Allieween

Last year Allie was somewhat scared of Halloween. When I brought out a ghost, she was terrified and would panic whenever I would go near it. By the end of the season, she had overcome most of her fears, saying things like "Pumpkins aren't scary" and "I'm not scary [scared]." She loved being a witch for Halloween and months later, when she would see a witch, it was she.

This year, she LOVES Halloween. She constantly looked through a costume catalog and knew every costume. She said she was going to be Snow White and told me to be Sleeping Beauty. Two weeks ago, they went out to buy a costume for her. She got a Cinderella costume (it's really just a generic princess, but she doesn't know) and, unexpectedly, they bought a vampire cape for me. They were planning on giving it to me for my birthday, but she came home and said "We bought a costume for you!" Now she says she's going to take her Cinderella costume back so she can be Ariel. I was a ghost last year, and now she says I'm going to be a ghost and a vampire. A week or so ago, she was saying that Buddy and Grams would both be vampires like me. Then a minute later, my mom asked her if she (my mom) would be Cinderella. (She is, after all, or at least used to be, Cinderella, just like Allie is Belle and I am Prince Philip.) I then reminded her that she was supposed to be a vampire. Allie said, "No, she's going to be Cinderella, just like me and Anna!" (When the Finches were here, they all dressed as princesses, and Anna was Cinderella.)

When I am getting out Halloween decorations, she wants to help me. She asks me to get out her Cinderella ball. She has an amazing memory. Her "Cinderella ball" is a Christmas ornament we bought last year, and put away the last week in December. Of course, I tell her it's for Christmas. She tells me later in the day to get more Halloween stuff out.

She used to say that the Easter Bunny or the Easter Beagle was going to come on Halloween. She also said that I will be a vampire for Halloween and she will be Cinderella for Easter. Apparently she said the Great Pumpkin is going to bring her presents.

There are various Halloween displays in our neighborhood, and Allie loves to see them. Whenever we are driving, she tells us to go see the purple or black spiders or the pumpkins or the Frankenstein (which she initially called "Stankenfrein"). The inflatable Frankenstein was on the ground, and whenever she talks about the decorations, she makes it a point that the Frankenstein was on the ground. We take detours so that she can look at the decorations.

I wonder if she'll like Thanksgiving and Christmas as much.