T is for Thank You!

T is for Thank You!

As we have now had a chance to unpack, we are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we are unpacking. Wow! Mini Me certainly acquired a lot during our trip and we are very grateful to everyone for their thoughtful gifts. But, seriously people! Where am I going to put all of this!?! Here is just a sampling of what I'm finding a home for (and will be having to clean up every night...) :

206 play kitchen pieces
193 puzzle pieces
77 books
43 crayons/markers
16 coloring/sticker books
4 baby dolls
3 ringing phones
2 teddy bears
and a partridge in a pear tree


Seriously, there's more, but those were just some of the staggering stats I thought I'd throw you're way.


We have already picked out our gift for next year. It looks like this:







I'll be un-decorating the blog soon, but for now, here are some unedited Christmas pics. Please excuse the red eyes! I have a lot of great pics and will send them all out soon, here's just a sampling:



The very first present of the holiday season



Scary or funny, you decide.



Our little Christmas Gift



More Presents!



Family = instant friends


Enough with the pictures, mom!


Tea, anyone?

Cheeeeese

Is it over, yet?

E is for Exhausted

E is for Exhausted.

Christmas is over and we have made it home from visiting both sides of the family. It is always good to see everyone...but, it is also good to be home.

We arrived home about 6am. We made the trip from Canada in record time. It helped that we didn't get Mini Me out of the car at all during the trip and she slept most of the way. The downside of driving at night, is that we have a well rested toddler, and mom and dad are propping our eyes open with toothpicks. A little nap and we'll be good to go.

We will be posting pics and updating with more stories from our trip, but for now, we are just looking forward to climbing into bed for a nap. 'Night, everyone!

M is for Merry Christmas!

M is for Merry Christmas!

Well, Mini Me is getting 5 "Christmas" days this year. Well, that is to say, 5 different opportunities to open presents.

Since we are traveling for Christmas, "Santa" came early and we did presents on Sunday. Mini Me opened the first present, and it was a large Dora sticker/coloring book. That was a mistake. Next year, Santa needs to leave a note to mom about which presents Mini Me will get "stuck" on. Once she had that Dora book, it was rather difficult to convince her to open anything else.

But, after a while, she moved on to the next item, and then it clicked. She had a little difficulty getting each package started, but clearly understood the concept. Like a pro, she was opening the packages, throwing the clothes aside and moving on in search of other more exciting presents. She would feel them and decide which she wanted to open next with an exclamation of "more!" By the next couple of visits from Santa this week, she's going to be a present opening maniac. It's a good thing Santa mainly brought clothes and other "boring" stuff instead of toys...it would have taken HOURS to get through them.

Merry Christmas!!!

V is for Visit with Santa

V is for Visit with Santa.

Last year, we took Mini Me to see Santa. It went something like this:

And, cost something like this:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

This year, we assumed the Mini Me was still not going to be thrilled with a visit to see the big man. We have been teaching her "santa" and she says "ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas", but something just doesn't translate yet. I took her to the mall for a preliminary "test the waters" kind of deal. We walked past and I pointed him out. We circled back and stopped. There was a life size santa built out of Legos. That was a big draw. The "real" Santa that was standing there to greet her.....not so much. She eyed him with caution briefly, then looked everywhere except at him. I did get her to stand next to him for just an instant, that that was about it.

So, we decided that it was not worth the nearly $30 they were asking to get another picture of her trying to escape from the clutches of the big man. However, big kudos to Bass Pro Shops who have their own little Winter Wonderland set up, complete with FREE visits/pictures with Santa, coloring station, reindeer, train and elves, not to mention the regular attractions of the fish and stuffed animals that Mini Me loves so much. So, we decided to take her there in the hopes that she would at least have a little fun.

It went something like this:

Now, free doesn't exactly equal the best quality...even the original picture is quite blurry. But, at least we have a picture. Note that mom had to actually hold her, since Mini Me wasn't really in a "sit on a strange man's lap" kind of mood. Who can blame her really?

So, there's a look at then and now. What a difference a year makes, huh?

K is for Kreon

K is for Kreon.

I would love to say that this post is about my genius toddler who has recently become a scholar in Greek Mythology and has been discussing the character Kreon from the great works of Sophocles. However, that is not that case.

My little crayon-eater does says "kreon" at least 10 times a day. So, what is "kreon" in the mind of Mini Me?

"Christmas Tree On"

She used to say "tree" fairly clearly, but in the new world of multiple word sentences, we seem to have taken a slight step back in the realm of pronunciation. In trying to express two or three words, they all congeal into a single word with sounds from each word. So, instead of "Christmas Tree On" we get "kreon".

Oh, and ever since we went to our town's tree lighting ceremony in which they lit the lights on all of the tree's around town hall, Mini Me seems to thing that EVERY tree can be turned on and that its just some big secret with have been keeping from her for the past 22 months. Not every tree in the world has an on/off switch. Sorry, Mini Me.

But for now, I'll just go turn our kreon.

H is for Haircut

H is for Haircut.

Mini Me is 21 months old. She has never had a haircut, because she's never had much hair. But, it is starting to grow in and it kept getting in her eyes. So, today, Mini Me got her very first haircut.

I wish I had a really funny story to tell you, full of crazy antics to get her to sit still. Really, I had visions of screaming, tears, bribery with candy, and still having a really bad haircut. But, none of that happened.

In fact, Mini Me loved the experience so much, she actually cried when it was time to leave. She sat so still in the chair and was happy just to hold the puppy the stylist gave her. She never ceases to amaze me. So, here are some pictures:




Umm, lady, I'm trying to watch TV and you are in the way!

U is for Umbrella

U is for Umbrella.

As some of you may know, Mini Me has an unnatural obsession with her raincoat. It has giraffe's on it and it is cute. Anytime she has to put on any coat, she stands at the closet demanding her giraffe rain coat. Now that it's winter here in New England, it's just not warm enough, so I've actually hidden the coat until spring. (Although, she did wear it when we went to vote on Election Day, which was warm and sunny...a perfect day for a rain coat!)

Anyway, back to the story.

Mini Me has this puzzle and it has pieces like "hat", "backpack", "boots", "raincoat" and "umbrella". The other night as hubby and I were playing puzzles with her, Mini Me grabbed the "umbrella" piece, held it over her head and started running around the house shouting "It's raining, It's raining" Followed by "uh-oh--raincoat, raincoat!"

We love to watch these moments when she makes connections and we get a glimpse into her thought process. It truly is amazing.

H is for hot

H is for Hot.

We have been teaching Mini Me to blow on her food to cool it off. She's gotten really good at it. We say, "Be careful, it's hot!" and she blows on it. Perfect at dinner time, really funny when you use the word hot to mean something other than food. Let me explain.

We put up the Christmas tree a couple of days ago, and Mini Me hasn't really bothered it too much. She likes to talk about it, asks me to turn the lights on, and points out the snowman, penguin, santa, doggie, etc. on the tree. Today, she decided she wanted to touch the lights because if you put your hand over it, your skin glows red (she does this all the time with the flashlight).

So, she was touching the lights and to discourage her, I said "No-no, we don't touch the lights because they are hot" (they aren't, but I couldn't really think of a good way to explain being electrocuted to a 21 month old, so "hot" had to cover it)

So, what does Mini Me do?

She blows on them. Then said, "All set" and proceeded to touch them!

Here are some pictures of Mini Me helping to decorate for Christmas!

G is for Gingerbread House

G is for Gingerbread House. That was the craft of the day...at 7 am.

I could probably end this post here because I am sure you already see where this is going.

A toddler + candy + 7am = lots of coffee for mom!

Mini Me actually did surprisingly well at putting more candy on the house than in her mouth. Although, I wouldn't recommend actually eating the finished project as Mini Me did lick half of the pieces first...and there's actually a couple of pieces that made it on to the house after being nibbled on. Oops!

It was cute, and while it doesn't look anywhere near as nice as the picture on the box, its our first gingerbread house! Or as Mini Me calls it, Candy House.

Here are some pictures:

N is for NUTS

N is for NUTS! Also known as Walmart on Black Friday.

I've never been shopping on Black Friday, but this year, I've been trying a lot of new things, so why not go join the huddled masses and try to snag a few bargains?

Now, I've been doing my Christmas shopping since, well, October. I'm all about Christmas this year. Maybe it's because Mini Me is *almost* old enough to have lots of fun, maybe its just because without the stress of a full time day job, I have a lot more time on my hands to enjoy the simple things. Either way, I'm having lots of fun.

Anyway, I had been searching online for a couple of weeks to see where the good deals were going to be. See, I didn't really have anything in particular in mind. All of Mini Me's shopping is done. But, a bargain is a bargain, right? I don't usually shop at the local Walmart. It's kind of sketchy, there's always really weird people in there buying an assortment of odd stuff, and I always get stuck in the checkout line behind someone whose cart is full, and inevitably has 2 credit cards declined and ends up only getting the pack of cigarettes and leaving everything else.

But, today, they had the best deals. Towels for $1.50, 500 thread ct. sheet sets for $19.99, a 5 qt. Crock-Pot for $15, and kids pj's for $4. So, while I didn't NEED any of these things, how can you pass up a deal like that???

So, at 4am the alarm went off and I headed out the door. (See, I had gotten dressed before I went to sleep. So, a quick brush of the teeth, hat on my head and I was out the door.) I got to Walmart about 4:30. The line was already about 800 people deep (or so the Walmart employees were estimating). Standing there in the dark and the cold with 800 of my newest friends, we watched as more and more people got into line. Then a second shorter lined formed right up by the door. Can you guess where this is going?

At 5 am the doors opened and as the line began to creep forward, shouting started to emanate from the front of the line. The Walmart employees were letting people from the newly formed line in before those who had been waiting upwards of 3 hours. Not a good move. As the angry mob shouted, people just gave up on the line, and a few hundred die-hard bargain hunters charged the doors. Me and some of my more laid-back counterparts just stayed in line, and out of the way. Seriously, if I don't get a crock pot, my life isn't ruined. Honestly, its not.

But, someone must have had the foresight to call the police, because just as it started to get out of hand, 2 cop cars come rolling in and the police stop the madness and restore a sense of calm and order. Everyone files into the store as the new security team, and the (in)famous Walmart greeters reminded everyone to "just have fun" and "no need to fight, plenty of deals". Once inside the store, most people ran to electronics. Which, while I was hoping to pick up a couple of flash drives that were on sale...it was not worth my life. That was one dept. that I ended up skipping. Holy Cow! (Side Note: before I even got into the store, someone who obviously had been one of the first in, was already running out of the store with a TV)

But, I did end up getting my crock pot, towels, and sheets. I didn't even have a cart (really, it just slows you down since there's no where to go and the aisles are too packed) so I just balanced my stuff and headed to the checkout. NO LINE!!! I had what I needed and was out of there by 5:30am.

What happened next, I don't know. Maybe it was my sleep deprived state, but for some reason, as I put my bargains into the trunk, something possessed me to head back into the madness to actually look around to see what else they had. So, I headed back in (much to the annoyance of the people stalking me for my parking space. oops)

I grabbed a few random things, and found the pj's. I almost skipped them, because there was a small mob around them and I thought the chances of finding the right characters in the right size would be a bit difficult. But, as I walked past, I happened to spot a package with our good friend Dora on the ground. As I looked closer, I realized they were the right size. Could it be? Could I really have just found the EXACT thing I was looking for, without even having to look? YES! So, got the pajammies!

Now, it was 6am and I decided that it was time to be done. I headed to the checkout and HOLY COW! Where did all these people come from??? As I was standing in line the woman behind me was on her cell phone, complaining about the lines and actually said, "I can't believe I've been standing in line for 15 minutes. It's taking forever because all of the immigrants are buying TVs".

Um, wow! I tried to stand as far away from her as possible in case fists started flying. Then when I finally got to the register, the guy in front of me who was buying a GPS couldn't decide if he wanted the 1 year warranty. Seriously, its a yes or no question. He asked the cashier if most people get them, he asked for my opinion. You want my opinion? My opinion is that you have 5 seconds to make a decision and get the heck out of the way before you cause a riot for holding up the line even more. (FYI-He decided not to get the warrant)

I ended up leaving Walmart at 6:30. I hit Dunkin' Donuts for some coffee and ran a few other errands since I was out. I also scored at the local drugstore that had wrapping paper and assorted stuff for real cheap. (Cindy & Bill, have I got a surprise for you!) Overall, I had a lot of fun. I certainly won't be attempting to buy any electronics on Black Friday, but for a few good deals, it was worth it.

Although, as I type this, I have to say that the craziness and mobs rushing the door is really not necessary and I think Walmart (and probably other stores too-I JUST as I am typing this, heard of a shooting at a Toys R Us in California--really? come on people!) need to do a better job of planning and providing better security before the chaos starts. (Walmart workers should not have to die, just so that someone gets a good deal on a tv.) That's just incredibly sad and unnecessary.

This afternoon, we actually ventured back to Walmart to pick up an item that we had shipped to the store. The parking lot was no busier than a regular weekend, and even though they were marked back up, some of the doorbuster items were still on the shelves. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks.

Let the holiday season (officially) begin!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

M is for Mini Me's Muffin Mayhem

M is for Mini Me's Muffin Mayhem.

So, as it is where all of you live, its COLD! (To BFF in LA- we all hate you. hugs and kisses) And, since we aren't hanging out at the park or going for walks anymore...we needed something to do.

I wasn't feeling into "art" yesterday, but decided that nice warm cupcakes would be nice. I 'thought' it would be fun to have Mini Me "help". Seriously, what drugs did I take? Am I possessed by some evil demon? Why on earth did I think this was a 'good' idea?

(And, yes, in the title I said 'muffin'. I really mean 'cupcake', but that didn't flow as nicely, ya know? Nothing like a little alliteration to start your day)

Back to the story: Mini Me wanted NO part of the preparation of the 'muffins'. But, when it came time to deal with the frosting....oh, boy! As I do with most things, I tried to use the activity as a bit of a teaching moment. Mini Me has been doing great with colors (or: colours, for those of you North of the Border) lately, so I thought we'd have some fun and broke out the food coloring. I divided up the frosting and made a few different colors.

As you can imagine, Mini Me was not so much into putting frosting on the cupcakes as she was just eating it. She did articulate a preference for the 'green' frosting, however the blue turned out to be a bit more messy. So, color reinforcement lesson plan successful!

Of course, what would an activity be (especially one involving treats) without the trademark 'end of the activity' tantrum, where Mini Me thrashes on the floor in tears for no less than 30 minutes shrieking "green, green!"? Ah, well. At least we have yummy muffins, I mean, cupcakes.

Pics to follow, and yes I've giving up on trying to use all of the letters of the alphabet before repeating.

B is for Bond, James Bond

B is for Bond, James Bond.

What could this possibly have to do with almost 21-month old Mini Me, you might ask? Well, it appears that Mini Me has an affinity for Bond films.

This afternoon while having a tantrum of epic proportions as a result of my refusal to let her watch a second episode of Dora the Explorer, Mini Me was frantically pushing the buttons on our cable box with the hopes that she might restart her show. She's had luck with this in the past, so, couldn't hurt to try, right?

So, as I watch her from across the room (because honestly, when the tantrums hit this level, all you can do is watch and wait for the crash and burn) I see the screens changing and different titles become highlighted on the screen. Next thing I see is "press ok to buy" and before I could get to the other side of the room, Dr. No started playing.

Yes, Mini Me succeeded in ordering a Pay-per-View movie, something that I have yet to be able to do without much cursing and swearing when I keep inadvertently hitting the exit button instead of enter. So, I turned it off and had to contact the cable company to explain that my toddler had ordered a James Bond movie by accident and got them to remove the charge from our account. They politely reminded me that I should set the parental controls to prevent unauthorized ordering in the future.

Yeah, thanks. I'll get right on that!

L is for Lunch

L is for lunch. Also known as "nap time". We are trying to establish a new routine for Mini Me so that her days are consistent. So, that means pushing her nap a little later in the day. We ALMOST made it, but apparently, lunch was just too much.

Just Pictures

Enjoying some cake for Grandpa's B-day!

Just relaxin'

Getting ready for preschool

C is for Christmas

OK, so yes it is only November 10th. I do realize that. But, they have been playing Christmas music in the stores since BEFORE Halloween, Santa is already at the mall, and local radio stations have switched into 24/7 Christmas music mode. If you can't been 'em, join 'em! So, I'm "decorating" this blog for Christmas!

W is for Wow

W is for Wow. As in, " Wow, its been a long time since this blog has been updated!"

No, we have not fallen off of the face of the earth. I have just been busy doing....well, stuff. Mini Me is starting a pre-preschool program, we had family portraits done, and hubby has started a new job. So, all in all, things are going well.

Grandma and Grandpa C. were just here for Grandpa C.'s 60th birthday. Mini Me had lots of fun with them! She's also in love with the balloons.

Mini Me is adapting well to her "big girl bed" and seems to be enjoying it. We have had a major breakthrough and she is now able to recognize and say several colors. And, thanks to our friend Dora, is learning some words in spanish!

So, that's the short version of what we have been up to. But, I promise to be better about updating this. And, I realized that I'll probably be better about updating it, if I know people are reading it! So, I'm sharing this blog with family and friends in the hope that the "peer pressure" will keep me on top of things and help everyone not feel so far away!

PS

Yes, I know that in my previous post, I rattled on about not "reusing" letters, but I'm just too damn tired to come up with another letter for this post. So, S it is.

S is for Sleep

S is for Sleep. Sadly, we aren't getting much of it. Last Thursday, Mini Me decided to scale the crib, open her door and come running down the hallway during nap time. Awesome! That night, we attempted to make the switch to a "big girl bed" which ended with me putting the crib back together at 10:30pm. Anyone who knows me well, knows that to me, 10:30 is practically the middle of the night. So, ummmm, yeah.

We made a plan. We needed to be more mentally prepared for the switch. So, it was decided, that Tuesday night would be "the" night and we resolved that for better or worse, the crib would be history. (On a side note- Mini Me had been on a 2-day nap strike. Why would she nap, when there's fun to be had and nothing stopping her from getting to it??)

So, Tuesday night, I take the crib apart again. And, surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as the previous attempt. After about 15 minutes of fighting about needing to stay in the bed, Mini Me gave up and put her head on the pillow. This did NOT translate well into sleeping, though. After another hour of sitting by her bed, she finally closed her eyes and I left the room. All was well the rest of the night--except that Mom and Dad didn't sleep. Every time we heard Mini Me stir in her bed, we were convinced that she was going to wake up and realize we weren't there and come screaming. So, what was the point in going to sleep? We were mistaken. She slept through the night like a champ.

We repeated the ritual for nap, and while it took longer to fall asleep than for the actual nap...hey, at least it was a start. Night 2 did not go so well. It took over 3 hours to get Mini Me to sleep.

I know that it will get better. But for now, I feel like I have a newborn again. We were so used to our great sleeper. We used to just kiss her goodnight and put her in the crib. No rocking, no ritual. Just....sleep. And, quiet time for mom and dad. Hopefully we'll get back to that soon. For now, I'll just sit here and wait and wait and wait for her to fall asleep so I can sneak away.

B is for Best Day Ever

(The title of this post should be "F is for Fun", but, lets try to get through all the letters before we reuse, OK?)

You know how some days you feel like you've simply "survived" the day? Nothing really exciting, or horrible for that matter, happened. Well, it seems like I have a lot of those days. Most days, Mini Me and I "survive" each other.

Don't get me wrong, I love being a SAHM, but being a SAHM with toddler is....well, exhausting. The other day, I was feeling down that I don't do more "stuff" with Mini Me. I mean, we read books, and I chase her around the house all day trying to avert one "disaster" after another. (Note to self: discover where she got the idea to try to stand on a basketball...) And, that's pretty much our day. Changing diapers, eating, reading and "no, don't do that. Be careful." Ugh.

So, I decided that Mini Me and I were going to have the Best Day Ever. While she was eating breakfast, I got all of our supplies together. After breakfast, Mini Me and I painted pictures. She loved it. In fact, in one heart-melting moment, she looked up at me with a smile and said, "fun!" While she did get it all over her hands, she was much better about not eating it or touching her hair/face than I thought she would be (the last time we tried paint several months ago, it was one of those aforementioned disasters).

So, after an hour (yes, my toddler sat still for an HOUR!!!!) I thought it was time to be done. Why press my luck? But, Mini Me was still having fun. I had to convince her that having a bath and filling the bathroom with bubbles would also be "fun". Luckily, she LOVES bubbles and willing ran towards the bubbles.

After bath and snack, it was naptime. When she woke up, I went in to get her and as I picked her up, she said in the sweetest voice, "more fun?" So, we broke out the play-doh and had "more fun".

I know its not realistic that we are going to have these great days all the time, but it gave me a little boost. It really did feel like the Best Day Ever. I love being a mom.

Here are some pics of our painting adventure:

A tentative beginning:

Beginning to experiment w/ colors:

What if I paint my hand?!

One of the finished products:

M is for Movie

Each month, our local movie theater shows a different children's movie on Sunday morning. This month, they were showing "Abby in Wonderland". Since Sesame Street is big in our house (hence the name of this blog), we thought it would be a great morning out.

So, we head off to the movie theater in hopes of enjoying Mini Me's first movie. Overall, I'd rate the experience a "C". We were there early, so we had lots of time to kill before the show even started. Once it did, there was no less that 30 minutes of commercials and mini films. Of course, Mini Me sat through those like a champ. She was enthralled at the big screen, the darkness, and yes, the cupholders. Unfortunately, by the time they got around to showing the "feature presentation" Mini Me was done.

She watched Abby and Elmo with mild interest for about 10 minutes. After that, it was downhill. Mini Me only wanted to walk up and down the theater stairs. She also thought it was great to lay on the floor. Um, YUCK! So, after about 20 minutes, we had had enough. With that, we gathered up our stuff, and headed home.

I was a little disappointed because I thought it would be so exciting for her to see her favorite characters on the big screen. However, for a 19 month old, I think she did fairly well. Heck, an hour is a long time for ME to sit still. Maybe we'll try again in a few months.

P is for Poop

Mini Me loves mac 'n cheese mixed with baked beans. That's what she had for lunch yesterday...LOTS of it. Which is why our letter of the day is P. P is for Poop.

When Mini Me woke up this morning, nothing seemed unusual. I heard her babbling in her crib and I went in to get her. That's when things went terribly wrong. The stench in the room was a bit overwhelming. I knew she had pooped. Had I only known....

I soon realized that her pj's were wet, but as I began to take them off, I realized that I was not simply dealing with a little pee that leaked out. Oh, no. This was a blowout. GROSS! So, into the tub she went. But, Mini Me loves her 'doggie' and 'elmo' that she sleeps with and would NOT let them go. So, I decided they had to make the ultimate sacrifice. They joined her in the bathtub. I decided it was better to get her clean and THEN have a meltdown instead of having a meltdown covered in poo.

So, at the conclusion of bath time, I had to pry the 2 beloved stuffed animals that were now dripping wet and sudsy, out of her little hands. There was a heart-wrenching scream. There is was. A complete meltdown of epic proportions. So major, that I envision that someday, years from now, Mini Me will be on a therapists couch reliving this nightmare of when her companions were ripped from her clutches. But, alas, I managed to get her dried off and diapered.

The good news about toddlers is that their attention spans are relatively short. I grabbed the bubbles and began filling the room with all of their soapy goodness. And, through her tears and sobs, she began uttering "bubble, bubble". The worst had passed. 10 more minutes and doggie and elmo were all but forgotten. I ran back and grabbed the friends and tossed them in the washing machine. They are now spinning away getting clean. And, before she knows it, Mini Me will have her trusted companions back by her side.

Let's just say, we're not having beans again for a while.

S is for spinning

Mini Me loves to spin. She stands in place and spins. Then, as she gets dizzy, her circles get bigger and bigger. Soon, she is running in circles, wobbling and eventually falls. Only to get up and do it again. Ah, to be a kid.

F is for Flashlight

Flashlight=Fun

Last night after her bath, Mini Me found a flashlight. Sure, why not. We turned it on, and turned off the lights. Best.Toy.Ever. Wouldn't you know that she played with that flashlight for over an hour!

She delighted in shining the light on different objects to make them "appear" out of the darkness. She loved putting her hand over the light so that her little fingers glowed an eerie red. Then her toes. Then my toes. Then daddies toes.

It was the best hour of the day. We'll be keeping the flashlight handy...in the toy box. I just hope we don't need it for an emergency!