Avi's Costume Parade.

I love shopping. I used spend all my free time roaming around center city looking for deals on shoes, practically living in H&M and even making occasional trips to BR.

Having Avinash has taken that love to a whole new level. Obsession really.

I can't say that I ever got much into Halloween growing up. Mostly just tried to put something together at the last minute or didn't bother at all.

I never realized that this holiday had so many great shopping possibilities. Turns out I can not resist buying baby and now toddler costumes in every design available. I especially the Carter's prams because they can be worn as regular clothing as well without too much added bulk. What is the point of all that padding anyway? Is a baby more believable as a duck if his butt is five times its normal size? I suppose it is cute, but I really don't want Avinash to think he needs artificial augmentation of his body already! Or ever.

Well, as a result Avinash can now host his own one-man Halloween toddler costume parade.

To start, this little tiger is paraded around on the shoulders of his very own parrot.

 

It was amazing how amenable to face painting Avinash was. Not touching his face and smudging the whole thing afterwards? Not so much.


His dragon costume totally came in handy when we went to Ren-Fair.  Although people seemed to think he was a turtle.  Ummm...no.  Think people.  Why would a turtle be terrorizing historically innacurately dressed knights?  Makes no sense. 

He wore it again on one of our many trips to the Children's Museum trick-or-treating.  I don't think he even knew how to say the word nummies at the beginning of this month.  Not sure where he learned it either, since I have never used that word.  Here is the little dragon devouring his spongebob gummy-nummie.

 

And here is the little giraffe trying to devour a mini pumpkin.  The zoo had this cute little pumpkin patch set up for pumpkin decorating, but Avinash did not quite understand the point.  And kept calling them applays, hee.

 

I love this giraffe watching the monkeys picture.  He looks so tall all of a sudden, maybe this costume is rubbing off on him!  This is right before we met a little ballerina who talked up a storm with Avinash about the all the 'e-o's  they saw.  He may have then followed her around for the next half hour or so.  Luckily her mom didn't mind when he tried to hold her hand.

We dressed him up as a pirate to play on the ship at the Natural History Museum, he totally loved it!  He didn't believe us for weeks that the ship had left and always had to see for himself.  I painted an eye patch on myself that day and one of the kids asked me how I hurt my eye?!

He put on his penguin costume at the gymnastics party.  The best thing was seeing him sliding down the parachute on his tummy, just like a real penguin!  We were so worried about the timing of the party because it coincided with nap time.  He was so sleepy when we got there, but as soon as he saw the parachute-slide it was an instant transformation. 

Last, but not least....the little Big Bird-esque ducky.  This shot of him in the dryer is so awesome.  He loves to move clothes in and out all the time, why shouldn't the ducky to laundry to? 
This is actually one of the few costumes he puts on willingly, even the leggings, ha.