Potties, Parties, Plus

The past two days were really full of lots of running around and errands (not enough for a real post in themselves), but there was one really fun thing that happened . . .
Annie attempted her first potty on the potty chair today! Look at those chubs! If she did need to go potty, would it even be able to make it through the fat folds? ; ) I brought her over while I made a potty and showed her how to do it while I said, "Potty! That's potty! Mamma's potty! Now can you make a potty?" No success. ; ) Oh well, it was just her first try. Good try, Annie!

Annie was more interested in sitting on a seat that was exactly the right size for her. She had no idea what to do about it! : ) And, yeah, she really had no idea what was going on. Her look very definitely said, "What the heck are YOU doing, Mamma?" But I just thought I would try it because she is such a terror at diaper changes. I thought maybe that meant she might be ready. Nope.
Today Leia Rose attended Daphne's birthday party! Here are the girls at the end playing "eagle." (Leia used the smaller blanket to "hatch" out of.) And I heard a rumor that they played "ponies" earlier. : ) Daphne's Mom said that the only time Leia was NOT happy was when she was told I had returned to collect her. Ha! : ) Luckily, I had the forethought to say, "How about a whole 10 more minutes of play?!? Then I'll give you a five minute warning. Then a one minute warning. Then we go without complaints." Worked like a charm. Yay me!
And, for some reason, Leia Rose became enamoured with this silly little plastic dog from a Burger King Kid's Meal. (Another one of Mamma's not-so-great choices.) She asked me to take this picture, and when I showed it to her she said, "Aw! It really is so cute!!!" But I think she was talking about herself and not the dog. : )

Just another fun tidbit: tonight we watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for the first time as a family. Annie wasn't too interested, I'll admit. But Leia was, of course. During the course of the show Leia Rose asked, "why is he saying that?" in reference to when Santa sings, "Jingle, Jingle, Jingle. I can hear the sleigh bells ring. I am old Kris Kringle. I'm the king of jingling." I told her that's yet another name for Santa Claus. (Of course, I didn't want to get into the horrible truth of the Protestant Reform Movement wanting to disassociate St. Nicholas with Christmas, so they used the German image of the "Christkindl" (the Christ Child) as the bearer of Christmas and made the 'Kris Kringle' character to simply stand for the materialism of it all. Horrible!)
Yesterday, Leia Rose and I actually got to roller skate together! She did really well after not doing it for so long! I think with practice she could really be great. I enjoy doing this with her. Secretly I love the attention, . . . because she really think's I'm GOOD and then stands there in awe of me. I LOVE IT! SUPERSTAR! ; )
Oh yes, and I guess I should mention that the squirrels are LOVING Leia Rose's squirrel birthday trail, in fact, today the suet bowl was licked clean. But if even one squirrel winds up on our bird feeder, I will NEVER let Leia do that again.

Papa's Tie!!!

Remember that special tie that Leia Rose picked out for Papa in Newberry? Well, he wore it today to his retirement party!!! Oma said he was SO proud of it all evening. Sunflowers are Leia's and Papa's very special bonding flower, . . . ever since Papa picked one from a field in Siler City and gave it as a gift to Leia Rose. (Who would have thought a stolen flower would bring such joy!?!) What a special Papa!!! We love you, Papa! Congratulations on your retirement!

My Favorite Kissing Spot

I found my absolute favorite kissing spot today, right while I was getting Annie ready for bed. If I put my cheek in the palm of Annie's hand while she's sucking her thumb, my lips are in the perfect place where that coveted thumb meets Annie's own lips: half on Annie's hand / half on the corner of Annie's mouth. I must have kissed her there a million times this evening.

Focus on Annie

The past few days have been all about Leia with the surgery and all, so today (with Leia back in school) I really wanted to make sure Annie got some real quality time. (And, yes, Annie did ask for "Yay-ah" (Leia) multiple times today.) Quality time. Yep. You know what that means, . . . I got out the Baby Play and Learn & Growing Child books! . . .
And yet it wasn't all structured. Here is a real precious moment capturing how Annie looks when she hears her "Walking on Sunshine" birthday card from Oma and Papa. It's her favorite card, . . . and today it even inspired her to say "card"! My favorite part of the picture, besides the smile that is? The card's upside down! : )
It's sad that I needed to review my parenting books to remember how great bubbles are for a toddler. We put on a rousing chorus of "Pop, Pop, Pop" from the Gymboree album and had a grand time. That led me to thinking that we should really do Gymboree this winter, . . . which led me to thinking that I really needed to create a playlist of fun hand/motion/action songs on the computer, . . .
Here's a pastime of Annie's that I've forgotten lately: getting out all of the girl dolls from the wooden dollhouse. Annie carried around that blue baby all day, . . . sucking on it. You can see her holding the Mamma with the little girl and the Oma/Grandma in the background. And if you're wondering about Cherry Chat Chat, she's always in the bed. I really need to get another one so we can keep one downstairs. : )

Teething News +

Annie is done with teething! (Until she's two, that is.) Her bottom eye teeth popped through today. Yay! Now maybe we can have a few nights without moaning? [And, um, Annie, can I ask that you not poop right after I put you down to sleep at night? That kind of activity has "diaper rash" written all over it. Speaking of poop, could you not cry and scream every time I change your diaper? Or better yet. . . . Santa, will you please bring Annie a potty chair?!?]

Squirrels & Showers

Here is Leia Rose making "suet" for Squirrels. Okay, I was the one calling it suet, . . . Leia Rose called it "Squirrels' Birthday" and her mixture was the cake. Hmmm, let me see if I can call up the thought process in regards to how this activity came about, . . . The kids made chex mix at school today. Leia Rose tripped on the way to the car and spilled hers. She said that it would not feed the squirrels. Ah ha! And even though Mrs. Schnell gave her some extra, she still saved all the nuts for them. Then followed her idea to make a trail. And then my idea to make it really lead to something. : ) So we tried to think of a real squirrel feast: peanut butter mixed with sunflower seeds (shelled and unshelled) and a few pistachio nuts (these are high-bred squirrels).
Here is the trail that Leia Rose put down herself. My one request? That the trail didn't lead to our bird feeder. (She swept the deck first, by the way. How crafty am I?)
Leia Rose was extra excited tonight because she was going to take a shower. (Because of her surgery, she's not allowed to take a bath for a week.) Taking a shower with Daddy was so much fun! Leia Rose kept saying, "I just LOVE taking a shower!" Leia, I remember a day not too long ago (when you were three?) when we would dread vacations a bit because you would SCREAM in the shower. How you've grown! : )
Leia Rose, Brian, and I always say her nighttime prayers together, . . . but tonight for some reason we all felt compelled to hold hands. It was really special. (We said a very special prayer for Oma and Papa to sell their home and for their peace of mind about Christmas visits.) Okay, yes, this is a recreations, but I wasn't going to break up a prayer for a picture, for goodness sake! ; )

[And, um, we won't talk about how you wiped your buttery popcorn fingers on the couch during Kid Nation, after Mamma told you four times not to and then how you hit Mamma on the way to the thinking chair and how you lost all TV that night as a result and how Mamma yelled at you at the top of her lungs saying "GET IN BED!" after you slammed the door in her face. But I WILL say how the night ended with lots of apologies and a, "Mamma, thank you for everything that you do."] : \

Kisses & Dances

Annie just loves her little lamb from the Fisher Price Farm. : ) She was giving him lots of kisses today. I thought I would put a video on of how those kisses sound. It's just so cute. So here's a video of her blowing some kisses:

Now before the next video let me just say something really strange about Annie these days: she doesn't want to have anything to do with any of the Christmas books about Baby Jesus!!! Oh no!!! Even the ones by Pingry, she just sits there and tries to close the book before she whines and tries to escape from my lap. And I'm not trying to read ones above her age level, either. It's like she sees the book is about people, . . . no pop ups? no flaps? no songs? . . . the END!!! The most I have been able to do is a book of the song "Silent Night" where it not only plays the music, but Jesus also has a glowing halo around his head. I guess I better read/sing that one over and over, huh? At least it goes through all three verses. : )

Okay, now for something more positive: Annie loves dancing! One of her favorite things to do these days is to go over to the Leap Frog Learning Table and spin the bead spinner because it always plays the alphabet song. Then she stands, holding on to the table, and bops her buns up and down. Such cute dancing! Let's see if I can post a video:

Recovery

Um, Leia Rose could have definitely gone to school today. It's like the kid never had surgery! : ) I'm so glad she's so resilient! No pain at all! Not one dose of Tylenol! Leia Rose was up to her antics as usual from the moment she woke up.
Here she is as the "Christmas Angel" just like the one in our pop-up book.

And later Leia Rose came up with a really creative "bird game." She used the scarves in the dress-up box to make costumes of different birds. Then I had to guess what they were. See if you can guess too (the answers are at the end):

Answers in order: Cardinal, Penguin, Hummingbird, Peacock

Leia's Surgery

At seven we were off to the hospital for Leia's hernia surgery. We were already in pre-op at 7:15, and Leia Rose was in fabulous spirits! Here's Leia Rose happy about her new "scrubs" that have kitties on them! It says, "Tired Little Tiger." In fact, Leia was so happy and that tipped the hospital staff off that Leia didn't "need" me, so they told me that I couldn't go back when she fell asleep. Leia was fine with that, . . . she was more interested in choosing whether she wanted a bubble gum or a watermelon mask. (She chose bubble gum.) I was absolutely in awe of Leia Rose when she left me. She had made friends with the anesthesiologist, and both of them skipped together all the way to the operating room. I was so amazed and speechless that, even though I was standing there with my camera, I didn't take a picture. What a kid, I'll tell ya'. What a kid!

Forty-five minutes later the doctor came out to the waiting room to tell me that everything went fine. The hernia was easily fixed, and they were able to laproscopically see the other side and, except for a muscle fold, he could see fairly clearly and said there wasn't another hernia there and that if one shows up, they'll fix it. What surprised me the most was that there was no aftercare. The only instruction was to not give a bath for a week, and showers only after 48 hours. Tylenol if she felt pain (which she never felt a single bit). The "bandage" just looked like a thick piece of opaque tape and would fall off on its own, while the sitches were inside and would dissolve themselves. He said they had just transferred her to recovery and they'd call me when she woke up. It took her a while, another 20 minutes or so.

They called me as soon as Leia Rose opened her eyes, and I was surprised to find her back asleep when I got there. She woke up with a complete blank stare, and then tried to turn over just like she would do in bed. The first thing she did was cough, . . . it was the breathing tube that caused her most problems. It really ended up hurting her throat. Then I asked her if she remembered what she was supposed to say when she woke up so she wouldn't be grumpy and she very quickly but quietly said, "presents." She was pretty sad/grumpy/tired when she was alert enough to talk. She was also pretty upset about the IV in her hand (which was the one thing I purposefully didn't prepare her for) and about the fact she couldn't feel her private parts (she kept mentioning that over and over). She was able to drink some apple juice, but she kept saying, "I want to go home." and "Mamma, can you hold me?" and "I can't feel my crotchie!" and "I want a wheelchair!" No matter what I did, I couldn't get her to smile. She smiled for the first time on the way home. We were so glad it was all over! (But I think Leia Rose was surprised at how bad the whole thing made her body feel.)

I'm afraid things weren't better at home. Leia did get sick. (That poor froggy carpet in the girls' bathroom.) And she also actually said, "I don't want to open any presents until I take a nap." Then she fell asleep for hours and hours. She would take another nap later (and another tiny one, I think), but that was the extent of her surgery issues. From there it was all up and up. And, can you believe it, she never had any pain at the site?!? Yay! : )

Leia Rose was thrilled to open a fun package from her Oma that had lots of stay-in-bed activities that we'd play with the rest of the day, like these stickers. Even "birdie wings" (palm fronds) from Florida!
. . . but the hit of the gifts was definitely this Love n' Care Kelly doll. She has chicken pox that you can make appear and disappear with cold/hot water!
And can you believe the gifts, again, from our personal shoppers Angela and Sondra? I had ordered some food to pick up, requesting that they call me if it could be done ahead of time because I wanted to cook a special meal for Leia Rose, who just had surgery. Well, they showed up not only with the food but also with a "Get Well Soon" balloon, a candy cane, and two cards! Leia Rose was in heave, . . . and feeling better at that, . . . jumping on the bed already?!?

Santa Train!!!

Today Grandma and Grandpa gave us all a real treat!!! They took us on the Santa Train in Winnsboro SC!!!
Unlike Leia Rose who at this age cried and screamed as soon as she saw Santa (which, despite all of its drawbacks, does make for a REALLY fun and memorable picture), Annie was simply fascinated in Santa's beard. How refreshing!
When Leia Rose saw Santa she wanted to tell him two things: "Santa, for Christmas this year I would like a Webkin." To which Santa (strangely) replied, "Ok." (It sounded like he didn't know what one was. Get with it, Santa.) Secondly, Leia said, "I was wondering if Rudolph still had a cold." (Two years ago, Santa told Leia Rose this, and it REALLY made her laugh. I guess it stuck with her.) This time Santa replied. "No, ho ho ho! He's feeling much better!" : )

The funniest thing was that when Santa saw Grandpa, he said (very boisterously), "Ho, ho, ho!!! You've been a BAAAAD boy!" And the whole train laughed, . . . well, everyone except the children who all felt like this was the proof they needed that Santa really does find out who's naughty and nice. In reality, though, Santa is a patient of Grandpa's at his Internal Medicine practice. Santa was hoping to see Grandpa today, . . . probably to say just that. : ) Ha!
Notice how Cherry Chat Chat is going with us everywhere now. : )

Then there's this one particular picture angle that really reminds me of a scene on the Polar Express. : ) Speaking of which, Leia Rose and I sang that song while we were on the Santa Train! Very fitting!


It's kind of a silly way to end the Santa Train entry, but this is just another favorite pastime of Annie's: snapping the pip clip. : ) It actually supposed to be clipped to her clothes so she doesn't drop toys, but she's much too interested in the clip itself for me to do that. : )

Daddy's Girls

Thanksgiving Day 2007

This Thanksgiving we traveled from Newberry SC to Columbia SC to celebrate Thanksgiving Dinner with Uncle Joe and Aunt Patsy. At one point during the evening's festivities, we all gathered to take a photo together. But now let's start from the beginning, . . .
As is our tradition, we began the day by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This means one thing and one thing only to Leia Rose: Playing with the Christmas Toys!!! (It's the first time Leia has seen them in a year!) : ) The Christmas Toys are: the "Rudolph Guys" (from the TV Special "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer"), Santa's Village, The Polar Express Train, (and also the nativity puppets and Fisher Price Nativity Set that we haven't gotten out yet).
Ah yes, the "Rudolph Guys" are always the favorite. : ) This year Leia Rose favored the reindeer (as always) sand Annie always seemed to go for the "Dolly named Sue." : ) (Actually I think the rhyme goes, "a dolly for Sue," but Leia has always called her Sue anyway. : )
And at the end of the parade: there was Santa!!! The Holiday Season had officially begun!

Then it was time for Aunt Cassie to read Leia Rose a very special Thanksgiving book.
And before long, we were on our way to visit Joe and Patsy. Leia Rose called Oma and Papa on the way to wish them a very happy Thanksgiving as well. And this gave Leia Rose a perfect pose to show off her new pretty dress that Grandma gave her. See the beautiful ballerina slippers as decorations? One guess as to which dress is Leia Rose's favorite now. : )
After arriving at Joe and Pasty's, Annie didn't waste any time before initiating one of her favorite Grandpa games. You know how you might give someone "five"? Well, in this case Grandpa says, "Annie, give me one." And Annie reaches out her finger and gives him "one." ; )
As you can see, it was a really joyous day for everyone involved! We were all simply enjoying just being together. : )
Patsy was a smart lady and had some new Lincoln Logs for Leia Rose to play with. She almost immediately built a nice stable for the reindeer of the "Rudolph Guys." : )

And Annie was absolutely enamoured with Pasty's big snow globe, . . .
. . . and even more enamoured with the wind-up mechanism on the bottom.
And then it was time to eat Thanksgiving dinner. I'll admit that this was the only time that there were a couple of tears rolling down my cheeks because we had to eat in two separate rooms, . . . and it was our little family of four that was banished, . . . again. (It was nice for Grandma to join us, though.) I never complain about it or anything (while Grandpa did mention missing Grandma quite a bit), but I just couldn't help shedding a tear. I'm not quite sure why this makes me so sad. I guess I consider the actual meal to be the central activity of Thanksgiving, and not eating it all together (squished or not) makes me feel like we might as well be in separate states. And we could have squished all together at that table. We could have. And should I mention that we had cold turkey again, too? No, I shouldn't mention it. The rest of the food was so amazing, and with piping hot gravy ladled over the top of that meat, I hardly even noticed this time. So now to leave my petty sadnesses behind and go on to the general gaiety of the evening . . . Kudos to Patsy for finding a really fun cookie-decorating project for Leia Rose to do after dinner! And Leia even made a cookie for each person! They were beautiful!

To add to the kids delight, the girls got to open their Christmas gifts from Joe and Patsy early. (This was probably a mistake on my part. The gifts were just so very spectacular that they really should have been saved for Christmas. But on the other side, I wanted Joe and Patsy to see the kids' reactions. What a pickle.) Annie got a cute Shining Star Pet.
And I've never seen Leia Rose so happy to get the Bella Dancerella Ballet Studio! (It's two DVD's, a ballet bar, and two mats that teach all the positions/dances of ballet through song, advancing you all the way to Swan Lake!) The only problem with this was that Santa had already gotten the same exact thing to give to Leia on Christmas morning! Oh my. We just HAD to let Leia open it, though. She was WAY too excited about it not to. I mean, here she is in her little ballet shoe dress just sitting in awe of this thing. Yeah, we just had to cut our losses and play with it. : ) Leia Rose had lots of fun watching the DVD on subsequent days, . . . but she got too frustrated with doing the actual steps on the mat and stretches with the bar. It takes practice, of course. Our little perfectionist! : )
And, finally, we all gathered to take a nice family picture together. Such a nice end to a very wonderful evening! : )