Halloween '13: The Story Behind the Costume

Banner is obsessed with ice cream trucks. It doesn't help that the ice cream man drives through our neighborhood almost nightly - even in the winter. Sam and I used to hear him when Banner was a newborn, and throughout the next few months, when he was more alert and sensitive to noises, we'd get so frustrated at the blaring music right at our tiny son's bedtime. And now, two years later, we are still frustrated when the ice cream truck drives down our block with the recognizable tunes playing oh-so-loudly so our dinner is often interrupted with the wide-eyed, quiet stare as Banner figures out that the truck is headed our way - and the quiet turns to "ICE CREAM TRUCK!" Sometimes Sam jumps up, grabs Banner from his chair and the couple dollars left near the front door for this specific reason, and hauls tushy out the door to try to catch (what will then become) Banner's mid-dinner dessert. The delight and excitement on Banner's face is priceless - and it kind of is on Sam's, too! Secretly, I'm pretty stoked when they catch him because I know Banner is thrilled, but I also wish the guy would just find a different neighborhood every now and then!

Like I said, he's in love with these trucks - watches videos of them on YouTube, loves to hear the "Ice Cream Truck" song that I downloaded just for him, and often takes any truck, car, or Lego for a "drive" around the "neighborhood" (our coffee table) while singing the Ice Cream Truck song himself ("Do do do do do do do do ditty doody do..."). Banner fell madly in love with his little brother when Quinn "gave" Banner a small Mater Ice Cream Truck die cast the day after Quinn was born. Two months later, and he still LOVES this toy.

One day, after Banner searched "ice cream trucks" on YouTube, he saw a little boy in a wheelchair whose costume was an ice cream truck built around the chair. It was awesome! I was jealous of this boy FOR Banner. I showed the video to Sam, thinking maybe we could do something like this for Banner for Halloween. Then I looked up more ice cream truck costumes to find a different way of creating an ice cream truck for my boy. Lo and behold, we found a very easy costume - but who has this kind of time to design/make/create a costume with a newborn at home? I figured we'd try, but I didn't get my hopes up. And, I never said anything to Banner.

This past Sunday, Sam decided he would make it happen. He took Banner to Home Depot (one of Banner's most favorite stores), and they bought the few materials it would take to build the costume of my son's dreams. They spent the day in the garage - Sam constructing, Banner making a mess. I spent the day inside downloading ice cream graphics for the sides of the truck while holding my "I-have-to-be-held-all-the-freaking-time-in-order-to-sleep" newborn. By Banner's nap time, the truck was constructed and painted, the pictures were printed, and the headlights were ready to be "installed." During nap time, Sam and I finalized the truck: making the "Watch for Children" sign on the back of the truck, installing lights, putting in straps to help Banner hold it up, taping the iPod to the top of the truck to play the Ice Cream Truck songs, and taping the ice cream pictures to the sides. By 4:00, we were ready to take the truck for a "test drive" at Marin's 3rd birthday party - a costume party.

I was SO proud of Sam for his dedication and commitment to this project. I was THRILLED to show it to Banner. I was beyond excited to watch him wear it and parade around in his costume with lights that worked and sounds that played. I thought this thing was so cool, and I kept thinking what a great gift of love this would be for Banner. I had even told Sam the night before we made it, "If we can pull this off and get it done, this will be the best gift we've given him!" (Minus Quinn, of course!) :)

And, . . . then it went downhill from there. If we DID get him to wear it, he wore it for 10-15 seconds. I could never get a good picture or video. And, really, all Banner kept talking about was which ice cream he wanted (from the pictures on the side). "Mommy, I... want Sponge Bob. Mommy, I.... want Tweety Bird ice cream."

I was willing to let it go that he wouldn't wear the costume at Marin's party - because we still had Halloween. But... same story. Banner wouldn't really wear it for a little play date we had Halloween morning. He wouldn't put it on for more than a couple minutes. Yes, an improvement, but still... so disappointing. One thing he DID do, which was super-cute, was he walked around pretending to hand his friends some ice cream. He smiled as he did it. I loved that!

Then, that night, he maybe wore the box for a total of 5-7 minutes. He mostly just walked around in his hat, white shirt, and khaki shorts looking like he wasn't really participating in this whole costume thing. He still had a great time trick-or-treating and getting candy, for sure. He was willing to let me try to take a quick picture, and he did seem to get a tad more interested in wearing the truck when a little girl who was out trick-or-treating came up on the lawn to play with his lonely costume. He ran over and said, "Hey! That's MINE!" I was actually happy to hear him say this! :) And, he wore it for about 3-4 minutes after that.

So, now we have this ice cream truck box. It will either get destroyed, thrown away, or put in the attic for a while. Maybe, just MAYBE he'll play with it for a bit. But, really, on this Halloween - it's the thought that counted. I'm so grateful that my baby boys have a daddy who would put in hours and hours of labor and time to construct something he knew all along may never have been appreciated or utilized. I'm grateful that I have a husband who wanted to make ME happy because all I wanted was to make my SON happy. And, quite honestly, I'm grateful for even the short few moments Banner wore the costume - because that smile he had while wearing it was worth every moment of time, thought, and energy that went into that truck! (And, I'm pretty sure Sam would agree!)

First time wearing it - all smiles - til he pushed it off 10 seconds later

Daddy insisted SOMEONE wear the costume!

Sweet little ice cream man without his truck

A few seconds wearing it, then it was off to trick-or-treat

Trick-or-treating

And, of course, Mr. Quinn fully cooperated and wore his costume all day!