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: