Well, Miss Ella got her first real taste of Halloween on Tuesday! Our town holds trick or treat on the day before Halloween due to a huge local Halloween parade on Halloween night. Throughout the day I tried to teach her how to say “trick or treat,” and got a few “twick tweet”s in return, but of course she had no idea why we were going to people’s houses and they were giving her sweets :)

We went to three neighbors houses and she actually carried her little pumpkin and everyone was so happy to see her; she was absolutely the cutest little cheerleader ever! At one house she tried to put the candy back in the bowl – she’s on a “back” kick lately and likes to return everything to its intended place. When we got home she ate three little bags of Halloween pretzels that she had received and we went on with our night.

It was amazing to stop and realize that this time last year we were in Viet Nam, anxiously and not so patiently waiting for that final phone call that would tell us we had the ok to go home. We flew home a few days after Halloween, but we were in such a jet lagged, new baby daze that the fact that it had just been Halloween hardly registered in our thoughts. When we got home, though, my mom had put three pumpkins on our front steps. One big, one medium and one small for the three of us that were newly formed little family.

Later today we will get to meet my friends’ new son from Korea. They travelled to adopt him last weekend and after their stay in country, returned a family of three. I can’t wait to meet him and I’m excited for Ella to have another friend who’s an Asian adoptee too. Of course all that she knows now is that he’s a baby and she’ll be concerned if he cries. But I’m looking forward to their older years where they’ll share a similar bond that we can’t fully understand.

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

photo credit: Rebecca Hess 2007

More Reading:
Ella's First Halloween at Home
Adjusting Holiday Celebrations for Adopted Children
Another Visit, Welcoming Places, Hopefully Less Stress