Christmas Part 2

Picking up where I left off - on the 27th we were supposed to head north to DeMotte for the Marschand family Christmas and then south to Indy for a couple of nights with Dad & Amy.

Welp, none of that happened. We had heavy snow all day and the road between Delphi and I-65 was basically not driveable. Chris' sister Lauren was unable to get up one of the hills and missed her shift at Target. Chris took a test drive and slid right past the bowling alley parking lot in which he was planning to turn around. No way we were going to put ourselves out there with a baby and a loaded-up SUV!

We stayed in our jammies and ate pizza and had a relaxed day at the homestead. After the sun went down we FINALLY saw trucks with plows and salt going up and down the highway. The next morning we got ourselves together as early as possible and headed down to Indy. We were greeted by a happy pair of grandparents, an excited pair of dogs, and one fuzzy, snuggly puppy!

Once Blaire arrived too, we started round 3 of Christmas presents. Anna got even more books (which she again read with GUSTO), tons of clothes including an "I ♥ Elmo" t-shirt that she demanded to put on immediately, an Elmo & Ernie tub playset, and a huge Little People amusement park. She of course really, really loved all the wrapping paper, bows, and tissue as well!

After presents she hit a wall and we put her down for a late nap. Us big kids popped in the new Star Trek movie and relaxed. Anna was too excited to stay asleep the whole time and woke up close to the end. She made a comment that brought the house down - okay, so we've been working on the "potty" concept, right? Captain Kirk sat down in his low, flat, white captain's chair and Anna points & yells POTTY! Omg. We were rolling!

We had a relaxing afternoon, an awesome spaghetti pie dinner, and then it was time for Anna's bedtime. After she was out I headed out myself for a drink with 6 amazing old friends from my IDEA classes in high school. SO GREAT to see them all!

The next morning we had a relaxed morning and a big, big, delicious breakfast! Dad made hot cakes with initials in them - A for Anna, B for Brooke, etc, just like my Grandma and Mom used to do. Anna loved the hot cakes but kept calling them "pancakes" despite our prompting with "hot cakes"... I wonder where she learned that? We don't usually have pancakes or hotcakes around here! I guess it would have to be daycare? She really enjoyed the eggs too.

We packed up and headed out around noon for Peru, IN where Chris' extended family lives. We got there after Anna's lunchtime and right at her normal naptime so I was a little nervous about how she might behave. She was not her chipper self but she was really so good for the circumstances. We all had lunch there and even though she was so tired, she was so sweet to everyone there. So proud of her.

She passed out pretty much immediately after we were on the way home. She slept for a good 90 minutes or so and then we read books for the rest of the way in. When we got home she asked for not only Leila (who was still boarding) but also Blaire and Loki - awww! We got her fed, bathed, and in her own bed a little late but in decent time.

Today was just a day at home. Tried to take it a little easy because we all three are sick now so that kind of put a damper on things. Anna and I just have some minor sniffles but Chris, who was feeling under the weather for most of our trip, probably has bronchitis. He's on antibiotics and hopefully will be feeling better soon.

Anna did something so loving and sweet this morning - she walked up to me, said "Mama kiss!" and waited for me to lean down and kiss her. Then she marched up to Chris, said "Dada kiss!" and waited for his kiss too. I think if Chris and I could have squeed our eyeballs out, you would not be reading this right now because I'd be blind and wouldn't be able to use a computer. Omg. She is such a sweet girl.

Then tonight she BLEW US AWAY with her successful potty venture. So, my thinking was to just get her used to the idea of sitting on it here at the start, not really to try to push the potty issue for a little while. Last night before I put her in the tub I let her sit on it and praised her for staying there for a few moments with a book. (She kind of likes to keep getting up and sitting back down, etc.) Tonight wasn't a bath night but I took her in to sit on it right before I put her overnight diaper on. She got up, sat down again, got up, sat down... she was mostly searching for the right book, I think. Then she sat down for a few moments, grunted a little (I didn't hear the tinkles) and when she stood up, I realized what she had done! She had peed! Chris and I basically threw a praise party because I had not even worked out what we would use for rewards! Totally caught us off-guard. Wow, I'm still so amazed. My face hurts from smiling, seriously.

That brings us up to speed! I'll start up the Twitter updates again from here.

Happy New Year!!

Anna's Christmas, Part 1

Anna has had an awesome Christmas and it’s not even over yet. Let me tell the story so far:

Christmas Eve she put on her PRETTY Christmas dress and we headed out to the 7pm service at Church. It was a very nice service, lots of music. She has always enjoyed the bell choir very much – she just stares at them, entranced, each time they play. Now she’s old enough that she can softly exclaim “bells! Bells!” I was really thankful for all the music as it kept her occupied for much of the service – we usually take her to the nursery for church services but everyone always stays together for Christmas service. She was pretty squirrelly but was never unmanageable.

We put her to bed right away when we got home - WAY past her bedtime. She went to sleep easily, slept like a log and – I’m going to enjoy THIS while it lasts – slept through until NINE A.M. It was awesome. In years to come I am confident she’ll figure out the Christmas thing and wake up at like quarter til 5, unable to wait any longer to plunge into the Chrismas cornucopia, but for now? Sleeping in is awesome. Especially because Christmas takes hours of preparation for Mommies and Daddies, often til the wee hours of the night.

In the morning we came downstairs, camcorder at the ready, overly-enthusiastic MERRY CHRISTMAS!!-es all around!

She did not get it. Fully ignored the presents.

Granted, she does not have any present-opening experiences that she can truly remember, however I thought she might at least be curious about all the brightly-colored stuff under the tree. Nope! How about you read me this old book, Mama? The one you got in a Happy Meal when you were seven? I’d rather do this.

We helped her with the first present, a cobbler’s bench with colorful pegs and a hammer. She liked it for a minute but then was pretty much over it. Her second present was a big hit – BOOKS. Thomas & Friends (trains) book and a Curious George. She was captivated by the trains and plopped down to page through it excitedly. We waited a few minutes before trying present #3, but apparently not long enough – we tried to hand it to her and she actually pushed it away with a firm “no present! No present!”

As we didn’t want to spend all day on presents, we started helping her with them and slowly she caught on – oh wait, presents are AWESOME. In addition to the cobbler’s bench and books, Santa ended up bringing her a Sesame Street school bus (with passengers Big Bird, Ernie, Grover, and Elmo), 3 wooden peg puzzles, a wooden frog pull toy, a Thomas DVD, a Sesame Street DVD, and the coup de gras – a training potty! We are not starting potty training immediately, but the pediatrician’s office said it’s good to get a potty earlier just so she can get used to the idea of it. The first thing she did? Sat astride it backwards and cracked open a good book. Yes we have pictures. I will post them later.

We had a decadent meal of French toast, scrambled eggs, and Sara Lee butter streusel. Anna has never had French toast before… I gave her a piece to munch on and she chowed down the whole thing! I love it when I get to add easy meals to her repertoire like that… Score.

She spent much of the rest of the day napping, playing with her new toys, and reading reading readingreadingREADING. A very, very nice Christmas Day.

Yesterday morning we got loaded up early and headed south to Delphi. We feared a slow, snowy trip but lucked out and had dry roads the whole way. Anna was very cooperative for the trip but never went to sleep the whole time, not once! (I even snuck in a little nap myself, but not her!) I thought she might hit a wall later in the afternoon / evening but she never did – amazing baby.

As is her habit for the moment, she clung to me for the first 5-10 minutes before she warmed up and started playing. The three of us hung out with Grandma Cindy and Aunt Susan waiting for Aunt Lauren to finish her shift at Target. We had this fun game going with the letter blocks Cindy keeps at her house for Anna – Aunt Susan or Chris would build a tower with them (sometimes with help from Anna), then Anna would exclaim “OH NOOOO!” and gleefully knock them all over. This game cracked her up SO MUCH. I can’t wait to post some videos of it, it was so hysterical to see her so tickled!

After a yummy pork dinner we started in with the presents. Anna, now totally oriented to the “presents” concept, dug in with enthusiasm. She got a ton of books, an adorable tiny pink backpack for carrying books, some 2T 2-piece Elmo jammies (for when it’s warmer and she doesn’t need footie sleepers), a cabbage patch doll, new toddler plates and suction-cup bowls (YESSSS says Mama), a tiny Chicago hoodie sweatshirt, and probably her favorite gifts of the day, small plush Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh dolls. Seriously? I cannot count how many times she hugged them with eyes closed, an ear-to-ear grin on her face and a loud “AWWWWW!!!” She hugged them like that in my lap as soon as I cut the scratchy tags off and it literally had me in tears, her happiness was just that incredibly heartfelt. One more gift that was both fun and touching – the tag read “To Anna Love Grandpa Bruce.” Grandpa Bruce died less than two years before Anna was born. He worked for Caterpillar and loved his job very much. In the gift bag was a tiny yellow Cat hard hat and a yellow Cat phone (with lights and sounds!) that folds into a Cat dump truck.

At bedtime she did not waste any time – she was EXHAUSTED after so much excitement and no nap. It usually takes 3-5 books to settle her down to the point where we can put her in her crib for the night, but not last night! I stepped out for a moment to throw away her diaper and left her with Chris. When I came back in, prepared for 20+ minutes of stories, she was already in her crib! Chris said she pointed to her crib, arched her back towards it, and demanded “NIGH-NIGHT!” Yeah… that’s a sleepy baby. Wow.

She slept for a solid 12 hours (well, ok, one settling needed just after midnight) and woke up chipper as could be. We’ve had a low-key day here today so far. We expected to be heading north for the Marschand Christmas gathering, but heavy snow has us grounded for the time being. Not sure whether we’ll head out later today or wait til tomorrow morning – we’ll see what happens! I have TONS of videos and pictures to upload but Cindy’s house is in a neglected corner of the universe that still cannot get broadband, so it’ll have to wait.

Hope you’re all having a nice relaxing post-Christmas with family and friends! And seriously? If the weather is bad, STAY HOME. Don’t need anybody else I know ending up in an icy pile-up. (p.s. the estimate is back on Blaire’s car - $6000+!!)

Anna and Nolan

WELL. It seems that Anna has herself a tiny, handsome little suitor at daycare!

I had her all bundled up and was ready to walk out the door. Before we go she always gives Marcia and Pam a hug and a kiss. We were standing near Nolan, who was in his high chair for a snack. She leaned towards him, making it clear that she wanted to hug him. When I held her down to his level she WENT IN FOR THE SMACKEROO. And you know what? HE KISSED HER BACK.

It was so freaking adorable; I almost had sunshine squirt out my ears.