Cutest Penguin Ever

So, as we're preparing to leave on a Thanksgiving road trip (which is what I should be doing instead of blogging; whatevs), I thought I'd better post our Halloween story & pictures.

I've called James "Lil' Bug" for much of his life. Thus, I thought I'd create a bug costume for him. Now, this was somewhat tricky because I didn't want him to look girly. Thus, no lady-bug and possibly no wings. My idea was to get a green (possibly stripey) outfit for him. I'd actually buy two outfits, cut off the arms of one, stuff them with polyfil and attach them to the outfit he'd wear. Then he'd have six "legs"-- his legs, his arms and the fake arms. I'd also make some antenae and put them on a hat. He'd look super cute as he crawled all over the place. Good plan, right? Well, two issues: 1) I couldn't find a green outfit (shocking, I think), and 2) the concern was raised that he might look like an alien, or at least not enough like a bug.

The next costume idea came from Dan-- Dress him as a monkey because he is one. Easy enough. Get a brown outfit. Put a tan belly on him. Perhaps a brown hat with monkey ears. He can carry a banana. Well, I couldn't find a suitable brown outfit! Everything had writing/graphics. I did find a zip-up hoody, but wasn't sure it would work.

Let me interrupt to acknowledge that there are plenty of VERY CUTE monkey (and likely bug) costumes available for purchase. However, I come from a family of homemade costume wearers/creators (partly because such cute store-bought costumes didn't exist in the 70s and 80s), so I felt compelled to make James's costume.

OK, meanwhile, hanging in James's closet is a penguin outfit from his Auntie Ali & Uncle P. He received it as a Christmas gift last year and would have disappeared inside it even though it is an infant design (read-- big sack). I figured it was likely too small, plus he'd get frustrated in the sack now that he's so mobile. . . Well, I took it out, and had him try it on. It fit, and HE LOOKED RIDICULOUSLY CUTE!!!!!

I was still concerned about the mobility factor, so I did make a homemade costume that he could wear under the sack. If he got too hot or too frustrated, I'd remove the sack, and he'd still be a penguin. (As it turned out, it was pretty warm for Hallween, so he didn't wear the sack much.) The homemade costume was a black unionjack suit (oddly easy to find compared to the green and brown!) with a white felt belly. I made a beak and eyes and sewed them to a black hat. Cuteness.

Oh! I did actually make yet another costume for him! A wind-up toy! I made a crank (cardboard covered with aluminum foil) and velcroed it to his back. It was pretty hilarious, but didn't stand up well, and he kept trying to look at it (think dog chasing his tail). Unfortunately, I couldn't capture it in photo form, but Auntie Peg has documentation!

Our Halloween festivities: Baby Isabella's Halloween party, Mommy's school parade (and visiting the fifth graders, aka her former students), Grandpa & Grandma's house, a party at the Whitakers'. Our trip to Daddy's work was cancelled because his building closed due to plumbing problems before we could get there. Sorry!!