Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

Where pumpkins = my overtired, overexcited, possibly over-sugared toddler, who woke up crying at 1:30 and 6:30 and then was up for the day and somewhat beastly at 8:30. We did have a nice Halloween, though. Nico wasn't too interested in posing for photos last night, so I don't have any really good ones from actual Halloween, but are some costume pictures from his photo shoot back at the beginning of the month:

Nico has seemed quite enamored of pumpkins and of Halloween decorations in general this year. He and my mom carved one of those foam craft pumpkins into a jack-o-lantern one day a few weeks back (Nico picked the pattern, Grandma did the work). That day when I arrived to pick him up, he excitedly led me into Grandma's hobby room. "Shut the door!" he demanded. "Turn off the lights!" Then, "Look!" as the battery "candle" flickered inside the pumpkin. We didn't carve his pumpkin patch pumpkin, but let it enjoy a peaceful and intact existence on the dining room table. He still has his baby pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and a second one he picked out at the zoo on Monday. He also scored this purple pumpkin bucket by being adorably fascinated by it, behaving at the store, and asking nicely:

He was reluctant to wear the costume back on photo day, so I really tried to talk it up in the days leading up to Halloween. Even so, he balked and had to be coaxed into it. Once dressed he seemed happy enough, though I nearly made a fatal error in choosing a costume with a separate hat rather than a hoodie-style costume like he had last year. Next year, hoodie or hat with no chin strap, I think. He did make it through the hour or so we were out trick-or-treating. He mostly remembered to say "trick or treat" at each house, though once he hesitated and then chirped "Surprise!" instead. He also said "thank you" to nearly everyone without prompting. By far my favorite thing, though, was how every time someone said, "Look! It's Tigger!" Nico responded very seriously, "I'm not Tigger, I'm Nico. I'm kind of like Tigger, but I'm me."

After we'd had enough trick-or-treating we drove over to the library to visit my mom, who was stuck working for the evening. Then we hit Barnes & Noble so I could get a hot drink and Nico spent about 20 minutes playing with the train table. I let him eat one small cookie before bed, which may have contributed to his beastliness this morning. He was recovered by the time I picked him up after work, though, so I'm voting Halloween 2012 as a success.