Our Baby’s First Halloween Costume (or) The Cutest Baby Lion You’ve Ever Seen

I’d like to begin this post with a little pre-blog-post disclaimer.

A Halloween post…in the middle of April?

If you’ve noticed the date that briefly appears at the start of each of our one minute videos you may have noticed that we’re running just a tad bit behind.

We enjoy telling our son’s story and giving the world a window into the life of what life is like for one family raising a child born with Down syndrome. Since we sharing this beautiful story of life in chronological order if, in the business of life, we don’t create a new post on a every day it creates a domino effect.

Don't worry, be happy!

Most of the time no one notices (or cares) that we’re running behind, however I didn’t want anyone to get confused when they saw a post about Halloween in the middle of April! 🙂 We have a plan to get caught up to real time over the next few months. In the mean time I hope you enjoy the story we are sharing of our son’s life.

It’s been a blast getting to know so many of our readers, and learning about your families as share your stories with us. Thanks for being so encouraging and supportive of our efforts. We really appreciate each and every one of you!

Now, on to today’s post (which is jammed packed with tons of really cute pictures!)

Noah’s First Halloween….and His Parent’s First Halloween Fail(s)

First let me just say that before our son was born I’ve never googled “infant Halloween costume ideas,” searched Pinterest for the best baby Halloween costumes, or been exposed to how, umm….shall I say, determined, mothers can be when it comes to finding their child the cutest and most creative Halloween outfit the world has ever seen.

Which leads to the first of two parent fails I’m going to be sharing in this post.

Parent Fail # 1: Daddy Fashion Fail

I know what you’re thinking…..

What’s so “fail” about a cute little 10 month old boy dressed up in a puppy dog, lion, and banana costume?

That’s exactly what I thought when I bought Noah all of these pajamas costumes…….10 months before Halloween! Yelp, it’s true. I was at the mall one day when I saw these three awesome outfits just hanging there in the clearance section (as in the after Halloween clearance section.)

Being a new father, and excited about the thought of coming home from the mall and surprising his wife and son with some cute new baby clothes, bought all three outfits! (After all isn’t part of the fun of having a child getting to dress them up in all sorts of cute outfits?)

Well it turns out dressing up your son as a puppy dog in the middle of December isn’t considered cute…..more like strange.

Oh well, at least I tried…. 🙂

But on the bright side, when his first Halloween finally arrived, he already had three super cute costumes waiting for him.

Parent Fail # 2: Mommy-Trick-Or-Treater-Trust Fail

Before I tell you about mommy’s fail, I want to tell you about mommy’s win.

This amazingly awesome finding Nemo Jack-O-Lantern she carved!

This was her first ever pumpkin carving. I think she did a pretty awesome job!

Ok, moving on the epic mommy fail…..

Since this was Noah’s first Halloween (or fall festival, or harvest celebration, or great pumpkin extravaganza, or as I like to call it; national trust a stranger day) and our first Halloween in our new house, we wanted to give out candy and meet some of our new neighbors in the process.

The only problem was we were also taking Noah out and about with his friend Austin to go Trick-Or-Treating. So my wife had this great idea to leave all of our candy on the front porch in a large bowl, and just trust the treat or treaters…! (Can you see where this story is going?)

Well…no sooner then us crossing the street (and the first few sets of cutely dressed kids and their passionately candy seeking parents finding our bowl-o-candy) our once overflowing candy bowl was completely empty. With the exception of a few left over Nerds that someone managed to escape.

Moral of the story? Never trust trick-or-treaters.

The Cutest Little Lion (And Superman) You’ve Ever Seen

One cute lion costume, huh?

We took Noah and his friend Austin Trick or Treating around our neighborhood tonight and I think they (or shall I say I) made out like a bandit.

Are these two cute or what!?

A super high five to celebrate their huge candy score!

I know what you may be thinking….

Awww..just look at those two little angels.

But, as I’ve said before, children with Down syndrome aren’t angels. Sure, it’s super cute seeing Austin (aka superman) sharing his candy with Noah, but….

….Noah’s not interested in Austin’s M&M’s. He’s got his eyes on a much larger prize.

Like….

Austin’s entire bucket of candy!

…and if he can’t get his hands on Austin’s entire bucket of candy, it’s all good….

….because his feet will do!

And if he can’t get his hands mouth on the feet….

….it’s all good again, because Starbursts taste way better than feet!

And after all of that, he finally lands on some random generic candy.

*sigh*

If only he would have taken the M&M’s. I’ve have a lot to teach my son about Halloween candy…..

We had a great time hanging out with Austin and his mommy, and we’re also super glad to have such fun friends living so close to us!

A true "dynamic duo!"

The two greatest titles I’ve ever had.

I’ve said this a million times being a dad (and husband) are the two greatest titles I’ve ever had. I can’t believe I get to wake up every morning and share life with these two. I really mean that. The joy that I get to experience daily in this house is beyond words.

Don’t settle for counterfeit joy.

Don't let life's lions get you down! (I know, I know...)

Are there bad days, sure? Life has plenty of ups and downs. Highs and lows. Good days, bad days. But if you know the true source of joy, you know joy isn’t dependent upon any card life deals you. It doesn’t ebb and flow based on your circumstances.

See...those lions are actually pretty tame.

No, true joy is must more constant than that.

Much more stable than that.

Much more joyful than that.

True joy, joy that never fades away, comes from the creator of joy, the Triune God. And while life’s various trinkets can sometimes seem to give us joy, it’s not real joy.

It’s counterfeit joy.

It quickly fades. And when it does we find ourself on a pursuit for the next trinket.

Life is more than just big bags of candy.

I’m thankful that God has made a way through Jesus to show us that life is more than a collection of trinkets. That He has provided a way for us to experience true joy. Every single day of our life.

Life is good….

I get to look into these bright blue eyes every single day!

….and some days after playing with your mommy, daddy and friends,

scoring a huge bag of candy,

dressing up in a cute lion costume,

and enduring lots and lots of (really cute) pictures,

All you really want to do is take a nap.

Do you remember your child’s first Halloween costume; what was it? Leave a comment below and tell me about it. (Bonus points if you add a picture in the comments below and on our Facebook page!)

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