pajamas.

Next year we’ll get him a more costume-like costume. This one was nice and simple though, and kept him comfortable.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. When I was young enough to be thrilled by Christmas it was a toss-up. The fantasy and the disguises, the opportunity to play at being someone or something else for a night are more intriguing than the candy (though it’s hard to compete with Santa Clause and new toys). Next year he’ll be a little older and I would assume, a little more wary of strangers dressed as zombies, so we’ll have to play it by ear. I don’t want to terrify him. I’d like  to give him the chance to love the holiday as much as I do.