Olivia did very well. She enjoyed going to the houses and getting candy. She would go up and take the candy, put it in her bucket, and then go for another one. Then, she would say thank you, walk away, and say "trick or treat."
She did get scared at one house. We went to the house, which had cobwebs and black lights and decorations outside the door. We knocked on the door and waited. Then, from the inside, the owners pounded on the door -- BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. That freaked Olivia out, who started screaming and crying and grabbing for her momma. The good news is the people felt so bad they gave us extra candy. Later, when we went into the entry of another house, Olivia started crying. When we would say "knock, knock," she would say "cry." We have been trying to recondition that association with "knock, knock -- trick or treat." She was able to experience a few postive trick or treat houses later, so I don't think she will be traumatized for life.
(Olivia at Story Time)
We had lots of visitors to our house too, which was party central for our friends. We hosted a Halloween Bash complete with chili, hot dogs, chips, sweets, etc. Everyone came over around 6:00 p.m., and we took turns hitting up the neighborhood to fill up the candy sacks. It was quite the fun, and Courtney was motivated to stash the last of our things in a place. We still have some pictures to hang and boxes to move, but for the most part, things are settling in their place.
Happy Halloween 2006!
