We took the Girl trick-or-treating this weekend. We’d been preparing for a couple of weeks, for L was initially not thrilled with the idea of wearing a Pooh Bear suit, although Pooh is one of her favorite characters. Little by little, evening by evening, we convinced her, though (with a lot of modeling from K), and we slipped on the costume early Friday evening and began our short adventure.

First stop: our neighbor.

Despite our best efforts, though, getting L to say “Trick or treat!” proved to be more difficult than we’d anticipated. We suggested “Treat!” alone, and then tried “Candy!”, but none of them appealed to L’s sensibilities.

After unwrapping the lollipop L chose, we headed to Nana and Papa’s — they were waiting, thrilled to see L. As always.

Papa and K took the girl to the neighbors’ condos while I snapped a few pictures. L came back with a modest collection of suckers, mini-candy bars, and assorted fruity snacks.

It’s times like this that L’s growth is so evident.

Last year, L was a non-talking, bottle-drinking, virtually-toothless, not-yet-sleeping-through-the-night pumpkin. What changes await us during the next year? By then, she’ll be fully communicating and ever more independent — a blessing, which occasionally will make us long for the toothless, crying-at-two-in-the-morning version of L.