Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home

This is my little diva caught red-handed in the middle of trick-or-treating. She kept me out walking for 2 hours last night, which was great for my health, but now I have a huge bowl of candy to tempt me -- or maybe not, since I lost 80% of my sweet tooth with the surgery. I have placed the bowl in the highest cabinet. I need a stepstool to reach it. That should deter me from re-growing my sweet tooth. If it doesn't, I'll give it to Kevin to hide.

The diva is a ladybug, in case you can't tell. She had planned to be a cheerleader and took her cheerleader uniform and appropriate accessories -- the pink and orange crepe paper (hey, that's what I had on hand) pom-poms and pink socks and sneakers -- to school for the parade and party. I thought this was great because I bought the cheerleader uniform for "football day" in pre-school and it hasn't gotten much use. Fortunately, the diva grows slowly and most clothes from last year fit. But some wicked little boy made fun of her (this seems to happen quite a bit), so she decided that the Redskinette look was unacceptable. She came home wanting to be something else. We had the ladybug costume on hand from "insect day" in pre-school. (Are you seeing a pattern? Last year, I procured quite a few special garments for the various "days" they had in pre-school.)

I told her to put on the ladybug costume with black tights and her black school shoes and we'd have a great costume. She happily did so, but came downstairs complaining that the costume was "scratchy." (Another common occurrence around here.) So I had her put the red leotard on underneath. She decided to forgo the wings, which attach with velcro, because she thought she might need to put on a sweater after we'd been out a while.

At this point, I'd like you to know that the procurement of the costume has nothing to do with one of the looniest traditions in the China adoption world. Through some bizarre set of coincidences (I won't relate the story because there are a gazillion versions and I don't know which one is true), ladybugs have become the de facto symbol of China adoption. All the nutty first-time entitled parents-to-be, particularly the mothers, run out and buy ladybug things for their future daughters, then brag about having done so in the online fora. I'm sure several thousand little Chinese girls adopted by Americans have been ladybugs on Halloween. BUT, my husband, who is definitely not into the looney traditions of China adoption, bought this costume. Last April, I went on a business trip and forgot about getting something to wear for insect day. Kevin went looking for bug costumes to buy over the internet and found this one. So there you have it, my little ladybug.