Noah's 2nd Halloween

At Grandma's with mommy looking at my pretty red fur

Getting ready for my ride trick-or-treating

Daddy & Little Elmo

Noah's Ghost Pumpkin

Noah's Dragon Pumpkin

Noah's Sesame Street Cookie Monster & Elmo Pumpkins

Noah had a really great Halloween weekend. We carved a couple pumpkins, while Noah watched patiently in his highchair trying to absorb what we were doing, and decorated another two with Sesame Street characters, Cookie Monster & Elmo. They turned out really cute. And the great thing about the Sesame Street pumpkins is we can reuse the faces next year! Moms love it when you can stretch pennies like that.

I think he was genuinely excited about his costume this year. And he seemed to want to pet his furry little self most of the night, which I think was great for sensory stimulation. I'm surprised he was even interested in the costume at all. He went as Elmo this year, and he looked just absolutely precious. It fit him so well. I thought maybe it would be a bit hot for him in there, but he seemed to do really well this year. The temperatures were comfortable and I was so thankful there was no snow to contend with.

We pulled out the umbrella stroller that I had gotten with a free purchase before Noah was even born for the first time. It doesn't have a five-point harness just a regular strap-in umbrella stroller. But I put him in it and he looked very comfortable. He did really well in it, but it would be hard to use it during the day as Noah still has big issues with sunlight. But if it hadn't been for the umbrella bucket seat, there would have been no way that he could have done it without a five-point harness. The umbrella stroller was so much lighter and easy to navigate. Chris and I went to four houses in our neighborhood before we realized that our subdivision has too many elaborate stairs to get to most of the front doors. Pretty and fancy, but not practical when you have a special needs little one.

So I left Chris at home to pass out candy to all the tons of kids, while Elmo and I drove to grandma's house where the houses only had steps not stairs and were ranches and bi-levels. We went to all my neighbors that I did as a child. A bit strange my first time trick-or-treating with my own child now, like the years just fast forwarded. Most people have heard through the grape-vine by now about Noah. People talk, that's just what they do. It's okay. I'm still not ashamed or embarrassed to say I have a child that is special needs. I love him very much. He is "different, but is not less."

We went to the house of a little boy that was special needs on my block that I grew up with. I haven't seen him in years now, but his mother still lives there. I asked about him and she said he is married now to a girl he met at Wal-mart that also has challenges and they live with her mother. She said he still walks with a walker but is doing wonderfully. And was happy to meet Noah. She told me she remembered the early days when her son was Noah's age, when he couldn't sit or walk. How truly wonderful it would be to imagine Noah having the possibility of growing up one day to get married and have a family. What an ultimate dream come true.

Noah made a pretty good haul on his candy, and even got a capri sun pouch, something that he actually can drink... well with help as he still hasn't learned to suck through a straw yet. And I did give him reluctantly a piece of a Hershey candy milk chocolate bar before bed because he was throwing a mini tantrum over not getting anything. Or at least I think that is what he was trying to tell me, as he calmed down right away when he got it. And off to bed we went for a few hours until he woke up scrunched crying in a corner. I think the crib is very fast becoming very small quarters for Noah. And once he panics about being stuck in a corner, your only option is to take him to snuggle with you to bed, and of course being the sweet little guy he is, decides to wet our bed within minutes of joining us.

I suppose some things like this would just frustrate some parents to no end. A child that demands to sleep with them, one that wets the bed... but Chris and I are just glad we have the opportunity to sleep next to Noah. It doesn't matter how many elbows or kicks we get or how many sheet changes we go through. It's a totally different concept, sometimes I wish all parents could experience it just for a while, so that they would complain less about the little things that just don't matter. We're just thankful we get to experience this moment in time together as a family.

"A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween."
Erma Bombeck (Way to go little Elmo trying to fool grandma like that!)

Love,




Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.