A nurse dressed the tiniest preemies as cowgirls and princesses

A nurse manager at Cincinnati's Good Samaritan Hospital has spent six years dressing the smallest babies in the Neonatal ICU in tiny Build-A-Bear costumes for Halloween. The idea came to Christa Black at a Build-A-Bear store, where her daughter Aubrey was picking outfits for a stuffed bear named Sparkles. Holding up a little nurse uniform, Christa realized the clothes would fit the preemies in her 60-bed unit. She launched the first costume party in October 2018, using grant money to buy several dozen outfits. Parents transformed their babies into soldiers, cowgirls and princesses. One set of twins wore a basketball uniform and a cheerleader outfit, their dad arrived in a matching jersey, and their mom came as a referee. Some babies are too small even for a Build-A-Bear costume, so volunteers now stitch outfits by hand. "Thank you for helping us celebrate our baby's first Halloween," one mother told Christa.