Glad he rallied and got himself some candy! Rawr! Ezra is a precious monkey.

So glad that Noah got to do the trick-or-treat thing -- never underestimate the power of candy!

Laura and I are so happy that you guys seem to be doing well.

re-re-re-delurking to let you know HOMYGAWD CUTEST KIDS EVAHHH.
Thank you, will go back to lurking now:)

Baaawwww. Her hair wasn't wiggly anymore.

Hooray for Noah! And OMIGOD I could just eat Ezra up. NOMNOMNOM.

I like the idea of the House From UP as a costume. You are a clever clever family.

Yeap. I'll pretty much do anything for candy too!

My kid seems to have a fear of costumes and masks and I seriously thought this year being her first time trick or treating (she'll be 3 soon) would be traumatic, but we went along with it anyway since we thought she would END UP enjoying it. And she did once she realized she was getting some sweets out of it. Although she did learn a valuable life lesson that home owners don't take requests for m&m's.

My Halloween was terrible. We decided to go to the mall since it was cold. My 3 year old spent the whole time screaming. He literally fell to the ground screaming when someone put the candy in his bag. Other causes for screams? Someone calling him cute, another asked if he liked chocolate, you get the idea.... Every time someone put candy into my 11 month old daughter's bag, he screamed 'Throw it away! Is it gone? I don't want that!!!!' It was terrible, and embarrassing. I ended up bringing him home and trick-or-treating with the baby. She hasn't seen any of the candy, but at least I didn't have to explain to my son why his 'trick or treating' the night before ended with him having no candy.....

I'm glad you had a nice Halloween though...

I just passed out from cuteness overload.

Dear Ezra, I love you. You're awesome. Noah, you are pretty fabulous too. I love you. And I also think these Earthlings are weirdos.
Love,
Belle

My 4 year old put it more eloquently than I ever could.

On Noah: "Yeah! I like him. He looks awesome!" "Hey mom, can I wear that costume for trick-or-treat?"

On Ezra: "That looks like a nice monkey baby. I like him."

Noah is looking older and older! I can't believe how much that baby has grown up. :) And that picture of Ezra make my hand fly up to my mouth to cover the squeal that I'm sure was about to erupt. So cute.

So much awesomeness all around. LOVE the pics of the boys in costume. Ezra cracks me up. And hooray for wearing a costume! Amazing what the promise of candy can do!

1 - love how excited Noah is and how great he looks as a blue monster

2 - that pic of Ezra made me laugh heartily out loud, at work. Amazing.

Kids dressed up as small animals. Gets me every time.

Yay, go Noah!

I love that the teacher has naturally "wiggly" hair.

Both boys look adorable in their costumes. I bought the same monkey outfit as Ezra wore for my two year old nephew - but when we put it on him, he wailed like he was being poked with needles. I can now at least see how cute it looks on a child who is not hysterical. Thanks.

Aunt Becky i'm with you. I need Noah's costume in an adult size!

He looks great and so does Noah. Last year a family came to my house with an Ezra sized baby in a monkey costume and the monkey had a bannana is his pocket. I nearly died from the cuteness!

I'm glad your boys had a great Halloween!

Ahhh Noah's the best monster EVAH! Great approach with the costume t and t'ing-- with my son who'd just 2 months younger than Noah, that's pretty much what we need to do in many situations as well.

Even though my son may not have the intensity of reaction Noah may have to change and differences, the fundamental desire for routine is normal and expected for these little guys. Glad Noah had fun on his own terms... tackle next year, next year!

My son also broke down crying when I mentioned picking a costume for next year. Can you say sugar crash, late bedtime and daylight saving time all piled together? I'm medicating by eating his sister's candy.

Could that adorable head be ANY rounder?! I wanna shmooooooosh the monkey cheeks! I'm so impressed with you and Jason for not pushing Noah to trick-or-treat. Most parents wouldn't have done it that way and those parents would be wrong. You guys have 2 lucky lucky boys. LOVE the blue monster!

I'm in my mid-twenties and I thought Up was terrifying and wildly inappropriate for young children. I feel you, Noah!

Those boys are so stinkin' cute! Lovelovelove Ezra's expression - it made me giggle.

Also, lovelovelove that Noah worked it out for himself - and that he had a good Halloween. Go Noah!

So much better when the whole Halloween thing is child led, though I'm with you, until I became a mom I had no idea that some kids just freak the heck out at the sight of costumes and Halloween stuff. Now that I think about it I'm all "duh, that shit's scary." But I had to learn the hard way.
Then the second kid? No stress, no worries, and figured out that putting both hands in the candy bowls netted twice the amount of candy in about two houses. Go figure...

I find with Harry that it can entirely depend on how well or otherwise I sell and incentivise the mooted experience to him. It's not always a winner, but it's amazing how often he can overcome a good deal of his patent sensory dislike and nervousness if he finally works out there's yummy food involved. Odd, that!

SUCH a staggeringly fabulous pair of boys you have there. I am seriously injured by Cute everytime there are photos!

The first picture in the monster outfit is just beautiful! That smile!

Awwww, Noah is Monster of Awesomeness. We love!

The expression on Ezra's face is PRICELESS. He's all, I AM MUCH TOO GOOD FOR THIS NONSENSE. And where's my damn candy?

Did Ceiba go dressed as a dog?

omfg I'm going to eat them. I think I say this every time you blog.

That photo of him running toward you in his outfit is amazingly heartwarming. He's a smart kid!

they are just too dang cute! love the pic of noah in all of his excitement!

i refused to put on a costume this year too...
they are both so cute!

Oh how we can over-invest (emotionally) in children's costumes. Good job just leaving it up to Noah.

An unrepentent tomboy, I went 180 one year (I was 7? 8? 9? don't remember) and asked to be a ballerina. My mom FLIPPED. I think that request, and the subsequent shopping for and modeling of costume, made my mother's mothering year, if not overall career. And then ten minutes before we headed out to trick or treat I got cold feet about my new girly-girl look and hid in the family bathroom.

Armed with scissors, those cream Halloween makeup sticks, and fake blood, I DESTROYED the only store-bought costume I'd ever (and would ever) had.

I think I told baffled neighbors that I was an alien-demon-dead-ballerina. It was a dumb costume, and my mom was sad. There are no pictures, for obvious reasons. But I was happy!

Just Noah. Too cute. Glad that he got it. Costume = good stuff to eat. PS My husband did not dress up. He joked that he was going out as "a middle-aged guy beaten down by life." HAWT!

PS Little monkey is so sweet too! Cute little ones you have there!

Congrats on your realization that there are some things we hold on to that our kids can just as easily give up (or enjoy when it's their idea!). My son with Asperger's Syndrome is 13 and we used to have many issues like that. One that taught me the best lesson was Disney World (we live in Florida). He used to be so excited to go but after just a couple hours he would have a melt down to go back to the hotel. We started out fighting it--you know, we wanted to get our money's worth, worried that he would never want to leave the hotel, etc. Eventually after a 20 minute screaming fit (him) and panic attack (me) we would go back to the hotel, rest and play video games for a while while the siblings swam in the pool. After a couple hours he was ready to go back to the parks. He just needed time away from the "fun" sensory overload. Once we realized what he needed we started to plan our trips this way--and guess what--it's actually better for everyone! It's great to have a break and relax in the middle of the day, instead of hoofing it all over the park untill you pass out at midnight. Sometimes they teach us some things, eh?

Oh, I so so get this. You want them to be so excited about the whole shebang. Last year the kid was so FUCKING ANNOYED that we made him wear the big puffy costume and was just so lost in space when it came to trick or treating. Granted, he was young, but I look back at the pictures of the painful look on his face and I wish I had been able to read between the lines.

So yeah, I get it. It's more disappointing for you.

Also disappointing? My kid HATES PRESENTS. Ok, hate is a strong word, but he's so not into the whole present thing because the loudness of the paper ripping and the bags thrashing. That's such a buzzkill at Christmas. He'd rather sit in another room and spin a wheel.

I went to the West Hollywood Festival this year, and there were several people in boy scout uniforms with little houses tied to balloons tied to their backs. I thought UP was scary, but it was a great costume idea. Go Noah! I also liked the balloon boy costumes. Why am I so boring? Where do they get their ideas?

When Sam was 3, he wanted to be a robot, so I made a costume out of boxes and aluminum foil. He wouldn't wear it at preschool until about 20 minutes into partying with all the other costumed kids. So then he makes a "big entrance" and ALL the boys were entranced by the robot, surrounding him and pounding on the costume. Freaked him out!