I Survived

Even though New Year's Day still lies ahead, I count the holidays as pretty much over. I hate to be boring about it, but I'm actually pretty glad. I talked to a family friend yesterday and she said that she was just recovering from her holiday with family. I really think recovery is necessary. Simply opening gifts with a 3-year-old child is work. I feel like every moment leading up to Christmas was a mad rush. Between the Christmas cards, shopping for gifts, wrapping gifts, baking treats for the office, putting up the tree, decorating the house and running other every day errands to get groceries and diapers, I am completely worn out.

But I'd do it all again. It was really worth it to spend time with our family. We had good food, generous gifts and wonderful memories.

Dear Santa

This is a true story.

Cate (spoken really fast and in a semi-quiet whisper): Mommy, did you know that Santa is going to come while we're sleeping and leave presents for us? Then, we'll wake up and open them!

Mommy: Really? That sounds exciting. What would you like for Santa to bring you?

Cate: All I want in my heart is a Princess calendar.

Mommy (in her head): How is it possible that a three-year-old remembers a calendar she glimpsed one time at the mall about three weeks ago? Better make an emergency trip to the mall to buy said calendar in case she remembers this on Christmas day.
Who would deny their girl the only thing she wants in her heart?

The best time ever

We spent last Sunday morning with my parents, playing and opening some gifts for the kids. Both Cate and Keaton had a great time, even if Keaton was a little fussy from being off his schedule.

My mom had a huge bag of costume jewelry for Cate to play with (thanks, Mom) and I've rarely seen Cate so invovled with something for so long. She put clip-on earrings on everybody including my dad, picked out necklaces for herself and regularly announced the time from her "watch" (actually a bracelet). My parents gave Keaton a little train that he's been playing with every day. It has three balls that you can drop in the top of the smokestack. The train makes noise, moves on its own and the balls roll around the inside of the smokestack and come out the back of the train. He loves it! He's learned in just a few short days to expect when the balls will come back out and he watches and waits. I'm still working with him on picking up the balls and putting them into the smokestack. When we left my parents, Cate gave my mom a hug and said, "I had the best time ever." It was really sweet.

All in all, we are enjoying the holidays with wonderful family and friends. I feel so fortunate to have a happy and healthy family.

Picky Eater

I have heard stories of children who only eat "white foods" -- white bread, white cheese (mozzarella, etc), milk, ice cream. I've heard about kids who don't eat meat. These so-called picky eaters...I was always convinced that these kids had parents who were falling down on the job. I mean, seriously. What kind of kid only eats white food?

Then, I had my own children.

Hello. My name is Beth and my daughter is a picky eater. The list of foods this child will eat is ridiculous. Mac and cheese, pb&j, McDonald's hamburgers, bagel (untoasted only), toaster waffles, bananas, the occasional apple, pancakes....we're getting close to the end of the list. It would be much longer if I started including things like cookies, ice cream, etc. I think we are at a crisis point -- she won't eat any vegetables. Not one. She won't eat any meat, save the occasional McD's hamburger. I've read books, articles and blogs. We've tried the "offer it a million times, surely she'll eat it eventually approach." Doesn't work. We've tried the "bribe with treats" approach. Doesn't work. We've tried the "go to bed hungry if you don't like what we're eating" approach. Doesn't work. I think if you closely examined this child's blood, you find she is largely made up of sugar and carbohydrates. You will also find that she has a very strong will and she knows when I'm trying some kind of fancy reverse psychology on her. I have no idea where she picked up that quality.

When Cate was born, I resolved that she wouldn't be a picky eater. I've always been adventurous when it comes to food. I like to try new things. I love cooking. I was looking forward to sharing that with her. I abandoned that dream. Now, I just want to get the child some proper nutrition. She needs protein, veggies, fruit.

Last night, Stephen suggested maybe we should consult a nutritionist. Are we crazy? Are a lot of kids like this? For now, I'm going to figure out how to hide vegetable puree in toaster waffles.

Dancing Queen....or....princess

The brutal truth

If you can't count on your friends to be honest with you, just ask Cate. She'll give it to you straight. On Saturday, we were in the car and Stephen was in charge of setting up the DVD player for Cate to watch her all-time favorite, Sleeping Beauty. He was having a little trouble but finally got it up and running. He handed the DVD player to Cate, she watched for a minute, then said it wasn't working. Stephen took it back and Cate said, "You didn't do a very good job with that Daddy."

In other news, Keaton is changing on a daily basis. His newest skill: sitting up. He's pretty excited about his new perspective on things.

Baby, it's cold outside

Cate's Christmas Program - Part Deux

Cate's Christmas Program

Comments! Yay!

I am such a geek. I know it. I own up to it. After having a blog for many months, I finally got two comments here in one day! I'm beside myself with excitement.

A key component of blogging (as opposed to a typical Web site) is the interactive part. In theory, someone posts on the blog, then people respond. I realize this blog is a little different because most of our posts don't really require any type of conversation or dialogue. But that doesn't stop me from wanting comments :) And I've been waiting patiently for all these months, hoping someone would start a commenting trend.

So, the props go out to my Aunt Annelle. She left not one, but TWO comments yesterday. Special Christmas surprises are in store for her.

Keaton in the bath

I put Keaton and Cate in the bathtub tonight and Keaton thought it was hilarious. He just leaned back in his bath seat and giggled. I had no idea a bath could be so funny.

Thanksgiving shots

We just returned from a trip to Houston for Thanksgiving, visiting Stephen's brother Ryan and his family. They were terrific hosts, even providing just about everything we could need for Keaton.Cate and Keaton's cousin, Quentin.
We've now completed our second plane trip with two kids and I think we've really got this down to a science. You generally get two kinds of looks from people when you're traveling with small children. There's the "gee, aren't they a sweet family with adorable children" look. These are the people who offer to help lift a bag into the overhead bin. The people who pick up the baby's binky when it hits the ground for the hundreth time. The people who come running out of the family restroom when your child leaves her beloved bear behind (true story, thanks to the people in the KCI airport for saving my life).

Then, you have the "please don't let those crazy people with two kids sit anywhere next to me" look. These are the people who either have children and are traveling without them or the people who don't have children at all. They give you dirty looks on the plane when your princess is crying because her ears hurt. They sigh loudly when your kids are whining because they have to wait in line for the bathroom. They may even actually move if you sit next to them in the airport restaurants. We ran into our share of both types, but you really appreciate the former when you've got a million bags, two strollers and a couple of tired kids.

Cate and Keaton actually did very well and I'm proud of them. Keaton just celebrated his six-month birthday and he's been on three plane trips. He's a seasoned traveller now. Cate has her very own Southwest frequent flier number. Happy baby K.Keaton's thankful Thanksgiving pose.

Christmastime is here

A few photos of Cate's Christmas dress.
Still experimenting with the new camera and some things I can do for interesting shots.