A clown suit would be easy to make, cute and colorful too. Just choose whatever costume you and he would like, and skip the head covering part. That's definitely a battle not worth fighting! LOL!

If your mother is willing to sew, why don't you go to a store which has patterns and look through the books? I forget how old your son is, but you could take him and he could help choose. (Of course you run the risk of having him choose something inappropriate or too hard to make--that's what my sons would have done!)

You are wise to think ahead.

When my DS was about Grant's age I made him a scarecrow outfit.

He already had some striped OshKosh overalls - so I sewed some soft raffia around the legs on the inside so it stuck out a bit. He had a flannel shirt that I did the same with the cuffs - so it looked like the "stuffing" was hanging out.

I painted his nose red - kind of in the shape of a triangle. I found a stuffed crow that was small enough and I sewed it to his shoulder strap.

He was a really cute scarecrow - and the costume was comfy.

Other DD's were dressed as Dorothy and a lion. It was a fun Trick or Treat that year.

check out some of the pattern books at joann's, you can find their websites w/ the books online too(simplicity, vogue, butterick etc...). they already have the seasons costumes out in patterns. i saw some very cute ones, including a bee that i think did not have a head piece. i may make costumes this yr for my neice & nephew who are 3 yr twins, if i start very soon lol. my sis doesn't sew anymore and we grew up w/ my mom sewing us the coolest, best costumes, i don't want them to miss out on that. ~ liz

I agree, not a battle worth fighting!!!

He just turned 2 so he wouldn't be any help choosing, he's very picky about what clothes I put on him so I'm sure getting a costume on him is going to be a task in itself! LOL

Good idea to look through pattern books!!

I always thought a cute costume for any of the GB's would be a Hershey's Kiss. Or an M&M? They don't need hats.
Will Grant wear a hood? There are lots of costumes to make that you can put ears on a hooded sweatshirt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Here is the Kiss costume

Here is a site i had saved in my favorites. I looked at the toddler costumes and I dunno why but just love the lil UPS boy! LOL
I'm sure your Mom could sew one if you got an idea here.
I think I'd better send this to the boys's Mom too!

Here is a link that might be useful: Costumes

YOu know, it's funny you mention Hershey's Kiss. When my friends son Brad was small (probably 3) my mom made him a Hershey's Kiss costume. It was so cute.

I can guarantee there is no way I'd get Grant in that costume though. He is way too stubborn and would not like the puffiness of it.

I was thinking a little doctor costume would be cute too. Simple, would feel like real clothes and not have too much frill that he would be annoyed by.

I was also thinking maybe an Army guy would be cute.

The UPS costume is pretty cute though!

To answer your question about hoods...no, he wont wear those either. I'm telling you...he's stubborn! LOL

Well there are times when stubborn is good, but this might not be it! LOL

When Hunter was about a year old I made a costume DD found in a magazine. SO simple even I could handle it. lol
He was supposed to be a spider. Black sweatpants and regular pullover black sweatshirt, 3 pairs of black pantyhose and stuffing. Cut the legs off the pantyhose, stuff with stuffing and sew to the back of the swetshirt. Then take the top of one pair of panty hose and stuff it.Gather the open end closed and sew on top of the legs. Draw hour glass on the back of the "hump" and paint. Then take a long peice of black thread (strong thread) and go thru each of the "legs" leaving plenty of thread so that when he lifts his arms the spider arms follow, knot the thread in the sweatshirt sleeves.
I still have Hunter's here if you want me to snap a quick pic.
I apparently did too good of job tho, he took one look at it when we told him he was going to be a spider he started sobbing and wouldn't wear it!
(he still to this day doesn't like spiders!) LOL

The two that I did when DS was about that age was an army man just dressed him in cami's and the other was the Crocodile Hunter I dressed him in khaki and then got a stuffed alligator and made it like a backpack.

A few pics.

Here is a link that might be useful: spiders

He could go dressed as a "Big Brother" - LOL! Just his everyday clothes :)

Superman?

We did an Elvis for DGS was really cute and used it for his little brother last year. Lots of comments on Trick or Treat night.

I love that UPS guy and the mailman! How different! I sent that site to my DIL's...too cute! Our boys won't wear hoats or hoods either Steph. Ricky will now that he's older, but the babies?? NO way! My own boys loved them. We had a bride, a brownie (can you tell that I wanted a girl? LOL!) clowns, a hobos, monsters. Then when they got old enough to choose on their own they were the usual scary, bloody things, punk rockers, the guy things :O( I hated losing the control over the costumes! They now can't believe I dressed them like girls! Bwahhahahahaaa....I had fun!

I remember that age well, and it was tough if they did not like certain things. Especially when they catch you off guard with another "I don't like it" at the last minute.
You may want to consider having 2 outfits for him to choose from, that way it will be his decision, and less chance of any last minute problems.

Trin

You've already thought of my idea. When my youngest son was little, I made him a scrub suit. You can probably get (or make) a surgical mask and shoe covers. It was really cute!

Have fun! They grow up sooooo fast.

Hi Steph, I've found that Old Navy has some good quality costumes. I found this vampire costume on ebay when Jacob was a year old. He only had his canine teeth at that point, so I thought this was appropriate.

As for other costumes without hats or hoods - firefighter (hats can be optional, right? Someone has to DRIVE the truck), clown, Diego, an explorer, a carpenter (like Daddy!)

When Jacob was 2, he wasn't thrilled about Halloween anyway. I think we went to 5 houses, and DH and I ate most of his candy.

I think the only time I got Nick in a costume without incident was his first Halloween when he was 10 months old. After that, no matter how excited he was about it beforehand, when it came time for him to wear it, there was resistance, even when he was old enough to pick it out himself. He was Frankenstein without the head, no way would he wear the giraffe costume (at school- he wore it at home for weeks beforehand), and he wouldn't put up the Buzz Lightyear hood.

I was going to suggest Superman too. That was Nick's first costume and at the rate Daniel's growing, he may fit into it this year.

Steph, does Grant like to imitate what Brent is doing? If so, have Brent start wearing hats/baseball caps around Grant. Maybe then Grant would tolerate them better.

will he let you paint his face? so many costumes can be built around face paint, colored sweats, and add-ons (like a tail or??)

maybe a hobo clown? baggy jeans, suspenders, over sized shirt...(see site)

do you have to worry though about it being cold on halloween?

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.1halloween.net/html/cosclown.html

I am dressing my DS)9) as a UPS man this year. I bought brown cargo shorts and a brown button down shirt at Childrens Place. Got a brown UPS cap on clearance at K Mart months ago for $1.20 (thats what inspired me). I already have the perfect size Amazon box for him to flip open for candy as he says "trick or treat". His eyeglasses turn dark in the light so they will look like sunglasses I think. All I need is to get short brown socks and to figure out an easy way to make a UPS logo for the shirt.

hmmm....as for Grant, it reminds me of when my daughter was 2. She cried and carried on not wanting to wear the hat to her lion costume. In our pictures inside, she is not wearing the hat, but once she got outside in the stroller to trick or treat I was able to put the hat on while she stared at costumed kids. She didn't even seem to care anymore. The following year she was a clown and I painted her blond hair with pink hair mascara. It came out nice-no hat needed.

You could probably get Grant some caped kid pjs at Target. They used to carry Superman and Batman, I think they still do. I had to buy them in 2 sizes because my son and daughter both liked to wear them.

Does Grant like any particular characters?? He'd be a cute Bob The Builder!

Someone mentioned a mailman-when my other daughter was in 1st grade they had Career Day. She dressed as a 'mailgirl' and delivered her homework in a priority mail envelope LOL!!

I like the scarecrow idea! Thats not something you normally see.

Steph, I teach a 2 year old preschool class, and the kids get more excited when they can dress as something they watch on TV or on video. Is there a favorite of Grant's?

Sheryl

Thank you so much for all the ideas...I'm brainstorming all of them!!

The only characters he likes are Barney and Mickey Mouse. I'm not sure he'd dress as either though. I'm thinking of a costume more along the lines of feeling like regular clothes (scrubs, army clothes, etc.).

He's such a little Mr. Independent and gets completely wierded out if I try to put something 'different' on him. And it's really not a battle worth fighting so I figured I'd save us both the agony this year and just do something low key.

I think the scarecrow idea is super cute.

How about "Bob the Builder"? You could use the hard hat or any of the other ideas with hats, as the candy bag or holder.
Isn't it amazing how opinionated a little person can be? I always tried to remember that this show of independence will serve my child well. You know what? It did!

Here is my gs I did as a scarecrow.