Halloween brings out ghosts in all shapes and sizes. Now that I have a 2-year-old, the ghost that seems to haunt me most is the Ghost of Halloweens Past.

My daughter, who’s on the later side of 2, is now totally aware of her surroundings. She’s inquisitive and loves to place herself smack dab in the middle of whatever wherever however.

We don’t really know where she gets it. My husband, Derek, and I weren’t exactly adventurous kids. According to our parents, we were more of the obedient variety. We followed our parents – we didn’t try to lead them around by the nose.

Quinn, on the other hand, has a mind of her own. For instance, she knew months ago she wanted to be Tinker Bell for Halloween. I wouldn’t have minded dressing her up as everyone’s favorite Disney fairy had we not bought the exact same costume last year.

The exact same costume.

One thing people don’t tell new parents is how fast kids grow. Oh, sure, they tell you vague things like, “Before you know it, she’ll be in college! Enjoy her baby years!” But they don’t really explain that this quick growth means you’ll practically have to buy her an entire new wardrobe every six months. My husband took the realization the hardest, actually asking me whether our growing toddler needed to wear shoes.

Lucky for us, our family and friends are still so happy we finally produced an heir to our insanity that we haven’t had to buy a lot of clothes.

Halloween costumes, though – that’s a different story.

Last year we bought her Tinker Bell costume knowing she would be absolutely adorable in a sparkly green dress and fairy wings. What we didn’t know was she’d get sick enough to nix any Halloween plans a couple of days before and after Oct. 31.

To be completely honest, we didn’t mind too much. Getting her in the costume was like bathing a cat. She mewled, hissed and flailed while we pulled, tugged and strapped.

Staying home on Halloween may have been a bummer, but it was the easier bummer route to take.

Earlier this summer we took out the Tinker Bell costume to let Quinn enjoy some imaginative play. Her favorite film, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue, inspired her to flit and fly about our living room, screaming, “Quinn’s flying! Quinn’s flying!”

Of course she’d love the Tinker Bell costume! And we’d finally get our money’s worth! It was a foolproof plan!

Except it wasn’t – foolproof, that is.

Getting Quinn’s 2+-year-old body into an 18-month-old’s costume resulted her screeching, “Too tight! Too tight!”

Just as I was about to help her out of the outfit, she saw herself in the mirror.

I always thought suffering for fashion was torture reserved exclusively for teens and adults – talking to you, Spanx – but Quinn quickly disabused me of that misconception. She sobbed as I begged her to let me remove her costume. “No! Quinn’s Tinker Bell!”

I finally corralled her in the corner and managed to relieve her of the too-tight leotard.

I thought that was the end of it, but my daughter had other plans for me.

Last month I started asking her what she wanted to be for Halloween. Spider-Girl? Belle from Beauty and the Beast? A Yo Gabba Gabba! character?

“Tinker Bell!” she yelled. “Tinker Bell!”

Standing there in the Disney Store a short while later, I couldn’t believe I was going to purchase another Tinker Bell costume. Alas, Quinn had her mind set on the fairy from Pixie Hollow and nothing, not even the most beautiful Snow White costume I’d ever seen, was going to deter her from her goal.

To avoid any unpleasant surprised on Halloween, we had Quinn try on her fairy costume. As she flitted and flew about the living room – this time with wings that light up! – we consoled ourselves with two simple facts: We granted our little daughter’s happy wish and Halloween comes but once a year.