All About the Moo

Two summers ago, back when Natalie was just a peanut of a kid, we were garage-saling with my mother-in-law and stumbled across the cutest Halloween costume I’d ever seen. It was a furry, full-body cow costume, complete with stuffed head and fuzzy tail. It looked enormous at the time, but Benita bought it for Natalie anyway, for a Halloween down the road.

The other day I was thinking about what Natalie should dress up for this Halloween this year and immediately thought of the cow costume. I pictured it being another couple sizes too big, but I have a tendency to underestimate her size, so I decided to dig it out and try it on. As soon as I pulled it out of the box, I was shocked. It looked like it would just barely fit!

I brought the cow upstairs and showed it to Nattie, who immediately said “moo” and backed away. She was even cringing a little. I held up the cow and told her it was a like a fuzzy jacket and pants, for her to wear. She freaked out, ran across the room and even started crying. Ok, fine, no need to scare her – I put the “moo” (as we now call it) on a chair and we sat down for dinner.

After dinner I tried again. I put the moo out on the living room floor and left the room. I figured I’d just give her some space with the little fella. She whimpered and shook her little arms in front of her, but still wanted to walk closer and check it out. “I wash?” she soon asked me. “I wash?”

“You want to wash the moo?” I asked, puzzled. She does love to clean – but wash a cow?

“Yeah,” she said.

I handed her a little wet washcloth from the kitchen and she ran to the moo, washing him on the tummy. I approached her again and pretended to put the moo on myself, sticking my feet through the little leg holes.

“I do?” she asked.

“Sure. Mommy will put the moo on you,” I said, taking my feet back out.

I dressed her up in the costume, pulling the hood up and zipping up the front. It was a squeeze (and I’m still not convinced she can sit down in it), but I immediately fell over laughing. She was the cutest moo I’d ever seen!

I walked her to our bedroom closet where there is a full-length mirror. Worried she might get scared, I gently talked to her about what a cute moo she was. She just stared for a minute or two, no noticeable reaction.

And then…the giggles started. She laughed and laughed, smiling in the mirror and turning from side to side.

Since that day, she’s fallen in love with moo, hauling him on stroller rides around the neighborhood, snuggling with him on the couch and even taking a nap with him in her crib. She’ll walk into a room, spot him and cry “the moo!” I laugh every time.

Let’s just hope the little moo fits in a month for Halloween.